Flash of Our Fate

: Dust an

Person (S

the relentless August sun. I stood at the edge of the Spring of Willow Creek, it

sacred texts of the Willow Creek Sisterhood. I was their strong heroine, destined to become High S

who dare defy it. I believed that. Until that night, when a mysterious

hum of cicadas, as I led my sisters; Lila, barely sixt

ystical oasis fed by underground streams, its

y had drilled that into me since I was old enough to read the sacred texts, their war

en Lila gasped, her flashlight beam sl

a man; half-dead, his body a map of ruin. His skin was blister

ith fear. "He's an outsider," Hannah his

eemed to shimmer around his broken form, as if the sta

a battle. Up close, his scars told stories of survival: jagged lines across

hing her prayer beads. "The sacred

s skin was fever-hot, but his hazel eyes flickered open, locking wi

mystical secrets I wasn't ready to face. For a moment, I felt it; a magi

ed, my voice barely audi

is gaze unwavering,

at my sleeve, bu

" I said, my voice firm. "Th

"You'll answer to the

snapped, my defiance

t this choice felt bigger than duty, bigger

shoulder. The other sisters stared as we passed the woode

her eyes sharp with suspicion. As High Sister, she carried the we

anded, her voice cutti

he only word he'd rasped when I pressed

an who'd once held power but now carried only scars. I should'

who looked like they'd fought wars and

examined him, her fingers trac

red. "The spirits cling to hi

pered, clutching

y pocket. It was a relic passed down through generations, its parc

e the prayer hall, but now it fel

low. I fetched water from the Spring of Wi

is eyes fluttered, and for a moment, I saw it again; that hidden power, a spark that could torch cities

ant. He didn't reply, but his gaze held mine,

, this man is no accident. The river spirits don't stir

The spirits would've taken him

d. "Or they sent

scroll. Mother's words echoed the sacred texts: Beware th

ilent except for the distant howl of coyotes. My hands shook as I unrolle

if kissed by fire, and the

he plains shall choose. From blood and

felt alive, pulsing with a mystical destiny I couldn'

t kind

Willow Creek, or a forbidden p

candle flame flickering as if stirred by an unseen wind. I thought of Mason's hazel

the world beyond the

sen one, like me, bound to a cla

face pale. "Sarah, the High Assembly knows about the s

g, their rules carved in stone. Bringing an outsider

they'd cast him out or worse. An

ll them?" I aske

But Hannah... she said he's dange

clenched my fists, the prophecy scroll crinkling in my grip. Mason's bitter grace, h

ur sacred home, a man whose fir

nswers. I needed to know who Mason was, why the river spi

above bright and unyielding, l

rt. The cot where Mason lay was empty, th

he f

omeone t

of Willow Creek in the distance, pulsing like a heartbeat. The pro

nd hope warring in my chest. Was Mason there, dra

forbidden prophecy, a sign that the

prophecy scroll searing Sarah's skin. Is Mason the Starborn