Breaking Fate

Being barely able to breathe, a shaman watched as those around her were engulfed in flames. She weakly picked herself up as smoke filled the area they had taken refuge in. Frantically looking around, she spotted her brother—unconscious, his armor clouded in smoke and ash. Trying to lift him, they both tumbled as she began to break down in tears, desperately trying to move him to no avail.

"Help! Please! Anyone!?" she screamed, only to inhale more smoke. She coughed violently, her voice lost to the roar of the flames.

Her vision blurred. A hand gently touched her cheek.

She turned as her brother smiled faintly.

"Sorry, sis... I can't really feel my legs right now."

Jumping back from the loud crashing, her brother's hands gripped her arms as his face turned serious.

"Sis! Get out of here! This place is filling with smoke fa—cough cough"

"Brother! Let me heal you!"

As she placed her hands onto his armor, a bright light began to shine. After a moment, she looked back toward him, only to see that nothing had changed in his condition.

"I don't understand... Why won't it work!?" she screamed, her healing spell still glowing beneath her hands.

Her brother gently placed a hand over hers, his eyes calm despite the chaos.

"Sis, it was most likely poison or some sort of paralysis venom. That doesn't matter anymore. What does is you getting out of here and warning the others," he said, as his grip on her hand slowly weakened before he went limp.

The girl stared into her brother's lifeless eyes, quickly being consumed by grief as she screamed in horror and hugged his corpse.

"Please wake up! Please! I'm begging you—don't leave me alone again! Brother, please!"

A hand suddenly gripped the woman's shoulder as one of the men she and her brother were tasked to work with began pulling her away from him as flames began to consume the body. Trying to break away, the man quickly grabbed her again before smacking her cheek.

"Listen, lady, I ain't trying to risk my life for a dumb bitch who can't realize her brother's dead and gone! Now, if you have any sense left in that head of yours, then follow me! I know a way out of this place!" he shouted as he began to rush away, dragging her by the hand.

As they ran for a while, the woman saw everyone who had left with them burnt to a crisp or crushed to death. She wiped away the tears as they finally began to see the light outside. The man suddenly stopped. She turned to see what he was looking at, and horror filled her face. The exit had been blocked off with rocks and debris. The man began clawing at the rock in a panic as the girl fell to her knees.

"I ain't fucking dying like this! Don't worry, lady! Give me a minute or two, and I'll... I'll have this debris cleared!" the man shouted, with a hint of desperation in his voice.

The woman's ears suddenly picked up laughing from the other side of the rubble. Quickly standing to her feet, she rushed over to the man and began lifting rocks herself. She finally managed to clear enough to barely see the other side.

There stood a man, his face shrouded in darkness—although that wasn't what caught the girl's attention. Looming over the man was a giant manifestation of a demon, its claws gripped around the man's heart as they both maniacally laughed.

As her vision worsened, the woman collapsed. The man rushed over toward her, only for an arrow to pierce the side of his neck. The sound of him gurgling on his blood was swiftly drowned out by the crackling of flames. When her vision blackened completely, all she could remember was the crazed laughter coming from the other side as she finally stopped breathing.

Waking up in a cold sweat, the woman began to panic as multiple people rushed into the room she was in—along with her brother. As he pulled her close, he saw the tears rushing down her face and began to slowly wipe them away. After about an hour of staying in the same position, the two went to the kitchen and began to eat the breakfast that the others had made.

Another man sat down with them, next to her brother, and leaned in close toward him.

"So what happened with her, Dal? Does she always go crazy when she wakes up?" the man asked, only to be met with a dangerous glare from Dal before he sighed.

"My sister is a shaman, and with that, she can see the future for a brief window of time when she sleeps."

"...So what did you see, Sean?" Dal asked her.

"I... I saw everyone die. In a fire, specifically. I wasn't able to see where exactly, and it was done by a group of people. We were also poisoned—either by food and water or in our sleep. It was all so blurry," she said, before placing her head on the table and gripping her hair.

Dal stood from the table and patted her back before dismissing everyone who was watching, then left himself. As he walked out of an inn in the city of Bayspire, he stood guard near the doorway and began to think to himself.

'She seemed pretty broken up about this one. That must mean I died and couldn't do anything... Well, I guess I shouldn't really worry about it. She's had worse premonitions, and I doubt this one will be the one to kill us. We should just focus on the mission at hand.'

Dal and Sean had been working undercover with the guild on a mission to stop a slave ring that had traveled across the continent.

They were informed of the next likely spot it would appear and began heading to Bayspire. Thanks to the guild's connections, they had managed to get a few informants inside to assist in the capture and arrest of the man known as Mr. Woods. After the market was set up, Dal and Sean called back most of the informants and were preparing the raid soon.

After a few hours of guarding the door, a man in a cloak appeared, his voice deep yet raspy, holding a letter.

"S-Sir! I have a report from the slave market!" the man said, handing him the letter.

As he began to read the letter, he looked back up at the man and gave his thanks. Dal reached into his pocket and tossed a silver coin toward him. The cloaked man caught it, thanked him, and happily ran away as Dal entered the inn.

Looking around, he eventually found Sean, who had wandered into one of the informants' rooms. Dal leaned on the wall, making sure not to make any noise as he listened in.

"Hi. I'm Sean," she said, as the man who was sharpening his pocket knife looked up at her.

His face was rough and riddled with small scratches, and his build was clearly made for thievery. He leaned forward with a smug attitude and looked at Sean with confusion and annoyance.

"Huh? The fuck do you want?" the man asked as Sean continued smiling, then sat down next to him.

"Seems like your language is still colorful. I just wanted to get to know you better, that's all."

"And why's that?"

