The Oracle's Prophecy

by Alex Leopold

  The two men were her younger father and Acadia, their hands still holding the smoking rifles.

  “The look on your father’s face when he found out it was me, haunts me to this day.” Malthus whispered, and she saw in his mind her father’s hard expression fall after he tore the mask away.

  “You betrayed him.”

  “I did. And when they sentenced me to die, he saved my life anyway.”

  She saw her younger father and Malthus enter an old sewage tunnel.

  “This is as far as I can take you.” Her younger father said and offered his hand. “Good luck, old friend.”

  Malthus shook it. “I don't understand why you're doing this? The Elders will punish you for this.”

  Riley’s father let out a care-free chuckle.

  “The Elders I can handle, it's my wife I'm more worried about.”

  The memory began to fade as the two men parted.

  “If you ever need my help, call out my name, and I’ll return.” The younger Malthus called out.

  “I think fate brought you and your sister to me so I could honor that promise.” Malthus said as he watched his younger-self disappear down the tunnel.

  He needs this, she thought as she looked at him. Not because of some obligation, but because doing so might fix something that broke inside him a long time ago.

  “I believe you.” She said.

  He gave her deprecating smile.

  “Good. Then you’ll forgive me for using this time to peer into the rest of your mind. I didn’t know what I was going to find. I certainly never thought it would be the Oracle’s last prophecy.”

  She was so shocked she fell out of the connection and lost her footing. As she tried to regain her step she felt Acadia’s large hand grab her by arm. When he saw her expression he let her go and grabbed Malthus by the collar.

  “What did he do?”

  He’d broken into her head, she realized. While she’d let her mind runaway with her thoughts, he’d stolen all of her secrets.

  “Don’t you see, we have what the Archon wants. We can use that to destroy him.” He tapped with a smile as Acadia shook him like a rag doll.

  “I told you not to sneak into anyone’s head.” Acadia sneered. He looked at Riley. “What did he steal?”

  Everything, she was going to say, but then Mayat was calling for them.

  “Down! Everyone down!” The Sekhem was screaming as she raced back from where she’d been scouting on the horizon.

  Something had agitated Goose too, and the macaw began squawking excitedly on Redtail’s shoulder.

  “I said get down!” Mayat shouted again as the branches of an oak tree above them shook violently.

  Then a large shadow descended from it to the ground, right on top of Cooper. For a heartbeat it appeared it might have crushed her. Then two massive wings, as long as a house was tall, unfurled from its chest. Great waves of dust rolled over them as two feathered sails beat rapidly against the earth.

  Then the massive beast sprung off its hind legs and catapulted itself into the air.

  Acadia moved to shoot it down with an arrow from his bow, but Mayat smacked his hand away.

  “It’ll crush Cooper if you bring it down like that.” She hissed as the colossal rose further into the sky.

  Cooper was still visible. Her leg was trapped in the creature’s talons. As her body hung upside down, her arms dangled below her.

  The dragon roared loudly. It was a high-pitched blast of noise the likes of which Riley had never heard before. Then it tipped its wing and disappeared behind the tree line.

  69

  Cooper had lost the feeling in her legs hours ago. What had kept her moving since was the thought that when they finally reached the resistance she could begin to exact her revenge on the Directory. In her head, she reread the passage from Nakano’s notebook that had spoken of the battle to come.

  || The moment the resistance receives the prophecy, an order is given to the three generals to attack a city and strike a powerful blow against the Directory ||

  Hopefully, this part of the prophecy was true. If it was, Cooper was sure the resistance would need volunteers. No matter the danger, she’d step forward, and fantasized about spilling so much Directory blood her boots would be soaked by it.

  They had to pay for what they did, she thought. That was all she wanted to concentrate on.

  Focusing on the Directory, helped her forget about the pain in her legs. It helped her forget about her father’s death. Most of all, it helped her from having to remember how alone and scared she was.

  She knew if she could just be by Riley’s side, she’d feel instantly better. Yet, the things she’d said the previous night had been indefensibly cruel, and Cooper couldn’t face the real possibility her sister might not forgive her for them. If that happened, it would break her.

  “You know, it's a shame we had to leave Hellanta in such a hurry.” Ellis mused from beside her. “There’s a great bar there that I know you’d just love.”

  Off-and-on for the last few hours he’d broken the silence to tell her what was on his mind. It was intentionally nothing more than the purest of nonsense. He’d tell a joke, sing a song, talk about the view.

  She knew he was only doing it to distract her from thinking about what happened at the carriage-house. Though she made out she wasn't listening, she was secretly grateful for his presence.

  “What’s so good about it?” She asked speaking up on this one occasion. Partly it was to indulge him, partly out of curiosity.

  She’d never been to a bar in her life and wanted to know what kind he thought she’d like.

  “Nothing’s good about it, it's a real slum.” An enthusiastic Ellis replied with his usual brand of cavalier mischief. “But that's part of its charm.”

  Cooper had to turn her face away from him so he wouldn't see her smile. Not for first time she thought how much she liked having him at her side. He was so much taller than her and though she knew it sounded ridiculous - even to her - she liked the protection she felt in his shadow.

