The Obsidian Throne

by Michelle Soper

  Nev nodded and tried to smile at him.

  “You do realize you are really stretching this ‘far from danger’ thing, right?” Wyatt asked Nev before shaking his head.

  “I know. It will work, though. I’m sure of it,” assured Nev.

  “Say it does. Say Wyatt can use his magical… whatever ring and get you right into the throne room. Then what?” Addi demanded exasperatedly.

  “Then I meet my destiny… and I keep Wyatt safe,” Nev stated honestly.

  “No. Nev, what if both of those things can’t be true? You promised me,” Addi pleaded, her face had grown very serious.

  “Nev, my dear… she does have a point,” Nellis gently pointed out.

  “I know. And I haven’t forgotten. And that is why it is Wyatt’s choice,” replied Nev before looking to Wyatt.

  “Promised what… to leave me behind while you face your fate? You do know I can’t let that happen? That I have already made my choice, right? I am coming with you. Crazy is kind of our thing,” Wyatt said, chuckling softly to himself.

  “Wyatt! How can you laugh at a time like this? Love or not, this isn’t just crazy. It’s… it’s impossible. You are going to get yourself killed!” Addi yelled as her voice and body trembled.

  “Addi, you have protected me my whole life, and I love you. But you must let me do this. I can do this, and Nev can do this. But only if we’re together,” Wyatt reasoned. He looked at Addi and lovingly smiled at her.

  “You two have got to be the two most stubborn people in all of Obsidia,” Addi countered. She stood up and walked to the window. Visibly agitated, she stared out at Nev and gripped the window ledge tightly.

  Wyatt turned to Nellis and nodded. “I know she is a pain, but take care of her for me,” he implored, smiling and looking over at Addi.

  Nellis nodded and replied, “Of course. Always.”

  As Wyatt went to move past Addi and Nellis, he felt a hand on his arm.

  “Here. Take this. I know you have your Tink skills, but I would feel better if you had some sort of weapon with you,” Addi sighed heavily as she handed Sagrine’s dagger to her brother.

  Wyatt nodded and took the dagger from her hand. He slid the blade between his belt and purple sash before replying, “Thanks, sis.” Having said his goodbyes, he headed outside.

  Nev took a deep breath and walked several feet out under the night sky. The moon was shining, but scattered clouds spawned gentle sprinkles. The rain was light and refreshing on her skin.

  She stared up at the moon and let the rain wash over her face. Nev was reminded of those moments she stood looking down on Serenity Falls and sighed. She’d been through so much since then, and now she was about to take the final steps. This time though, she wouldn’t be going alone. Nev just hoped they would still be together when it was all over.

  Wyatt joined Nev a few moments later. “Well, she doesn’t hate me. You, on the other hand,” he said, playfully nudging Nev.

  Nev let out a small laugh. “Well, then I guess we should hurry,” she suggested.

  Wyatt turned to face her and took her hands in his. He could feel the ring warming under their embrace. “I am so in love with you,” he stated sincerely.

  “I am so in love with you too,” Nev responded, smiling warmly at him.

  Nellis stood, arms wrapped around Addi, as they both watched Nev and Wyatt disappear in a puff of purple smoke. He felt Addi collapse into him and begin to cry. Nellis held her and whispered, “It will be alright, my love. They are both stronger than any of us realize. And more stubborn too.”

  Addi, let out a small laugh as tears streamed down her face. “I hope so,” she sobbed. “If not, then they are both going to owe me big.”

  Chapter 44

  The hour was late, but General Razine was feeling more determined than ever to face the Oracle. Minutes before, he’d forced his way into the emperor’s bed-chamber. He’d wanted to confront Malicus over the Oracle and everything else. Instead, he made a grisly discovery.

  Razine was furious, but not surprised to see Malicus dead in his bed. He was, however, shocked to see how long he’d been in that state. Malicus had likely met his fate not long after Razine had last seen him, and that was around five years ago. Razine needed answers, and he knew just who he would be getting them from.

  Shoving the attendant forcefully out of the way, Razine came tearing into the throne room. He heard the door close behind him and saw the Oracle standing beside the throne. “You and I are going to have a chat,” Razine insisted, the fury in his voice evident.

