Chapter 12: Whispers of Prophecy

I held Cecilia in my arms as we sped past the trees. I tried to take the turns around trees slower. I didn’t want to shake Cecilia too much lest she starts feeling ill. We should reach this swamp soon, we have been moving for almost half a day. This is the furthest I have ever gone from the tomb so this will definitely be interesting…

It wasn’t long before the terrain started to change, I could feel the ground was now much wetter and the grass soon turned to a marsh. I began to slow down from the increased resistance. I was still going quite fast but not as quickly as before.

Then I spotted an old shack in the middle of the swamp. It stood on a slight incline, a piece of dry land in the wetlands. I noticed there was this powerful signature radiating from within the shack. I immediately activated my invisibility and put Cecilia down.

“Hide.” I muttered trying to keep my voice down.

Cecilia obeyed instantly, casting a spell turning herself invisible. I continued to observe the shack, then I saw a flash of light within and I immediately felt a presence behind me. I felt my blood go cold. I turned and saw an old woman standing there calmly looking up at me. I raised my blade and delivered a quick slash at her. At the same time, I fired off a volley of spikes. The old woman held her hand out and my blade was stopped by a barrier, my spikes as well were just stopped midair. When I tried to pull the blade back I realized my blade was held in place by some kind of magic. I looked down at the woman and I saw her eyes were glowing gold. This was very bad, I could tell she was really powerful. Every alarm bell in my head was going off.

“Calm yourself friend. Long have I waited for your arrival…” the woman said, her voice old and weary.

“Who are you?” Cecilia said as she rematerialized from invisibility.

“A friend Princess Cecilia.” the woman said as I got a good look at her I realized her eyes were horribly scarred, it looks like someone took a blow torch to her face...

“If you are curious about this… the Archangel Mihael blessed me with his searing touch long ago.” the woman said as she touched her marred face.

“How do you know who we are?” Cecilia said.

It was painfully obvious that we couldn’t beat her, in fact, I couldn’t even move my arm and unless I cut it off I’m stuck here...

“Fear not, I mean you no harm, I understand if my presence is shocking to you.” the woman said as she put her arm down. My arm was freed from her magic and the spikes fell down into the mud.

My first instinct was to grab Cecilia and just book it but I had a feeling we wouldn’t get far…

“Who are you?” I asked cautiously as I took aim at her with my spines just in case.

“A friend, my protege made the prophecy that binds you Princess.” the old woman said.

“You are a seer?” Cecilia asked, taken aback by the revelation.

Hmm well this is interesting, this prophecy seems to be a big deal.

“Yes, or at least I was. The gift of Divine Sight is not something that can be disregarded, when I served my purpose the Archangel Mihael attempted to remove my sight thus you see his work on my face.” the woman said as she looked at me.

“That doesn’t make sense, if you are a threat to them why didn’t they just kill you?” I asked as I looked down at her.

“Arrogance my friend. My gift was too powerful to be let loose into the world, now that they had their replacement. I was no longer useful to them. So they blinded me to ensure I could not use my sight and for my long years of service, they allowed me to live. After all, what can a sightless seer do? The Archangel was so confident in his power he did not think to gouge my eyes out, he felt this was sufficient. Unfortunately for him the sight is not so easily lost, even if it is greatly weakened.” as the woman’s eyes glowed anew before fading, revealing milky white eyes.

“What do you want with us?” Cecilia asked as she furrowed her brows.

“This is a poor place to speak, shall we have a seat?” the woman asked as she waved her hand and the ground below us glowed with runes.

In an instant, we were now standing outside the shack. With another wave of her hand furniture appeared, two chairs and a table now stood atop the small patch of dry land.

“Have a seat.” the woman said as she gestured to one of the chairs.

Cecilia gave her a look before warily taking a seat, I just stood at the side on guard as I carefully observed the old woman.

“What do you want from us?” Cecilia asked again at this enigmatic woman.

“Nothing, I want nothing from you. What I want is to help you.” the woman replied as she conjured up a teapot and two cups. She calmly poured a cup and pushed it towards Cecilia.

Cecilia raised a brow as she gazed down at the cup. She looked back at the smiling woman and her hands glowed as she cast a spell on the tea cup.

“Fear not princess, it isn't poisoned. Though they say poison is a woman’s weapon I have no need for such methods. If I wanted you two dead both of you would have already departed this mortal coil… [Walpurgis Fire]” the woman said as her eyes glowed once more and high above us a massive black fireball appeared above us.

