Oracle (18 page)

    
“It might
be interesting to hang around and find out,” Brandon said.

    
“Then you
stay,” Selene said, as she moved to
Lorn’s
side. “We
surely wouldn’t miss you. Here,
Lorn
, but your arm
across my shoulders. Don’t give me such a look. I’m not merely a woman, I’m a
higher power and I’m strong enough to handle you. Now do as I say.”

    
“I’ll
help.” Simon came up on
Lorn’s
other side and with
him leaning on both of them, the companions continued on toward the path. Even
Brandon, who seemed not interested in the creatures well enough to stay behind
on his own in order to have a better look at them.

    
Anastasia
couldn’t stop herself from looking back every few moments to see the creatures
gaining on them. In some ways, they did resemble wolves, and yet in others they
looked as no beast she had ever seen.

    
By the
time they set foot on the path, the beasts were close enough to hear their low
snarls and yips. Anastasia ran up the path behind Reaper, followed by Simon,
Lorn
, and Selene. Brandon and
Nephima
were slightly behind them.

    
So narrow
was the path they could walk no more than single file without risk of tumbling
off the side. The fall wouldn’t have killed them so close to the ground, but
they would be sure to quickly find themselves in the jaws of a beast.

    
Anastasia
hugged the rock wall, doing her best to focus on putting one foot ahead of the
other rather than on the sounds of the creatures. Her heart was pounding with
fear. She jumped when she heard a sharp, shrill yelp. Her foot slipped,
knocking her off her balance. For a moment she thought she would topple over
the side, but then Selene grabbed hold of her arm and steadied her. Their gazes
met for a moment and Selene’s lips pinched.

    
Beyond
Selene and the others, Anastasia saw Brandon standing precariously in the
middle of the path with a bloody dagger in hand and his left foot dangerously
close to the drop. The beast he had stabbed staggered back into its fellows. In
a moment they were on the wounded creature, snarling and snapping as they rent
its flesh.

    
Bile rose
up in the back of Anastasia’s throat. They must be truly horrible monsters to
turn so easily on one of their own. Horrible and sickening as the sight was,
she felt paralyzed by it, unable to look away.

    
“Move.”
Selene’s not so gentle shove broke Anastasia from her stupor. She hurried
forward, keeping her gaze locked firmly on Reaper’s back.

    
So
focused was she, she didn’t even notice the sounds of the creatures had faded
away until Brandon spoke up. “Well, that was bracing,” he said. “I’m almost
sorry it ended so quickly.”

    
Anastasia
risked a look over her shoulder. They had climbed much higher than she
realized. The ground was now a good forty foot drop away and as the path had
curved around the mountainside, the creatures were no longer in sight. This
would have made her feel much better if it were not for
Lorn
,
who was looking far worse from the effort.

    
“We could
use a brief rest now the trouble is behind us.” She directed this remark at
Reaper.

    
“Not
now,” he said. “The path is too narrow for a proper rest. A little further on
it will broaden.” He made good sense and so she said no more, but she continued
to worry.

    
At length
the path did indeed broaden, and at last they stopped to rest.
Lorn
slumped against the wall with his eyes closed and his
legs stretched out before him. His skin had taken on a grayish tinge.

    
“Simon,
would you take him some water, please?” Anastasia asked. “Even in the state
he’s in, he’ll never accept it from me.”

    
“Of
course.” Simon took a canteen and squatted down beside
Lorn
.
He rested his hand on the man’s shoulders. “Can you take a little water?”

    
Lorn
opened his eyes. They were shot through with red. “I
thank you.” He parted his lips and Simon tipped the canteen to them.

    
“He looks
poisoned,” Selene whispered. “Could it be from his wounds?”

    
“It’s
possible,” Reaper replied. “They were hardly treated properly.”

    
Anastasia
glared at them. “Simon did the best he could. Selene, couldn’t you bring us
medicine?”

    
“Of what
sort?” she asked. “I haven’t any knowledge of what he needs.”

    
Anastasia
sighed. “Nor do I.” She shook her head. “He’s not going to die. We’ll reach
Oracle soon and she’ll know how to help him.” She didn’t look at the others,
not wanting to see the truth in their eyes.

    
Simon
stepped away from
Lorn
, who had drifted into sleep.
He screwed the cap back on the canteen as he joined them. “I don’t know how
much longer he’ll last.”

