The Book of Destiny Part 1

The rain got worse. Raylan carried a weak, barely awake Caroline through the wet woods as it pounded from the grey skies. "If we keep moving, we can be at the border in a couple of hours,"

"I know we're close Raylan, but Carol isn't doing well," said the concerned Ezran.

"That's her own fault for messing with dark magic,"

Felix barked, outraged at his choice of words. She did it to save you.

"Please Raylan," Willow begged.

The elf saw a tear leave her eye. He sighed. He looked down at Caroline, breathing slowly in his arms. "We can rest her back at the cave. But we can't stay for very long," he carried her back up the mountain pass until they made it to the wide opening in the mountain walls.

Once they reached the opening, Willow pulled off her cloak and bundled it up to make a pillow. Raylan placed Carol down very carefully and laid her head gently down.

"Is that any better?" Ezran asked, kneeling beside her.

With eyes glued shut and a black colour growing around her eyelids, Caroline mumbled: "I'm so uncomfortable,"

"Uncomfortable because you used dark magic?" catcalled Raylan critically.

"Raylan!" snapped Ezran. Zym growled too. "She saved your life. You and that poor dragon would have been killed if it wasn't for her. She knew she would end up like this but she did it to save you,"

Raylan felt guilty for what he had just said. He looked down pitifully at the poor girl in a deep coma as her words mumbled out of her shivering mouth. Felix whimpered seeing his person like this. He licked her cheeks hoping she would respond but it did no good. He hung his head. Zym sat beside him for comfort. And so did Bait. Caroline mumbled the same words she repeated in her sleep as her head turned.

Corvus, Gren and Caldor walked through the forest, trying to find any traces of tracks. They found some in the mud along with some paw prints. "Follow those and you two will find the children," said Caldor.

"You're not coming with us?' asked Gren.

"I have to track my brothers down. They have lost some of their magic and one of them is gravely injured. This may be my only chance to finally stop them,"

"You shouldn't go off alone," said Corvus.

"It's not the mages that are important. It's the children, the elf and the dragon prince,"

"You really certain it's not an ordinary dragon?" asked Gren.

"Absolutely. Whatever reason they have for travelling with him and that elf, listen to them first. And do not attack the elf,"

Corvus was reluctant. "Fine. But if he bares his blades, we will not hesitate to protect ourselves,"

"When you find the children, Carol will be extremely sick from performing that dark magic spell. Whatever happens, keep her warm and give her these herbs," he offered the herb bag. Corvus moved to take it but he pulled it back again. "Give me your word you will listen to whatever they tell you,"

"So uncomfortable," Caroline's eyes opened. She sat up. She was resting on a giant pile of keys. Something glowed red underneath. She reached into the pile and pulled out the key of Aaravos. A side was glowing red. She peered at the symbol. It wasn't one of the six primal sources. It was the symbol of dark magic. She gasped. "No! No more!" she threw it across a room of total darkness. But a hand caught it. The hand of a cloaked, hooded figure in black with their back turned to her.

She held her breath, trying to show no fear. "Who are you?"

As Caroline mumbled the same question over and over again, Ezran pressed something cold over her face which was now burning. He glanced worriedly at Willow who clutched her hand tightly.

Raylan sat to watch. He didn't look at her but he could sense how terrible her condition remained. "She's delusional,"

"How long until she gets better?" Willow begged desperately.

Raylan sighed. "I don't know. I don't know much about dark magic and what effects it has on people. She may be like this for a while,"

"'May?'" repeated Willow blankly. "What if she doesn't recover? What if…."

"Don't say that" begged Ezran. "Just don't," he sniffled. A tear fell down his face onto their sister's.

They heard something. They heard rumbling pebbles. Raylan pulled a finger over his lips, urging them to be quiet. "Who's there?!" he spoke out, pulling out his blades. "Show yourself or I'll greet you with my pointy friends!" Corvus appeared. He bore his lasso hook. Gren, behind him. "You two!"

The children saw the two men. They recognised Gren but the other one. Quickly Willow stood up. "Don't hurt him please!"

"Willow…" Raylan hissed, urging her to stay out of danger.

The men lowered their guard, finally realising that Raylan was indeed a friend to the children. "We're not here to fight," Corvus lowered his weapon. "My name is Corvus. Your aunt Amaya sent me,"

The children were uncertain. "It's all right," said Gren. He looked apologetically at Raylan. "Sorry for the misunderstanding young elf,"

Raylan, still frowning, lowered his blades and stood back allowing the men to approach the children. They bowed before Ezran.