  More, she delighted in his confidence, in the swagger of his step. She knew much of it was probably an illusion. That the memory-carrier was hiding behind one of the many personalities he carried in his head, yet she didn’t care. He could be who she needed him to be when she needed it. What more could one ask for?

  “So you’re saying, the bar’s so bad it's actually good?” She asked.

  “Exactly!” He replied, then stepped closer to whisper in her ear. “Which is pretty much how I like to think of myself.”

  When she looked at him, his face had broken into a self-deprecating grin which she couldn’t help but find infectious.

  “I remember you having a nice smile, and I was right.” He added with contented triumph when he saw her mouth curled up at the sides. It made her blush and somehow the numbness within her lifted a little.

  It was at that moment she remembered she wasn't the only person who’d lost a father recently, and that maybe Ellis had been trying to lift her spirits not just for her own benefit, but for his too.

  “Thank you.” She said gratefully.

  “Stick with me kid, and everything will be just fine.” He replied without letting his bravado slip.

  “Isn't that right?” He added, addressing the question to Redtail who was trying to secretly eavesdrop on their conversation from a few paces behind.

  “Give us a cuddle, sweetheart.” Goose said from his position on Red’s shoulder.

  “Maybe later if that’s okay with you.” Ellis grinned.

  “When were you in Hellanta?” Cooper asked suddenly not wanting to be left alone with the silence and her own thoughts.

  “Couple of years back, my father took me. Place is wild! A bounder’s paradise. I went to that bar I told you about, was lucky to get out of their with my life.”

  “What happened?”

  “I heard a rumor there was a witch there!” He said and his eyebrows danced dramaticall
y. “Apparently, this old woman was a reader, gifted with some ancient magical power. It was said she could tell you the exact moment you were going to die.”

  “And did she?”

  “I suppose. She told me, I had less than a minute to live. The next thing I knew I’m in the middle of a knife-fight with three blackhats.”

  “Well, it looks like you came out of it in one piece.” Cooper pointed out liking the thought he could take on three armed men at once, and live.

  “They got a couple of chunks out of me before I escaped.” He rubbed the bottom of his chin where she made out a thin white scar. “But I didn’t leave empty handed.”

  He pulled the deck of tarot cards from his coat pocket. “I got a nice keepsake, too.”

  “Wow, that’s a blast from the past.”

  Cooper chuckled as she took the cards from him and began shuffling through them.

  “Did they belong to the witch?”

  “Yup.”

  “Love.”

  She held up the card she’d picked all those days ago in the black-market souk. The one with the male and female clown surrounded by a circle of flowers.

  “Did you ever have that hot date?” He asked.

  “Unfortunately not. I’ve been busy trying to stay alive.”

  “There’s no reason why that should interfere with your love life.”

  “Sure.” She snickered. Then went quiet when she saw the BATTLE card with the half-skeleton, half-warrior clown dressed in black. Its red twin hidden beneath it.

  What had Ellis told them? When the cards are picked together, the owners will one day face each other in battle. And one of them will live and the other will die.

  “You were supposed to get a different card.” He explained. “But like an idiot I shuffled them badly and then like an even bigger idiot I told you what it meant to pick the two together.”

  He held up his hands in surrender. “No excuse.”

  “Do you think …”

  “Absolutely not!” He replied quickly. “For starters, I’m not a witch. See, my nose isn’t crooked.”

  He faced her in profile and flicked the tip of his nostril with a finger.

  “And what’s more…”

  “Down! Everyone down!” Mayat was interrupting from the tree line.

  Before Cooper could even turn her head to see what the felisian wanted, she was driven off her feet and crushed beneath a massive weight. As she struggled to breathe, something clamped down hard around her right leg – tearing through her boot and pinching into her skin.

  With a large jolt, she was yanked up into the sky, rising high above the trees, her arms flailing beneath her as she ascended.

  Looking up, she could see the creature only as a dark blur above her, its body outlined against the brilliant blue sky. Her leg she saw was trapped in the very claws she’d once tried to purchase in the black-market.

  A dragon.

  As it flapped its massive wings she felt the wind churn around her, sucking the air out of her lungs. Then it dipped its massive head till the black eyes on its heavily horned skull were staring directly at her. When their eyes met it let out an ear-piercing sound, part-squawk, part-roar, and Cooper’s heart leapt up into her throat as the dragon dropped a hundred feet and banked sharply north.

  “Hunters! Murderers!” A voice kept repeating in her head as the dragon squawked again. It was not unlike tapping but this voice seemed to filter in from somewhere deeper within her, somewhere more primal.

  “Destroys my home.” It added, and Cooper realized it was the dragon’s voice.

  She tried to communicate back – to tune – but this kind of tapping did not come easily to her, especially when she was dangling hundreds of feet above the ground.

  “Must kill it!” The dragon went on and an image of her body being smashed against a rock appeared in her mind.

  It forced her to focus on escaping and without even thinking she created the spark in the palm of her hand and prepared to throw it.

  “Don’t do that!” Another voice called out. For a moment she thought it was the dragon’s. Then it spoke again and she realized it was coming from somewhere outside her mind.

