Etudie Perpetuity

After enduring Vell’s lectures on propriety and etiquette, I grabbed a burning stick from Starry and followed Noel and Sharun out of the camp. The entire journey was uneventful, since the plains were still eerily empty. It was almost noon by the time we reached the outskirts of the Oracle’s territory.

The Oracle was a powerful magician. She was the oldest elf by far; she was so old nobody knew how old she was, not even Starry and Vell. The other elves didn’t disturb her except during crises like the one we were in right now, not only because they respected her, but also because they feared her.

And they were right to fear her. The Oracle’s territory was a large space near her ‘haunt’ where no monsters dared to go. I was surprised by my translation magic’s choice of words for her house too. ‘Haunt’ was such a scary word for a place where someone lived. There had to be some significance behind this choice, right?

“That is the Oracle’s mountain,” said Sharun as he pointed to a small mountain in the distance. “The Oracle lives in a cave at the base of the mountain. If you go towards the mountain from this direction, you cannot miss it. We will be here at the edge of the Oracle’s territory. She will know that you are coming, but remember to wait outside her cave and call out for her help from the entrance.”

Noel and I assured Starry we remembered everything we had to do. Noel enthusiastically told him she’d been practicing for this moment her entire life, even though she’d only learned about most of the rituals with me a few minutes ago.

We left the hunters behind and made our way across the empty wasteland. And yes, it was a wasteland. It wasn’t only monsters that didn’t live inside the Oracle’s territory. There were no plants and animals around here either, not even insects hiding under rocks or tiny shoots of grass peeking through the dirt. The only reason this place hadn’t become a desert was because the wind didn’t blow here either. Honestly, it was creepy as hell.

But Noel could barely contain her excitement. She practically hopped and skipped her way to the mountain while crossing a barren wasteland under the unrelenting midday sun. By the time we reached the cave at the base of the mountain, clouds had covered up the sun completely. Noel was also calmer, having taken a couple of deep breaths. I observed the mountain. It wasn’t too tall, barely qualifying as a mountain instead of a hill. But still, it was the tallest thing for miles, since it stood alone in the middle of the plains. It looked like it was built entirely of large boulders and stones, with no gravel, dirt, or pebbles anywhere near it. Was erosion just not a thing for the Oracle?

Noel walked up to the entrance. “Mighty Oracle,” she began. She dropped to her knees and bowed low. “Please grant this daughter and son of Jora your wisdom.”

I was about to bow too when a strong gust blew out of the cave. The wind blew Noel back on her feet. I shielded my face with my arms. My offering stick fell out of my hands and the wind blew the flame out. When the wind died down and I put down my arms, the cave was gone. A large boulder covered the entrance, but there had been no sign or sound of it having fallen off the mountainside.

“Daughter of Jora,” came a voice from behind the boulder, “who is the child standing next to you?”

“His name is Caspian,” said Noel, staring at her own blown out offering stick, “we have taken him in as one of our own—”

“He should not be here!” said the Oracle.

The ground rumbled. Noel trembled.

“My apologies,” I said, “I will leave.”

“No,” said the Oracle, slowly. “Now, you must stay. Something strange is happening and your fate is tied to it.”

“Something strange?” I said. “Right, the monsters; all the monsters on the plains are gone!”

The ground shook again. “No, that is not it. And do not speak again until I address you. The problem that I am referring to is much more troubling than that which effects the plains. The plains are merely being terrorized by a one star monster.”

I frowned. By a what?

“Mighty Oracle, Jora’s daughter does not know what a one star monster is,” said Noel.

“Of course you would not know. There has not been a starred monster in the Plains of Serenity for generations,” said the Oracle. “Starred monsters are not born, they are created. Regular monsters must be awakened by an outside force; like an elf, another awakened monster, or a natural magic hotspot, in order to become a starred monster. There are no natural hotspots or other starred monsters in the Plains of Serenity, which means only an elf could have awakened this monster. Yet, I am the only elf that knows how to awaken a monster and I certainly did not awaken this one.”

Oh, that’s why she didn’t trust me. Since she didn’t know where I came from, she must think I know how to awaken a monster!

“I didn’t—” I began.

“What did I say about speaking without being spoken to?” interjected the Oracle. “Besides, I know you could not have awoken this monster.”

Wait, she did? How?

“Might Oracle,” said Noel. “Please share your wisdom. How can we get rid of the one star monster? If we don’t do something, our tribe will not have enough food for the journey to the highlands.”

“Nothing,” said the Oracle. “There is nothing that you can do. A one star monster is far too powerful for the elves of this generation. Perhaps if your father had been alive, he could have traded his life for that of the monster, but your father was an aberration. The heavens agreed that he should not have existed.”

Silence. Noel stared at the floor, I bit my lips to stop myself from speaking out, and the Oracle stayed quiet behind her boulder. Even for a powerful, ancient oracle, saying someone’s beloved dad shouldn’t have existed was kinda harsh. Almost like she thought his premature death was inevitable.

“I recommend making the journey to the highlands early,” said the Oracle.

“How early?” said Noel, finally dropping her reverent tone. I guess she didn’t like the Oracle as much after she said her father shouldn’t have existed.

“As soon as possible,” said the Oracle. “It will be cold in the highlands, but you should be able to bear it. Perhaps the one star monster will move to a different hunting ground once all the monsters around it run away. If, however, it awakens many others, all the elves of the Plains of Serenity will have to find a new home.”

A new home? Hadn’t they lived here for generations? And since elves lived such long lives, they might have been on the Plains of Serenity for millennia. Moving because of one monster… just how powerful were starred monsters? Maybe we could defeat it with magic the way we had defeated the Farro Bird. Noel and I could start training, or we could teach the other elves how to use the kind of magic that we had learned.

In fact, I could teach the Oracle about our magic too. She was probably using magic thanks to her long life and many experiences, the way Starry had been able to use ceremonial fire magic. If the Oracle knew how to manipulate magic deliberately, we might stand a chance against the one star monster!

Still, something felt off. In the back of my head, I felt like I had forgotten something. I should have told the Oracle about my magic, and then all the elves could work together to defeat the monster. But I hesitated. I hesitated and instead, ignored what she had said about not speaking until I was spoken to. My eyes fell on my unlit offering stick.

“You said the one star monster was not the truly strange thing. As if an unbeatable monster was not the most troubling thing going on in the Plains right now,” I said. “If that monster is not what is troubling you, mighty oracle, then what is?”

The Oracle did not reply. The clouds had darkened by now. It was going to rain soon. It felt strange, seeing the wind blowing the clouds in the sky, bringing rain from far away, even though there was no wind brushing past my body in the Oracle’s haunt.

“Impudent child,” came the Oracle’s voice, barely a whisper, “we have dealt with bigger, more powerful monsters before. A pathetic one star monster does not trouble me.”

The boulder disappeared, revealing a large, dark cave entrance. A shadowy figure stood just outside the light. The Oracle looked at us from the shadows and spoke:

“What is troubling me, is that for the first time in many generations, an elf from the Plains of Serenity has insulted her ancestors by refusing to enter the cave of the Terrible. And what’s more, an outsider, one who may not even be an elf, has spit on our sacred customs by counterfeiting blessings.”

A menacing air hung around us. “Heed my warning, daughter of Jora and son of the outside. If you do not enter the cave of The Terrible before leaving for the highlands, I will banish your entire tribe from our community. Now leave this place!”