I knew instantly if I was hit by that fire I would be done, but as soon as it appeared it vanished.

“[Walpurgis Fire]... that’s a hero ranked spell…” Cecilia said in shock as she gazed at the woman.

“Bah, the adventurer ranks, a foolish metric. The Hero Rank is just the beginning of strength. The adventurer guild, they are tasked to clean up the chaff, the vermin. They would stand no chance against a true opponent… like your friend here… Princess, the world is a far more dangerous place than you can possibly imagine.

The blood of the Firstborn, their essence still flows in some of their progeny. Though that essence has been watered down over the eons, the Successors of the Firstborn still walk this world. You are one of them, princess. You are an Heir of the Old Blood.” the woman said with a smile.

Huh, is this why she feels so familiar to me? If Cecilia was an inheritor of some part of my species then the familiarity would make some sense.

“Firstborn? Do you mean the Devourers?” Cecilia asked.

“Devourers… a name born of a pedestrian understanding of this world.” the woman said with a scoff.

“Although the name is accurate to a degree, it does not do your friend justice. The Successors of the Firstborn are powerful, much more so than your average sheep crawling through the muck of this world.

The adventurer guild gives the title of Hero Rank to teams that can fell a beast that once only heroes could. The elder dragons, the primordial elementals, the ancient phoenixes, all of which bore the blood of the Firstborn.

The heroes of old once served heaven, fighting under their great lie after their great war. After the heroes nearly wiped these beasts off the face of creation, heaven turned on them. For they were the last loose end, the only ones who remained on Terra who had the power to challenge the rule of heaven.

Oh, the Seraphim spun such honeyed lies Princess, promises of order and peace. A world without the all-powerful beasts that could raze villages, cities and empires. But how cruel the truth is, the Seraphim just wanted this world weak lest the sheep rise up against the masters.” the woman said.

“This is all very interesting but I fail to see how any of this is useful to us,” I replied as I gave the woman a look.

“Patience my friend, but yes perhaps I rambled for too long. What I will give you Princess is knowledge…” the woman said as she waved her hand and hundreds of books appeared around us.

“My collection, arcane tomes, necronomicons, ancient grimoires. All of them for you, a gift to an heir of the Firstborn.” the woman said with a smile.

I watched as Cecilia walked over to one of the stacks of books and picked one up. She opened it up and I saw her eyes widen. I could sense her heart rate rise, whatever was in that book, I could tell she liked what she was seeing very much.

“And for you Firstborn, I have an even greater gift for you.” the woman said and I leaned forward wondering what she would offer me.

“I offer you advice, a direction, a strategy… I have already made arrangements with individuals all across this world. My plan, my final symphony is already in motion, you need only find the other Successors of the Firstborn.” the woman said.

“Find the other Successors of the Firstborn? How the hell am I supposed to do that?” I asked.

“The other Successors are hunted by heaven so they are in hiding. There should be many but I only know of the four, the founders of The Children of Terra, you may know their organization’s other name, Princess. The Syndicate.” the woman said.

“The Syndicate? They are run by the Successors?” Cecilia asked in shock.

“What is this Syndicate?” I asked as I looked at Cecilia.

“They are a criminal organization as far as I know. They have branches in every city-state, they don’t do much most of the time. Most of the underworld and funnily enough most of the crowns know only one rule of action towards the Syndicate.

Do not interfere with their designs.

Some monarchs have tried to remove the Syndicate’s presence from their cities… and those Monarchs were removed from their thrones…” Cecilia said.

“I think we just found our way to get your throne back…” I say with a smirk.

“I think so too…” Cecilia replied with a smile of her own.

“I do not know how many more Successors the original four have brought into the fold. I am only familiar with the four. The first and the one I am fondest of, Nemesis the Vengeful…” the woman said as she put a finger to her temple and from it, she withdrew a blue glowing wisp-like thread.

She then tossed the thread up into the air and a projection appeared.

The projection showed a raven-haired woman. She knelt on the ground as she cradled another fallen woman. I could hear her sobbing as she held the corpse. After a few moments, her sobbing faded and the projection panned away. I gawked as I looked at the scene around her, it looked to be a burning village. The ground was littered with winged humanoid corpses, then I spotted a winged woman bound by black chains. She was chained on her knees with her arms pulled back. My best guess is that the woman and the corpses would be the angels.

