The Fates
Chapter 13

"There, do you see?" Rhale was pointing at mountains far away "The entrance lies in between them"

Rhale had told Celia that the land of the gods was far away to the north and that the journey there would be very cold. They needed to get supplies if they were going to make it there, including warmer clothes.

They both knew that she couldn't walk into any town or village without the risk of getting recognised, not any more. Due to the fact that Rhale was unwilling to leave her for the time it would take to get provisions they had needed to replace another way.

So instead they rode in the opposite direction, Rhale said that the warrior tribe he had joined as a young boy was only a few hours' ride away from where they had been, at least on Taurus that is. Celia doubted that any normal horse could have made the journey that quickly.

Rhale had decided that the best course of action was to first go to the tribe and them and ask them for their help.

He had an almost dreamy voice as he spoke about them, it was rare for him to talk about his past and Celia listened to every word he spoke with rapped interest, enjoying every minute of it.

"They are warriors, all of them and if you wish to stay with them one must learn how to fight, quickly. Even their children know how to fight."

"Are you sure they will help us?" She asked, a bit worried.

"They will but they don't trust strangers easily, they will, however, smell what you are."

"Are they not human?"

"They are shifters." Celia's eyebrows rose up in surprise, she had never met a shifter before. They were a rare thing, as far as she knew. What she had heard however is how dangerous they all were and she thought that them being warriors could only make them that much more dangerous.

"Will they not want to give me to the King?"

"No they won't. If you turn yourself into a warrior they would welcome you with open arms and fight beside you against any foe you might have. Want to become a warrior?" She could hear the smile in Rhale’s voice. She knew that he was jetsting, all of the hours they had spent training had already given them the answer loud and clear, she could never be a warrior of any kind.

"I do not think that I am warrior material." She said lightheartedly.

"I think you underestimate yourself." Rhale's lips touched her ear as he whispered the words to her, he was holding her midriff securely and he fanned out his hand on her lower stomach, causing butterflies to fill her belly.

"Warrior it is then, no joining needed" She joked.

"No sweet Celia, I will join you whether you are a warrior or not." He kissed her neck and she blushed deeply, still amazed at how much he affected her.

"Ready to meet my second family?"

"No, I'm terrified" She truly was but Rhale laughed and spurred Taurus into a fast gallop. What if they didn't like her? From what she could understand he saw these people as more of a family than his own.

It was evening when they reached the foot of the mountains and Taurus slowed down slightly. She knew that it wouldn't be long now and she was really nervous. She looked down on herself as best as she could, her hair was hanging in a tangled mess and her dress was covered in mud from her knees down. Well, it wasn't much she could do about that now so she started to ask questions to distract herself.

"What do they shift into?"

"They shift into jaguars" That didn't make her anymore nervous, no, not at all. Right, she was positively shaking. Why couldn't they shift into something less frightening? Like sloths, she had always wanted to meet a sloth.

"Were they kind to you? When you first got there?"

"They weren't, not at first. Everyone needs to prove themselves in order to join the tribe. I was weak but they made me stronger, I was afraid but they made me brave, they made me everything I am and they gave me a sense of belonging." Celia tried to picture it in her head but she had a difficult time imagining that Rhale had ever been a young boy.

"Do they all shift into jaguars?"

"Most of them do, some that have joined from other tribes take other forms and some don't shift at all."

They rode between two large, green mountains and eventually the mountains met and connected high off the ground, leaving a gaping hole in the middle. Celia thought that it looked like an archway, made by nature.

"This is the entrance, once we go past it we will be in their realm. Hold on, it will get windy." Rhale said before he jumped to the ground to lead her and Taurus through. Celia had no time to prepare, nor could she have, the force of the wind was unlike anything she had ever felt.

She held onto the saddle for dear life as the wind gushed circles around them, it was even worse than it had been on Dianthus mountain. Rhale staggered forward, pulling Taurus with him. Celia lowered herself down as far as she could and hid her face in Taurus' dark mane, trying to catch her breath. Just as she thought that she was about to fall off the wind stopped and she was enveloped by moist, hot air.

She rose herself up on Taurus and opened her eyes. Before them stood a man as tall as Rhale, his dark bare chest and arms bulging with terrifying muscles. His head was shaved and his dark eyes looked at them threateningly.

The man took a step forward just as Rhale did the same, Rhale's back was to Celia so she could not see his expression but the other man looked ready for a fight and her back went stiff with worry. One of her hands automatically went to her bow while the other was ready to draw. Sure enough the man swung his fist at Rhale and hit him hard on the side of his face, Rhale flew backwards by the force.

Celia had her arrow pointed at the stranger before she even registered that she had done so. His wide eyes met hers, she didn't shoot but kept her arrow at the ready.

"She's cute" the man said with an accent she didn't recognise.

"That she is" Rhale said before stepping forward and hitting the man straight in the jaw. He fell back almost comically and Celia put her arrow back behind her, it was clear that they knew each other.

As soon as the man rose to his feet the two of them embraced like long lost brothers.

"You have been gone too long"

"Too long" Rhale agreed.

"Who is the beauty with the bow?" The strange man asked and looked pointedly at Celia.

"This is Celia, Celia this is Khalil"

Kahlil put his hand to his heart and bowed his head slightly to her "You can shoot me with your arrow anytime"

"Let me help you down" Rhale said as he put his arms up to her, he helped her down and she looked at his face, there wasn't even a scratch on it.

"Taurus knows his way around here" Rhale said as he took off the saddle and put it on his shoulder.

"Come, everyone is waiting" Khalil motioned to them and they followed after him.

Celia looked around them in wonder, they seemed to be in a forest but the tall, giant trees were not like any other trees that she was familiar with. Everything was also very green, high bushes of different shaped leaves grew both on the moss covered ground and up the trunks of the trees.

