Chapter 37

Angie

I had been demanding answers.

Well, now I was finally getting some.

The question is: can I handle what I hear?

A TIME OF REVELATION

“Knew what?” I questioned. “Mylane already told me my father initiated the death process. So why is it not easy for The Oracle of Death to die?”

Carter’s eyes widened. “You obviously know far more than I thought you did.”

Stevron huffed. “Mylane said a lot of things she shouldn’t have.”

“Obviously,” Carter’s eyes narrowed. “I’d think as The Collector she should have had more discretion.”

Stevron shook his head.

“Well,” Carter frowned, then set his attention back on me. “The Oracle of Death can only truly die if the next Oracle-to-be, after their transformation, transfers their own blood to The Oracle of Death directly.”

“Okay,” I said, “that makes sense but how did my father initiate the death process in the first place?”

Carter gave me a tight smile. “All death processes are initiated by exposing The Oracle of Death to the blood of an Outsider.”

“An Outsider, like my father?”

A flash of surprise crossed Carter’s face. “Is there anything that Mylane didn’t tell you?”

I shrugged. “My question is why? Why my father? Mylane said she transformed him into an Outsider because he was dying.”

“The why is because all Outsiders throughout the ages are destined to at some point expose The Oracle of Death to their blood,” Stevron announced. “The real question is why now? There is no set timeline, during an Outsiders life, on when The Oracle of Death should be exposed. It’s more like an act of opportunity or more likely a plotted strategy.”

“So you’re saying my father is part of a conspiracy to bring about The Oracle of Death’s death.”

Stevron nodded to me. “It certainly is beginning to look that way.”

I shook my head. “I don’t believe it. My father is a loyal man. He would never.”

“As I said, ‘all death processes’. Angie, your father wasn’t the first,” Carter said drawing my attention back to him. “It takes several attempts by many Outsiders over a course of time. That’s one of the reasons it is so hard for The Oracle of Death to actually die.”

“Then I don’t understand. Why was it so important that Mylane complete the transformation ritual on you? If he was one of many shouldn’t there be more?”

“No,” Carter said and I say a look of regret enter his eyes. “Before my father died he told me that Mikkel Sky would be the last in the line of Outsiders to initiate The Oracle’s death process. Then Jake told me two days before the Doorcou attack that your father had injected his blood into The Oracle.”

I sucked in a breath. “So you’re saying that you intentionally put yourself in danger of being bitten by a fyre crawler? Just so that Mylane could perform the transformation ritual?”

Carter nodded. “I had Stevron locate the nearest burrow but I never intended for you to get bitten and I only had my suspicions about Mylane. But they were really strong suspicions.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s my destiny. I’m the last of the successors in the Death line that is currently alive. None others have been born yet.”

“He’s right, Angie,” Stevron added. “Once Mikkel gave The Oracle his blood, Carter had no choice and the Prayers’ attack along with the Doorcou attack just confirmed the truth. The Oracle of Death has always made an attempt to kill his successor after every instance where an Outsider had given him their blood. It’s all part of the obscurity of The Oracle’s own trails.”

“Still…”

I shook my head. “No, Angie, Stevron is right. The canisters…” I paused and closed my eyes, trying to steady the turmoil of emotions this subject churned within me. “The canister attack was in direct retaliation for a previous Outsider’s initiation.”

“No.”

“The Oracle of Death succeeded in killing his two immediate successors that day, my older brothers Parkland and Titus, but he somehow failed to kill me, the last of the Death line.”

“I Doorcou attack wasn’t a coincidence,” Stevron added. “Not so close to when Mikkel disappeared and the fact that Mikkel is an Outsider.”

“My life,” I urged Angie to fully understand the ramifications, “and everyone around me is in immediate danger.”

Angie chewed her bottom lip. I could tell what we were telling her was starting to set in. “You’re a Sapphyre Wings, aren’t you, Carter?”

Surprised at her sudden question, I nodded. “I am,” I admitted.

“Not of mixed blood?”

I shook my head.

“Then how can you become the next Oracle?” Angie asked.

It was a logical question and I was glad that I had an answer for Angie. “By an ancient incident, which I will explain. But suffice to say it was my mother who carried the Death line and who passed it to my brothers and I.”

Angie seemed to accept what I said at my word and appeared to consider her next question. “Then tell me how things have ended up in such a mess?”

I snorted. “Now that’s simple yet extremely complicated.”

Angie looked at Stevron. “Did anyone, over the millions of years ever try and bring the two worlds back together?”

He nodded. “There have been a few conciliatory leaders, over time, who have made successful attempts. These Oracles and Sages have reconciled their differences and our worlds have lived in peace. But these periods of time have been brief. The Far Beyond and the Sapphyre Wings people are each staunchly convinced that only their beliefs are correct. In the extreme case, there have been times when one side or the other has proclaimed that if they withheld their gift that they could out live the other side. When this happens it usually is The Oracle of Death who capitulates since the fyre wings can live indefinitely. The reality is,” Stevron continued, “the Sapphyre Wings and the Far Beyond people have lived primarily with some form of dispute between The Life Sage and The Oracle of Death and therefore have mostly lived with chaos and unrest.”

“But there was calm before the canisters fell. I remember our lives being peaceful.”

Stevron gave Angie a saddened shake to his head. “An illusion perpetrated by The Oracle of Death.”

“Then why did the imbalance in the rebirthing process only occur after the canisters fell?”

I saw Stevron take a deep breath. He slowly shook his head.

“You told me, Stevron, the there was fyre crawlers venom in the canisters,’”Angie continued.

“Yes, there was,” Stevron admitted.

©Legend of the Sapphyre Wings by Janet Merritt