Prophecy

I sat quietly perched on the top of the waterfall.

The week of games had finally closed earlier today. I’d come second in the archery competition. I’d lost that one to Scarlett, but I’d easily won all the other competitions, even the bending, which I was greatly surprised by.

It was all a little strange but as the days progressed, it seemed that my opponents were slowly getting weaker. Dad said that it was because of the approaching eclipse. He’d explained that it would be a lunar eclipse, where the Earth would come between the moon and the sun. The moon would lose her source of energy, and so would we. However, that couldn’t be the reason, at least not for me. Strange enough I felt my strength increasing. I wasn’t as strong as I would be when there was a new moon, but it was close.

We’d finally be leaving after tomorrow’s address by my great-grand-uncle. Tir na n-Óg had its charms, but there was some other place I’d rather be.

I stood and stretched my hands above until they brushed against the rocky crags of the limestone ceiling. The ascent to the top had been easy, as I simply shifted to a hawk and flew to the top. Getting down, especially the way I planned to, seemed a bit more daunting, as I watched the white foam of the waterfall as it entered the lake.

“Well, I said that I was going to try this,” I nudged myself forward and then dove off before I changed my mind. The rush of the air as it flowed over my face felt amazing. I outstretched my arms as it felt more like I was flying rather than falling. I soon readied myself into a diving position, as the surface of the lake was dangerously close.

My streamlined shape allowed a smooth transition from air to water. I paddled around underwater a bit before I pulled myself to the surface. I then swam over to the concrete structure and pulled myself out of the water. I silently looked up at the summit from which I’d thrown myself. Very dangerous, but it was worth it.

I walked from the dam, over to the pine trail that meandered through the forest. The place was quiet, probably too quiet. I stopped and listened. There was the sound of soft padding footsteps, crunching against the newly fallen snow.

Alone, you are not….not alone…someone else stalks….

I turned quietly. “Nafad,” I said relaxing from my crouched position. After days of competition, I’d learned the name of the American guard.

“Alert, I see. Another trait of someone belonging to the Guard.”

“I’d already told you earlier, that I wasn’t interested in joining.”

“I know . . . And it is such a shame. Someone like you would be so useful at the helm. I just wanted to give you something.” he said throwing a folded piece of white material to me, which I caught and unfolded.

“A robe?” I said holding it up.

“Not just any robe, but one belonging to the Guard.”

“But. . .”

“I know what you said. It is just a gift for such a stellar performance this week. We couldn’t just leave you empty-handed.”

“Just a gift, nothing else?” I asked suspiciously.

“That . . . and the hope that you will change your mind soon enough. Probably you’ll be using it sooner than you expect.” he grinned.

“I don’t see that happening any time, but I will still keep it,” I said folding the garment.

“You never know what could happen, young Esor North.”

He knows…attack…no wait…listen…..remain calm…stay ready…

I tried to control my shock, but it was obvious that some of it had leaked out on my face as his grin widened. My muscles tightened, as I waited for the worst.

“What did you just call me?” I said trying to conceal the shock that clouted my mind, from escaping into my voice.

“Don’t worry; I’ll keep your secret. I’m a close friend of your soon-to-be family,” he said looking at my left hand. My eyes dipped to my hand. He’d spotted my ring. I folded my hand into a tight fist. “I wasn’t sure if it was you at first, but your astonishing display and increasing strength in spite of coming events, confirmed it. The strength of sharing such a bond is surprisingly strong, considering the distance and the guard that protects the island from such charms.” he added more reflectively. “I hope I will see you again, son, probably in a warmer place.” he smiled and turned to leave. He seemed to be heading towards the waterfalls.

My shock was replaced by wonderment, which soon gave way to enlightenment. “Wait,” I called after him. He stopped. “Are you,” I stepped closer. “Are you Summer’s father?” I knew that this was a big stretch, which could prove dangerous, but I had to know.

He turned to me and smiled. The eyes, how could I have not noticed it before? The deep green, that’s where Summer had gotten them.

“I think you know the answer to that, and I trust that you will keep your silence. It has been extremely difficult to counteract the charms the island has over my exposing my real identity. It would be unhealthy for me if the Guard finds out that there is a stranger in their midst. There is just one more thing,” he paused. “Make sure that your family leaves right after the eclipse tomorrow. Goodbye young North,” he said and then strode off quickly before I could question him any further.

I thought of running after, him but I knew that if he didn’t want to be caught, there would be no way for me to find him now. I also knew that I would see him at least one more time before we left, during tomorrow’s address. I gathered the robe he’d given me under my arm and headed back to my room.

