“Drake has become a power hungry man,” another said. “He serves a purpose outside maintaining balance now, and that is why Fate has placed you here, it is why there is a child prophesised to kill him, it is why we must not allow him to continue.”
“Well, what’s so bad about him? What’s he doing that deems him worthy of death?”
“Black magic. He incurred a curse on this land many centuries ago, and the runes of the old language once said the curse would come again, with a great darkness commissioned by Drake—around the time of a new queen’s rising.”
“Runes?”
“Yes,” an old man said. “Aside from prophecies on parchment, written in languages most can no longer read, by a vampire no one has seen in centuries, we Lilithians have been predicting futures by use of stones marked with Symbols.”
“And you predicted me?”
“Yes. But not this prophecy child.”
I sat up, suddenly more interested, while the rest of the table shushed the old man.
“No, wait, I want to hear this. So…you think there’s no child?”
“Oh, no, there is a child, but she is of little significance—in this chapter of Drake’s story, anyway.”
“But…will she be the one to free the Damned?”
“I’ve not had any…” The old man shook his head a few times, looking at the man who pretty much looked like his double. “I don't believe we’ve prophesised such a possibility.”
“But Vampirie did, right?” I said, then looked at Arthur, who stared at Morgaine, his eyes narrowed with thought.
“Yes,” she said, suddenly sitting taller. “That’s what we’ve deciphered.”
“Well…” I looked back at the old man. “Vampirie says one thing; what did you predict?”
“Two paths,” the old man said. When he stood, I noticed the grey cloak he wore, very out of place among the modern suits and sequined dresses. “A great queen would rise and give birth to a new Order, where two kinds would live in peace. She will defeat the evil for love of a child, but the story will not end there.”
“Well, what happens next?” I realised I was sitting really far forward.
“We…we don't know,” he said in a shaky voice and sat back down.
“Darkness,” his double said. “As if the path does not exist, or perhaps has no determination.”
“What, like a plan-your-own-future story?”
“Perhaps, or perhaps a decision must be made before the door opens.”
I nodded to myself. “So, you said there were two paths? What was the other one?”
Another old man stood, tucking his long beard to his chest as he bowed to me. “A curse, Majesty. If you choose the wrong path, a Darkness will rebirth the curse on these lands. We have seen it—seen death, destruction.”
“So, how can we stop that from happening? Did you get any clues?”
“One.”
I waited.
“Love must offer life.”
“Life?”
“Yes. Nhym, in the old language,” said the man in the grey cloak.
“Well, how do we do that? Is it, like, I offer my life in service, or sacrifice myself on the Stone? What do we do?”
“The door to any path reveals itself as you walk, Princess.” The man standing sat back down. “When the time comes, you will know.”
“And what—in the meantime, I get some freaky power from Mother Nature by making an oath on some stone?”
“That is not just some stone,” Grey Sideburns said. “It is connected deeply to your roots—to Vampirie’s mother, Lilith—your ancestor. Do not have such little respect.”
The idea that facts surrounded her story made me feel connected—made me feel a part of myth and legend, as if I knew Lilith once. “So she was real? Lilith?”
“No one has proved she either existed or that she didn't. So, until they do, we have only stories and faith,” Arthur said, raising his glass.
“Like God.”
He smiled at me. “Precisely.”
“Okay.” I shrugged. “Well, I’ll give it a go. Bring on this coronation and let’s see if I really do have Mother Nature’s backing, then I’ll go catch Drake myself.”
“And do what with him?” Arthur asked.
I looked around at all the faces; they wanted me to say kill, but I wasn't going to do that unless I really had to.
“Kill him,” Morgaine said, jamming her heel into my ankle.
“Ouch—ur, yeah.” I sat back. “Figure out how to kill him, I guess.”
“You’ll have a fight on your hands. You must make sure you’re strong before you do this.”
I nodded. That much, I knew. But it was like going to a party that hadn’t listed a dress code on the invitation; I had no idea what to expect. For all I knew, he could be like the Head Boss in a video game—a riddle I had to figure out on the spot, and I was sure there wouldn’t be any ‘power up’ cartridges or ‘health packs’ lying around when I reached a hundred points.
“I disagree. From a tactical standpoint, sending an inexperienced fighter—a young girl—to catch an ancient warrior is a bad idea. I mean, this is Ara we’re talking about—” Mike presented me, looking at Eric then Morgaine. “She’s not capable of something like that.”
“Perhaps you just need a little faith, yourself, Michael,” Arthur said. “I don't believe you know what that girl is capable of.”
“I train with her. I taught her everything she knows. She can't even fight off a mob of human attackers yet. How’s she gonna measure up against Drake?”
“Once she has made her oath, her powers will enrich,” the old cloak man said. “Give her a chance before you place limitations on her.”
Mike sat back. I knew he wouldn’t believe I could just become more powerful by spilling blood on some rock and making a promise; it wasn't factual enough for him. He needed something tangible, a weapon—a heavy object he could throw, not a mythical story passed down from old man to old man, translated from several different languages since its inception. And maybe he was right not to place too much faith in oracles. But, at the same time, the idea of the runes really sparked my interest. They held more worth, in my mind, than some half-ripped, hard to read prophecy Morgaine, who wasn’t even an expert, had deciphered. I wanted Arthur’s opinion on what the prophecy said. But he hadn’t mentioned it to me at all—like he was avoiding it.