Weekly Sample 3: A Twist of Fate
(16 min read) A Dark Fantasy by Lowa Vermeer
You should read this if:
You need a story to grab you from the start
You want a slow-burn mystery that'll make you uneasy in the best way
You want to feel the weight of impending doom
Fantasy | Dread | Prophecy | Defiance
A priest at the backdoor. A village marked for death. Naele has spent her whole life helping people die peacefully, and now faces the possibility that she called this fate upon them all. Tender, haunting, and quietly devastating, A Twist of Fate is an opening that knows how to create a gloomy atmosphere.
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Chapter 1: When Death Knocks
The Reader's Sample | A Twist of Fate: Prologue
My mentor once told me I wouldn't die. She thought I was way too stubborn to open the door when Death knocked. But when Death came for her, he didn't pound on the door. He silently came inside and erased the pain I couldn't take away from her face. It went the same way with the many souls I helped throughout the years. He just came, whether he was welcome or not.
Maybe that's why I'm not afraid when there's a soft knock against the backdoor. I put down the red firl between the rest of my plants, remove my gloves, and walk towards the door. I sigh as I turn the lock.
The figure on my doorstep is wearing a dark brown cloak with golden clasps. The hood is pulled all the way over her head, obscuring everything but her lips. But her small posture, the way she looks around nervously and her smooth fingers tell me all I should know. She forms no threat.
"This isn't the store." I look at her with narrowed eyes. I've no clue why she is hiding. Perhaps she's afraid of people judging her, or I insulted her, and this is a questionable attempt at revenge. However, revenge feels unlikely. The way she looks over her shoulder and moves back and forth tells me she's really uneasy.
"I know," she answers with false confidence.
I immediately recognise her voice as that of the priest Relisa. Suddenly her choice for the backdoor makes a lot more sense. She might not be Death itself, but she's not a welcome guest. "What do you want from me?"
"Naele." Relisa's thin lips form a worried smile. "We need to talk."
I can barely hold back a sigh. We don't need to do anything. She needs to do something. "If you're not here to buy things, you can leave."
"Do you let me talk if I buy incense?"
I fold my arms across my chest. I can't deny I'm intrigued by her mysterious visit. But am I intrigued enough to listen to a rant about how I really need to follow the light of the moons?
"Please, Naele."
I lean against the doorpost. "It depends how much you want to buy."
"As much as is possible."
Maybe it's worth the risk. I give her a slight smile and step aside. "Okay, I get my ingredients, and then we can talk."
"Of course." Relisa scurries inside. She doesn't celebrate her victory with a smile. As she pulls back the hood from her head, I notice the serious expression on her face. Her intense gaze forces the smile from my lips. This isn't a desperate attempt to lure me into the temple. There is something seriously wrong.
"Take a seat." I point towards a stool in the corner before I move pots with charcoal and dried flowers to my work table. It's surprising how patiently Relisa waits. She has good manners for someone of high status. If she hadn't been a priest, I'd probably offer her tea.
When I've gathered everything, I take a seat in front of her. 'So, what do you want to talk about?'
"The village has been marked. I want to know if the moons have touched you as well."
"What kind of mark are we talking about?" I look up at her.
"A deathmark," she explains. "We've seen it on at least a quarter of the people already, and that number is growing quickly."
I feel a cold chill run down my spine. "Only adults or also..."
"No." Relisa's voice doesn't rise above a whisper. "People of all ages, lines of work, and families. The moons are telling us something horrific is about to happen."
"They should get out of here." I smash my mortar against the bowl, pulverising the dried flowers.
"Those who can are packing already." She presses her lips together. Her fingers move the golden pendant on her necklace restlessly. A small light spot moves over the wall. "But if the moons decide it's time, running only prolongs suffering."
I nod softly. Back when I still visited the temple, I got that warning all the time. If you ignore the lines on your skin, you're asking for the fury of your moon. And it's true, everyone I ever saw running met a terrible fate. It's a small miracle I'm still alive. Is this the moment the moons decide to take their revenge on me?
"Maybe there's still time," I try to reason. "Some people live for years after they are marked."
