The Oracle (1)

Have you had another dream? King Escar had asked greedily when Sara arrived at his audience chambers the night before the mock trial.

Yes, My Liege, she replied. In my dream, I headed south to a grove that glows in the moonlight. There, I found a beautiful white flower with blue tips that radiated light.

His eyes widened. A silvermoon bloom?

I don't know.

Hmmm…. How strange. He stroked his beard and flitted his gaze behind her, focusing on nothing in particular. Silvermoon bloom is rare, but it's not hard for me to procure. What is it for?

Sara took a sharp breath, hiding her emotions. I'm not sure why, but I have to take it to a tavern owner. I don't think it's even for the owner. It's just that… When I do that, I'll run into someone and get information. Like… a chance encounter. Fate, maybe.

King Escar's face turned grave. What do you mean, fate?

I don't know how to explain it. It's like… giving that tavern owner that flower will put me at the right place and the right time to meet someone with the information we need. Maybe "need" isn't the best word. I'm not sure what it is. But my dream left me with this sinking feeling that if we don't do it, the information will go into the wrong hands.

And that is how Sara got permission to pick a silvermoon bloom in Moonlit Grove in the Tyina region, feeling free for the first time in months.

"You don't seem worried about our trip," Edico said as they trotted through the forest.

"What are you implying?" Sara asked.

"It's just an observation."

Sara smiled and took a breath of fresh air. "I don't know how to explain it, but it feels like I belong on the road."

"These roads are dangerous, My Lady."

So is that castle, Sara replied in her mind, but instead said, "That's why I have a royal guard escorting me."

That made up most of the discussion they had on the six-hour journey through rocky planes and thickets. To Edico, Sara probably just seemed apathetic and cold, but in reality, it just hurt her to be around him. Edico was her teacher, General, and friend. The fact that he could look her in the eye and not know anything about her, the battles they fought together, the sacrifices they made as a team haunted her. So she sat in silence, brooding until they reached a forest clearing with trees wreathed in golden leaves. It had just rained, the air was fresh, and the ground was soft and spongy. And the trees… they were beautiful, glimmering gold in the fresh dew as if they had entered Eldorado. They had just entered the Tyrina region, and it was just as awe-inspiring as when she first saw it.

"Let's set up camp here," Edico said, reaching a patch of trees that were thin, allowing for great visibility.

Sara wanted to. Her thighs were chaffed as a motherfucker, and her need to pee was so intense that she'd squat in the middle of the road, but they couldn't stop. Contrary to what she said, she didn't have a dream about where to find a silvermoon bloom—she only knew where she found one last time. If she wanted a chance at finding some, they had to go to the spot she found one. Since King Escar forbade her to disclose the nature of her gift, Edico was simply forced to follow her every command, and telling him was out of the question. "No," she said, gritting her teeth. "Let's keep going."

Edico turned his reins to block her path. "Are you sure? You look—"

"Yes!" Sara said, turning her reins in the opposite direction to avoid him. Her face was red, and she was in pain. "Let's just go!" she started off.

Three hours of pain, one frantic piss in the forest, and a lot of chaos ensued before they finally reached the area where she originally found the silvermoon bloom, a thick area of the forest that made Edico frown.

"Here?" he asked.

"Here," Sara confirmed, jumping off her horse.

Edico eyed her carefully but set to work. He started by setting up an excessive barrier ward to protect them around the clock. Then he set up the tent, started a fire, and started cooking. He didn't let Sara move. She felt like a sheltered child. It was ridiculous.

Despite that, her grievances melted away when he gave her a plate of seasoned iska fish and tilla berries, something they enjoyed, warming themselves before the crackling fire until Edico finally broke the silence. "What's special about this place?"

Sara threw a random stick into the fire, making it pop with floating embers. "What makes you think I purposely came here?"

Edico looked down at Sara's trembling legs. "No one fights through that much pain to keep going when there's other tenable spots elsewhere."

Sara smiled grimly. Her legs felt like someone smoothed her thighs with sandpaper and then followed it up with a deep tissue massage using a jackhammer. "Well I do."

Edico looked back into the fire, watching it dance toward the sky with heat and passion, sharing its lust with the rest of the world. "What do you want?"

Sara looked up. "What's my agenda?"

Edico shook his head. "I watched your summoning. I've talked to your classmates. There's nothing to suspect you're a spy or have mal-intentions. But it is clear that you're special, and your presence here will change the world. My question is, what do you want? You, personally."