"All hail King Ezran," Gren said respectfully.

Willow stared wide-eyed at her brother, who stood back in confusion.

"But I'm not the king," he said. "I'm just a prince. My dad is… Wait.." his eyes enlarged. "That's not what you're saying. He isn't…"

Willow realised what it meant. "No," tears filled her eyes.

Raylan scrunched his eyes. He and Carol dreaded the moment when the kids would find out the awful truth. Corvus and Gren closed their eyes in sympathy. The elf tried to approach the children.

"No! No! No! No!" Ezran moved away, shaking his head in denial.

"It can't be true," Willow fell to her knees, beginning to sob. Felix's eyes dropped. Bait croaked softly. Zym purred, heartbroken for the dear children. Just as he was for Carol.

"Guys, it's gonna be okay," Raylan tried to comfort them.

"You knew?" Ezran screamed.

"You had an assassin's ribbon on your forearm didn't you!" Willow accused. "But it came off that night didn't it,"

Raylan shed a tear. "That was when he fell,"

Ezran frowned. "'Fell'? He didn't fall Raylan. He didn't trip and land on the ground. He got killed,"

"And you didn't tell us!" sobbed Willow angrily.

"I'm sorry," Raylan's apology received no forgiveness.

Willow and Ezran looked at their sister, eyes still closed. "Does she know?" Ezran asked, remembering that Carol was crying back at the Moon Nexus.

"She does," said Raylan sorrowfully. "But please don't be mad at her. She was just trying to protect you all from the truth,"

Willow suddenly ran off down the pass, sobbing loudly. Ezran behind her. Gren followed them, wanting to accompany them.

Corvus looked at poor Caroline and knelt before her. Zym growled at him but Felix purred next to him, assuring him it would be all right. "How long has she been like this?" he asked.

Though resentful of the human for attacking him earlier, Raylan knew that he meant well for the princess. "For a few hours. She's really cold,"

"Get a fire going. I need to give her these herbs," Corvus pulled out the herbs that Caldor had given him. "It seems I owe you an apology young elf. Sorry for the misunderstanding,"

"I truly am sorry I couldn't save the king," Raylan apologised. He looked out worriedly towards the forest. "We saw you guys held captive by those mages. There was a third man,"

"Yes. He's tracking them down as we speak. One of them was critically wounded. Now help me with the herbs,"

Carol approached the cloaked figure who had caught the cube. "Who are you?" she demanded.

The figure turned around and she saw…herself?

"Hello Caroline," She walked towards hers.

Carol stood back. "Who are you?" she gasped.

"I...am you. I know what you're feeling. You're feeling confused. You tried dark magic for the first time. But no one expects it to be easy,"

"But it was easy. But it was wrong," Carol deeply regrets using that atrocious type of magic. But she knew deep down that it was the only way to save Raylan and the poor red dragon.

"Is it?"

"Yes. It is,"

"But you still did,"

"Because I didn't have a choice,"

"Of course, you didn't. You needed it to save your friend and that dragon. If you had your mother's primal stone…you wouldn't have had to use it,"

"Don't you dare mention her," Carol pointed a finger at her.

The cloaked version of her just smirked and offered it to her. "Take it,"

"Wha…no!" she stepped back. "I won't!"

"Come on. You love magic. But you can't do it because you weren't born with an Arcanum. But you can do this. The kind of magic humans can do," she offered it again. "You can choose what to do with that power. It's your destiny. Accept it," Carol was reluctant. Still, her dark self wouldn't give up pushing her into taking the cube. "It's your destiny. It's who you're meant to be,"

The more she felt pushed by the words, the more Caroline remembered how much she loved doing magic. Her hand reached forward.

"No!" shouted a voice. The two turned to the side and they saw a chair shifting towards them, Harrow bound to it in chains. "Don't take it, Caroline! Fate is a lie! It is not set in stone! Only you can make your own choices!"

Carol stared at him; her eyes wet with revelation.

Caldor stalked through the forest. He had walked for miles and he had yet to find another trace of his brothers. He couldn't use any more of those moon opals which he knew belonged to the children. The trail seemed to lead him further and further away from the village. It seemed as if they were choosing to abandon their quest, their goal for the children. Still, they needed to be stopped.

Over a mile from the forest, on a towering cliff, not far from the border of Xadia, Delmar was laid to rest against some rocks. Lairus and Tellus tended to him with whatever herbs they could find. Castor stared out into the distance, searching for any traces of anyone following them.

He kept his hood firmly pulled over his head. "Castor, we're running out of supplies," said Lairus. "And with the truth spilt out thanks to you, our situation has become even worse," He didn't hear a response. "Are you even listening to me?!"