The raven-haired woman gently placed the corpse onto the ground and she rose to her feet. I couldn’t see her face, her long hair hung around the side of her face like a jet black curtain. She walked over to the bound angel. The angel had platinum white hair and her eyes were completely white, devoid of irises. The angel said something but no sound was heard.

“The black-haired woman, that is Nemesis.” the old woman explained.

I watched as Nemesis marched over to the lone surviving angel. She waved her hand and black meat hooks sprang from the ground. The hooks latched onto the wings of the angel who shrieked in agony. Nemesis clenched her fist and the hooks began to pull…

The angel thrashed and howled as slowly but surely the wings were ripped right off her body. Then with a final tug, the wings were off… I could see the angel was groaning in pain as her body shook from the wound. Interestingly enough the angel’s blood was gold...

Nemesis then summoned black claws around her hands. The claw looked to be made of shadows and she grasped the angel around the neck with the claws.

Then I heard her voice whisper out from the projection.

Shhhh, sleep….

Nemesis whispered as she slowly strangled the angel. I saw the angel gasp as her lips turned blue then with a sickening twist and crunch Nemesis snapped her neck. Then the chains vanished and the angel collapsed onto the ground.

Nemesis looked down for a moment, she then reached down and picked up an angel’s feather off the ground. She held it for a moment as if lost in thought. She walked over to a nearby golden blood puddle and she dipped the feather in the blood. When she brought the feather back up to her eyes, it was now stained gold. She then slotted the feather on the front of her clothes like a pin.

Then the projection cut...

“Is Nemesis her real name? Or is it an alias?” Cecilia asked as the projection vanished.

“An alias.” the old woman said.

“They all gave up their birth names when they formed the Syndicate. As for the others, the second is Theseus the Exile. He fled his home hoping to spare his village from the wrath of heaven. Alas, it was not to be…” the woman said as she once again tossed another thread into the air.

This time the projection showed a man with a shield and a spear battling an angel with four wings. Around them burned Theseus’s village, the battle raged with neither being able to best the other. Theseus stepped over the bodies of countless angels but I could see he was covered in wounds. Then the angel landed a decisive hit and sent Theseus’s shield flying. Theseus knocked off balance and was about to be struck down when black hooks appeared from behind the angel and snared all four of her wings.

The hooks dragged her down to earth and brought the angel to her knees. From behind the angel emerged Nemesis. Now she was wearing a white mask, it looked like it was leering at the angel. Her dress was also now covered with gold feathers. Looks like she has been busy...

Nemesis calmly walked past the screaming and thrashing angel before offering a hand to Theseus. He took the hand and Nemesis pulled him to his feet. Then with a gracious bow, she gestured to the bound angel. I saw Theseus’s face darken as he gripped his spear and approached the now helpless angel. Then the projection cut again…

“How strong are they?” I asked as I looked at the woman.

“Far stronger than me, they could fight on even terms with an Arch Angel. As for you Firstborn, you can one day exceed them all. You will one day be a wolf among sheep if you can survive that long that is…” the woman said.

“And the other two?” Cecilia asked.

“These are my visions of these two, I met with them previously. I did not have any visions of the two that came after. All I know are their aliases, the third is Persephone the Ruined Queen she is a powerful magic caster. Her city-state fell to the angels and now she is part of the Syndicate.

The fourth and final founder is Heimdall the Vigilant. He is a powerful warrior who is the chief of security for the Syndicate. He also leads the branch of the Syndicate that is tasked with fighting the angels on Terra. He is very good at his job, the angels who appear in Terra now only stay for short periods, if they linger for too long they risk meeting the Heimdall and the Syndicate.

Occasionally Seraphim death squads do appear to hunt down any particularly powerful humans but sometimes those death squads never make it back to heaven.

Make no mistake friends, there is a hidden war being waged in Terra. It is just that most people don’t know it.” the woman said.

“And what arrangements have you made for us?” Cecilia asked.

At those words the woman’s lips curled into a sly smile.

“The leader of the Syndicate, Nemesis. She awaits you in Averlon.” the woman replied.

“Then how do we find her?” I asked. In the back of mind I thought that if she really wanted to help me she could just let me eat her. But then again since she can supposedly see the future perhaps she has some fancy arrangement in the future. Perhaps I will get to eat her at some point, but that's a very big “if” considering how powerful she was.

At those words, the old woman let out a small chuckle as she turned her scarred face towards me.

Do not worry my friend, wou won’t need to find her

She will find you, when the time is right…