    
“Until we
reach the temple,” Anastasia said as firmly as she could. “He’s strong.”

    
“Of
course.” Simon scratched at his bandage again.

  
  
“Let me see your hand,” Selene said.

    
He
hesitated before holding it out to her. “It doesn’t hurt.”

    
She paid
no mind to his words as she unwrapped his bandage. Beneath the gauze, the wound
had turned a strange shade of green with thin red lines radiating out from it.
“Poison.” She looked to Reaper. “Those creatures that attacked us were
poisonous?”

    
“Apparently.”

    
Anastasia
stared at him, aghast. “We ate those things.”

    
“It’s
likely the venom is only in their saliva. Like a snake,” Brandon said.
“Otherwise we’d probably be dead already.”

    
“How
comforting.” Selene shot him a dirty look before returning her gaze to
inspecting Simon’s hand. “Do you feel sick at all?”

    
“No,”
Simon said. “It only itches a little.”

    
“Your
hand is warm.” The look they exchanged made Anastasia’s stomach drop. Selene
carefully rewound the gauze. “Let’s hope Anastasia is correct and Oracle knows
of some cure for this.”

    
No one
had much else to say. Anastasia couldn’t rest and so she paced, worry chewing
at her insides. If anything happened to Simon... but no, it did not even bear
thinking on. It would be like losing Charles.

    
They soon
roused
Lorn
and continued along the path. It kept
broader from there on out, enough so Anastasia could walk beside
Lorn
. Neither of them spoke a word, but the harsh wheeze of
his breath said everything there was to say. And even though she kept mentally
denying he might die of his wounds, her heart was slowly coming to terms with
the possibility. Mostly because it was easier than to imagine the same
happening to Simon.

    
“Can you
feel that, Simon?” Selene asked. She was walking between Anastasia and Reaper.

    
“Yes.”
His reply sounded rather grim.

    
“Feel
what?” Anastasia asked. If it were another terrible thing she wasn’t sure she
could stand it.

    
“Arcane
energy,” Brandon piped in. “The air is fairly dripping with it.”

    
Selene
frowned. “
You
can feel it?”

    
“I sure
can.” He grinned. “Oracle must be a powerful witch.”

   
 
“Witch?”
Nephima
asked. “She’s not a higher power?”

    
“Whatever
gave you the idea she was?” Reaper asked.

    
Anastasia
was bewildered. “You mean she truly isn’t?”

    
“Impossible,” Selene said. “She’s older even then my mother. None but a
higher power could have lived so long as she has.”

    
“A god
could,” Brandon said.

    
“Nonsense,” Selene snapped. “The high realm has no gods.”

    
“This
isn’t the high realm.”

    
“But it
was in the high realm she was born, and the high realm produces no gods.”

    
“You’re
mistaken,” Reaper said. “I do not mean to say Oracle is a god, though she may
be. I don’t know. But she was not born of the high realm. It was she who first
brought word of the gods to the elders of the time. She counseled them to take
quick action, but they chose to wait until no time was left but to chain the
gods each in one of the realms they had destroyed in the hopes they would never
escape. Oracle tried to tell them of the Cataclysm, but they wouldn’t listen to
that either. Our elders were a hard headed lot.”

    
“Is that
why you pledged yourself to
Shirelyn
?” Anastasia
asked. “Because you believed Oracle?”

    
Reaper’s
dark, solemn gaze met hers. “In part, yes. But this was not my only reason. I met
with
Shirelyn
, I spoke to her at great length. As did
Fate and Morpheus, who also pledged themselves to her. Fate and I did not bear
then the names we wear now, for we were young still and standing in the shadow
of our parents. Morpheus was the only elder who believed all Oracle and
Shirelyn
had to say, but he was new to his role and the
others would not listen.”

    
“My
mother didn’t tell me any of this,” Selene said.

    
“Perhaps
she did not think it important,” Reaper replied. “Although, it was how your
parents came to be together. Until then, they hardly knew each other.”

    
“What
about my brother?” Selene asked. “He would have been old enough then to have
been there as well.”

    
“He was
there with Morpheus, but was kept out of the pledge. His father thought him too
young to understand the words. I suspect he was correct.”

    
Brandon
rubbed his hands together. “This gets more and more interesting by the minute.”

