Excerpt: The Prophet's Daughter

“Nyx, how long have you been staring at that damned thing?” The voice echoed against the stone walls as, blinking, the man called Nyx turned his head, glancing back towards the doorway. “Honestly, it’s not going to do anything just by looking at it, you idiot.”

“I know that!” Nyx snapped, running his hand through shaggy blond locks. He glared at his fellow before turning his eyes back to the object in question. Like so many of them across the land, this mirror was broken. No, there were no cracks upon the surface nor did it look faded, rather it wasn’t working. His hand pressed against the glossy pane, sighing slightly, head tilted to the side. The lore had clearly told them that this was the year the mirrors would open again, when their ruler would find them. Nyx had heard the stories told to him since he was a child, watching and listening patiently as his grandfather settled him upon his knee, whispering secrets that would be forgotten if he wasn’t told.

“The Prophet Queen’s daughter will return after her seventeenth birthingday,” His grandfather had told him in a quiet, crinkly voice. “You will not recognize her at first, but she will lead us into better days.” Nyx had to hope so and dreamt of the day when their land would one day have a ruler upon the throne again. The rosewood throne had sat empty for years, collecting dust in a castle used only to house those who had nowhere else to go. There was little need for a castle when there was no royalty to rule within it.

“She’s going to come through one of these mirrors, Brandt,” Nyx said as he turned back to his friend, arms folded over his broad chest, “And I’m not going to miss it.”

“If I knew any better, I’d say you had some sort of obsession over this legend thing,” Brandt smirked at his friend, ducking his head in time to miss a well aimed swat that would have left a mark. “I mean, there’s no proof that there’s any such girl or that she’ll actually make it through.” It was true, Nyx thought with a small note of disappointment. It had been fifteen years since their Queen had all but vanished and the sickness fell upon the lands. They’d recovered from it well enough, but the loss of their monarch had a crippling affect on the land. It took all their energy to keep the invaders from the south out of their realm, but Nyx had seen their armies creeping closer and closer with each passing week. There was only so long they could hold out before they had to finally give in. And Nyx didn’t want to give in.

“We have to have hope, my friend,” Clapping Brandt on the shoulder, Nyx slipped his hands into leather gloves again, bracing himself for the chill that came with winter as they stepped out into the cold, away from the temple. “She’s going to find her way here, we just have to have a little hope.”

“Yeah, well,” Brandt began, bristling as snow landed in his ginger colored hair, “I hope this hope of yours know how to ride. Because I’m going to beat you back and there’s nothing you can do to stop it!” Nyx snorted, shooting a glance over his shoulder. Brandt could only grin back, though it faded when he saw the look on his friend’s face, failing to suppress a groan. “Goddess be, you’re not going to continue dragging me to all the mirror locations?”

“I’m not stopping until I find it,” Nyx’s mouth was set in a determined line as he mounted the stallion tethered outside of the temple ruins.

“I know what you’re worried about,” Brandt heaved himself upon his steed, patting the side of his stallion affectionately. “You’re worried that your part in all of this will come true.” Brandt knew the topic was a touchy one that Nyx refused to discuss, but he was constantly pushing and pulling at the information anyways. “You can’t believe it all, Nyx.”

“It said I won’t know her,” Nyx frowned upwards, blinking as a few flakes of snow slid into his vision, wiping them away with a hurried gesture. “It said I would drive her towards death itself. How can I not take this seriously?” He could hear Brandt sighing from his side and Nyx rolled his eyes. “I have to find her. I have to. If I don’t, I can’t change this.”

“You know, you’re starting to sound an awful like you believe in this,” Brandt said, his tone dipping into seriousness as he stared at his friend. “As if you can’t change your fate when you know that the vision could only be one possible way for things to work out.”

“It’s a chance I’m not willing to take,” Nyx gripped the reigns, staring off down towards the old road. “Come on, the next mirror is two leagues away. We can reach it before nightfall.” There was determination in his voice as he took off, nudging his steed into a steady trot, aware that Brandt wouldn’t be far behind him. He had to find her, to recognize her, and to save her from a fate that had been haunting him since he heard the whole tale for himself three years ago. He would not be held responsible for the death of this burning hope his people had.

Snow was falling again. Winter would be here soon and, with it, hopefully they would see the revival of their home.