"Not with mass markings like these." Relisa's voice is cold and empty. "Naele, you know how it goes, even when you don't want to admit it."
I look at her silently, trying to hide the fact that she's right. If this is the will of those cursed moons, we will be lucky if this village still exists a week from now. My eyes wander across the room. Across the plants I gathered over the years, the old books my mentor gave me. Is all of this gone soon? I try to ignore the nauseous feeling in my stomach. "So you're here to tell me we're all going to die?"
"I'm not sure. Maybe the moons have their own plans for you. I can try to read your skin if you like."
I shake my head. "The moons never told me anything about life. Why would they speak to me about death?"
"Sometimes their plans are hard to understand."
"If you think it will help, I will let you go ahead. But don't force me to pray to those stupid light balls."
"I won't do anything you don't agree to," she promises. "Can you come to the temple? I need my books to read your marks."
I sigh. Of course she is asking that. "Once I finished the incense. Unless you only wanted this to talk."
She shakes her head. "We're having a funeral this evening."
"Who died?" I look at her surprised. Normally I'm aware of those.
"It's for the village. If we all meet our end, I don't want there to be mums who couldn't say goodbye to their children."
It are those words that wrap themselves around my throat. They press all the air out of my lungs.
Relisa gets up and throws the hood over her head. "I will see you this afternoon."
I can't muster a response. Everything she told me echoes through my head. Have I called this fate upon us by ignoring the moons? Did I curse and insult them too many times? Are they punishing everyone for my presence?
My fingers shake softly. I want to tell myself that it doesn't work like that, but I'm not that sure any more. The air in my home feels heavy in my lungs. I stare at the lines that run across my skin. I've always ignored them, but that's no longer an option.
As I lay in Relisa's room that afternoon, I get the sneaking suspicion I've been tricked. The priest moves her soft fingers across my shoulder. "Interesting," she murmurs. It's a strange word for the markings on my skin. Others call them cursed and exceptional, but not Relisa. She just calls them interesting in the same tone I use when I talk about plants and fungi.
I don't ask her what she sees in my lines, even though I'm secretly quite curious. If I give Relisa the slightest hint that I'm interested, I will have to listen to her for the rest of eternity. Silently I stare into the candles that lit the temple room. The flames are reflected in the golden moons hanging from chains with wooden beads.
Does it even matter anymore? If she's right, the both of us will be wiped from earth within a few days. Maybe it even counts as a good deed if I give her the hope my soul could still be saved. I look to the side and smile. "What do you see?"
"I'll show you." Relisa's fingers break contact with my skin. She walks towards the small table that stands against the wall. The beads brush across her shoulders and softly touch, making a ticking noise. Relisa grabs a piece of charcoal and draws a few lines on the stone slab that fills most of the table. Now and then she walks back to me, checking the lines on my back. It takes a while before she nods in approval and washes her hands in a bowl of dark grey water.
She's probably done, I decide. I pull up my dress and walk towards the table. The stone slab is filled with elegant lines. If we weren't in a temple, I would've confused it for a work of art. Relisa probably would've become a painter if the moons hadn't claimed her for themselves.
I press my lips together and study the lines that are supposed to describe my life cycle. "What does this mean?"
"This is where your birthmark is supposed to be." Relisa points at an empty space at the bottom of the stone. Her finger is surrounded with dark lines that move across the surface like tree roots. She follows a broad one upward. "These are your founding marks. This is your calling, and these lines represent the connections you make." Her finger hovers over the different branches of lines. She sounds almost confident, but I know she's not.
"They all gather in your neck and grow towards your throat," she explains. "There they make a black spot between your collarbones. That's a deathmark."
"So I'm marked." I press my fingers in between my collarbones. I feel my rough skin burn a little.
"Not really." Relisa presses her lips together so tight that they make a narrow stripe. "Do you see the lines shooting outwards from it?"
I nod. "Do those mean I keep on living after death?"
She tries her best to hold in a laugh, but I see the corners of her mouth curl up. "You would be the first one to manage that." She grabs a dark red book from her cabinet and flips through the pages. "Look this is the sign of rebirth." She points at a circle with small lines curling outward.
