The Oracle's Prophecy

by Alex Leopold

  “We’re not going to wait.” Riley interrupted, speaking up for her sister, sensing she’d been quiet for too long.

  “If you don’t want to join us, that’s fine. We’re going.” She turned to Acadia “Aren’t we?”

  She thought he might raise his own objections but instead found him standing there with a bright smile on his face.

  “You remind me of your father, Cooper.” He mused as he ran his clawed fingers through his short-cropped beard. “He was good at coming up with terrible plans, too. Had a real knack for it, as I recall.”

  Then he turned to Mayat. “What do you say, Whiskers?”

  “We’re family.” She’d said without further explanation.

  “To the end, Miss Riley-mam.” Redtail chimed in and Goose repeated him.

  Emboldened, Riley turned back to Malthus. “You told us my father was your friend and you want to help. So help. Find a way for us to get passed the predictors. Or remain behind.”

  She thought he'd continue to argue but he didn't. Instead his expression turned somber and he nodded his head. That led her to suspect when the moment came for them to leave, he would stay. It had been something of a shock when she found him waiting for her by his dragon.

  “What changed your mind?” She asked.

  “I like the sound of being called a general.” He told her. “Has a nice ring to it.”

  Then he climbed into his saddle.

  Though, as Acadia had pointed out, calling it a saddle was being overly generous. What Ellis had cobbled together using materials salvaged from Weaver's house was barely more than a padded wooden seat held in place with tattered old pieces of rope.

  “Feels like I'm going to fly off the moment my dragon turns too sharply.” Acadia had grumbled when he’d inspected the bindings.

  “Oh, I doubt it would take even that.” Ellis responded before slapping the rump of Acadia's dragon and sending it up into the sky.

  When she glanced down, Cooper could see the ursinian now. The tall bear-like blend - who feared nothing, and was almost a colossal himself - was thirty feet below her, holding onto his dragon’s neck for dear life.

  “I thought teddy-bears weren’t afraid of anything.” She teased as she brought her dragon closer to his.

  “I can stop a dozen armed men from trying to get passed me.” The grizzly huffed. “Once, I even stopped an arrow by catching it with my bare hand. But if I fall off this overstuffed peacock. I’m not going to be able to stop gravity from smashing my face into the ground.”

  “And it’s such a handsome face.” She snickered.

  “Keep laughing, little lady. When we get to the City in the Clouds and the bullets start flying. Then we’ll see which one of us has the stupider grin on their face.”

  She stuck her tongue out at him.

  He had a point though, and she couldn’t fathom why she wasn’t more rattled. This was her plan after all. She alone had put it into motion, and had done so even though she knew the odds were against them.

  They could be captured. Some might be killed. More importantly, and as Malthus had pointed out, by her actions the Archon could get the one thing he didn't have: the prophecy.

  Why did that not terrify her more?

  Perhaps it was because it felt like she had nothing left to lose. Maybe it was more because, from a thousand feet up anything seemed possible. Or perhaps, just perhaps it was because, as she looked out at the world below her, of all the things she could see, the one thing she couldn't, was any sign of the Directory.

  Below her red-and-blue plumaged dragon, Cooper could see herds of elephants and buffalo marching toward a lake where flocks of pelicans were bathing. Wild horses ran amongst them, antagonizing the bull elephants who trumpeted noisily.

  To the west, she saw smoke rising from a circle of wooden cabins that made up a small farmstead.

  Everywhere she looked there was life, and none of it had been touched by the Archon's tyranny. So perhaps, the Directory's hold over this nation was not as infinite as Cooper had almost come to believe.

  Perhaps, seven people could change a nation’s fate.

  81

  Six days. Had it really only been that long since her abilities were released, Riley thought as she played with the spark in her fist and moved through a switch. Could it be possible that only a week ago she'd barely been beyond the boundaries of her father's farmstead? She'd thought she was so grown up back then, it annoyed her now to think how naive she'd been.

  “Shift!” She whispered as she raised a hand and made a come-hither motion with her fingers.

  The fighting staff lying with the rest of her possessions jumped off the ground and flew into her open hand. In one fluid motion she telescoped out the blades and sliced at the bark on a nearby tree.

  She nodded toward her sister who was watching from close by, that time had been better.

  Cooper said nothing, she didn't need to. The two girls had their minds intwined within the connection, it was no different than if Cooper was standing where Riley was.

  They'd connected because linked together the two girls could learn from each other more quickly. Inside, they could combine their best skills to move one body with almost perfect precision.

  For Riley, she already had the poise but Cooper could force her to move faster and with more aggression. Aggression was not Cooper’s problem, she had that in spades. What she lacked was coordination, possessing instead the grace of a bull in a china shop. Riley, helped her movements become more fluid, more controlled.

  The City in the Clouds was now only fifty miles to the north and they could just make out the spires of its tallest buildings on the horizon. This was as far as they could go during the day, needing to wait for the cover of darkness to cross the remaining distance.

  “Don’t worry, I could find the way with my eyes closed.” Ellis promised them, and the young man had not pulled his eyes away from the distant city since they’d arrived.

  “My city.” He'd told them, speaking with a kind of reverence.