While I lay down, I stared at the light blue ceiling. Small cracks ran through the smooth stone, the only true indicator of the age of the building. My father wasn’t here as he’d gone out on some errand. Not that I minded, I needed the privacy to sort through my thoughts, as many things just didn’t make sense.

I now knew that it was because of my bond to Summer that I hadn’t experienced the same degree of weakening as everyone else. As we shared power, this meant that I was drawing on her strength all week. This was probably the reason my father wanted me to enter the games, as he was doing tests of his own and making observations on how I’d fare under these conditions.

With that issue cleared up, I still had many more to work through on my own, like Nafad. Summer is a full-blooded Corona, which meant that he was also. But what would a Corona be doing here? How did the island not change him? Moreover, what was most puzzling of all was what was he doing on the Royal Guard, and why was he so anxious for me to join?

He couldn’t really be loyal to Ay, because if he was, he should have killed me on spot earlier this afternoon and started hunting down the rest of my family, as he’d seen us all and knew exactly where to find us. He’d asked me to say nothing of the meeting this afternoon to anyone, but I wondered if he also meant Summer. Does she know anything about this? She couldn’t have unless this was some secret mission.

“Rain,” I heard my real name being called and tore my blind stare away from the ceiling.

“I’m sorry, were you saying something dad?” I’d noticed he dropped the fabricated titles, so I assumed that it would be safe for me to do the same.

“No, but I have been standing here for more than a minute and you hadn’t budged. Have something on your mind?” he said sitting on his side of the bed.

“It’s nothing important, just thinking about tomorrow and what to expect.” I lied smoothly.

“Tomorrow will be the first time you will be seeing Ay, but that will be nothing to worry about. We will be leaving unnoticed as soon as the eclipse is over.”

I nodded once in response and turned away. I felt a little uneasy about lying to him, but some secrets had to be kept, even from your parents. Ay had been the least of my worries. There was something else waiting lurking and I was unsure what it was.

Ay dangerous….but Ay safe….the shadow one dangerous….

“One more thing,” I started. “Are the trees genetically modified to grow in the dark? Sounds trivial but it has been occupying a small portion of my thoughts.”

“Yes, night pines. Genes from cave-dwelling plants have been transplanted in normal pines. One of Ay’s projects.”

“Thought so,” I whispered as I turned back to the ceiling.

He paused. “Everything is going to be fine son,” he said softly. “You know that.”

“I do,” I said without looking back at him.

The room was silent. Dad had stepped out again, but I didn’t leave the room for the rest of the night. I continued trying to make sense of my thoughts until finally, I was dead to the world.

The shadow one…not good….The voices continued in my dreams.

There was a soft rapping on the door and immediately I was on my feet. I looked over at the other bed. It was still empty as it seemed that my father hadn’t come in as yet.

It was probably him at the door, but why would he even bother knocking. He didn’t the other nights he’d come in late.

Still a bit groggy, I switched on the lights and moved over to open the door.

“Scarlett?” I asked surprised to see my unexpected visitor. “I don’t mean to be rude, but what are you doing here?”

Trouble….female trouble….

“I came to see you,” she said with a playful smile at the edge of her lips. “May I come in?” she said raising an eyebrow as if daring me.

I hesitated a bit before moving aside and pulling the door open for her to step inside. She walked in and stood in the middle of the room and waited for me to close the door.

“You look surprised to see me here,” she said as she moved over to sit on my father’s bed.

“Yes, I am.” I paused. “Is there something that I can help you with?” I said as I pushed my hands in my pockets.

“I heard that you turned down a place in the Guard. I was surprised considering that you did so well in the competitions this week?”

“You mean the games where I beat you at almost everything. Did someone send you in here as a spy or something?” I joked as I folded my arms over my chest.

“Almost, being the key word.” she smiled. “And no, I wasn’t sent here to spy. I was just curious.” she said, her voice taking on a sudden tone of innocence. “I didn’t see you as the type who would back down from a challenge.”

“I’m not backing away from a challenge. I just believe that the Guard isn’t the right place for me to be right now.” I said going to sit on the edge of my bed. “The invitation however was still left open for me if I happened to change my mind.”

“Which you won’t do,” It wasn’t a question. “Do you mind me asking why?”

“It’s…complicated.”

She paused. “There is a girl,” she said coming to sit beside me.

I was uncomfortable being so close to her but I didn’t move regardless.

“There is.”

Move….send her away…trouble…..

“Hmm,” she smiled and shook her head. I froze as and held a steady gaze on her face as she moved closer to me. “Nothing complicated about that.” She had started to pull down the sleeves of her dress, revealing the strong curve of her shoulder. “If that’s the only obstacle for you staying, maybe I can change your mind,” she said moving her face closer to mine, her lips parting slightly.

