Once again Kieara found herself, head bowed before the pool. Flickering a daring glance at the crystal clear water thrilled her. Taking a deep breath she forced herself to relax. It’s not like this is your first time! She chastised bitterly.

Small waves rippled though the water. Movement! Her breath caught, still her gaze did not leave the white marble floor. A wet hand cupped her chin, startling her for but a second. Nevertheless, that small second earned a laugh from the owner of the hand. Despite it being wet, the hand felt surprisingly warm, almost hot. It was at this moment she closed her eyes tightly.

“Come child. Be not afraid.” A deep, silk-smooth voice whispered, shattering the awkward silence.

Daringly, she looked up into a handsome, flawless face. A smile flashed lighting up his steel grey eyes. She forced another breath. He chuckled a second time and placed her hand on his shoulder.

“Rise.” The man spoke in a commanding voice and with a nudge of his shoulder, helped Kieara to her feet.

Kieara stared mesmerized at the blood-red hair bent down before her. This man was the most powerful in the kingdom. With just one command he could condemn or amend a nation. Yet he was subjecting himself to her, prostrating his loyalty. She shivered unsure of what to do.

He answered that question for her.

“Ye have come for answers, Lady Kieara Lanlis.” His voice, like honey, fell softly around her. A bad feeling suddenly washed over Kieara and she studied the man more closely. As if sensing her wish, the man lifted his head and stared straight at her. His eyes no longer held a smile, they were cold and intense, filled with immense grief. Lowering his head, the man stared at the water for a hesitating second before slowly raising it back to meet her own eyes. A tear fell down his cheek but he didn’t reach to wipe it away. “However, I can not provide thee an answer. Instead, I must ask you to grant a selfish plea for me.”

Words, her own, were ripped from her before she could think, “Whatever thy wish, Lord Oracle, this shall I grant thee. They only selfish plea.”

A brief but hollow smile replaced his look of concern. Then his stare hardened and his lips tightened in a thin line. “Time is of the essence. Mine is its sunset. Fires, unnatural, will ravage these very halls before this night has waned cold. Lives will perish like candles.” His eyes darkened and he grabbed Kieara’s arm pulling her to her knees, piercing her eyes with his. “However…this is only the beginning.” His face paled and suddenly he was cold to the touch. Kieara tried to break free from his grasp but to no avail. He struggled with his voice but it came out in low growls, “The Seer’s blood will stain the pure waters. Once bright, the moon will blacken refusing to give its light essence. And one born in fire will rise up to lead his people to salvation…” He paused, his shoulders, once mighty and strong, sagged with an incredible burden.

Time seemed to stop as Kieara analyzed every word said in her mind. Her body stood paralyzed by the encroaching fear. Bile rose in her throat and she groaned. The Oracle never lies! All his prophecies come to pass! Dread sunk deep in her stomach, a rotten pit, as realization lit in her eyes. Her gaze widened and she reached out to touch the Oracle sitting there naked. He flinched away from her hand this time. Her desperation growing, she clawed at the air crying, “We must get you out of here milord! If surely there is to be death by morn you must not be among them.” Slouching over, she tried furiously to stare into his eyes but he gazed back at her as if she were no longer there.

Jerking his head, the Oracle bore deeply into Kieara’s eyes. A hint of crimson glowed fiercely in his own.

“It’s too late for me!” His voice boomed. “My time is over! Listen!” He hissed dangerously, his tongue flicking over sharp teeth. “I called ye here to obey me! Never has The Oracle bowed before to a mortal like I do to ye now. Listen! Or all shall be undone! They are near, they seek to make ye submit. Destruction is left in their wake. Listen! This is my last vision, my last command…my last wish.”

Kieara’s head jerked up at his final words. They froze the core of her stomach. Had he indeed bowed to me? Not physically but she felt all his will, all his power, grappling her. Alert ran through her mind.

Taking a deep breath, the Oracle relaxed. His voice rolled like a gentle wave, comforting her. “Thy people hath an oath unto me.” Rising to his feet he reached out a hand to her as if desperate. “Fear not but fulfill thy pledge unto me.”

Staring, almost father-like down at her, the Oracle waited for her answer.

It was immediate and natural. It was a ritual engraved into Kieara’s mind since birth. Carefully, she bent down and dipped her right fore-finger into the warm water and placed it on her lower lip. Resisting the urge to lick the liquid reeked havoc with her brain. The liquid was sweet as honey to her however to intake it was an insult to the oath she had given to the Oracle many years ago. Again Kieara bent down but this time she placed her two thumbs in the water then on her temples and ran them upward in a V-pattern. She stopped at the base of her hairline and bowed low before him prostrating her own eternal loyalty to him.

She gritted her teeth and took a few deep breaths. In a forced voice, Kieara recited the oath her people made to the Oracle five hundred years passed. “From this day until Judgment to Him we will serve. No request is too great for us to perform. We seek to serve until we are returned to the Water from whence we came. For eternity we are bound and nothing save treason shall break this oath. We have partaken of the Sacred Waters and have touched the Holy One. Ours is Eternal. We, the Children of Feyr’dale, do swear this unshaken for eternity.” Her voice fell as she felt the familiar bonds clasp tightly around her.

Feeling somewhat relieved, The Oracle smiled faintly. “My Child, it pains me to place these burdens upon thee but thou art the Last of the Children.”

Kieara bit back tears. Memories of the ambush of Carth’Tapn flashed through her mind. Reliving the death and carnage even in a memory caused the tears she tried to hold back, to flee down her cheeks. Mist filled her eyes. The ground was still not green. Closing her eyes, she shook them and the tears back into the dark precipices of her mind. Faintly, she whispered, “What dost thou wish of me, Sire?”