Prophecy of the Nexus

Chapter 19

"You're... You're my Oracle?" I repeated. The words were sour in my mouth. How could the most evil being on the planet be an Oracle? There had to be some sort of mistake. Oracles were attached to angels, so how could a demon be bound to one?

Meredith nodded slowly. I tried to discern a trick or a lie. The idea that my Oracle was a demon was repulsive. But her eyes were human enough to be gentle. "Yes, I saw your future. It's why we are all here and why I have searched you out now."

"What is my destiny?" I asked.

I half expected her to laugh and for her to tell me I was a silly girl for asking. But she shivered like some primal force compelled her to speak. Maybe being an Oracle, even a demon Oracle, had rules of its own. "Your prophecy is one for the ages," she said in a hushed voice.

"Fallen," the goliath grunted, stepping forward. He towered over the pair of us, his massive body full of muscle and his eyes full of hatred. "Don't speak of her prophecy. She might work against us."

Meredith ignored the goliath's words. Instead, she raised her hand and pushed. The goliath rose a foot off the ground and was thrown across the canyon like he was a rag doll. The other demons parted as the goliath skidded along the ground. He shot a glare at Meredith, his eyes red with fire. I braced for him to charge, but the beast just got to his feet and muttered as it rejoined the cloud of corruption. "It makes no difference if you know your prophecy or not," Meredith continued. "You will end up there, anyway."

Meredith took a step towards the fire and snatched at the air. The black smoke that billowed out of the top of the flame spiralled down to her. She whipped around; the smoke mimicking her movement. Smoke engulfed the pair of us. I instinctively gaged, but the smoke didn't make it hard to breathe or sting my eyes like regular smoke. Squinting, I could make out Meredith a few feet in front of me. With a single finger, she touched a plume of smoke. It fractured and contorted until it became shapes. Different colour bloomed from the clouds: red, purple, gold, white. I gasped as an image appeared in front of me.

I stood defiantly, looking a older than I did now. A purple and crimson vortex spun in front of me guarded by twelve crystal swords. In a heartbeat, the swords shattered like glass. A pair of giant, red eyes emerged from the vortex, glaring down at me. I knew what this meant. "In your twenty-first year," Meredith whispered, though her voice echoed around the scene. "At the end of the age of Aurelian, the Divine Swords will shatter at Oblivion's hand, and the Vale will open. Then the Nexus will face the King of Corruption."

The scene faded away like ash on a breeze. My eyes burned as the striking light of the evening sun hit me. I turned away, and that's when I noticed I had tears in my eyes. So that was it? My destiny was to open the Vale and face Koralax. That was impossible. The swords of the first Arknights protected the Vale; how could they shatter? Sir Atticus had said even their weapons couldn't scratch the barrier. But, more importantly, how was I supposed to face the King of Demons.? The creator of evil, forger of corruption, probably the most powerful being second to the Divine. I gazed up at Meredith, who was watching me process all this. "Yes, few have such a place in history," she acknowledged.

"So why stop me becoming an Arknight?" I asked. "Why did you come to my school and stop me from passing the test?"

Meredith cocked her head to the side. She examined me for a moment. "I thought that was obvious. You will be at the opening of the Vale, but there is no certainty what will happen next."

"What? You think a twenty-one-year-old girl can defeat the King of Demons?"

"Stranger things have happened," Meredith said, waggling a finger at me. It was like being in class again. "When the Vale first opened, Koralax thought it impossible to be stopped and was content to stay in his realm letting corruption do his work. Little did he know a Nexus had the power to seal the Vale and trap him there." Meredith paused and chuckled to herself. "Fascinating how a Nexus will end the Vale as well."