The Lost Oracle

"I call upon the shadow bound, with this blood, I am found. Come to me, with this plea. From the shadows, I summon thee. Lord Fallon Sullivan, Lord Fallon Sullivan, Lord Fallon Sullivan, King of the Shadows, I summon thee."

Bright red rivulets snaked down from the cut on the witch’s hand as the air shifted into a density of power from the spell. She sensed her sisters behind her, waiting uneasily with the spell’s burst. Their coven was down to three, their bloodlines hunted to near extinction. The power in her blood pulsed as shadows shifted beyond the small fire. Her stomach clenched with pain, the child within bursting to get out. She put her bloody hand against the bulge to calm the child. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

Black shadows danced like hypnotic smoke until green orbs shone from a black maw of a hidden face, as the King of Shadows stepped through them. His body solidified as he walked into the dim firelight, bringing a beautiful and austere face. No one could ever deny the dark Fey’s allure. Two other Shadow Fey solidified behind him, their faces covered by black scarves, showing their eerie green eyes.

Their leader took in the very pregnant witch and her ragtag coven, noting their thread bare clothes and malnourished skin. He sensed the power within their blood, blessed by his Goddess’s will. And though his face stayed neutral, anger rose in him at the state of the witches. Honor dictated that he couldn’t act unless a bargain was struck.

“You have summoned the Shadow King by name, and I have come. Rise witch, and speak,” he said, his voice smooth like honey and silk.

A slight dizziness filled the witch as she stood, swaying slightly as she pressed her hand against her stomach creating a bright bloodstain. And yet, she rallied and stood proud, not showing the fear that pumped into her heart.

“Lord Sullivan, I am grateful that you came. I would like to make a bargain,” she said, her voice holding a lilt of accent from her mother’s people. Her sisters shuffled behind her, silent yet resolute.

“What bargain do you seek?” he asked, curious.

She pulled a pendant from under her collar, the bright green amulet flashing. He stilled, barely breathing.

“I am Cassandria le Dione, the Goddess’s vessel, and our time is short. The Council is not far behind, and I can’t let the amulet or my child fall into their hands,” the witch grimaced with pain as her stomach rippled. She carried forth.

“Me and my sisters are all what is left of the House of Dione, our coven. This is what I offer. I offer up my child and the amulet, the lost oracle of the Goddess, to The Shadow for safekeeping until the time is right for our coven to rise again and a new vessel chosen. May you keep watch over our bloodlines and what is left of our House, in all its entirety,” she finished, eyes tightening as her breath hitched.

“Does the Goddess not speak for you, as her vessel?” he asked.

The witch’s eyes turned white as the Goddess came forth, power infusing the small woman at his words.

“I would request an oath, Lord Fallon Sullivan, to me, your Goddess. Are you willing?”

The three Shadow Fey knelt onto the damp ground, in honor of the Goddess shining through her vessel.

“I am willing, Goddess. As always, the Shadow’s honor is impeccable, and our oaths are unending. You humble us with your presence,” he answered.

“Rise, my Shadow. Take my vessel’s bargain, for the child is impatient to arrive. Take this bloodline and hide them so their lineage may survive. Watch over the daughters of my vessel’s blood until the time has come for one of them to take up my mantle. It seems the viral infection of darkness and fear has spread too far upon this land and we must bide our time. Hide them in your shadows, build your empire so that you may fulfill your oath to me. But remember, the mantle can only pass to the willing. You may not interfere in their choice. Do I have your oath as my Shadow?” The Goddess spoke out, power infusing her vessel’s voice as her decree fell upon the clearing.

Lord Sullivan and his shadow stood up.

“Goddess, as your Shadow, me and mine so swear,” he vowed and at his words, the air shifted as the oath was spoken into existence, unable to be broken by him or his Shadow brethren.

The witch took off the amulet, it’s power bright in the dark night as she pressed it against her pregnant stomach. She closed her eyes as the amulet burst in a bright green light and then white, sucked into her vessel’s body, into the child within the extended stomach.

With shining eyes, the Goddess spoke again.