  “I do not have time for you. The heiress is coming,” the Oracle sneered, with frustration. He was pacing in front of the throne, refusing to raise his eyes in acknowledgment of Razine’s entrance.

  “She? You and your damned prophecy,” Razine laughed, marching up to the Oracle. He was flabbergasted at the Oracle’s desperate need to cling to his delusional prophecy. “Even your prized prowler couldn’t produce her. I suspect the reason for his continued failure is quite simple. She does not exist,” surmised Razine.

  “You have no inkling as to what is really happening here… or what has happened here. You really think this was all to help some man take the throne?” the Oracle growled, staring with unbridled disgust at Razine. “You have been so busy seizing power that isn’t yours to take, that you have failed to see the truth.”

  Razine felt suddenly confused, and his head began to spin. “What are you talking about?” he questioned, forcing himself to regain his composure.

  “To have such power and still be beholden to the likes of men like Malicus and you. You have no idea what I have had to endure,” the Oracle replied, pausing his pacing and stepping slowly towards the general.

  Razine shook his head. “Beholden?” he doubted dumbfounded.

  “Fine. Let me indulge your naivety for a few minutes while I wait for my prophecy to finally unfold. My hand is the one that has shaped Obsidia, not that of men or women. I cannot directly influence events, but minds and energy are much easier to manipulate.

  “The first Colfax sought me out, and we eagerly made a deal. Their blood already coursed with raw, untamed power. Still, they desired more. So, I would help them amplify their strength. In return, they would let me consume theirs. Their siblings, parents, and even their children were all devoured by me. And so, their rule endured. But then she thought to betray me—to betray our deal. I’d planned for her to have a child with Malicus and then give it to me, but I was blinded by my zeal. In my complacency, she chose differently. She ‘fell in love’ with another and bore his child without my knowledge. Later the empress worked in secret with the father to forge a ring of obsidian to hide the child from me.

  “I learned of her deception and sent my shadows deep inside her mind. She was mine again and was going to give the baby to me. She had all but completed her bargain when the father interfered. I had not known about the ring then and had underestimated the Tink’s abilities and efforts to keep the child hidden. I didn’t expect a man to feel his daughter was worth the wrath it would bring upon him. Selflessness is such a rare and troublesome quality to find in someone.

  “So, I unleashed my vengeance on the world. I allowed a mad emperor to rule and crush the land he once claimed to love with a prophecy of my design. I encouraged you and others to kill all the Tinks, except for those who showed promise. Those rare individuals, I twisted to my will before sending them to hunt the one thing their kind had dared to hide from me.

  “I surrendered the empress to her fate and then had her very essence drained from her body. The empress’ last gesture was to feed the prowlers’ hunger and mine. Her blood augmented the unyielding appetite the prowlers possessed to hunt her daughter—the very child she risked everything for. Finally, I let fear and evil wash over the land as I sent my fingers deep into the mind of a man who was hungry for power.

  “Surely, you have felt me pull the strings of your thoughts from time to time. Perhaps when you and Malicus were
so certain that you should rise against the empress? Or that the Tinks and young women were a threat? Or when you hunted for the very thing you insisted didn’t exist? You have been mine for so long you’ve forgotten what it is like not to have me in your head,” the Oracle explained with an icy and callous tone. He grinned with delight as Razine slowly began to realize the truth of it all.

  “You used me. All the death, all the suffering… it was because of you?” Razine asked in disbelief, feeling like a fog was finally beginning to lift from his mind.

  The Oracle cackled and corrected, “Ah, I am powerful. But I cannot make anyone do anything. I simply encourage and nudge in the direction I wish them to go. Any cruelty you have unleashed, it was your doing, not mine.”

  “If that is true, then I can undo it. I can stop this madness,” Razine declared firmly and decisively.

