by Eric Vall
I stifled a laugh as Rana moved forward awkwardly with uncertain steps. I wasn’t sure if it was due to her new clothing or if it was the unfamiliar feel of having boots on her fox feet.
“I never thought I’d see the day where you’d wear shoes,” I said with a twisted grin and nodded to her brown fur cuffed boots.
“You and me both, buddy,” Rana said with a grimace as she pulled at her dress and wiggled her feet. “I feel ridiculous in this stuff.”
“Nonsense, you look beautiful,” I said to the red-headed fox. “It’s very flattering on you.”
“Oh, y-you think so?” Rana said with a bashful smile as she walked over to join me at the counter.
“Of course.” I nodded.
“See?” Carmedy grinned. “I told you Master would love it!”
“Yeah…” Rana muttered, and then she glanced sideways at me as she cleared her throat.
“And last but not least, Princess Annalíse!” The feline gestured to the door again and made the same fanfare sound effect with her mouth just as she had done before.
“I’m not so sure I feel comfortable in this,” Annalíse called out, but she didn’t appear. “And besides, I really don’t think this is very practical. There are parts of this garment that don’t appear to have any purpose.”
“Um, their purpose is to add style, silly!” Carmedy put her hands on her hips. “Now come on out so we can see.”
“I’d really rather not,” the swordswoman said. “I think I saw something much more suitable--”
“Hey, if I have to go along with this so do you,” Rana shouted back. “Get your royal rump out here.”
“Yes, please come out Annalíse,” I urged. “I want to see. I’m sure you look magnificent.”
“Alright, alright,” Annalíse moaned and a few moments later she appeared.
The swordswoman looked a bit mortified as she shuffled forward with her shoulders hunched. The freckled woman was outfitted in a bronze-finished breastplate that fitted around her curves and etched with intricate swirling symbols. Around her hips was a long skirt of rich chestnut brown fur that reached down to her ankles. The sides of the skirt were open to give her ease of movement, important in battle, and beneath the skirt, she wore black tights like Rana’s that showed off the muscular tone of her legs. To round out her ensemble, she wore knee-high boots covered in the same brown fur as her skirt and matching bracers. As with the others, her hooded cloak matched her new clothes and armor, the edge trailing along the floor.
“Ooh, you look fantastic,” I said.
“No, I don’t,” Annalíse huffed as she clutched at her thick fur skirt. “This skirt is absolutely useless.”
“Oh hush,” Carmedy giggled. “There’s nothing wrong with it. Who says you can’t conquer dungeons and look great doing it?”
“That’s all well and fine but--” Annalíse started to say but Carmedy interrupted.
“You promised we’d compromise remember?” The small feline woman folded her arms and gave the swordswoman a mischievous smile. “You said you’d go along with it as long as there was some function to whatever outfit I chose and no dresses. Well, the breastplate, cape, boots, and stuff are functional. I just added in the skirt for a bit of flair.” Carmedy pinched together her thumb and forefinger. “I still chose things that wouldn’t get in the way of your fighting. It’s not like I gave you a long dress like Morrigan’s, so what’s the problem?”
“She’s gotcha there.” Rana snickered.
“Well, the problem is… well, I…”
“I have to agree with Carmedy,” I said to the swordswoman. “Your outfit will not affect your fighting skills. Besides, it looks great.”
“Even the skirt?” Annalíse raised an eyebrow.
“Especially the skirt,” I nodded. “It shows off your beautiful legs.”
“Well I guess I can make do with it,” the female warrior muttered as her cheeks turned red. “I can move in it at least, and it is warm.”
“Yay, that’s what I like to hear,” Carmedy clapped her hands excitedly. The pale shopkeeper emerged from the back room and walked over to the counter.
“Will that be all for you today?” the frail woman said in her soft woeful voice.
“These items as well,” I nodded to the selections that I had placed on the counter.
“Very well,” the tiny woman said.