I could smell her perfume as it wafted from the soft line of her neck. It was light and fruit-scented and left me feeling a bit heady. I could also hear her heart as it fibrillated against her chest. I should be flattered that I affected her this greatly, but I wasn’t. Two years ago maybe I would have reacted differently to her advances… but that was two years ago.

Things, however, had changed. I had changed. I had been taken away from a moonless night, the dark which I thought I loved, and in an instant, thrust into the blinding sunlight. I tried to resist the heat, the radiating glow, the soul-consuming fire, but the pull was too strong. No one not even I could resist gravity. I the lone planet, had already found my sun and nothing short of a cataclysmic explosion could pull me away. Even then I would be an empty shell...a void...my life source had died and there would be no energy or reason for me to exist.

I turned my face away quickly and got up. “Scarlett, you are a beautiful woman, and don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m not attracted to you in the way you hope and I think it is time for you to go,” I said without looking at her.

“The bond is that strong,” she said coming to stand beside me. “No one has ever refused me before Oisin O’Shea.” she said attempting to kiss me again. I pulled away just in time. She smiled slightly as she readjusted her position. “I wonder what she has that I don’t?”

“My heart,” I replied turning to face her. Her dress still hadn’t been pulled up so I focused my stare on her face. “She has my heart, all of it.”

Her expression was that of surprise which slowly blended into a smile. I was sort of relieved that she didn’t seem angry. She finally arranged her dress before getting up.

“You are different from anyone else I’ve ever met before. Handsome, skilled, and devoted,” she said in her eastern burr. “Whoever she is, is very lucky.” she smiled as I held the door open for her. “Maybe in the next life,” she said as she walked out.

“Maybe,” I smiled at her out of politeness as I knew even if I had another life, I’d keep on searching until I found Summer. If she wasn’t in it I’d rather be alone.

I closed the door and then walked back over to my bed. I was going to pretend like the last few minutes never happened.

According to dad, the eclipse would occur in the next half hour. It wouldn’t be able to see it from here, since it was a lunar eclipse, but we would feel it when it was over. We’d both packed our things together earlier in the day and he’d asked Nick and me to bring them up to the alcove behind the waterfall. We’d left nothing out except the clothes we were now wearing and a traditional silver robe.

I hurriedly put my arms through the sleeves of the robe and hurried to catch up with my father who’d stepped out the door. I pulled the key from the door and ran down the stairs, where he was waiting in the lobby.

“Place the key on the hook and come,” he said impassively.

I silently replaced the key, where I’d gotten it from, and joined my father outside. My brother was with him when I got there. We trudged silently up to the main building.

There was already a huge crowd gathered at the front of the icy building. We moved carefully through the crowd and settled in an area close to the darkened forest.

“Young one, enjoying your first time here. Heard that you’ve become quite the star.”

“Marc, you made it I see, just in time for the speech.” I smiled.

“Actually, I’ve been here since yesterday. Decided to come in a little early, the body was getting a bit worn down,” he said rotating his shoulders. He was dressed similarly to us.

“So, will you be staying after the eclipse?” asked my father.

“No, as soon as it is over, I’ll be heading back to the mainland. You?”

“We were thinking of doing the same thing. Maybe we could catch a ride back with you.”

“Why not,” he grinned and patted my dad’s shoulder. “The more the merrier.”

We were disturbed by a loud fanfare of drums and trumpets coming from the main building, and we turned our attention in that direction.

“It’s starting,” said Nick who looked a little uneasy. I saw him and dad pulling over the hoods of their robes and I did the same.

We waited until the two icy doors were opened. There was a short procession of Guard members marching out, two abreast. I looked if I could see Nafad, but he wasn’t in the procession. Each member was armed to the teeth, with gold swords, bows, and spears. Each wore a deathly scowl. I noted that the weapons were of gold, one of the metals that could pierce our skin, but it was the one that was deadliest to us, as gold wounds were harder to heal.

For some reason, I was expecting to see more of them, but I soon found the reason. When I looked around, I could see, perched on different levels of the building, men dressed in full white, each armed and waiting.

Following the guards, were the new recruits. There were only three of them. I could see Scarlett, her face was serious, but you could see the pride she felt shining through her eyes.

There was another blaring fanfare and everyone around me, even the guards, fell down immediately on one knee.

“What’s going on?” I asked quietly.

“Just do what everyone else is lad,” said Marc pulling me down.

I fell heavily on one knee and reluctantly held my head down. I thought that all these formalities were rather Draconian and unnecessary.

I slightly lifted my head so that I could peek at the outcoming party. At the front was an aged white-haired man. His slight frame supported a light silver armour, bearing the insignia of the crescent moon, etched artfully into the breastplate.