  “It’ll drop you if you hit it.”

  Contorting her body to follow the voice she was shocked to find Ellis.

  His hands were gripping some kind of thick leather whip that was wrapped around the dragon’s tail. He was holding onto it for dear life. When he caught her eye he gave her a casual nod of recognition, as if his presence was nothing out of the ordinary.

  “Just relax, this won't take a second.” He grunted as he strained to pull himself along the whip. “You know how to switch, right?”

  She gave a dumbstruck nod as she watched him get a hand on one of the bone-like spike’s that ran along the dragon’s body. When he had a firm grip he paused in order to give her a wink.

  “Not till I tell you.” He said, then he was gone.

  Quickly scrambling up onto the beast’s back, his body moved nimbly as if he knew exactly what he was doing.

  Almost immediately the dragon began bucking and jerking like a wild colt as it tried to unseat its rider. Wherever Ellis was though he did not fall off. Then Cooper felt the winged colossal’s flight become labored as it tried to stay aloft with only the use of its right wing, the left somehow hampered. It caused the beast to descend rapidly as it pitched to the east, moving in the direction of a large lake that was less than a half-mile away.

  The dragon did not go willingly, and Cooper could feel it wrestling constantly against whatever restraint Ellis had placed on it. Soon enough though she was staring down at a flat blue surface no more than fifty feet below. She could switch from this height, she thought. This must’ve been Ellis’ opinion to, because in the next moment she saw him falling passed her. He shouted for her to teleport as he plummeted toward the water.

  “Switch!” She cried out focusing on a space only a few feet away.

  After exiting the blue capsule she was following Ellis down, her body accelerating towards the lake. Still going head first, she saw the surface coming up towards her at a frightening pace.

  Panicked, she switched again.

  In the next instant she was deep within the lake, slicing through it like a bullet shot from a rifle.

  When she finally came to a stop, she wasn't sure where the surface was. And her lungs were empty.

  Terrified, she began clawing through the water as she tried to find sunlight. Yet, in her disorientated state she kept doubling-back on herself.

  Quickly, her lungs began to burn. As her body shook from the lack of oxygen, she thought she caught the reflection of the sun and raced toward it. She stopped when she came up against a hard surface.

  In her oxygen-deprived mind she thought she found herself facing a large metal door with the words ARMORY embossed across it and a locking wheel in its center. Not knowing what else to do, she reached for the wheel and tried to turn it.

  Before she could finish, a pair of arms wrapped themselves tightly around her waist and pulled her away. She tried to fight but didn't have the strength, and could only watch as the door disappeared into the deep.

  Then she was above the surface and her lungs were sucking in air with such a mad craving she felt they might explode.

  Ellis’ voice barked something in her ear as he pulled her onto his chest. She struggled, her arms and legs flapping madly about her body.

  “I said, calm down!” He shouted again.

  Pushing her off him, he struck her across the face. Her whole body went limp and he pulled her back onto his chest.

  “I don’t know about you, but this is without a doubt the strangest day I’ve ever had.” Ellis said as he swam them to shore.

  “There was a metal door down there.” Cooper croaked as she listened to the gentle rhythm of his hand pulling them through the water. “I was trying to open it when you pulled me away.”

  “I think you must’ve seen a ghost, ‘cause the o
nly thing you were doing when I grabbed you was drowning.” He told her.

  She felt him find the purchase of the bottom of the lake. With an arm around her waist he helped her get to her feet.

  She held on to him tightly as he marched them out of the water, then the moment she was on dry land she felt her legs buckle. Collapsing onto the bank she pulled him down on top of her.

  Time seemed to pause in that instant for her. Seconds felt like minutes as she looked up into his face and saw his eyes staring down at her. And those minutes felt like hours as she felt him on top of her and the heat of his body through her wet clothing.

  “Well, this was some hot date you took me on.” Ellis finally managed never taking his eyes off her.

  Cooper realized what he was talking about and began to chuckle. He laughed too. Until something sharp was pushed against his forehead.

  When he raised his head he was staring up at the tip of an arrow notched to Acadia’s massive bow. The ursinian with his lips drawn back to bare his sharp incisors, had the string tightly pulled against his cheek.

  “Like I said, this is the strangest day I’ve ever had.”

  70

  “Speak quickly Skyman, I’m all out of patience.”

  The ursinian leaned forward as he spoke and Ellis was forced to roll-off Cooper in order to escape the arrow’s tip pressing against the skin of his cheek.

  “What’s happening? What’s going on?” A meek Cooper asked, looking self-consciousness from being discovered lying in a this boy’s embrace.

  She looked at Riley for answers, but her sister was still panting heavily from having to chase after them through the forest.

  “This man’s a dragon-rider.” Mayat replied for her. “He’s one of the Skymen from the City in the Clouds.”

  “You are?” Cooper asked naively then bit her tongue.

  Riley could tell what she was thinking without needing to read her mind. They’d all seen Ellis effortlessly scale the dragon as it rose through the air. Saw how he’d piloted it over the lake. So, of course he was a dragon-rider. Who else could do something like that?