As the woman tallied up our total payment, I wrapped my black fur cape around my shoulders, stuffed my gloves into my void pocket and stepped into my boots. After the shopkeeper told us the amount we owed, we paid for our clothing and left the small shop.
“Mmh so soft,” Carmedy said once we were outside, and she raised her white cloak to her cheek and nestled her face against the soft fur. “Nothing like a little shopping to brighten your day huh guys?”
“Our day may be brightened but theirs sure aren’t,” Rana said as she glanced around at the gloomy looking people that meandered in the street. “Look at them, not even a hint of a smile.”
“Perhaps they are downtrodden because of their inferior circumstances,” Morrigan nodded to the dilapidated buildings as we strode past. “These are quite dismal accommodations.”
“Maybe,” I said slowly. “But we’ve been to poor villages before, and they were nothing like this. They were never so quiet and lifeless like this place.”
“Hey, what’s going on up there?” Rana said suddenly, and she craned her neck to look down the muddy street. A few shops ahead of us there was a line of people that seemed to be formed between two of the buildings.
“Maybe they’re selling something yummy over there,” Carmedy said enthusiastically. “Let’s go see!” The green-eyed cat grabbed hold of Rana’s paw and jogged toward the line of people.
“Slow down, Carmedy,” Rana yelped. “The line’s not going anywhere anytime soon.”
Annalíse, Morrigan, and I hurried along to catch up to Carmedy and Rana, but the townsfolk lazily glanced at the two women before they shuffled on with void disinterested expressions. The cat and fox arrived at the back of the line just a few moments before we did, and we soon joined them.
“Why is the line between the buildings?” Rana wrinkled her nose. “What’s this even for, anyway?”
“I’m not sure.” I moved to the side in an effort to see what was at the very front of the line. All I could see was a little red tarp stretched between the wooden buildings.
“I’ll ask,” Carmedy said, and she quickly tapped the shoulder of a man in front of us with thinning gray hair. The man slowly turned around to face the feline alchemist, and he blinked at her with sad pale blue eyes. “Excuse me mister, sorry to bother you, but why is everyone standing in this line?”
“Why we’re all here to see the oracle of course,” the old man wheezed.
“Oracle?” Carmedy asked with wonder in her eyes.
“Yes,” the wrinkled man nodded slightly. “Every day the citizens of Jallah line up and pay coin to hear what the oracle foretells for their futures.”
“You do this every single day?” Annalíse furrowed her brow.
“Every single day,” the man repeated. “My family moved to this island about a year ago not too long after my twenty-seventh birthday. Being that the village is so small we learned of the oracle not long after we arrived. Each member of my family has come here every day since then.”
I was extremely surprised to hear the man say this, he looked far older than twenty-seven years old. He looked at least seventy years old. First it had been the air of foreboding that surrounded this place when we had first arrived, then the severe depression and appearance of the villagers, and now this man who somehow looked elderly but was not much older than my minions. Something sinister was definitely at work here, and I had a strong feeling that the oracle was behind it all.
Carmedy opened her mouth to say something else to the man, but he slowly turned around again to indicate that he was done with the conversation. A few moments later the li
ne moved forward. There seemed to be about twenty people ahead of us now.
“Why would these people do something so foolish as lining up every day to listen to the incessant rambling of this so-called oracle?” Morrigan raised a white eyebrow.
“Can you truly blame them?” I asked the elf. “The uncertainty of the future is frightful for mortals. They pay a coin so that they may know what lies in store for them. No doubt they assume that knowing such information will give them comfort or allow them to prepare themselves.”
“But this woman is no doubt a charlatan,” Annalíse said with a look of disgust as she looked up the line of people. “Paying one gold coin to hear the future, it’s nonsense. It’s feeble minded to rely on the words of fortune tellers, and these people have made it part of their daily routine.”
“She might be a phony, but I have to admit, she’s got a pretty good scheme cooked up,” Rana stroked her chin. “She’s probably making loads.”