Strange birds flew away from their places as they walked, Rhale and Khalil were talking happily to each other but Celia was too busy looking around to listen. She even saw a frog with red eyes that was clinging to a leaf.

It looked magical.

There was no clear path as they walked but Khalil moved them between the wild vegetation with ease. She clearly saw when they were beginning to reach their destination because they walked past a ginormous house that was built between the trees. Windows covered the entire side of the house and she could see the elaborate details inside. One would think that such an extensive building would look strange in the wilderness but it melted in perfectly with the surroundings.

Celia could not ever have imagined, not even in her wildest dreams, that something like this could exist.

More buildings were scattered around as they walked and further down she could see a clearing with a huge fire blazing, illuminating in the evening glow.

"Rhale, welcome home" An older woman said when they approached, her face was sunken but she looked as fierce as the people standing behind her. Celia placed herself half behind Rhale as she watched the entire tribe gathered around.

"Ximena" Rhale said as the woman stepped forward and embraced him, she guessed that it was her name.

"You have been missed"

"I should have come more often"

"Who have you brought?" Ximena said and looked at Celia behind him, eying her up and down, probably taking in her disheveled appearance and Celiantried hard not to grimas unter the woman's gaze.

"This is Celia, Celia this is Ximena she is the tribe leader." Rhale had no more time for introductions as he was pulled away by the rest of the people and Celia was left standing alone in front of Ximena. Celia reluctantly met her eyes, they were a deep dark color just as Khalil's but Ximena's held another level of depth to them.

"Celia, you must be tired." Ximena put her arm around Celia’s shoulders "What do you want, eat first or would you like to clean up?"

Celia's stomach felt empty and longed for food but even her hands had on them "I would love to clean up." She said, ignoring her protesting stomach.

The old woman smiled at her and started to lead her away from the commotion "Is it true, what I smell?"

Celia looked at her in confusion and Ximena clarified "Your scent"

Ah, now she understood "Yes it is what you smell"

"Well, that is strange." Was Ximena's only response and Celia let out a nervous breath, "Rhale will be busy, it has been so long since anyone has seen him so I hope you don't mind me asking, why have you come? I doubt this is a social visit"

Celia didn't mind "We are going to the land of the gods and we need help with provisions" she faltered a bit wondering if she should say the rest but she saw no point in withholding any information "We can't go into any towns, the King has his guards looking for me."

Ximena did not look surprised by her confession "I see" they approached a house that looked exactly like the ones she had seen on their way here "This house has stood empty, waiting for Rhale to come back, it is his. If you wish to say elsewhere we have guest rooms" Ximena took the set of keys that was hanging from a belt around her waist, but she turned her head and looked at Celia before opening the door.

"I do not mind staying with Rhale."

"I thought not" and then she opened the door and walked inside, Celia followed and looked around in awe. The room was spacious and open and the walls were made out of windows, it made it feel that much bigger than it was.

Everything also seemed to be made for comfort, two soft looking sofas stood facing each other in the middle of the room with a big fluffy carpet between them. Green blankets were thrown lasily over the backs of the sofas and an open staircase stood in a spiral behind them.

"We knew that you were coming, there is water and clothes upstairs. I will wait here for you."

Celia made her way up the strange stairs, the first thing she saw was an immensely huge bed with a gorgeously carved headboard, the whole thing was impressive and it was made out of massive wood. Her body aced and she wanted nothing more than to throw herself down on the smooth looking quilt that adorned the bed but her stomach made a sound, reminding her to hurry up.

There was little else in the room except for a wooden desk, made from the same material as the bed and two bedside tables, to the right of her there was a door and she opened it.

Behind it stood a vanity table, clothes were hanging over the chair that stood in front of it and two big bowls of water stood on a table in the corner. Celia folded up her dirty dress and used one of the bowls to wash herself, in one of the drawers on the vanity she found a comb and she readily went to work on her hair.

When she was done she eyed the dress that had been laid out for her, it was dark green and made from a thin material. It looked close to what Ximena had been wearing but it was more revealing than hers. She looked at her folded up dress on the vanity, she couldn't very well put on a dress that was that dirty again. So she put on the green dress and covered her eyes when she saw that one side of the dress was open just past her knee.

Celia took a deep breath and forced herself to walk downstairs again, glad that she at least was clean but still mortified of the amount of skin that she was showing.

"Ah! Much better, do you like the dress?" Ximena met her half way and smiled at her, Celia looked down in embarrassment. What was she supposed to say?

"It's a bit revealing" then she quickly added "but I am grateful, thank you."

"Every woman wears a dress like it here, it is made for free movement. You will fit right in." Ximena's reassuring words did nothing to ease her, Celia's light hair and pale skin would make her stick out like a sore thumb.

"I do feel the need to warn you" Ximena said as they walked out of the house "My daughter Amara might not be the most welcoming of you. She took it bad when Rhale went off to fight outside our realm, she always wanted more than he could give her. Do not take anything she says personally. Amara is really a kind soul but Rhale is special to her and that he has shown up with a strange woman will be like a torn on her side."

If Celia had not been worried before she sure was now. Has there been something between this Amara and Rhale? She tried to bury her self consciousness as they moved closer to the huge fire, she could hear strange music and the wonderful smell of food filled her nostrils.

Celia hoped that there hadn't been anything between Amara and Rhale. What if when he saw Amara old feelings were rekindled? Worry took over the hunger in her belly and other feelings that she had never felt before swirled within her.

She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and tried not to think about it. If there was something between Rhale and Amara there was nothing she could do about it.

Celia reminded herself to hold her head high as they walked the last of the way.