  While they waited for the dark, the dragons rested. Now they were firmly in Directory territory, the danger of being spotted had increased dramatically. They’d been forced to fly the dragons low to the ground, navigating their way north along rivers and old highways. It had been exhausting work for the colossals and they dozed noisily beside their companions.

  Riley should’ve used the time to rest as well, but couldn’t. So she filled the time by continuing to practice using her abilities, that fastidious part of her personality demanding she use every available minute to prepare for whatever was to come. In this instance, she didn’t have to worry about being detected by snoopers. Malthus was with them, and as he’d explained it, he had an ear for detecting when someone was trying to listen in. He’d know if a snooper started to sweep through their area.

  “Can I talk to you both?” He asked, interrupting their training.

  “What is it?” Cooper asked.

  “You asked me to help you get passed the Directory’s predictors. I think I have a solution.”

  “And?”

  “We need to make sure no predictor is focused on the City in the Clouds when we enter. The only way we can do that is if we give the Archon a reason to focus them elsewhere.”

  “Okay, how do we do that?”

  “I believe you have to speak with him. With the Archon.”

  “How are we supposed to convince him again?” A skeptical Cooper asked as she watched Acadia tie Malthus’ arms behind his back.

  “At this moment, the Archon believes you've been captured and are on route to meet his Myrmidons at the border of King Kalahar’s territory. When he sees you’re free and safe, it should unbalance him.

  “If you can say something that’ll make him feel threatened, then I believe he’ll make the Watcher shift the focus of her entire predictor army to search for you down in Hellanta. If he does that, he’ll be unaware of our attack on the City in the Clouds until after it’s started.
”

  “What could we possibly say to make the Archon feel threatened?” Cooper asked.

  “You're the daughters of the Great Inventor, and you have the last prophecy. In this whole nation you may be the only two people he is afraid of.

  “That is why you must speak to him alone.” He added as he directed the others to stand behind him.

  “Is there another way?” Riley asked.

  “Not that I can think of.”

  She looked at Acadia. He gave her a look that said, you wanted this fight, now you’ve got it.

  “Are you ready?” Malthus asked.

  “No!” Cooper replied.

  “Just convince him, he’ll never get the last prophecy back, and let his paranoia do all the rest.”

  Without another word, Malthus closed his eyes and the features on his face began to relax. The broadcast was starting soon and Cooper and Riley suddenly realized what they'd agreed to do.

  “I'll let you do the talking.” Cooper told her.

  Just like at the bridge into Harvardtown, she thought with a sigh.

  The first few seconds felt like an eternity during which neither twin could barely even breathe. Then time began to creep, and soon seconds had become minutes and the whole thing seemed very anti-climatic, almost boring. Without meaning to, Cooper let out a yawn. She stifled it quickly when she saw the incredulous look on her sister's face.

  “Sorry.” She apologized. “Perhaps the Archon has other plans.”

  “Don't worry, I wouldn't miss this for the world.” A voice, dark and menacing, interrupted the silence.

  The tone was so different from Malthus's own it was difficult to believe it had been uttered by his lips. Then he raised his shaved head from his chest and looked at them with a gaze that was immediately unsettling.

  “Aren't you a pair of beauties.” The dark voice continued with a threatening smile. Riley had seen that smile before, it was the Man in the dark's. It made every nerve in her body stand on end and she found she was too scared to speak.

  “You killed our mother!” Cooper tried to say with disgust, but her voice trembled as she spoke and betrayed her.

  “I've killed thousands of mothers.”The Archon replied without pity. “Is that what you brought me here to say?”

  “No, we brought you here because we wanted you to see that you’re men failed. We're still free.” She said even as she shied away from his gaze.

  “Free?” He snorted.

  “Let me see.” He continued with a face full of devilish delight. “Right now your company consists of an aging ursinian guard whose greatest accomplishment was to let the woman he was supposed to protect, die. A Sekham, who was banished from her kingdom for betraying her people. A houndsman, who I'm sure is better at getting you into trouble than getting you out of it. A farm boy. And then finally, let’s not forget, Malthus. A man who never had a friend he didn't betray, your father and mother being of particular note.”

  Cooper and Riley looked up from Malthus and met the eyes of the rest of their company behind him. From their flustered expressions it was clear they agreed with the Archon.

  “There is no resistance, no one to come and help you.” He added. “So tell me, what makes you think you’re so free?”

  “You haven't caught us yet.” Riley countered.

  “No, but the net continues to tighten around you. Can you feel it closing in from every side?”

  Riley wanted to say ‘no’ but she knew he'd see through the lie.

  “You don't have the last prophecy.” She said, remembering what Malthus had told her to focus on.

  That caught his attention and his eyes narrowed.

  “It would be in your interest to return that to me.”

  “Over my dead body." Cooper snapped.

  That made the Archon smile broadly. It would be so easy for him to say, that can be arranged. Yet, instead he returned his attention to Riley.

  “What you have is no good to you anymore, not now you’ve lost your Pathfinder. So I’ll make you a one time deal. Give me what I want, and I’ll let you live.”