  “I’m afraid it is too late for that. The one that has been lost to me for so long is returning. She’s grown very powerful. I will take her, shape her, and then the cycle will continue. Perhaps I will even let her keep her Tink, for a time. Their children would encompass great power. They would present a risk, of course, but their strength might prove able to sate my appetite. Once she sits upon the throne that I created for her ancestors, my connection to her will be complete. I will not be fooled or let her slip through my grasp again. And I will not make the same mistake I made with her mother. Her blood will flow, and it will feed me for generations to come,” the Oracle proclaimed with a sinister grin.

  “No! I will help her when she comes. Then I’ll help fix what you have done and send you back to whatever evil rock you slithered out from,” Razine declared decisively.

  “No, you won’t. A promise was made, and her ancestral blood will flow to fulfill it. Now, she is coming. And you should be silent,” the Oracle hissed before glaring at Razine. He watched as the throne room’s attendant scurried into the room and swiftly pierced Razine’s neck with a small dart. “Everyone desires something, even the lowly servants. And even the noblest of desires can be twisted. Know that the poison he gave you will not kill you, just keep you from interfering. You will be a gift—The first gift to the new empress. Now, to learn what our new empress desires and bend her to my will.” Sensing her immediate arrival, the Oracle savored the sense of rapidly growing anticipation.

  The attendant ignored the Oracle. Instead, he leaned close to Razine and watched him crumple to the floor. “Always ignored me. Now you see me,” he said, before scurrying out of the room laughing.

  Razine felt his eyes grow weary, and the air thick. He’d been determined to resist slumping onto the ground. Even so, he found himself too tired to move. Stand! You must not succumb to this. To him, he thought as he felt his muscles become heavy and unresponsive. Despite his body becoming still, his senses remained aware.

  In a flash of light, Nev and Wyatt appeared in the throne room. She opened her eyes and was relieved to see Wyatt standing across from her, his hands still wrapped around hers. Not waiting for Wyatt to open his eyes, Nev scanned her surroundings rapidly. Peering behind Wyatt, she saw a man that appeared to be General Razine. He was awake, but lying several feet away and unmoving. She’d seen him in drawings and was certain she recognized his uniform.

  Pivoting to stand beside Wyatt, she let one of her hands break free from his reassuring embrace. Her eyes swiftly moved on and locked onto the throne. It was black like her dagger’s blade, but it was menacing and pulsing with energy. Beside it, stood an even more malevolent entity. It appeared to be a frail older man, but Nev sensed it was neither frail nor a man.

  Wyatt opened his eyes when he felt Nev pull one of her hands from his. He breathed a short sigh of relief to see her still safely with him. The feeling, however, was short-lived. He followed Nev’s gaze to the person… thing standing next to the throne. He squeezed her hand tightly and whispered, “Nev, be very careful.”

  The man from the throne smiled at Nev. His toothy grin and thin lips made her skin crawl. “My dear, it has been far too long. I am the Oracle, and you are the one I have been waiting for,” he said with an eerie calmness.

  Nev squeezed Wyatt’s hand and then pulled away from his grasp. She took a couple of wary steps toward the throne and then stopped, studying the Oracle studiously for several minutes.

  Wyatt had reluctantly let her move away from him. “Don’t get any closer to him. He is… evil,” Wyatt warned quietly.

  “Evil? What is evil is the constant meddling of your kind and your continued interference with her destiny,” the Oracle sneered at Wyatt. Glaring intensely at Wyatt, he gestured with his hand. “Now, I think you have interfered more than enough.”

  Wyatt felt the air grow thin around him. He moved to take a step forward and found his legs would not comply. Instead, he slid down to the ground and found himself kneeling. “What did you do to me?” Wyatt asked furiously.

  “Me? I simply let you feel the true weight of the guilt you carry. Ah… human minds are so easily toyed with,” the Oracle noted, he briefly smiled at Wyatt before turning his focus back to Nev.

  “You, my dear, you are different, though. I can feel the strength in you. It is like nothing I’ve ever tasted. And I’ve consumed many. Since the first, I have shaped your lineage. Avoiding the unpredictability of Tinkerer blood, but now I see that may have been a tragic mistake. You are truly special,” the Oracle surmised, his voice dripped with hunger as he walked closer to Nev.

  Nev was standing still and did not seem to see or care that the Oracle was now only inches from her. She stared at the throne, entranced by it.