So this was my great-grand uncle. His eyes roved haughtily over the crowd, as he wallowed in his self-importance and might. He stretched forth his right fist over the crowd.

“My faithful subjects,” he bellowed in an ancient creaky voice. I studied his face. Signs of age were evident from the deep creases across his forehead and the way the skin under his eyes sagged. His cheeks were hallowing, causing his cheekbones to be the prominent feature of his face. He was slightly hunched, but he seemed steady and in control of his body. His eyes, however, were clear and lively as they, unlike the rest of his body, hadn’t lost any of their youth.

Everybody stood immediately and stretched out their right hands, which were folded into a tight fist. “Hail to the great and mighty Grand Lune Ay.” replied the crowd before dropping their hands and standing at ease.

“Again we have gathered here at this our place of refuge, where none but the mightiest can enter its walls. It took us years to finally escape the tyranny of the so-called royal family, which had tried to ignore millennia of tradition when they tried to merge our noble and superior clan with that of a lower breed, whose impurity is marked by the swarthy colour of their skin. The forsaken, barely deserving the title of shifter.

“But after our problems were abolished and with new and visionary leadership, look at all that, this our mighty clan has accomplished. Though our strength wanes with the phases of the moon, we are nothing close to being called weak. Testament to this is the brave and strong few, who through rigorous tests have found themselves worthy enough to serve on the greatest army on Earth and the Universe, our new recruits.”

Thunderous applause followed this speech. He raised his hand and the crowd was silenced.

“These brave and young ones are the keys to the future success of our clan, ensuring and continuing thousands of years' worth of excellence.” his powerful voice crescendoed to a halt. As applause once again spread throughout the crowd.

Anger hurdled through my veins in response to the venomous words of hatred and division, which he’d used to flavor his speech and poison the minds of the people around him.

“Self-righteous, egotistical dictator.” I heard Marc mutter under his breath. I smiled slightly but said nothing as I saw that it wasn’t only me or my family who weren’t the only ones among our clan that shared this point of view.

“The words of my father are true and hold much wisdom.” I heard a high-pitched voicing ringing out from behind Ay and I turned back to the stage.

Leave…run….danger…the shadow one…..the shadow lady…..pain….death….

My mouth fell open with disbelief, as I watched the silver-haired female moving from behind Ay on the stage.

“Omayra,” I gapped. “But how . . .?” I turned to my father.

“I will explain soon,” he replied.

I turned back to the front and continued staring at the woman whom I’d thought I’d killed a few weeks ago. She like everyone else, was also wearing a sword, which was girdled carefully around her waist. I stared at the lean figure, which stood on the stage trying to work out every detail to prove that it wasn’t her. However, as unbelievable as it was, it was her, standing, speaking before me. . . before us all.

“We are witnesses of the dawn of an eclipse that weakens us, yet we are forever strong. What fuels our ability to survive against all odds, is our unique ability to change. We are world changers. We shape not only the destiny of our world but have great influence in a world barely knowledgeable of our existence. World leaders, kings, queens are nothing but pawns on our chessboards. I believe it is time for that to change. The world of humans should know who it is that really leads them. It is time we take the seats of glory and power which are rightfully ours. No more should we be shadows, disappearing and reappearing making no significant changes. We are not shadows! We are Lunes! Lunes were born to rule and we were made to conquer. Our greatest conquest is to be the Earth itself.”

“Is she saying what I really think she is saying?” whispered Marc.

“Yes.” I whispered, “They are declaring war on the world.” I looked over at dad, his face was unreadable and his eyes fixed to the stage.

“Bloody Jove.” Cursed Marc, but he was barely audible over the thunderous applause. She held up her hand and the crowd fell silent.

“We are entering a new age, with new challenges and we find ourselves fortunate to be in possession of a leader who is fully capable of bringing us through these times and the ones to come. That leader stands right here on this stage.” she paused. “That leader is me.”

Death….run….My aegni screamed in my ears.

Ay turned sharply to his daughter, but I didn’t think that he or anyone was prepared for what happened next. Before anyone could stop her, Omayra had drawn her sword. There was a sudden spray of blood, a soft sigh, and an empty body.

Ay was dead.

His blood-matted head rolled to a stop at the edge of the balcony.

There was a flurry of activity on the stage, as some persons in the Guard had turned on each other, delivering deadly blows to the other. Even the new recruits were under attack. I saw Scarlett and the others trying to defend themselves against the more experienced fighters, I turned away as I knew that there was no hope for them to live.

“Welcome to the new and innovative age of leadership. The eclipse has ended, we are no longer weak. All that had weakened and held us back has finally been abolished!”