If I squeeze my eyes together, I can use my fantasy to see the resemblance. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, well, it could be a sign of conversion, but knowing you ..."
"So I will die twice?" I fake a confused expression. Of course I won't. The line between life and death is one of the few the moons can't get a hold on. Nobody will cross it twice.
Relisa's eyes turn back to the book. She flips through the pages. It surprises me how seriously she takes my question.
"I don't know," she says after a few seconds. "If I were to read it literally, you would, but I don't think we can interpret it like that. Because according to your other lines, you're a travelling merchant who studies the Fatylis and has an affair with two opposing powers."
I can't hold back a soft chuckle. That's certainly one of the more creative explanations I've heard. It's also one of the most unhinged ones. "You're allowed to not know. I'm just fine finding my own way."
"I know Naele, but I really want to help you. The line between finding your own way and tempting fate is narrow." She wipes the markings of the stone slab. "Can I give you a word of advice?'
I shrug. "If it's something actually helpful."
"I would view you as responsible if you chose to flee this place. The moons give you a lot of grace, maybe they will let you go this time as well."
Her words surprise me so much that they steal the words from my mouth. In the silence between us, I hear the familiar sounds of the village. It has little trouble getting through the stone walls. Does Relisa think I can leave this all behind? The moons may not bind me, but this place does. They welcomed me in their community in their own hesitant and mistrusting way.
There are people here whose lives depend on my knowledge of medicine and nature. If I leave them alone and their fate catches up with them, who takes care of their wounds? Who makes the poisons that turn their painful death into a pleasant slumber?
Leaving feels like betrayal. Besides, where would I go? Back to the place where they used to call me cursed? Or do I wander from village to village, looking for a place where they won't chase me away?
I'm not young, egotistic or wise enough to listen to my priest. "How would you view me if I stay?"
"Respectable and ..."
"Foolish," I finish, because I know she won't.
Relisa doesn't argue. "You should probably head home. "I think we're both busy today," she changes the subject.
"You're right. I've put your incense on the table next to the entrance."
"What do I owe you?" Her hand disappears into her pocket.
I look her in the eyes. She tries to hide it, but I notice how scared she is. It feels wrong to talk about money when we're both dying. "Nothing."
"At least leave the incense as an offering, so the people won't shun you for leaving without giving to the moons."
I give her a slight nod, noticing the dark spot between her collarbones. I try to say goodbye, but I can't get the right word across my lips, so I remain in the doorway.
"May the moons guide you," Relisa says, although they never will.
"May we get mercy," I respond. I walk out of the room and down the stone stairway. The temple hall is busy, but in a strange way. Some people cry, and others hug. The ceramist curses softly at an illustration of the three moons, like that helps.
I look at the ground and silently walk towards the table where I left the incense. I take the pot and walk towards the altar that runs across the back wall. Flowers and coins lay underneath the painting of lines that is supposed to mimic the lines of our skin. One of the old priests sits underneath and looks across the room. I wonder if he's here to help people or whether he's here to prevent them from stealing. Maybe both.
I ignore his stare and place the pot on the altar.
"I'm glad to see you've changed your ways," he dares to comment.
I want to grab the pot and splinter it against the wall. I can collect myself just in time. This is for a funeral. "I haven't, but I do leave gifts for the dying."
A strange mixture of fear and anger finds its way to his face. He grasps at the unmarked space between his collarbones.
I can't hide a grin as I leave the building. It's wrong to joke about our unavoidable death, but I don't care. He's asking for it.
-
This excellent chapter has an undeniable talent for making the fantastic feel integrated into the story rather than added on. It treats the supernatural as a mechanical reality of the world rather than a constant source of wonder.
How can your story do the same?
Integrate magic into mundane tasks - Just as technology is for us, magic is for them. The normalcy of line reading in this chapter is a great example of this. The marks and lines are like a science, able to be studied, but not truly understood (the how and why). That is what keeps it terrifying.
Note: This is a stylistic choice that will not fit every story.
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