The life of an oracle is honestly not that hard in Calchas's opinion. You go to sleep, dream, wake up, and then tell someone about the dream. If you live in an in-the-middle-of-nowhere town, like Stonesford, they'll most likely give you some food for your troubles. That's it. Nothing fancy at all. Cal was very content with this and if you asked him, he would tell you that he would want nothing different. That's why his latest dream worried him.
The dream had started with the image of a destroyed city with groups of soldiers from his country celebrating. A single chariot could be seen in the middle of the battlefield with men in lavish garments chained to the back. The sounds of innocent screams could be heard around where Cal stood, and when it all seemed to become too much, the scene changed. He was on the streets of Etrard, the country's capital, watching as a huge ship flew overhead. The ship was mass of withering small shapes that upon further inspection were thousands of eagles tied to the ship's hull. Then, above the tortured eagles, is what seems to be thousands of guns turned towards a terrifying mass of eyes with an abundance of wings. The creature then transforms in a flash of light and it transforms into a giant humanlike creature that many Christians would call an 'angel'. It turns to look at Cal with a harsh gaze then mouthes the words 'stop this'. The oracle then watches as the angel becomes bald, it's radiant blonde hair falls onto the city below and crushes the people inside. The ship then opened fire on the heavenly being, possibly in retaliation, but the attack only managed to scratch it. A single drop of blood then fell onto the ship. This causes the ship to then crash. The scene switches again to the image of more ships made in the same fashion of the first filled with soldiers of Ascana. Cal's country's army then collectively looked towards the sky as a swarm of gnats descended on the most lavishly decorated boat. A scream could be heard from the boat and laughter rippled through the army.
Understandably, Cal awoke in a panic after that nightmare. He was only used to the dreams of cows escaping farmers' yards and baby births. The most dramatic his dreams had ever been was when the town's top merchant had been cheating on his wife. It had been a very unpleasant conversation to have with his wife the next day when he had to explain that he'd seen the adultery happen and the proof could be found under her bed.
Calchas takes a minute to gather both his breath and thoughts, then he scrambles to get ready. He urgently needs to talk to Sara about his dream. She is brilliant at putting together a story from his dreams when Cal has no clue as to what had happened. She is a very well put together girl with enough knowledge that she could've easily become a scholar in the capital if she hadn't been born a woman in Stonesford. This means that Cal finds her now in her father's bakery, washing the clothes of her siblings.
"Sara!" Cal screams at her from across the river that separates the two halves of Stonesford. He waves frantically as he races across the stone ford that gives the town its name. She must hear his frantic pleas as her head whips up to let her green eyes follow the panicking mess that scrambles toward her.
"Cal?" she calls after him in the same tone as Cal but a little more confused then panicked. She pulls the pants she was washing out of the river and hanging it on the string she had tied between two trees. Cal then came to a panicked stop in front of her and stopped to calm himself before telling her his nightmare. She listened intently, as she always did, but upon the mention of the Christian angels, she had to sit down. She brought a hand to the brown tendrils of her hair, twirling it in her hands before letting it go again upon completion of Cal's story.
"So, Sara, what do you think?" Cal asked in a cautious tone.
"Well, it's not good. That much I can guess but by how panicked you were before, I'm guessing you got that..." She paused, sighing as her brain worked on a coherent timeline for the future of their nation. "King James is already on his last legs so I'm doubting that any of this will happen while he is alive. I've heard that he struggles to even get out of bed in the morning. That is no nation conquer. So, either we get invaded, the royalty is overthrown or Prince Xander or his descendants are not people we want as our future rulers."
"I'd say... Prince Xander and descendent from what my dream looks like. The decoration on the main boat gave me that whole 'I have way too much gold' vibe"
"So, Xander then... Any clues as to how far in the future it is? I know you aren't the most literate Oracle but I know you at least know numbers. Any clues?"
"No, I don't remember any numbers."
