Meant To Be

Lights blink. A car screeches, somewhere far off.

Anastasia’s mind registers none of this through the numbing haze she feels.

The car roars, closer now.

Elsewhere, someone screams at her to get off the road. But Anastasia’s legs just won’t move.
She stands, frozen in place, petrified, as she finally notices the car approaching her with
blinding speed.

Just before the darkness swallows her whole, her gaze fixes on a scar-laced face—inhuman,
hauntingly beautiful, and grotesque.

She sits bolt upright in her bed, panting and gasping for breath.

“It's just a dream….” She breathes out, shakily, as if trying to reassure herself. “Just a dream…”

Her shoulders slump as the adrenaline rushes out of her. She brings a hand to her face, feeling
the tears streaming down.

This wasn’t new. She’d been having the same nightmare for weeks now, always ending the
same way, no matter how much she tried to change it- Always ending just as she locked eyes
with the strange creature.

A Nyxira, she thought.

Then she froze, suddenly. Why had that word come to her? She’d never heard it before, much
less thought to associate it with the being she’d dreamt of.

She sighed wearily. Just her brain playing tricks on her, she thought.

Well, she had better things to do. Things like university, work- Wait, work.

She scrambled to get out of her bed as she realised that she was probably late for work.

She checked her phone and sighed with relief for a second. 8:45- She wasn’t late, but she had
exactly 15 minutes to get ready and drive to work.

8:57

She’d abandoned her car when she couldn’t find the keys, and decided to just run the whole 3
blocks. In heels.

Yes, it was a terrible idea, but she’d had no choice- she had no idea where she had abandoned
her sneakers.
She panted as she burst in through the café, gasping for breath. “I’m here! I’m on time!”

Her boss, Sel, just looked amused. “Get your apron on then, and get behind the counter. It isn’t
very busy today.”

Anastasia nodded, her cheeks flushed with mortification and embarrassment. “Okay.”

She quickly got into her uniform, and had just gotten behind the checkout when the same
figure she’d dreamt of just the previous night walked in.

A scream caught in her throat as she froze in terror. The creature smiled wryly as it made its
way to her. “Anastasia Zervinov. Daughter of Miéra. It truly is an honour.”

Anastasia paled. “How do- How do you know my name? More importantly, what are you? And
why is no one else screaming or running away?”

It chuckled. “Patience, child. I am called Elfriedé, Son of Alaric. As to what I am, I am a Nyxira.
But you already knew that, didn’t you? And to answer your last question, these mortal minds
cannot comprehend me. Their minds are too simple, too weak to register a full blooded
Nyxira.”

Anastasia sputtered. “A what? You- I- what?”

The creature- No, Elfriede sighed. “I understand this may be hard for you to process. But you
must understand.”

Anastasia’s mind then caught on to the words he said earlier. “Wait- what do you mean by
‘mortals cannot comprehend me’? I can see you. I’m a mortal.”

“Not exactly, little one. You are a Velmoura. You are meant to be part of our world.” He sighed.
“I told the Cloven that it was a bad idea to leave one of our kind in the mortal realm. Thank Nyx,
you’re in one piece, though.”

“I’m a what?” Anastasia asked, feeling a bit slow.

“A Velmoura.” He then sighed, realising the word meant nothing to her. “A Velmoura is a sort
of magical creature, I suppose.” Elfriede’s nose wrinkled, showing how disgusted he was by that
term. “I am a Nyxira as I am a descendant of the goddess Nyx, of night. You are a Velmoura. A
daughter of Moira, goddess of fate. The Cloven have now decided that you may return to the
hunt, once you prove yourself.”

“Wait, what hunt? And how am I supposed to prove myself?” Anastasia pressed.
“The hunt is where our kind live. Where we fight. Where we protect those weaker than us. And
you prove yourself by a series of trials. As to what they are, well, that is not something I have
clearance to reveal. And now, you must come with us. To your real home.”

“And why would I come with you, huh?” She asked, suddenly feeling defensive. “I have a home,
a family, friends, a life here.”

He laughed. “And do you feel like you actually fit in with any of them? Come with me. You can
finally feel like you’ll belong somewhere. You can finally be who you really are.”

Anastasia looked tempted. “And.. and I can come back if I want to? If I decide that being a..
Velmoura isn’t for me?”

Elfriede smiled. “You drive a hard bargain. But fine. I promise this on my honour, if you so
wished, I would have you come back.”

Anastasia closed her eyes. She knew what she was going to do. For so much of her life, she’d
felt like an outcast. Like she didn’t belong. And now she knew the truth. She could finally belong
somewhere. She took his outstretched hand. “Okay.” She said, simply.

Elfriede looked relieved. “Now, try not to yell, okay? I have to call my Gharnyx.”

Before Anastasia had a chance to ask him what he meant, he whistled, and suddenly, a sharp-
toothed beast appeared. It might’ve been terrifying if it weren’t so furry.

Anastasia barely had more than a few seconds to process it, before Elfriede pulled her onto the
Gharnyx. And finally, she knew where she belonged. She was meant to be here, with the hunt,
with her people. She’d never felt so.. free. She knew that this was where she was meant to be.

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