    
Selene
only frowned. Anastasia wondered if she was disturbed her mother had hid so
much from her. It was strange to see how much like a human the higher power
truly was.

    
The path
carried them on until they reached the mountain summit. Anastasia stopped to
stare in wide eyed wonder at the golden temple before her. It was far larger
than she had expected and its walls were covered in frescos depicting the most
exotic animals. “I have never seen such a sight,” she said. “Not even the Grand
Temple in
Nalese
is so... so...” But she found
herself at a loss as to the proper word.

    
“Pretentious?” Brandon suggested. “Overly large? Ridiculously gaudy?”

    
Anastasia
made a face. “Awe inspiring. I could easily see a god living in such a place as
this.”

    
“Oracle
is no god.” Selene scowled. “I believe we’ve been over this already.”

    
“God or
no,”
Nephima
gazed up at the temple, “she makes an
imposing first impression.”

    
Simon
swayed slightly on his feet. “Okay, now I’m starting to feel a little light
headed.”

    
Selene
slipped her arm through his. “Let’s get inside and see if this Oracle is as
impressive as her temple.”

    
Two dozen
steps led up to the covered porch. Anastasia took each one of the worriedly
watching
Lorn
. His eyes were glazed over and he
seemed to be moving on nothing more than his body’s instinct to keep pressing
forward. She doubted if she spoke to him he would even hear and she hadn’t the
nerve to test the theory.

    
The
entrance to the temple was a set of double doors embossed with a fearsome
looking creature all scales and featherless wings. Anastasia did not believe
she had ever seen such a creature, and yet a hint of recognition tickled the
back of her mind.

    
Simon
stepped away from Selene and ran his fingers across the carvings. “These are
archdemons
.” He turned to Reaper. “Why are there
archdemons
carved into this door?”

    
Reaper
shrugged. “Perhaps Oracle finds their form pleasing to look upon.”

    
“
No
one
finds their form pleasing. What’s going on here?” Simon took a step
forward, managing to look intimidating despite the slight wobble in his step.
“I am not taking Ana into any building with those things carved on its doors.”

    
“Calm
down,” Selene said. “They are only the images of the beasts, not the beasts
themselves.”

    
“Are you
serious? Seeing those,” he waved his hand at the carvings, “doesn’t bother you?
One nearly killed me once, in case you have forgotten.”

    
“I think
I can remember the reason we met,” she said. “And I can certainly understand
why seeing the image of an
archdemon
here would upset
you, but I still think you’re overreacting.”

    
“Well you
know all about overacting, don’t you?”

    
Selene
stiffened. “What do you mean by that?”

    
“Please
stop, both of you,” Anastasia said. She surprised herself with her own
boldness, but worry over
Lorn
made her forget her
proper ladylike manners. “This is no time for fights, nor for fear and
uncertainty.
Lorn
is very ill, and Simon you could be
at any moment. Besides, Reaper has already said forward is the only way back
and so we have no choice. We must go in.”

    
Simon
rubbed a hand across his eyes. “I don’t like this, but I suppose you’re right.
But you stay close to me.”

    
“I always
do.”

    
Selene
made a face and looked away. “Reaper should go first. He knows this place,
after all.”

    
Reaper
pushed the double doors open to reveal a spacious room sparkling with gold. The
room was lavishly decorated with frescoes, statues, and tapestries, but what
most drew the eye was the life sized statue of a black nightmare reared up on
its hind legs.

    
Anastasia
reflexively grasped Simon’s arm as her mind darted back to the stormy night in
Duke Victor’s manor when life as she knew it was forever altered. The night a
demon had tried to kill her and in failing to do so, set her life on this new
and strange course.

    
“Wow,
would you take a look at that.” Brandon pushed past them in order to get a
better look at the statue. “Talk about a conservation piece. And can you feel
the power?” He spun around in a circle. “It’s making me tipsy.”

    
“Must you
always be so loud?” Selene hissed.

    
Brandon
grinned. “Yes, I really think I must.”

    
“This
place makes me uneasy.”
Nephima
pulled a dagger from
her inner coat pocket.

    
“You’re
not the only one.” Simon looked about the room. “When was the last time you
were here, Reaper?”

    
“Shortly
after the gods were exiled,” Reaper replied. “I visited with Oracle then and
was warned not to return until the time of her prophecy had come.”