"Well, that's just great then. There's a horrible and catastrophic war ahead of us and we have no clue as to when it is. I know you don't have any power in this Cal, but I really wish your dreams could be a bit more specific. You remember when you had that dream of me happily married but you couldn't remember the guys face?" Cal nodded at this. He remembered the day when he'd shared with Sara the dream he'd had of her happy future when she'd been especially sad about her rejection from the Etrard Scholars Asociation. He had told her that he hadn't seen the face of the man that would make the fact that she could never live her childhood dreams alright, but the truth was that he had. Cal just didn't like giving people too many spoilers. This time was different to then, he honestly couldn't remember anything that would clue to when the destruction would occur was most likely destroyed by the war.
"Well if it helps, I remember the faces of the men chained to the chariot?"
"It might help, but I doubt it. Not many people know how foreign rulers look so that isn't a lead. We'd need to go to the capital to find that out."
"Well, you should at least tell me what you think it all means."
"Oh yeah, well obviously we go to war with a bunch of countries and by the description of the chained people, they are both countries on our continent and those in foreign lands. We win by a landslide and I'd say we aren't very nice about it. Then for some reason, we take this war to the Christian god and we get destroyed. Our king is one resilient man so he just takes this as experience and tries again. I've heard that the Christian god can be fairly angry so I'd say that he sends the gnats to kill him. I think that's it but this god doesn't want that to happen. That's why he's sent you this vision and explains the whole angel speaking to you thing."
"Well that's great and all but I'm not the prophet for the job. Firstly, I'm not a Christian prophet. I serve the Hellenic Pantheon. Secondly, I am not the right Oracle for the job. Who would listen to a bumpkin, nobody oracle from the middle of nowhere who has never received any major religious prophecy... ever. I'm not even anywhere near the capital. How would I report this to them without paying a messenger, that I can't afford, or go there myself and desert my posting? Maybe I'm just losing my abilities and this is just a normal dream cause there is no way.." a man atop a white stallion burst onto the river banks, interrupting Calchas's rant. Cal looks at him venomously because of his rude interruption but immediately stops upon seeing his glistening silver armor with the royal insignia etched onto the chest plate. His face is youthful with bright eyes that have never seen a day of war or hurt. A bright yellow cloth tied around his arm quickly explains this and identifies him as a royal messenger. He scans his surroundings, most likely looking for whomever he is to deliver his message to. He then spots Cal and Sara and proceeds to dismount his steed. He quickly ties the brilliant animal to the tree beside them.
"Are either of you know where the resident Soothsayer lives?" he asks politely.
"I am. I am an oracle of the Hellenic Patheon. Do you need me to prove my identity?" Cal asked. As a relatively younger oracle, people often thought he was just the village crazy. There were many times where he needed a good portion of the town to confirm his identity before people accepted that he was indeed the oracle. It was annoying and luckily this time the messenger shook his head. Maybe there are more young prophets in the capital.
"No need, I was told this town had a young oracle."
"So what news do you have for me from the capital?"
"So, firstly, the king is dead." Both Cal and Sara gasp at this and the messenger waits patiently for them to process this. "Secondly, the new king will be King Xander and so you are requested at the capital for the coronation" This was standard practice for new monarchs in Ascana and didn't surprise Cal in the least. The new monarch needed to be blessed by every god, even though everyone knew that the reigning royalty had been Christian for the past 10 monarchs. He sighed at the thought of his long trek to the capital on the back of farmer Jeff's cart (who owed him for preventing the escape of his prized pigs the other day. The prized pigs that were taken to the capital for every big occasion as they were simply delicious.).
"Well then, I'll get my stuff ready. You should get going, messenger. I know you still have some towns after us."
"Thank you oracle, I hope your gods bless us all."
"I as well, I have a feeling we'll need it" The messenger retrieved his horse and quickly consulted his map as to where the next oracle lived. Sara and Cal turned towards each other and shared a silent farewell. Cal then turned towards the river to walk back across it and towards his cave that had to be blessed by Apollo because of the great acoustics. He did not get far however as he heard the messenger shouting at him as he forgot to tell me something.
"I forgot to say, pack for a very long stay at the capital. The prince has some plans for the future and wants to consult the oracles and soothsayers of every religion. It might not be true but I've heard he has plans to take over all the surrounding nations. around Ascana."
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