“Well I think it sounds like fun,” Carmedy grinned. “I want my fortune told.”
“It’s not real Carmedy,” Annalíse shook her head. “Didn’t you hear us? This is all a money-making scam.”
“How do you know for sure?” Carmedy folded her arms. “You haven’t even seen her or heard what she has to say.”
“Well, yes but I don’t have to to know that she’s a fraud,” Annalíse replied.
“We’ve seen sand demons, living corpse puppets, and traveled to a whole city beneath a little oasis,” Carmedy shrugged, “So why can’t this be real?”
“She raises a fair point,” I said to Annalíse. “I don’t think it will hurt to have our fortunes told, and it won’t cost us much, we have plenty of gold.”
“Fine,” the chestnut-haired warrior sighed, “but I still think it’s a waste of time, and money.”
“Do you think we’ll get to ask her questions?” Carmedy said to the rest of us. “Or maybe she’ll just look into our eyes as soon as we walk in and she’ll see our destinies.”
“Oh for the love of…” Annalíse mumbled under her breath.
“Listen pussycat,” Rana said as she put a paw on Carmedy’s shoulder, “we’ll get our fortunes told, but just try not to get your hopes up okay?”
“What do you mean?” Carmedy said with a puzzled expression.
“I mean, well, fortune tellers usually use some pretty broad statements that make it sound like they know more than they do,” Rana explained. “They have a way of extracting information from you without you even realizing it. They might say something like oh, I see a person whose name starts with an L, or is it a P? They’ll keep guessing letters until you shout out a person’s name who starts with that letter or something like that. And they’ll say that person has a message from the great beyond or something. My point is, don’t read too much into what she says okay?”
“Say what you like about her,” Carmedy said, and her eyes sparkled with eagerness as the line moved again bringing us closer to the oracle. “Who knows, she might have some really amazing things to tell us.”
“I bet,” Annalíse rolled her eyes.
There were many people ahead of us but the line moved at a decent pace. We watched as one person after another who had received their fortunes walked away from the tarped area with expressions of hopelessness. Not a single one of them looked pleased about what their future supposedly held.
“It wouldn’t hurt for her to dish out a few positive predictions,” Rana whispered as a pale bald man led a tearful woman away from the tarp and down the street. “No wonder all these people are depressed,” the fox shook her head.
Finally, only a few people remained in line in front of us and now I could see more clearly what was ahead of us. The red tarp that was stretched between the buildings was actually the roof of a tent like structure and two flaps came down the front of it. There was a small slit in between them and beyond it the faint glow of a flame. I could make nothing else out for now. When it came time for the man with the thin gray hair ahead of us to take his turn, he shuffled forward and ducked down as he pushed back one of the tent flaps with a trembling hand. As he entered, I caught a glimpse of a woman seated on the ground before the flap fell back into place.
“Ooh, I can’t wait,” Carmedy bounced on her heels in anticipation to which Annalíse crossed her arms and mumbled something under her breath in response. Only a few minutes passed before the wrinkled man finally emerged from the tent. Somehow, he looked even paler than before and he walked away with a void look as though he were in a daze.
“Guess he didn’t get good news either,” Rana said as she watched the man leave.
“You may enter,” an elderly female voice called out from the tent.
“Oh um, I guess I can go first,” Carmedy said to the rest of us. “Unless one of you wants to-”
“You may all enter,” the voice spoke again interrupting the feline. “All five of you.”
“How did she know there were five of us?” Carmedy gasped as she moved toward the tent structure.
“She undoubtedly observed us in line as others entered and exited,” Morrigan said with a very unimpressed expression.
Carmedy didn’t seem to hear the elf’s words though, and she quietly pulled back the tent flap and we stooped over and walked in. The inside of the tent was shadowy, the only source of light were four candles in clay holders arranged in a semi-circle and behind them sat an old woman, though old seemed to be a gross understatement. Ancient looking was a better description for the being that sat cross legged before us. The woman was more or less a pile of wrinkles and age spots. She was clothed in a dark purple dress, and a black lace shawl rested on top of a mass of long matted gray hair and draped around her shoulders.