  This was the moment, Riley realized. What she said next had to make the Archon believe his quest for the prophecy was in jeopardy.

  “We’d rather die.” Cooper said before she could speak.

  She couldn’t have thought of anything more useless, and when Riley saw the Archon smile she wanted to slap her for it.

  “Good. My men will enjoy running you down.” He replied with satisfaction. “They will make you understand the definition of misery.”

  Riley had to fix this before the Archon left the broadcast. Except, she still couldn't think of the right thing to say.

  Then a quiet voice spoke to her.

  It was barely audible, as if someone was calling to her from the top of a high tower. Yet, she repeated it exactly.

  “We don't need to run forever, Bellic. Just long enough to outlive you.”

  Immediately, his expression changed.

  “You're still dying aren't you? Like all those years ago when you had to be kept alive by my father.” She continued reciting what the quiet voice whispered to her. “I wonder, how much longer do you have? Months? Years? Do you even know?”

  The Archon said nothing, but his face wrinkled with rage.

  “This is a big nation, are you sure you can find us in time?” She finished and saw how his face boiled with anger.

  “I'll see you soon!” He snapped spitting the words from his mouth as if they were acid.

  Malthus's head violently jolted sidewise, as if he’d been punched in the face, and he fell to the dirt.

  “What..? How..?” A stunned Cooper stuttered as she looked at her sister.

  “I haven't been kicked out of a broadcast in a long time.” Malthus chuckled as they picked him out of the dirt and untied his wrists. “What did you say to get him so upset?”

  “Don’t look at me.” Cooper held up her hands in surrender.

  “It wasn't me, either....” Riley began slowly. “… it was father.”

  “What?” Cooper asked gobsmacked. “What are you talking about?”

  “He told me what to say.”

  “How?” They asked in unison.

  Riley thought about that. The answer was on the tip of her tongue, she just had to concentrate.

  “We had a shared dream about him, remember? Then I saw him again last night when I was sleeping by the fire. He tried to tell me something important, something about the Archon not being the only Pathfinder.”

  She saw something appear out of a mist in her mind’s eye and instinctively, grabbed Cooper’s hand to take her into the connection.

  “What do you see?” Acadia asked.

  “We’re back in the Harvardtown gateway. The portal has just opened.”

  The shell was wrapped in a piercing light as they moved through the gate. Her father’s body was aglow as he transformed himself into the energy he’d need to power the gateway; killing himself to save them.

  “I’ll never leave you.” She heard him tap in their minds. That was when Riley saw the light from his body flow into her and Cooper.

  “It looks like he’s making you absorb what remains of him.” Malthus said having joined them in the connection.

  “It’s the hack!” Cooper realized. “But instead of stealing our souls, he pushed his into us.

  “That’s why we keep seeing him.” She added. “They’re not dreams, they’re his spirit.”

  “That’s it!” Instinctively, Riley knew that was the answer. She could almost place her hand on her chest and feel him underneath her skin.

  Then she suddenly realized something. “If we have part of his soul within us, that has to mean …”

  “Yeah.” Cooper answered for her. “We’re Pathfinders too.”

  82

  He’d returned.

  “I made him promise not to leave me.” Cooper told her sister as she felt her father’s soul stir in the depths of her mind.

&nb
sp; “He kept his promise.” She realized, and the gray clouds that had hung over her like thick slabs of cement since they’d arrived in Hellanta, began to disappear.

  “Everything is possible again, isn’t it?” She asked Riley.

  “Yes.”

  “The prophecy…”

  “Yes! It’s not just the Archon’s. It’s ours to fulfill as well.”

  “Not if we remain her a second longer.” Malthus interrupted. “The Archon is no fool. With all his predictors looking into Hellanta, he'll soon realize his error.

  “If what you say about your father is true, then it is to our advantage. However, we can not let it distract us. If we’re to go to the City in the Clouds, we must go now, or not at all.”

  “Then let’s go.” Cooper said.

  When they returned to where the dragons were resting Cooper was keen to get moving. However, Acadia held her back. There was something they had to do first.

  “In the time of the Torchbearers, we’d make ourselves a promise before every battle.” The big grizzly held out his hand. “No matter what, we live free, or we fight on.”

  Riley placed her hand on his. “Live free, or fight on, Mr Bear.”

  The rest of their company did the same, until the seven of them stood in a circle, their hands stacked one on the other.

  “No matter what.” Cooper agreed, then she looked at Ellis.

  “Time to fly.”

  There was a secret tunnel at the city’s northern axis and they crossed a wide river – the Hudson, as Ellis called it – at the point where a massive ancient bridge connected the two sides.

  So they wouldn't be spotted against the moon’s reflection off the water, Ellis flew them directly under the bridge, their progress hidden from sight by over two centuries of vegetation that hung down from the decking like a bride’s veil.

  Now closer to the city, Cooper could see how imposing it really was. Thousands of grey buildings with steep sides, as smooth and as sudden as the face of a cliff, rose straight up into the air like a field of swords standing on their hilts. In the center, like columns holding up the sky, were the tallest of them. Some buildings were so high they disappeared into a thick fog bank of clouds that hovered above them. They had to be as tall as mountains, Cooper thought.