5
The vast green field before them ran for miles in every direction, and at the far end stood rocky hills. They stood in the middle of the green- grassed plain, the sun still high in the sky, just a few hours after noon. They had made good time since leaving the ruins of Skylin, their minds pulling them towards the rocky hills at the edge of the field.
Dairin pulled up on StormBeater's reins and turned the horse sideways. His gaze set on the distant rocky hills. Rordin stopped next to the horse, his eyes on the hills also. "Something's pulling me towards those hills." Rordin said letting his eyes scan the hilly field. "We have to head to those rocky hills."
"Yes, I know," Dairin simply replied. I've seen those hills before, in my dreams, just as I had seen Rordin in my dreams before. "The Hills of Minhin Dur." Dairin whispered, the words meant for his ears only.
"What?" Rordin asked, swinging the black case off of his shoulder and lightly placing it on the ground, flexing the muscles in his arms and legs, the joints cracking. Above them the falling moon groaned in protest as the two parts forced themselves further apart. A small drizzle began, the rain cool against the heat of the sun.
"The Hills of Minhin Dur," Dairin repeated, his voice louder. "I've seen them in my dreams before. They separate the Twin Moon desert from this field. If we want to reach the desert, we have to cross those Hills."
"Then we have to cross the Hills," Rordin agreed, hoisting his case up onto his shoulder, the rectangular case seeming heavier then usual. Another boom echoed in the sky and around the world as another small piece of the moon broke away and collided with the earth.
"We have no time to waste," Dairin said. "The moon falls closer to the earth every minute, and soon there won't even be a world left." Before Dairin could kick StormBeater into a trot, a dagger flew into the shoulder of his coat, cutting the thin outside layer of skin, the force of it threw him off his horse, and he landed hard on his back.
Rordin kneeled down and helped Dairin to his feet, his black case braced in his hands as if he was about to use it as a weapon, his eyes scanning the field but seeing no one. The rain began to beat down on them, soaking them to the bone. Dairin quickly grabbed his lance from StormBeater's side, and braced it at the ready in his hands. The dagger was stuck in the ground, the right shoulder of his coat ripped, a small trickle of blood running down his arm from a small cut.
"This is not the time for this to be happening," Dairin said, moving around his horse in a crouched position, his lance gripped tightly in his hands, Rordin next to him, the black case in his hands still locked, but held as if he was ready to use it. "We have no time for this!"
"The Warrior of the ColdBlade, Rordin Vindrin, and the lone warrior, Dairin Gallhin," a women's voice announced from somewhere in the field in front of them. They both stopped dead in their tracks, their weapons still raised, both knowing that the woman was addressing them. "I've been waiting for you, both of you. Time is short, we must hurry." A beautiful woman appeared over a hill, a dagger in each of her hands. "You may lower your weapons, I mean you no harm." She sheathed the two daggers into her belt, as she walked past them, over to StormBeater. She rubbed the horse's nose, turning to face them after a second or two.
"Who are you?" Rordin asked, lowering the black case, letting it hang at his side, Dairin leaning against the lance. "You've for us? Why?" He couldn't take his eyes off the woman; she was the most beautiful person he had ever seen.
"My name is Karleigh Trahan," the woman said in a soft cool voice that sounded like an autumn breeze. "I know both of your destinies, for they are linked to mine. I know all three of our destinies, I know where we must go, I know who both of you are, and I know everything of our destinies. You both must fulfill them, as it was written for you to do."
Dairin and Rordin both walked towards the horse, Dairin tying his lance to his saddle again, and Rordin swinging the black case back onto his shoulder. "Do you know everything of our destinies?" Dairin asked, securing the lance to the saddle and patting the horse on the neck. "Yes, I do," Karleigh, answered smiling. "I was born to know everything of our destinies, just as you two were born to travel to the Twin Moon Desert. I was meant to advise you on what to do, and what to expect. But the voices are not in my head as they are in yours. Those voices told you of your destinies, but I knew of mine when I was born."
Karleigh had bright blue eyes, long straight blackish-brown hair to the middle of her back, and a smile that could kill. She wore long black pants, black boots, a short sleeveless white shirt and a gray windbreaker that fell to her waist. She was the most beautiful woman they had ever seen. Four two foot long silver daggers hung on a black belt around her waist, and a short three-foot long spear was strapped to her back.
"What will happen to us?" Dairin asked, his voice suggesting that he didn't really want to know. "What is waiting for us in the Twin Moon Desert?" He folded his arms over his chest and waited for an answer.