Sara thought about it for a moment. All she wanted was to go back to Kyritus and Tiber. She and Kye were engaged in their last life, pending her final confrontation with Agronus, and she was determined to retire and become a deranged housewife. But would that be enough for her? She was no homemaker. In fact, she wasn't even a decent person. Ever since she returned to Reemada, all she did was lie, lie, lie, get disturbing nobles executed, swing a sword, and prepare to carve a bloody path to Agronus. Along the way, she was playing politics, preparing to shift the balance of power in the world, and for what? Selfish reasons. So she could be happy with Kyritus. Jason will cause us problems? Ensure he never obtains real power. King Escar wants to make me his lap dog? Prepare to depose him, if necessary. She had no clue what she really wanted. It just felt like she was running on autopilot.

Sara didn't think of herself as a bad person or that what she was doing was wrong. She had a code, and because of her, the vilest of nobles were going down in flames, servants weren't getting abused, and Jason and Mary wouldn't become tyrants. She had seen countless die from famine, slaughtered in wars, jailed for reasonable beliefs, and now, she was preventing those things. But it was for selfish reasons. She didn't like bad things, so she was avoiding them. Or, perhaps, that made her a decent person, and all along, she was meant to rule some kingdom and save people. But if that was true, could she really start up a tavern with Kyritus and live a normal life, bake up a rugrat, and watch them roam around like Tiber? Sara had been embroiled in fighting and bloodshed for so long that it was all she knew. She was classic damaged goods, but unlike others, she was dangerous, like an old box of dynamite sweating nitroglycerin, just waiting to explode.

Sara sighed as she looked into the fire, her face and tone reflecting the true way she felt. "I don't know."

The two waited in silence until the massive red moon fully waxed, becoming the brightest of the moon cycle.

"It's time," Edico said, pushing himself off the ground and offering Sara a hand. Sara accepted it, her legs shaking from the pain. "Agreed. But hold up, I need to go to the bathroom," she said, pulling out a roll of toilet paper.

Edico's face stiffened, but he narrowed his eyes after a moment's pause, studying Sara's expressions. "Don't dawdle."

"Okay," Sara said, limping into the forest. Her burning legs were a serious problem. Edico was strong—really strong. That's why she knew she had to move 100 yards away to move outside of his sphere of perception, and she needed to do that to mask what she was about to do. That was hard because she only had 50 yards before he got suspicious—75 until he gave chase. Then, he'd catch her in a matter of seconds. She had to move fast.

After she got past his immediate perception, the range that Edico could view her clear as day through her mana signature, she started chanting in her thoughts: Kató sto bathý, ot' ákra ton aimátinon kymátizon.

Suddenly, the gravity around Sara lifted, and she bounded in the air, moving at a light jog abruptly, closing the distance.

"Sara!" Edico called out.

Sara's heart pounded, picking up speed. I'll find an excuse later. Mirázontas ta synóra! She kicked off the ground when she landed, launching through the air like a slingshot.

"Sara! Are you okay?" Edico screamed.

Adrenaline hit Sara's veins, her mana channels burning, bolting through the air as she risked head-on collisions with trees. 10 more yards.

"I'm coming!" Edico screamed. Sara was probably leaving the extended sphere. It was time.

Sferíki fosforésce, to spíti ton astraí, she thought rapidly, shutting her eyes as she hit the ground and rolled. [Ilumináva tis enigma pleúres. Regma, péma stin ámichos órasi, éklausen stin êcho tou kósmou.] Her eyes snapped open. Divine Eyes.

A thin yet massive mana pulse abruptly rippled out from her position, spreading out for miles. It bathed the world, turning it into a visible array of information, similar to a three-dimensional version of infrared where she could interpret everything in full dimension through feeling it. It was strange to explain, but then again, so were all divination spells (those that send, receive, or investigate information). Sara scoured through the land, desperately searching for silvermoon blooms.

Edico caught up in a matter of seconds, weaving through trees. "Sara!"

Sara ignored him, even when he grabbed her.

"Sara!" he yelled, pulling her into his arms. "What happened?"

Sara groaned, continuing her search as she moved her head around as if she were asking for five more minutes.

"My Lady! Speak to me!"

She moaned, turning away. "W-Where am I?" It was hard to talk and think, making things difficult.

"What do you mean, where are you?"

"I…."

"Talk to me."

Suddenly, Sara found what she was looking for, and she opened her eyes slightly, looking into his worried eyes. "I don't know. One second, I was walking, and the next, I was wrapped in this warm feeling, flying through the forest. A-And… I had this dream." She looked around her and froze in disbelief.

Edico's face paled. "What is it, my lady?"

"This place…" Sara whispered, "I saw it in my dream. I know where the silvermoon bloom is!"