  “You hear it, don’t you? It calls to you. It is not just in your blood, but of your blood. All blood holds power, but some more than most. Tinkerers dabble in this power. You, Nevara, and your family have reveled in it and devoured it for generations,” the Oracle explained softly. Walking up behind Nev, he let his hands idly push her hair across her back.

  Seeing that thing touch Nev, sent chills through Wyatt. “Don’t touch her! Nev, listen to me—please! You need to walk away from him… and it,” Wyatt pleaded, his face panicked and angry.

  “I can hear it, Wyatt. It’s like the amulet, but so much stronger. It wants to show me things. It will help me unlock my potential, and it knows the truth of my mother and father. It possesses every answer I’ve ever sought,” Nev said, her voice sounding lost.

  “I can hear it too. But it is dangerous—evil. And it is not you,” Wyatt warned, his voice desperate. He could sense the malevolent energy emanating from the man and the throne. Its pulsing was loud and unrelenting. Most frightening, however, was the sense he had that Nev was being drawn into it. She was already feeling more distant, and the chasm growing between them was terrifying.

  “He is wrong,” the Oracle contradicted. “It is you. You are Nevara. You are a raven. The raven. And this is your destiny. Your mother named you to empower herself, but she was wrong. Your name does hold immense power. But that power always belonged to you, not her.

  “Your mother tried to deny what she was as well… for a time. She ignored her destiny and chose your father. Then you were born. She could sense the power within you. As could I. The daughter of a Colfax and a Tinkerer. Such a child had never existed before. You are special. And soon, the lure of that power became too much for your mother to resist.

  “She offered you to me. Your mother wanted to use you, use your blood to galvanize her weakening reign and herself. You were to be her ultimate offering, but your father interfered. I thought all was lost. I thought you were lost until I sensed whispers that you were alive. I created the prowlers to find you and allowed Malicus and Razine to feel like they pulled the strings. However, they were simply the tools I forged and used to attain my goals. In the end, they all proved less than reliable and outlived their usefulness.” The Oracle whispered in Nev’s ear as he sent his shadowed fingers deep within her mind.

  “My mother… father… I,” Nev’s voice faltered as her mind desperately tri
ed to find another explanation that fit. Her heart ached as the truth pierced through her.

  “You sense the truth of it, as you have sensed many things. You are so much more than either of your parents could have ever imagined. You’re to be empress. You’re to sit upon the throne, and you are to be mine. Give yourself to the throne, to me, and to your fate, and I will give you such power in return. Your descendants will feed a new age in Obsidia. There will be peace. You will have peace,” The Oracle said softly. He placed a hand on her shoulder and gently began walking her towards the throne.

  Wyatt could feel the Oracle’s presence in his mind, planting doubts and urging him to just let go. Desperately Wyatt tried to stand. “Nev! Please… you must listen to me. You have to stop!” he screamed with anguish. His eyes flashed with terror as he watched her being led towards the throne.

  “No, no… this can’t be true,” Nev stammered, she was shaking and too lost in thought to realize she was slowly being moved forward. “Please tell me… this isn’t true.” Her head was swimming, and she felt her body grow heavy as she continued to walk towards the throne, and icy tendrils dug deeper and deeper into her mind.

  “It’s what you have been drawn to your entire life,” the Oracle insisted. “Give yourself to it, and you can have everything you desire. You’ll never be hunted again.” He pushed deeper into her mind until he saw the one thing she desired above all else: Wyatt. “I can give you what you really want. I can keep him safe. I can keep him with you. You and he can be together. This is the only way. You know this.”

  Nev felt her breath being pulled from her as she moved within a couple of feet of the throne. “Wyatt… you saved me. I need to save you too,” she whispered, her voice and body trembling.

  “You already have. Please, Nev… don’t listen to him. Come back to me,” Wyatt begged.

  “Shh,” the Oracle interrupted. "This is your destiny, child. I know you. I know you are tired, but soon it will all be over, and your mind will finally find the calm it has always sought. You deserve this. You are worth it,” he said gently as he used her father’s words to break her.