“The power of the oracle will be hidden within the bloodlines of this vessel until the time is right. Hurry now, for the infected ones from the Council are close by. My vessel cannot sustain much longer, and the babe is coming.”

As the light faded from Cassandria’s eyes, Lord Sullivan caught her as she collapsed from the withdrawal of the Goddess’s power. Her sisters rushed forward, as he slowly lowered her to the ground. She moaned as her body contracted.

“The babe, it comes,” one of her sisters whispered, fear in her eyes.

In the distance, he heard quiet murmurs of multiple people. The Goddess didn’t give them anytime.

“Come attend to your sister, for the Council is almost upon us,” he instructed the witches.

He called out to two more of his Shadow and they solidified in the clearing. Their power of the shadows was a gift from their Goddess, upon their oath of service to her in all things. He turned and spoke to his second as the witches murmured to each other. Cassandria moaned, clenching her stomach.

“Surround the area in shadows. Tell Jayne to come. She will need to help deliver the babe,” he ordered as he pulled the shadows to him and directed them to quell the small fire and clearing of any evidence of the witches from the House of Dione or the Shadow Fey. Darkness fell around the clearing as Jayne knelt next to Cassandria.

“How does she fare?” he asked.

“We can’t move her, the babe is coming and her heartbeat is weak. We must hurry,” Jayne calmly explained.

Cassandria reached up and gripped Jayne’s arm.

“Save the babe, at all costs. Our bloodline must continue,” her voice weak, but her eyes fierce. Jayne nodded as one of the witch’s sisters covered a sob.

More Shadow fey arrived, setting up a perimeter as two more women came with supplies for the delivery.

“My Lord,” one of the Fey ran up, shadows shifting around him. “The council’s fighters are close, our shadows are keeping them at bay, but it won’t hold them long.”

“Then we fight to give Lady Cassandria time,” he said.

And they did. While the Shadow Fey battled those of the Council, Cassandria fought to deliver the babe.

“Okay one more time. Push, Cassandria,” Jayne encouraged as the witch’s sisters were on each side of her, holding her hands. Cassandria took a breath and screamed out her last push. The babe came out, Jayne catching her in one of the blankets. She placed the babe on the mother’s chest, cutting the umbilical cord. Cassandria looked down, whispering the babe’s name to her sisters. And then the light faded from the mother’s eyes. One of the sisters grabbed the child, her face tear streaked.

Lord Fallon Sullivan ran into the clearing and kneeled, bowing his head.

“We cannot hold them much longer,” he told Jayne. He looked at the two witches, holding the babe. The power of the oracle radiated off the babe. “I have an idea, but you may not like it.”

“Tell us,” the witch holding her niece said.

“If they find Cassandria with a stillborn and two dead witches, they will think the House of Dione has fallen. If we switch the babe with a changeling, and bring two burnt women, it will look as if the Shadow got here before the Council. But there will be a catch,” he said.

“What is it,” she asked.

“The child will have to be raised in Faerie until her maturity. Once she reaches of age, we can hide her in another bloodline,” he said.

The two sisters looked at each other, a silent conversation in their eyes. They looked down at the babe for a moment before nodding.

“Do it,” she said.

They all disappeared into the black shadows of smoke, leaving four bodies on the ground. The Council came upon the last of the House of Dione, the Lost Oracle once again…lost.

And it had come to pass that the prophecy of that night was born. For the House of Dione became a forgotten house and the Shadow Fey remained the boogiemen of the supernatural world as the years pass into decades and then into centuries. The Lost Oracle stayed hidden until the time would come for the mantle of the Goddess’s power to rise again in one of the lost sisters of the once powerful coven.

And as time passed, Lord Fallon Sullivan watched and waited for one of the coven’s bloodlines to take up the mantle of power and become the vessel for the Goddess. While those of the past Council never stopped searching for the Lost Oracle and its power, they never knew it was hidden within the very bloodlines of the lost House of Dione. As the daughters of the vessel’s bloodline came and gone, years passed as a kaleidoscope of seasons, silently waiting for that one daughter to be born.

Until one day in the distant future...