Fates intervention

Star-crossed: act 1 – "Fate's intervention"
Written by Black-Draco
World, Eo & Paiden owned by Rhanite


Tegew stretched his back and dried of a dribble of sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.

"There! And before noon, too. Time to get it gathered and stocked."

The light hazel haired man lays the scythe against the fence and quickly dusts off his clothes before he begins to collect the wheat. On the surrounding, distant fields around him are other men doing the same, all harvesting and bounding the crops into bundles.

It is the harvest season in the Highlands and the weather is hot and arid. Not a single cloud graces the blue sky. The horizon is only broken by the white peaks of the Dragonspine Mountains far in the East. The lands below the old giants' roots belong to the Chú Faoil, the wolf clan. The small farm at the edge of a small forest belongs to Tegew and his wife Euna. It had been given to them on their wedding day by the rest of the O'Eadu family.

The profession of Tegew O'Eadu is that a Shining Knight, sergeant of the Phoenix Queen's second guard.  Whenever he was not bearing the queen's tartan, doing his duty to protect the realm from enemies of both worlds, or guarding the sacred halls of her city Hope, he would wear the tartan of his clan and take care of his own family and farm. To avoid having to travel the northern Highlands every fortnight, Tegew would normally stay at his duties in Hope for long periods of time. This meant that he would likewise be at home longer in between his seasons.

Having only wed Euna some years ago, he had been allowed to return home during every harvest season to help gather the crops, as custom is for many young Knights with newly formed families. Until his children are old enough to handle the task by themselves, he would expect to return home to the harvest the next few years. He currently has three kids, with a fourth on its way. It would be some years yet before he would allow his eldest son to swing around the scythe.

He chuckled to himself. Caitheigh already seemed to have the sword-arm of his grandfather. He would become a fine knight one day.

Just as Tegew finishes the fourth bundle, his keen ears picks up the sound of small feet running up the dirt road.

"Dad!"

He looks up in time to see his two eldest children coming running up along the road from behind the trees. The dust that their feet raise up hangs lazily in the still air behind them.

"Dad!"

The man quickly jumps over the fence and kneels down as the two small kids run up to him.

"Aewyn, what is it? What's wrong?"

His daughter rests her hands on her knees as she takes a few deep breaths of air before speaking in a more steady tone.

"Me n' Cai was climbing trees with Karo down at the steam. He was climbing when the branches broke and he fell into the water. We tried to find him but he was nowhere to be seen."

Tegew could feel how the hair on his neck rose on end. Karoteigh is his youngest son and had yet to learn how to swim. Normally the stream was quiet and safe, but the slippery rocks could make it hard for a child to get back up once fallen in. He rested his hands upon his daughter's shoulder as he lowers his head, eyes leveled with hers.

"Where?"

"By the old hollow oak, at Fletchers' Ambush."

With that Tegew jumps up and disappears down the dusty road. He runs as fast as he can, jumping though the undergrowth of the forest that surrounds the steam. More than once he falls as a root or stone catch his feet, and every time he is up the following second, his mind ignoring the pain as he runs to find his son.

By the time he reaches the steam he has to quickly grab onto a young tree to stop, less he would fall into the water himself. His hair and beard have become entangled with leaves and small branches, and his clothes are covered in dirt and dust. Looking around he soon finds the large solid rock that marked the spot described by Aewyn. At its foot lays the hollow trunk of an oak tree that had fallen years ago.

"Karo!"

His cry is loud and roaring, but nothing than his own echo answers the call. He starts searching the banks of the steam further down, hoping to find his son where the water is cut close up to the trees. The roots acted like a web that would catch whatever flow on the water's surface. He could see nothing that reminded of his son.
Further down the stony banks the speed of the steam increases, as the water reaches a fall in the terrain.

"Karoteigh!"

The slope causes the water to descend, picking up speed. While the largest drop is less than a meter, it bottom of the stream at this place is filled with rocks and holes that could easily drag down something light and small. The knight spends a long time jumping from rock to rock, searching the area thoroughly before moving on. Further down the steam becomes calm again. At this point Tegew feels despondent. He has followed the stream for more than an hour. Did he miss something further back? Perhaps he should have spent more time searching the other side of the steam… perhaps the boy had managed to get to the other side and then gotten lost?

As Tegew is about to go back and search the banks again, his eyes catch a glimpse of something lying in the water between the rocks. Something small.

His heart stops for a second before hammering painfully in his chest. He can hear it pumping in his ears, a sound so loud that it blocks out any other as he run though the water out to the center of the steam. He holds his breath as he, with trembling hands, turns the thing around so that he can get a better look.

It is as he dreaded.

He lifts the tiny, limp body and holds it closely to his chest, shaking with grief as he walks back to the shore. As he reaches dry land he falls heavily to his knees. His head fall back and he howls his sorrow for the world to hear. Once the stillness of the forest returns.  Falling forward he buries his head in the grass, his back arched so that his son won't be squeezed between his trembling chest and the chilling soil.

He does not sense the world around him while he sits there crying into the ground. Only when a shadow falls over him does he notice the shape that has approached him with feline grace. With golden eyes shot red with grief, he looks up at the cloaked form that stands before him, watching him and his sorrow with cold grey eyes.

"The loss of a child is not something any parent should endure." A female voice muses with a calm purr.

