Seeing Fate
an excerpt

I felt sick, cold and sweaty, as though I had a fever. And for some reason, I was afraid.
It’s just Spanish, I tried to reason with myself, but I couldn’t calm down…
Against my will, I began to panic.
“There will come a time when you are alone, Rhynnéavar.”
I could hear it, but I didn’t think anyone else could. This was not good. The lecture was going on as if the voice, menacing and terrifying, wasn’t as plain as day.
Or maybe night.
“There will come a time when all depend on you, when they trust you to save them.”
I was shivering now, but no one had noticed. Cold, cold…I would never be warm again.
There was no warmth.
“And when the time comes…you will fail.”
I didn’t know what was happening, but I knew it was true. I almost began to cry, but stopped myself. If I let the tears fall, I would give in.
And I would never give in. I would never fail.
In what? a tiny part of my brain was screaming. What on earth am I talking about? What would I fail in? Computer Sciences? People are hardly depending on me there!
I was overwhelmed, somehow fighting…fighting something. I didn’t understand, but I knew I could not lose.
The quiet room was still around me. How could it be? What could exist but this battle, this battle that was within me and nothing else?
“Why? Because a menacing voice told me to?”
I was defiant. Everyone said so.
And I would never despair.
“I don’t think so.”
The other presence laughed, even from its defeat.
“You are a worthier enemy than I expected.”
It vanished.
It would never be defeated.