Sean paused, recalling the man's face as he charged through fire just to help them escape while she couldn't even try.

"Because you're an interesting guy!" Sean yelled, grabbing his hand and clasping it with hers.

Suddenly, Dal charged into the room, quickly removed Sean, and glared at the man before leaving. As he dragged a now-protesting Sean back to their quarters, he plopped her on the bed.

"What the hell was that, Sean?" Dal asked, his expression serious.

"W-What was what, brother?"

"Don't give me that. Was he a problem in your vision or something? If so, I can deal with him myself if need be," Dal said as Sean stood up, yelling, "No!"

"I mean… yes, no. It doesn't matter! I just want to get to know the informants a little better."

"Well, don't. Don't forget that these guys are only helping us because the guild promised them immunity and pay. They're all scum."

After a brief moment of silence, Sean left the room. Dal stared at the floor before pulling out the letter from his pocket.

'Well, I guess it's for the best if she doesn't see this. Would only make her more paranoid.'

As night fell, Dal and the others headed toward the lounge for a group meeting Sean had called. As everyone took a seat, they began to notice the serious look on her face.

"Listen, I know this may seem a bit rash, but we need to relocate our operations someplace else. Preferably with less wood," she said as Dal began thinking of any potential sites.

"How ab—" Before Dal could finish, the man from before shouted out:

"There's this abandoned mine that my folks used to stay in when our house would break down. It's not too far from Bayspire and is pretty unknown if you don't know where to look."

Sean's face glimmered as she instantly agreed with the idea. Dal, wanting to argue, thought it over and reluctantly agreed, thinking it could most likely prevent Sean's vision. After the coast was clear, the small band ventured off, with the man leading the way.

Finally arriving at the mine, they began exploring as it really was abandoned and the perfect spot for setting up a camp. After a few days of moving, Dal and Sean smiled as their camp was finally finished.

Sean had also forbidden everyone from eating anything without her checking the meat prior so she could prevent the poisoning that would take place. As another night drew near, Sean saw Dal talking to a man who had shown up in a cloak sweating profusely.

Not wanting to interrupt, she headed back to where everyone had stationed their sleeping bags, along with the man before that had finally introduced himself as Oliver.

"Hello~ How are you doing Oli?" Sean said with a happy face as Oliver looked up, exhausted with her over the days.

"What do you want? I'm kinda busy here." He said as he sharpened a spear.

"I see. Well I just wanted to check up on you. I know you don't like talking to us but-" 

Dal's footsteps echoed through the mine as he approached the two. Looking at him with untrusting eyes, he ordered Oliver to go take watch. Standing up, he began walking away, when suddenly Sean grabbed his shirt.

"Get someone else to do it, we're busy right now." 

"...Fine, I guess I'll get someone else to do it tonight. Finish up and get ready. One of the informants told me that they'll be most vulnerable tomorrow night so get some sleep." Dal said as he ordered someone else to take watch and entered his bed.

As a bit of time went on, Sean began to notice a weird smell that had suddenly took over the mine. As she began to walk around with one of the random men patroling the area to find the cause, a faint hissing sound could be heard in the corner of her ear.

"Hey, do you hear that? It kinda sounds like a snake." Sean said as the man was already listening in.

"... A fuse?" The random man said out loud to himself, as an explosion shook the entire mine, causing rocks and large chunks of debris to fall. 

A large rock above them shook violently as it then came down swiftly.Sean stood there stunned at the situation as the man shoved her out of the way as more and more debris fell.

Being able to barely breath, Sean watched as those around her were engulfed in flames. She weakly picks herself up, holding her forehead which was bleeding heavily as smoke filled the area they had made the camp. Her eyes widened in fear as these events began to feel familiar like the visions. 

'N-no… it can be.'

She rushed over the debris and ran over towards the barracks, remembering her brother which had died in the vision.

'Please! Not again!'

As she finally made it into the barracks, she saw countless bodies that burned or died of suffocation. She rushed over to her brother's bed, only to see him being helped up by the man.

"There she is! Happy! Now let's hurry up and get out of here! This place is coming down fast." Oliver said as he handed Dal over to Sean who instantly began to heal him.

"Dal! Everything's happening again! It's just like the vision from before!" Sean cried, hugging him as he grabbed her tight and began rushing out the fiery area and placing a cloth over her mouth.

"It's ok. By some miracle Oliver found out how everyone got poisoned and helped me out." Dal said as he followed the man to the exit only to be met with the debris.

"F-Fuck… I can't move my legs anymore. The gassed venom is finally catching up to me." Oliver mumbled as he fell onto the side of the wall.

Sean instantly rushed over towards him as Dal began trying to break through the Barricade. As more and more rocks began to shift, a loud crack echoed throughout the mine as it finally caved in.

Sounds of rejoice and pride chanted on the other side of the wall, as Evan sat nearby, watching the men he had brought for back up celebrate their clear victory. The traitors to the slave market were dealt with swiftly, and wouldn't be able to ruin his future plans for the business. As rose from the ground and dusted himself off and walked away with the men he was given.

After a few hours passed, the debris that blocked the entrance of the caved in mine broke, as the three slowly inched their way out. As the three coughed from inhaling so much smoke, they gathered themselves and rose from the ground.

"T-This was a complete failure. We almost died" Dal said, then looking over towards Sean who was frantically looking around.

"Where did Oli go? He was just right-"

Dal paused her, as he shook his head.

"He ran. Since we can't complete our mission now, his chance for immunity also ended. If he had stayed, he would have been charged with all the crimes he had committed."

Although saddened by the loss of Oliver, the two collected the remaining bearings they had, they decided to leave this place and report what had happened to the guild.