"Nothing is more regrettable, than the loss of an innocent life." For a moment the hooded figure seemed to reflect on this before shaking its head as to clear the. Its voice is now caring, like a mother reassuring a sad child.

"I may know of a way to bring him back. A way for him to continue his life in this world. To grow old and wise, to make a family of his own." The head turns to look at the steam behind them. "To live as if nothing has happened."

Tegew grinds his teethes. "Do not mock me demon. I will hunt you soon enough. Do not think that you can use sorrow to bind a knight of Solas!"

The voice giggles and Tegew feels a very physical hand pat his head. As he looks up he sees that the figures' hood have fallen and before him sits a female Faelynn, one of the feline witches from the far west. Her fur is white and her hair light. She wears a dark, ragged robe that clings to her form.
Around her eyes is a web of veins that is visible through the fur. Black mist escaped her lips every time she breathed. The man is not sure if that particular trait is common among the Faelynns.

"Rest assured Tegew. My name is Eo, and I am not here on some dark power's behalf. I am here to give you an offer." Her feline eyes follow the knight's movements as he moves up into a kneeling position, still cradling the body in his arms.

"I will bring your son back to life, if you will do me a small favor."

Tegew looks at her with mixed feelings. On one side he is a Shining Knight who follows the codex of Solas, the god of the Day, closely. While he could tell that the Faelynn is not a demon, she did seem to be that of the Sheut: those touched by the Goddess of the Night. On the other hand though, he was nothing more than a father who had just lost a child.

"And who are you to give such a gift?" He manages to ask before his voice cracks over.

She smiled kindly back to him. "A Shadow Witch. I cannot tell you what it is we do, but I can reassure you that I will not ask for anything that goes beyond your ways. All I'm here for is to offer my services; you get your son back and I will receive a simple favor in return. Nothing more, nothing less"

Tegew looks from his son to the witch and back again. He has no doubt.

"Deal."


The witch smiles sweetly at him as she gets up. Once standing, she takes the limb body out of his arms carefully. She looks over Karo's face for a moment, an unreadable emotion flashing across her face, before she quickly swings the body over. Her hands hold onto the small legs tightly as they give the body a series of resolute shakes. Tegew feels a lump in his throat and has to look away from the scene. Once the body had been drained sufficiently she handed it carefully back to him.

"What no-"

"Shhh!" Eo hisses as she rummaged through her cloak, searching for something intently. After a while she returned her attention toward Karo.

"Hold him close. We only got one chance for this to succeed." She commands as she kneeled down.

From under her clothes Eo pulled out… nothing. It takes a moment for Tegew to notice the drop of water that clings in her fingertip. The drop itself is small, but seems to have a faint orange hue about it. As the witch mumbles in a foreign language she let the drop falls upon the boy's forehead. Upon impact it sends a faint orange wave of energy across Karo's body. The drop itself soon begins to roll over the brow toward his mouth. His body starts twitching as soon as the drop falls into his mouth and soon after the boy begins to cough up the remaining water from his lungs.


Tegew is breathless.

"Karo…"

The small boy continues to cough as he looks around with a frightened look in his eyes.

"Karo!"

He hugs his child closely. Tears began to run from the man's eyes as he holds the confused Karo closely.

"The loch was big… The people slept." Karo tries to get free as he frantically searches his surroundings, as if assuming that something else is whit them. Tegew hushes him gently.

"You're safe now my son. It was nothing but a bad dream."

Karo looks up at his father. His expression is determined.

"Dad. The blind lady was sad. Why was she sad, dad?"

In a blink of an eye Eo kneels down and places a finger on the boy's head.

"Sleep."

Immediately Karo falls asleep against his father's shoulder. Eo stands up and looks down at Tegew.

"I will now ask for my favor." The gentle expression from before have been replaced by a serious mask that looks down at the Shining Knight coldly. Tegew holds his breath. He had gotten his son back and now he must pay. However, no matter what the witch would ask for, he would not regret his decision.

Eo moves her eyes to the sleeping child.

"He has been in the world of the dead. At such an early age, he is likely to develop an affinity for spirits. He will feel this pull from the Spiritwilds in his very soul, and regardless of how you raise him, there will only be one fate for him."

Her eyes turn toward Tegew again.

"Your favor to me is that you will never tell any of this, unless they ask you directly what was said between us. Furthermore you will allow him to follow his destiny. Send him to the Coinin Clan in the Lakelands; let him be trained by Elder Shaman Paidín. Let him become a shaman."

Tegew nodded, a bit confused to say the least. Of all the favors one could ask of one of the Phoenix Queen's own knights, this was one he had not predicted. He was both relieved and burdened by this. On one side he remained faithful to his cause, god, queen and people. On the other he feared that he might have bought his son a destiny that was not his own. A deal was a deal however and Tegew would not be known as one who did not uphold his end of the bargain. Besides, he had heard many stories about the matriarch of the Seer Clan and if just half of them were true… needless to say she could teach Karo enough for him to carve his own path and destiny.

Eo takes the silence as a sign of agreement.

"Good. I will look forward to seeing what he will become. 'Till we meet again, Tegew."

As she turns her back to him she adds; "And we will meet again, less than five years from now."

She walks through the forest and disappears into the rays of bright light that is cast from the setting sun. As Tegew stands up with his son on his arms, he hears a faint whisper tingling in his head.

"Oh, and congratulations. Euna have just born you another son."