Page 47 of The Oracle of Dusk

“It sent me here from my homeland,” Aurora answered carefully.

“Restrain her and bring her closer,” Orithyia said.

Aurora was dutifully hauled before the high priestess and made to kneel, her pinned arms and splinted leg screaming in agony.

“Please, I mean you no harm, I only—”

“Snuck into a restricted area and barged into my private chambers with a strange item in your pocket,” Orithyia interrupted, her voice like a whip. “Who told you about the passage?”

“I beg your forgiveness, but—”

“But nothing. You are clearly not of Trisia, yet you know of places which you should not. What am I to think but that you are some kind of malefactor and this item is a weapon? You will be taken to the temple of Justice, questioned about this item and how you came to know of the passage, then sentenced,” Orithyia said, waving to the paladins holding her pinned as she passed the artefact on to one of the priestesses of Knowledge. “If you are very lucky, they will only cut out your tongue.”

Ah, goddess, no. It couldn’t end like this. She had to convince the high priestess not to sentence her to death.

“The cycle of chaos will be upon you this year. If you have not already seen the omens for it, you will soon. But it won’t just be a cycle of chaos, it will be a cycle of calamity, the likes of which Trisia has never experienced!” Aurora shouted as she was dragged from the room.

The high priestess held up a hand, bidding the paladins to bring her closer. Aurora’s heart swelled with hope. Until Orithyia gripped Aurora’s jaw in a painful hold, inspecting her with a frightfully cold look.

“You really believe what you’re saying. Either you’re an oracle, or you’re mad, as only the mad believe their delusions to be truth. Do you know when there was last a true oracle in Trisia?” Aurora shook her head as best she could. Orithyia’s glare said it all. “Never. All were false. Only the omens, interpreted by a high priestess, may tell us the future, not the ravings of mad foreigners. Take this blasphemer from my sight.”

No, not like this. What could she say to sway Orithyia? What could she give her that would win her the woman’s trust? What did she remember from this time that would prove her word?

“The first monstrosities! I know where the first monstrosities will appear this cycle!”

“I’m sure you do, little creature,” Orithyia scoffed.

“The Colonnades Of The Colossus! When they appear there, you’ll know I’m speaking the truth!”

The paladins dragged her from the chamber and through the topmost level of the temple. All eyes were trained on her in morbid curiosity. Aurora’s tears ran freely then. The only person who barely spared her a glance was a senior priestess carrying a haphazard array of books, scrolls and one badly balanced astrolabe, hurrying towards the high priestess’ chambers. Aurora was carried almost to the door of the temple when a winded-looking priestess halted their march.

“Wait! The high priestess would like one more word with the foreigner.”

Confused but obedient, the paladins dragged Aurora back up the many steps of the temple staircases. She felt like a broken ragdoll by the time she was hauled before the high priestess and shoved down onto the floor.

“Bind her arms. Give me the switch and leave. All of you.”

“But, Your Holiness—”

“Do as you’re told,” Orithyia retorted.

When it was just the two of them, Orithyia sighed.

“I have just received word that the sinister planets have fully aligned. Any priestess worth her salt could have predicted that this would happen. That in itself doesn’t always herald a cycle of chaos. But I’ve also been informed of omens appearing in places all over Trisia. Not only that, but the omens are especially dire.” She tipped Aurora’s chin up with the switch. “Explain this cycle of calamity.”

“A cycle of calamity occurs when Drakon, the Beast of Old, rises. He is a great serpent with red scales and many horns who slithers through the skies on a bank of dark clouds. Monstrosities arise wherever he goes, and he has the power to rain fire and molten rock down from above.”

“Are these the folktales from your realm?”

“They’re not folktales! I’ve seen him! I’ve experienced his power first-hand! He brings the apocalypse with him.”

“Clearly not, if there is more than one tale of this Drakon, more than one cycle of his coming. How is the beast destroyed?”

“A hero who wields the holy sword of Justice, an avatar gifted with wild magic as well as Her divine magic.”

“You worship the Triad in your homeland?”

Aurora nodded.

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