"I can not tell you," Karleigh replied. "You do not need to know everything at once; I am not going to tell you too much at once. Your destinies are written for you, and only you can find out what they truly are." She paused and looked at both of them in turn. "I must tell you of what you seek, or what you are up against. Two thousand years ago, before history, a time only known as legend now, there were two full moons in the sky above our world. A large piece from each of the moons broke away and fell to the planet, to later be forged together into a sword, the Sword of the Moons.
"One moon was the gray falling moon, the other a blue moon, that vanished from the sky the night the two pieces broke away. The piece of the blue moon was the moon's core and that is why the moon vanished, trapped in that piece. The energy of the blue moon is trapped within that piece that is now the handle of a very powerful sword. The wielder of that sword can call upon the energy and power of the blue moon." "You're telling us that we have to find this sword?" Rordin asked, confusion overwhelming his face. He didn't know what to believe anymore, he didn't even know what this woman was doing here.
"No, you don't have to find the Sword of the Moons," Karleigh answered, turning to face Rordin, a cool beautiful _expression on her face. "No, I'm only saying that your destinies have something to do with that sword. And that sword lies in the desert somewhere." "And you're here to advise us?" Dairin asked.
"Yes," Karleigh simply replied, smiling, turning her attention from Rordin to Dairin. "Unlike your destinies, mine is to simply help you and advise you, as I was born to do when the day finally came. That day is here, your destinies are but days away."
"Why?" Dairin demanded in a questioning voice. What seemed like anger quickly flashed across Karleigh's face, but she remained cool and beautiful despite it. It was merely a raised eyebrow that showed anger, and was gone as quickly as it had appeared.
"Your destinies are linked," Karleigh, repeated what she had said earlier, as if that was the answer they were waiting for. "Your destinies, your fates are important to the world, and must be seen through to the end. The fate of the world is on your shoulders. You are both more important then any king that ever lived."
"You've made it clear that we are important, but I just can't bring myself to see that," Rordin said, his right hand on the top of the black case that rested on his shoulder, a large smile glued to his face. His voice was light, but full of worry. "I've never seen myself as important, and probably never will."
"But you are important to the world, your fate is at least," Karleigh reassured him, her voice strong and commanding. "Don't doubt yourself, that is the downfall of most men. Believe in yourself and you will make it through."
"I'll try, but I still don't believe that I'm important," Rordin said quickly, cutting off all thought of the subject. "Enough of that though. I want to know what you're doing here Karleigh. I mean, I know you're here to help us, and that your destiny is linked with ours, !" He sighed and rubbed his forehead, thinking it over, unsure if he was going to ask it. "Karleigh what is your destiny? What part does it play in this?"
She smiled at him, and answered quickly. "As I have already told you, I'm here to advise you both, and see that you both make it through to the end. As for my destiny, I'm meant to die at the end of this." She said it as if it didn't matter, both Rordin and Dairin startled at her cool response, and shaken at the idea that she didn't seem to care about it.
"What?" Dairin nearly yelled in protest. "You're going to die? You're destined to die?" He paused and exchanged confused glances with Rordin, now his only friend, though Dairin didn't want to admit it. Rordin was the only friend that he had left; all the rest of his friends had died. "You can't die!"
"I'm not worried about it," Karleigh replied in the same cool voice as before. "I've known this since I was born, and I've come to live with it. As long as you two survive and complete your destinies, there will be no worries."
"There will be worries, for us," Rordin argued, Dairin unable to find his voice, his mind so shaken up from this. "We won't be able to live with ourselves if you die." He turned his head and stared towards the Hills of Minhin Dur, anger on his face, unable to accept it.
"I've come to deal with it, and over time you will too!" Karleigh nearly yelled at them in anger towards their reaction. She had dealt with it over time, and she knew that they would too, as long as they saw their destinies out to the end. She saw that they were both about to argue and protest that her death wasn't going to come, but she silenced them before they could say anything. "We better get moving, time is short, your destinies await you. We have no time to waste."
Dairin swung up onto his saddle with disbelief on his face, glancing down at Rordin meeting his eyes, both with the same disbelief and sadness on their faces, knowing that they couldn't say anything else about it.
Extending his arm, Karleigh grabbed his hand, and he helped her onto the back of the horse, her arms around his waist as he kicked StormBeater into a gallop, Rordin flexing his leg muscles running beside the horse, matching the horse's gallop. His eyes were set ahead of him, his mind lost in troubled thoughts about what awaited them in the desert.
I won't let her die, she can't die, Dairin told himself, as the rocky Hills of Minhin Dur began to tower over them. I won't let her die in the desert. Rordin and I will do something about it. I can't let more of my friends die near me. The drizzling rain hammered into them and the falling moon released another boom of protest, as it broke further apart.