I sensed an evil presence radiating from the oracle and had to force myself to keep from grinning. I knew exactly what was going on now but I would not say anything of her despicable deeds until she told us our fortunes.
Each of us handed her a gold coin except Annalíse who had decided against having her fortune told.
“Please, sit down,” the oracle gestured to the ground after she pocketed the coins. Her wrinkled hands were plagued with liver spots and the knuckles of her bony fingers were swollen. Despite her archaic appearance, her dark brown eyes looked bright and full of alertness, and they darted back and forth between the five of us as we knelt down.
“We wish to have our fortunes told,” Carmedy giggled.
“Ahh let us see who we have here,” the oracle said, and she shakily raised a gnarled hand to point at each of us one by one. “A cat with an open mind and an exceptionally pure heart, a quick-witted fox who is actually quite honorable and loyal despite her less than legal activities, seemingly stoic elf who in truth is the most emotional and passionate of you all, a noble but hot headed princess eager to prove herself, and a man who is…” The woman paused with her finger pointing at me, but then she lowered her hand and closed her eyes. “Well, you are quite an interesting one.”
“Wowie.” Carmedy gaped at the old woman while Rana’s eyes widened in disbelief and even Morrigan raised an eyebrow in surprise. Annalíse blinked in shock but quickly regained her dubious expression.
“I’m impressed,” I gave the gray-haired woman a wry grin. “Perhaps you truly have a gift. Then again, perhaps those were simply generalizations that turned out to be very lucky guesses.”
“That is for you to decide young man,” the oracle settled her gaze on me. “Though perhaps I should not call you young, because you are, after all, a great deal older than I. Only by a few centuries mind you. No offense intended of course.”
“None taken,” I said with a slight chuckle. Most of what she had said could be considered generalizations. Her knowing that Annalíse was a princess was however more specific though she could have had knowledge of Annalíse and the reward that was out for her. Still, I wondered…
“So, what do you see in my future?” Carmedy asked without another moment’s hesitation. �
�Will-I-get-to-build-my-hospital-on-Canarta-like-I’ve-always-dreamed-about? Will-I-become-as-good-of-a-doctor-as-my-parents? Will-there-be-”
“No questions,” the old woman held up a decrepit hand to halt Carmedy’s ramblings, and the cat promptly clamped her mouth shut. “I shall tell you what you need most to hear, not what you desire most to hear.”
“Uhh, okay,” Rana wrinkled her nose. “What do we need to hear then?” The oracle said nothing in response. Instead tilted her head up slightly and placed her hands on her knees and took a deep breath. A low eerie humming came to my ears. It was rhythmic, almost like a chant, and strangely the sound didn’t seem to be coming from the old woman. The sound just somehow seemed to be around us. The women held their breath as the oracle’s mouth slowly opened. The humming sound grew louder and Carmedy gasped as the soothsayer’s eyes turned totally white. Suddenly the humming stopped, and the oracle lowered her head to look at us. She slowly turned to first look at Carmedy, and the feline clasped her hands expectantly to hear what her future held.
“It shall be on the day when myth becomes truth, when clouds roar with fury and the sky is filled with glimpses of blue,” the ancient woman said to the cat.
“Huh?” Carmedy cocked her head to one side. “I don’t get it. Clouds don’t roar, and the sky is blue like every day.”
The oracle didn’t offer any further explanation however, and she turned to gaze upon Rana.
“The winds that blow toward you carry faint whispers of deception. When the winds show their true nature, the unity of enemies shall be revealed,” the seer said to the fox.
“What in the world is that supposed to mean?” Rana smirked, but the oracle didn’t elaborate and rested her eyes on Morrigan.