Merritts of Writing 3

Chapter 36

Carter

The history of the Sapphyre Wings and the Far Beyond people was a tale that I’d been sworn to never tell. Being from the Death line it was vital that my family’s destiny be kept a closely guarded secret.

But now, with everyone in my family dead, thanks to the canisters, what was the point of keeping the secret any longer?

A DECISION MADE

I exhaled heavily and plopped down onto the ground. Stevron and Angie followed suit. The night had become pitch black as any I’d seen before yet I could make out the faint glow of our salvage crew’s campfire.

“Angie, what have you been raised to know about The Oracle of Death?” I began slowly, my mind still reeling with the possibility that Emmalee might be a Sapphyre Wings.

Angie wet her lips. “That The Oracle of Death is often referred to as simply The Oracle and is the Far Beyond’s supreme ruler. The Oracle governs and watches over all the Far Beyond people and when it is time to die it is The Oracle of Death that grants access to the Far Beyond.”

I nodded. “And what about the Sapphyre Wings people? Were you brought up with any knowledge of them?”

Angie shook her head. “Stevron just told me that my mother was a Sapphyre Wings. I was brought up thinking that I was a Far Beyond. I don’t know much about the Sapphyre Wings people, only what has been repeated in folklore.”

“Which is?”

Angie shrugged. “That the Sapphyre Wings people were forced centuries ago to keep themselves hidden. That they possess mystical powers that the Far Beyond people don’t. Powers such as: healing, insight, and in some cases can even raise the dead. Also that the fyre wings are a vessel for the Sapphyre Wings unborn. Up until a few hours ago Stevron was the only one of the mystical society I’d ever encountered. Seeing his blood heal and I then seeing Mylane bring you back to life I can only assume that the folklore is true.”

Again I nodded. “You’re right. The Sapphyre Wings people are a hidden and protected society and we do have powers that aren’t granted to the Far Beyond. The Oracle of Death does govern the Far Beyond people and controls the Far Beyond after death. The Life Sage, the equivalent to The Oracle of Death, governs the Sapphyre Wings people. Both have tremendous power over their people and also have individual powers that only they possess.”

Angie nodded so I continued.

“The Sapphyre Wings and the Far Beyond people have inhabited our world for millions of years but rarely have they gotten along. The struggle for dominance has lead to thousands of skirmishes, conflicts, and countless wars throughout the ages. Some disputes, thankfully, have been handled through negotiations and compromises of both upper echelons but those times have been rare. The Oracle of Death and The Life Sage have on numerous occasions come dangerously close to bringing the other side to their knees.” I paused and shook my head. “But the truth is, Angie, neither the Sapphyre Wings or the Far Beyond can ever be totally defeated.”

“Why not?”

“Because The Life Sage and The Oracle of Death are intertwined,” I replied.

“How so?”

I took a deep breath. Revealing to Angie our world’s creation was something I wasn’t comfortable in doing. There was so much at stake and it was very difficult for me to trust anyone would truly understand the significance of what lay at the belly of our existence.

So I began, again, with a strong sense of trepidation in my heart.

“Our world was created by one entity which divided into two, The Divinity of Life and the Divinity of Death. The Divinity of Life granted the gift of Life to The Life Sage and proclaimed her to be the ruler of the Sapphyre Wings people. The Divinity of Death did the equivalent granting The Oracle of Death the gift of Death and proclaiming him to the ruler of the Far Beyond people. During the time of the separation it was decreed that although the two races must live apart their ultimate survival would depend upon one another.”

“Meaning?”

“There are numerous ways in which both supreme rulers are required…to intertwine, interact, or just come together. The transition of a new Oracle or Life Sage is one significant instance. But one of the most common threads both share is the rebirth cycle.”

I took a breath and continued. “Although each ruler controls the cycle for their own people, The Life Sage or The Oracle of Death are mandatory to grant each other a silver of their…let’s say essences to complete the process. So if either side withholds their gift from the other an imbalance is created and the rebirth process for both people is halted.”

“Is that what happened the day the canisters fell?” Angie asked.

I glanced at Stevron. “Would you like to explain?”

Stevron gave me the slightest of nods, then began to speak. “You already said that you knew that the fyre wings are vessels for a Sapphyre Wings until they are reborn.”

Angie nodded.

“Well, when a member of the Sapphyre Wings people dies it triggers a fyre wings to become fertile. Since fyre wings are unisex they are capable of both laying and fertilizing eggs. It is when an egg is hatched that the essence of the recently dead, male or female, of the Sapphyre Wings people, can then inhabit the fyre wings’ body and live as the winged creature until it is time to be reborn.”

Angie nodded and said. “The Far Beyond reproduce in a similar fashion. When our…their physical bodies died they pass to the Far Beyond. Where they too wait to be reborn into a physical body in the form of a newborn child.”

“That’s true, Angie,” Stevron continued, “but death in the Far Beyond is unlike death as a fyre wings. Fyre wings are living creatures who are self-aware and conscious entities. They are capable of existing in the physical world and can interact with the all living creatures, including us. The other difference is that The Oracle of Death is in control of whom in the Far Beyond are reborn, unlike The Life Sage. The Life Sage grants freedom to the fyre wings and has relinquished control over which of the fyre wings eventually become newborn children. The selection is random.”

“Precisely why a successor, like my brothers and I, who carry the Death line, through our mother, haven’t been born in several decades,” I informed Angie.

I saw the shock register on Angie’s face and then a worried expression clouded her eyes. “Are you saying that The Oracle of Death is hundreds of years old?”

“The current Oracle is well over a thousand years old,” I confirmed.

“Why is that?”

“Because it’s not easy for The Oracle of Death to die.”

“Why not?” Angie asked.

I looked at Stevron. I had no idea of what had gone on while I was undergoing my transforming. How much had Stevron told Angie? What did she know of her own family’s destiny?

Stevron nodded. “It’s time she knew.”