Omens!

AFTER hours of walking, they decided to set up camp. Christie set up a lot of protection sigils around their campsite so they wouldn't be attacked and every once in a while, she'd stare at Ryan and blush.

Ryan was confused about what was going on with her, sometimes she's like his best friend, sometimes she's shy to talk to him and sometimes he doesn't even know what's going on. [Girls are confusing!] That kiss she gave him would qualify under the third option. He found Christie attractive, of course, she was also smart and funny, but at the same time, he saw her more as a friend… at least, at the moment.

After they ate their rations, they decided to rest up. That night Ryan did not have a good nights' rest.

While everyone else was out like a light, he kept tossing and turning. His dreams were all fuzzy and misty, but there were voices, cold and sinister that called him from the abyss, "Come to Ussss! Come to Ussss!"

Ryan could feel himself moving in the abyss though his feet stood still. When his dreams cleared up, he saw a huge old ship marooned in a rocky bay. Ryan could feel the sea breeze on his face and hear the sound of the waves crashing into the reef.

The voices got louder now, "Join Ussss! Join Ussss!"

Ryan didn't want to keep going, but he still felt motion, then, Christie's voice pierce through his dream, "RYAN STOP!"

When Ryan opened his eyes, he was no longer in his camp site, he was standing at the edge of a cliff that went straight down to the rocky bottom. He turned around to see Jasmine, Simon and Christie there.

"Uh… guys," he asked, "What am I doing here?"

"You tell us." Jasmine said, "You were about to go over."

… )]≥( …

A few minutes earlier

Christie was woken up when Ryan stepped on her.

For the first time in days, she was actually having a pleasant dream, and not the usually unreliable prophetic visions most magi were often afflicted with, then she felt a sharp pain across her legs. She got up groggily to see Ryan getting up from the floor.

"Ryan?" she asked. He stopped and turned around, but his eyes were glazed over. She watched as he continued walking away, like a zombie.

"Hey, guys." She said waking the others, "Hey, Guys wake up."

"What is it?" Jasmine asked, half asleep

"Ryan's gone." She said

"What!?" Jasmine checked Ryan's sleeping area, everything was still there, his backpack, his jacket, his wand, his sword.

"Where has that idiota gone now?"

"He went that way." Christie said pointing

"And how do you know that?"

"He walked over me." She replied, "But his eyes were foggy, like he was asleep, but his body went for a little night-time stroll."

"Whoa, are you saying he sleepwalked?" Simon asked, "That is so cool."

"Let's go get him before he hurts himself."

They run after Ryan until they find him by the edge of a cliff, his leg is about to move over the edge.

Christie screamed, "RYAN STOP!"

He stopped, then, his head swayed. He turned around,

"Uh… guys," he asked, "What am I doing here?"

"You tell us." Jasmine said, "You were about to go over."

Ryan looked down then shook his head.

"Ryan, where were you going?" Christie asked

He shrugged, "I saw something over there." He pointed into the deep fog, "Something there was—I don't know—calling to me."

Christie hugged Ryan, pulling him from the edge.

"We go that way." Christie said pointing towards the fog.

"Really, we go to the place that almost got Ryan killed?" Simon said

Jasmine looked at him, "Yes."

"Okay." Simon said, "Just checking."

… )]≥( …

They were able to climb down the cliff face, but at a slow pace. After what seemed like hours, they got to the bottom.

"That was uncomfortable." Ryan complained flexed his fingers,

"C'mon, this way." Jasmine said.

Once they were at the bottom, Christie had decided to consult the aestyrometer. Ever since she's gotten her hands on the arcane device, she couldn't help herself. Traveler's compasses were infamous because they could do more than just read circumstances, in the right hands, it was said they could even read fate itself.

Magi have a complicated relationship with prophecy, as most tend to be self-fulfilling their accuracy and legitimacy is often called into question. The arkans call this phenomenon the 'destiny trap'. Even though they are unreliable, it is irrefutable that having foreknowledge can be an asset, so some arkans believe that the art of prophecy can be further refined.

There was even a group of magi that believed that the future could be shaped and guided, using specific knowledge gleaned from prophecies, they could alter future events to their benefit. Of course this group eventually drove themselves mad meddling with fate, and such practices were banned by the arkans.

However, as Christie held the sphere in her hands, she felt the temptation, to guide destiny towards what she had seen in her dreams. Unlike those magi from before, she understood the risks, and she had an aestyrometer, she literally had the tools to make any future she wanted.

As she twisted some of the dials, she was shocked when the sigil for death was formed, before her. This wasn't just a coincidence, this was an omen, a warning of things to come.

Trying again, she reconfigured the devices three more time, but still ended up with the sigil for death each time. However, on her last try, the sigil for death was entwined with the sigil for success, forming the sigil for sacrifice. She didn't like that she understood what it meant, what fate demanded of them.

Now with that grim assurance in mind, Christie clung close to Ryan. She felt safe around him, but she still couldn't shake the feeling of dread that followed her, it had been with her since they got onto the island, and had only gotten worse after consulting the aestyrometer.

She locked arms with Ryan, pulling herself close to him, breathing in his scent.

"Christie?" Ryan asked, "You okay?"

She turned to face him and flashed him a cautious grin,

"Yeah," she lied, "Yeah sure, I'm just… really nervous."

"You're not the only one," Ryan assured her, "Don't worry, everything will be alright,"

As Christie walked with Ryan, she was certain now; something very bad was going to happen to them. Their fate had already been decided, now it was just a matter of when.