Castor didn't turn. "Stay here,"

"Did you even listen…" Tellus was cut off by the abrupt jump of Castor off the cliff. "What the…" he rushed forward and peered down. He saw Castor had landed gracefully on the tree top and was now leaping from top to top.

Delmar was cringing in pain. "I will…never…walk again,"

"I'll kill that dragon," Lairus swore.

"Kind of hard to do that when you haven't got your primal stone anymore," Tellus reminded. That earned him a glare.

"Come on!" the dark version of Caroline goaded. "Is this really what you want? To go back to being an embarrassment to Katolis? A step-princess whom everyone mocks and belittles for being herself? You told yourself you wanted to do something great like Ezran and Willow. You could be better than them. You could be better than anyone. They'll never treat you so badly ever again!"

There was no resisting those words. The listener felt swayed by the power of what they both knew to be true. Caroline was allured by this tempter. She wanted to do magic again more than anything. It was what she'd always wanted. Her fingertips nearly touched the relic.

"Remember who you are!" shouted her father. "Remember who you are!" he repeated desperately again. His words made her stop. She remembered the words 'Never forget who you are' from his heartfelt letter. As she remembered, clicks of happy memories started flashing in the mind of her eye. She was silent for a long while. "I never did have what I wanted," she lamented, feeling nothing but loneliness for so much of her life. But her heart lifted as love filled that lonely void for the first time in years. She saw herself, Ezran, and Willow playing hide-and-seek together, Felix as a cub being cradled in her arms as she fed him milk, her dad Harrow and her relaxing together at the pools as he admired her artwork, and the whole family together in their room laughing with love and joy. "But I had what I needed," she pulled her hand back. She became more determined than ever. "I had love! Everything I've always needed was right in front of me the whole time. And I will never ever turn my back on my family!" she suddenly snatched the cube from her dark self and she smashed it on the floor.

"No!" her dark self screamed. She turned purple and cracked, turning into a pile of ash.

Carol breathed in and out slowly. She couldn't believe she had nearly submitted to the swaying words of that snake. She vowed to herself that she would never again use dark magic. She couldn't bear to use the same magic that had caused humanity to be banished from Xadia in the first place.

She felt a hand wrap around her shoulders. She turned and saw it was her father, unchained and unbound. She breathed in and out slowly, joy overcoming her heart once again.

"Oh lassie," Harrow breathed. "I'm so proud of you," he pulled her into his arms. She felt herself crying again, feeling as if she had been reunited with him in the afterlife.

"I'm sorry," she cried. "It's my fault. I should have stayed with you,"

"No," he pulled back and wiped her tears away. "I made my choice so you could live. You've come so far,"

"Why didn't you tell me about the mages who tried to kidnap me?"

Harrow sighed; afraid she had brought this up. "I meant to tell you the truth when you turned sixteen. After everything you went through, I couldn't bear to bring it up,"

She pursed her lips. "I wish you were here with us,"

"Me too. Me too," he embraced her again and Carol didn't want to let go.

In the hospital, Soren was on the bed, bandaged, unable to walk or even more any muscle in his body except his lips and his tongue. Claudia sat beside him, rubbing his hand.

"This is all my fault," she said.

"No. We both fell for their lies. We were both fools," Soren did not to see her feel like this.

Claudia twiddled her fingers. "There's no easy way to tell you this but…" she hesitated.

"I'm not going to walk again," he said. "Or do anything. But…it's for the best,"

Claudia was shocked. "Why? Why would you say that?"

"Because Dad gave me a secret mission. At first, I was confused but…I just wanted him to be proud of me, and to get my job back as a Kingsguard," he shed a tear. "I just wanted him to love me,"

Claudia wiped his tear away. "You may be a jerk and everything but Dad loves you no matter what,"

"I didn't want to but because he's so smart, I thought he had a reason. And I tried to do it but for a while now I've regretted it and I can't stop thinking about it,"

Claudia was becoming a bit shocked now more than ever. "Soren, what did Dad tell you to do?"

Soren closed his eyes and opened them again slowly. "Kill the children,"

"No," she shook her head. "Dad would never ask that. You must have misunderstood,"

"He did. What he really wanted was for me to get rid of Raylan and Caroline. He…tried to strike at her…the night the king was killed," Claudia still refused to believe it. "But now I can't do anything terrible because…" Soren lamented. "I can't do anything. This is what I deserve,"

Hi I've just updated this chapter and I'm hoping to publish the next one by today.