The Oracle was forthcoming with the details of her friendship with her not so favourite grandmother, Helena. Dana was all for great human connection and all but the Oracle was just taking too long to get to the part about betrayal. She felt she was going to lose her mind with the older woman pointing fingers at each other. The whole thing was just downright exhausting for her. She figured the ancient woman has had to rely on herself for the longest time without true companionship, no friend or family … she was just surrounded by people who talk to her out of respect for her position but she was the true definition of a rather lonely existence with no one to vent to. It was this reason that had stretched her patient, at least enough to listen to the sob stories without completely rolling her eyes.
"She was so good to me you know …"she said, her voice almost melancholic.
"It seems you really were more than just sisters. You had an independent friendship outside the covenant?" well that was the only thing she could think to say without sounding too bored. The older woman's eyes looked unfocused as if she had just been painted there quite recently. She truly was a beauty in her own right. Not an ounce of fat nor a piece of her skin that looked out of place. She was picture perfect, flawless. She looked not a day over twenty five years . . . well that is if you ignore the forever brooding expression in her all seeing eyes.
"I was the one who helped her with her breakthrough. In order to put it simple for you, I personally helped her understand her magic and harness its true power but with every presence of good, there is evil lurking somewhere in the shadows. Magic is like an empty shell, Princess. What you make of it is absolutely up to the user. The same magic that we use to heal and restore a human's life is the very same magic that people use to create and bless weapons of mass destruction. Imagine that in the hands of someone powerful and cruel . . . it's catastrophic!" she drew a lungful of breathe as if the mere thought of it was wearing her down.
"Do you know why Rudrik is after you?" she asked a Dana whose face just went blank at the new name that the Oracle just casually mentioned as if it should mean something to her. This time she drew a really long, somewhat exasperated breathe.
"The Lord of Vengeance as you might have heard others refer to him. I am certain you two have met not so long ago if my memory still serves me right" a spark flared in Dana's eyes at the mention of that creature. He had promised to come back for her and spoke to her as if they were long lost friends or something of close acquaintances at one point in time. She hadn't missed the underlying tone in his words and she was sure she hadn't imagined it either. Then he killed Sasha . . . this was still a forbidden topic for Dana, even internally. At least for the time being. This all made her acknowledge that she wasn't going crazy but she somehow went around attracting crazies.
What did that even mean about her?
The strange thing was that she hadn't stopped to think of how all these things might be related to each other. She always just summed it up as freaky, like everything else in her life such that she never even considered the possibility that these things might be connected but no matter, it looked she was finally about to get some real answers.
"I can't say I know why half if not all the things that happen to me, have to happen at all. I just seem to be nature's very own reverse luck charm" she smiled bitterly her eyes acquiring a hollow gleam.
"I could think of a number of things really, it would just give you more questions than answers but I know this, you are a warehouse of raw magic and that is a threat to his continued existence. At one point in time, he was a friend of your mother. I am guessing he is the only other person who will have most of the answers you've spent your livelihood searching for. His name is Lord Rudrik, possibly even your…" she stopped short of saying something that Dana didn't know, but what she did know was that it made her heart speed up like she had been running a race or that little adrenaline rush you get walking alone in a dark alley and suddenly spot a hooded figure on your heels. She didn't know why but she just needed the ancient being to finish her statement.
"My what?" Dana asked in a haste but she could already see the authoritative look in the woman's face. This was an almost slip of the tongue but she had resolutely regained her composure. The chills Dana felt the first time meeting this ancient being were back again, making her feel like she is standing naked on ice.
"I have said enough already. We should go back to the coven. There you must breakthrough in order for you to reach your true potential as an oracle" Her voice had turned matter-of-fact and authoritative.
There it is again… the formal terms.
"At least explain to me what any of that mean. One of the woman had said that I am just a girl who hasn't even reached her breakthrough yet so what exactly does that mean considering I already figured it's not a good thing?"
"A breakthrough is reached when a druid finally becomes one with the magic that courses through their veins. As you may have guessed, druids are a rarity in this day and age… I would know because we are connected and the likelihood of one being born is a once-in-a-thousand-years occurrence. As an oracle, you are privy to each Arrival. This is the first step, then comes Awakening, which is when the spirit within you starts needing acknowledgement, where you are right now. This is a different experience for every druid. Some get gentle premonitions while to some, they may even have scars from having a vision when they awaken. At this point, the spirit guiding you is as powerful as it is ancient. Having been dormant for a long time, it controls you as its host and make you a conduit instead of a vessel. When you finally breakthrough, is when a pact has been formed between you and your guiding spirit. At this point, you already have an understanding. You do each other's bidding and you can control and manipulate the magic a bit more flexible, change physical form and shape reality as we know it. This could be very dangerous if done subconsciously"
At that last part Dana observed that the ancient woman gave her a scolding look and she wondered why that may be until something clicked in her head…
DONE SUBCONSCIOUSLY!
Ahh that time she had to face off with The Lord of Vengeance. She had subconsciously slowed time almost to a standstill. She allowed her eyes to wander away from the woman's unwavering stare.
That wasn't even my fault…
She had just formed the thought in her head when she felt a sudden breeze run past her face. When she looked at the older woman, she had one of her perfect eyebrows raised at her and she figured she needed to learn to protect her thoughts better. They were too easily accessible to this community of people.
"Okay fair point, I honestly had no one to teach me any of these things before. I don't think you scold me fairly, I honestly had no one to teach me any of these things before. I think you are right, let's go back to the coven" her tone had a tinge of anger to it
"The first thing would be to get a hold of emotions. A leader who is controlled by emotions is easily manipulated. You just need to rile them up enough or better yet, make them fall for a sweet lie and the whole kingdom falls. The reason you are still stuck at the awakening is because where you need to apply your brains to make a decision, you use your heart. Learn to meditate Princess. This is the first step to breaking through, you need to establish an understanding with your inner self. You have to control your emotions and not the other way round. Let us go, I will teach you the right way to meditate in my chambers"
Dana could have sworn they took a step and the next thing she knew they were back in the cave-like structure but that wasn't the weirdest thing for her. What she couldn't grasp was the fact that the other woman were still in the very same position that they had left them in, still as a rod as if they hadn't even blinked since the time the Oracle took her for their talk. When she turned to look at the other woman, she had a mysterious look to her face.
"Is that. . ." Dana couldn't even bring herself to say it out loud.
"Yes Princess, this is just one of the many abilities at your disposal as my predecessor"
It was safe to say she was impressed.