//------------------------------//
// Chapter 16 
// Story: Flame of the Fateless 
// by Cryptic Keyboard 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 16 
Destiny and Other Motives


Now was when the wheels of fate became little more than sporadic notions to one whose cause means much but achieves little. Time may wait for no man, but it certainly conspires against them.



[Lycan]
“I want answers.” I rasped from empty lungs.

“What in the world does a dog that can’t even walk need with answers?” The moral goddess quipped. “On your feet or you get nothing.”

I gave it my all in my attempts to get back up from the floor, but you must forgive me when I say I struggled. My new body was now something totally incapable of fully working together and the clothes I was in constricted my chest. Using my brain-power I probed around my pack for a certain something eventually finding it nestled next to an old hunk of meat. Pulling the vial from my bag I pulled the stopper out from the neck, all by way of magic, and drunk it down. 
Once more I went through the sensation of metamorphosis only instead of growing into a humanoid my body shrunk and twisted itself back into the shape of a canine.
The shifting of forms gave my body the much needed kick up the arse that was required for movement to begin.

Reducto-potions, as Aqua had called them, would allow me to revert back to my normal wolf form. Useful for a number of reasons such as travelling further distances, hiding, hunting and being able to lick my own testicles, then came the slightly awkward shuffling as I made my way out of the cloth cocoon that the now un-useable clothes had created. 
Once free of my cloth confinement I picked all the clothing up and folded it away into my pack for later use. It was then that I noticed the violin I had been grasping previously was now without a hand, or a home for it to live in.
My pack was already filled to the brim with objects, the egg being the largest by far, so trying to cram a valuable instrument into that kind of mess would only harm the thing. So what to do what to do?

“Take this.” Said that spectral watcher I so love to hate, guiding another woven grass object in front of my face. It looked to me like a small case of sorts, then using the elite powers of perception needed to work these kinds of conundrums out, I clicked it open with magic and nestled the violin inside.
A perfect fit.
Assuming that it worked on the same boundaries as my pack, namely the violin was totally safe while inside its home, I slung it over my back and tied the grassy fastening laces up as tight as I could.
I was starting to look like a proper adventurer I was.
It was time for answers.
“I must ask now Yiang.” I said as politely as possible. “Just what the fuck is going on?”

The force that had lingered for so long blipped and faded for a spilt-second before answering. “I don’t mean to worry you child but I do not have much time left with you so listen.” The goddess said quietly. “I have told you from day one that your purpose is special, that you have power and talents no one else could ever dream of. Now is the day you prove that to me.
“This land is as vast as it is dangerous. Around every corner there lays a horror wishing to cut you down, but you must not let this deter you. You must be wondering where you are my boy and I do not blame you for my introduction to this was not even worthy of being called brief. 
You are twelve years in the past from the moment you started to pay that violin; it was the final piece of the puzzle that would allow you to complete your task.”

I swallowed a mouthful of embers; this news was causing my fires to act up somewhat and saliva had taken on a slightly hotter guise.
“Before you even think of asking how that is possible I will explain. You have a very special destiny. There is something about you, about your soul, which allows you to defy the expectations of reality. Whether it is strength untapped or talents yet to be learnt I do not know truth be told, nothing has ever been as queer as to the question ‘how is this creature different?’”
Something in my brain shifted and an immense tremor rumbled throughout every atom in my being. My body was reacting to this news despite me not knowing how.

“I must confess to something, I have not been telling you the whole story. Everything until now has been a test run by me, well nearly everything. Asura and Kuroko were there to test your skills and morality. The travelling was to test your endurance and mettle. The attack on your body was to see if you were finally strong enough to embrace your dormant powers as well as survive incredible wounds. The playing of the violin was to see if you can reach into your past and draw from its potential.”
I felt that ghostly touch on my body once more.
“What you are destined to do is to carry out a task so great that if you were anything but the special being you are, you would no doubt perish. Lycan, no… Gabriel. Gabriel. I have used every drop of my power to bring you here, twelve years ago, so that you may change history before it is ruined by the fires of greed.”
Gabriel….. That name again. It began to tunnel its way into my brain effortlessly until it smashed its face into the correct centre of knowledge. An image flashed up in my mind, a tombstone somewhere in Ireland.


‘Here lies Gabriel Virtuosi’
‘Son, Brother, Undeniable genius’
‘May he find peace wherever he may be’
‘???? - ????’


The dates on the tombstone were lost to me, hell the very fact I could see an image of something in another universe that had occurred after my parting from it was impressive enough so what did it matter that I didn’t know that last detail?
I did grab the most important snippet of information however.
My name was Gabriel. Not Lycan. I was not a moster-wolf; I was a proud canine with a proud name to boot. So no longer was I to be addressed under the barbaric moniker of Lycan. 
I was Gabriel, just Gabriel.
Even if there was something in the back of my mind telling me that that kind of thinking was wishful at best.

Could a man best the beast when it came to living on the wild-side?
“Now is not the time for philosophising Gabriel.” Yiang purred. “It is time for you to act. This time is important for many a reason, the one that matters the most to your cause is that on this day, twelve years into the future, a force of pure evil will gain hold of one of the most powerful artefacts that currently exists across all the possible universes.
“Your goal is simple only in its name; to light The Beacons of Fate. These mystical fonts of sacred ember have been unlit for centuries now as the fire needed for their revival has been lost for too long. Your fire is what is needed for the ignition of The Beacons.”

My mind became clouded by images of a rocky plateau surrounded by a thick haze of rock dust and powdered miscellaneous debris. Somewhere in the murky haze I could just about sense a faint power. 
“What am I seeing Yiang?” I asked. “This doesn’t mean anything to me.”

“That is the only clue I can give for it is all I know. What you see is a location far to the north, past the dominion of the Griffin-race and into the Badlands. Just let your instincts guide you, follow the embers and trust your nose above all. Every other sense will try to lie to you this time.”
Suddenly Yiang’s presence became slashed down to a shred of what it had once been.

“I have lost all the time I had left!” She cried. “This could be the last time I ever talk to you Gabriel; though I hope it is not. Just remember the advice I give. Trust nothing but your nose, never lose sight of your goal, be wary of everything and do not become what you fear the most.” Another flickering of energy pulsed its way through my body. “You are special in more ways than you might understand or even come to terms with, but do not let that cloud your mind.”

The last remnants of Yiang’s presence began to fade from the world around me. 

“Light the beacons before your time is up my boy. Don’t give up. No matter the cost...”
She faded. All that Yiang had been simply vanished from the world around me. I had never felt more naked than I had at that moment in time.

My paws tingled with anticipation at the news that had been chunked onto me; I had a destiny to fulfil! I swiped cockily at the air with a large grin forming on my fresh face. It was time to head north to find the first Beacon. I howled in joy at my new purpose; at my new chance to test my powers and limits. My world might have seemed totally devoid of meaning beyond ‘go find the thing’ but I didn’t care.

Twelve years was a long time to light a few torches.
Why should I not have some fun while I’m at it?




-DAY 1, WEEK 1, YEAR 1-
-NEWEST JOURNEY MILESTONE: JOURNEY STARTED-