Mancer Saga
Ch. 9
Oracle



~Seventeen Years Ago
Stoneharte, Gale~

A pregnant woman sat on a cushioned throne and Dial was at her side on the throne beside. They relaxed within stone walls with beautiful architecture. Many guards dressed in necromancer garb stood their post.
“Duke Dial, Duchess Arianna, I come to announce the audience of a stranger who has many arrows shot in his back. He claims to have a gift that can retain the peace of the nations. Shall I send him in?” The herald ran to the thrones taking a bow.
“Why should we let this rude stranger see us?” Dial scoffed.
“We might as well, Dial. It’s been hours since a villager has come to visit.” Arianna smirked.
“As you wish, milady.” The herald left the room only to come back with a teen child who had black hair and pale skin. On his head was a black headband with raven feathers hanging from it. Around his body was a tattered cloak. Three arrows were in stuck in his back with blood running from the wounds.
“Announcing Vern the mountain man from the northernmost region of Gale, the Duke and Duchess of Stoneharte have granted this audience.” The herald took a quick bow and moved towards the Duke and Duchess.
“Tell me, Mountain Man. Have you come to bless our child? And tell me what archer shot you in the back?” Dial asked.
“I will tell you but I must speak with you, great Necromancer, and your wife, the great Dragoon Arianna. This conversation must be private. Send away your servants and guards.” Vern bowed in respect.
“This is outrageous, my lord. He must be an assassin!” the herald refuted.
“I must say, I am quite curious to here his words. You shall not concern yourself with my safety. I am the most powerful necromancer in Stoneharte and my wife is the greatest Dragoon in all of Gale. Now leave us.” Dial commanded and all the servants and guards left the room.
“My lord and lady, I bring you child a great gift. I have read in the stars that your boy is a Harmonious.”
“A Harmonious? You mean one who is capable of all earthly mancy?” Arianna spoke in curiosity.
“Only a Harmonious can accept my gift.” Vern explained.
“Who shot you?” Dial shouted.
“That deed was done by the Necroking himself.”
“You’re an enemy of my brother!” Dial yelled.
“I oppose all who will disrupt nature. He seeks the Necronomicon, a book which possesses all Necromancer knowledge. And he will use this knowledge to absorb the earth’s life
“Why should we trust you?” Dial sneered.
“Because I am an oracle. Being such it is physically impossible to distort the truth. The fact is that my gift is the knowledge of the Necronomicon. It is impossible to destroy the book itself but I can turn the pages blank by storing the knowledge within your child’s mind. One third of the book will be stored within your child. The other two thirds have been stored in other children.” Vern’s voice crackled.
“Please, Dial, I know he’s telling the truth. If we accept this gift our son Jason will be a hero.” Arianna pleaded.
“I know my brother is a greedy soul, so I shall accept the gift.” Dial nodded.
“I shall transfer the gift through your wife so that Jason will be born with it.”


~Same Time
The Guild, Rochairia~


“Hey Kasaud, wait up!” Lance, who was thirteen years old, chase the bald headed boy down the busy white stone streets of the Guild. Kasaud ignored the call. Lance caught up with the young Kasaud.
“I heard from Yohad. I had no idea that you’re a Harmonious. Why are you running away from the Mancer academy? When word gets around you’ll be treated like royalty.” Lance convinced.
“You don’t get it, Lance. Recently an Oracle went on a quest to store the knowledge of the Necronomicon within a few Harmonious.”
“How do you know this?”
“Two months ago he hid the knowledge inside me.” Kasaud frowned.
“Wow, that’s amazing!”
“It was… Until the Council of the Guild found out! Don’t you see they fear that the knowledge will give the Necromancers immense power? They’re going to kill me to prevent this. I’m leaving forever…”


~Stoneharte, Gale~


“Necroking, sir!” A captain of the Gale Military saluted as he approached a black carriage with a banner flowing in the wind. The banner had the emblem of Gale which was a hawk perched on a human skull. This symbol was the common necromancer emblem because Gale is the country that originated necromancy.
A man stepped out from the carriage into the snowy outdoors of Stoneharte’s central plaza. His black metal boots clanked against the stone street that was buried beneath the snow. People on the streets, who were clothed in animal furs to escape the bitter cold of this region, all of them stopped their every day activities to kneel in snow in respect for the man. This man wore a breastplate that resembled the rib cage of a skeleton and a cape made from a bear’s pelt. He was bald headed with gold tattoos of intricate patterns all over his scalp. Each of his ears was pierced with dragon fang earrings. The Necroking was this man’s title, but his name was Evious of Gale’s royal bloodline.
“You called me, captain, so skip the greetings and present your evidence of Vern’s arrival.” Necroking Evious used a harsh tone to his subordinate.
“An old man saw Vern walk towards the Manor of the Duke and Dutchess. It’s been a few hours since he entered.” The captain kept an even tone though beneath his breath was fear.
“I smell treachery. My brother should have had him hanged by now. Big brother, what are you plotting?”
“Should I gather my unit for attack, your highness?” The Captain shivered.
“You won’t stand a chance against Dial, much less Arianna? I can handle my brother but Arianna has Kreyan the mightiest dragon in gale. I need some help to take the dragon down. That is why I’ll have you send for my son, Dune, who is currently enrolled in the Stoneharte Academy for Mancers.” Evious smirked devilishly.


~The Guild, Rochairia~


“Kasaud, wait! I’m coming with you!” Lance cried as the two walked towards the harbor.
“I can’t get you involved.”
“But I need you. You’re my truest friend. We were supposed to graduate together. I was going to be a great Mancer and you a great medical Necromancer. We were going to have large manors next to each other and relax on the beach together. You were going to be the best man at my wedding.” Lance collapsed in anguish.
“Those dreams are but mere fantasies, though I might be able to work out that last part.” Kasaud had a half serious smile as a single tear ran down his face.
“I am going to live in Gale where I can be a Necromancer without my destiny being choose for me. I don’t want to be a doctor. Here that is the only acceptable job for Necromancers, but now I will be free as well as escape the death that the Guild has planned for me.” Kasaud continued.
“This may mean that we will be enemies at one point in our lives.” Lance lowered his head.
“You will always be dear to me. I’m afraid I’ll have to beat you up now. If you come back without it looking like you tried to stop me then you may be charged with treason.” Kasaud punched Lance in the face, forcing him into a wall. The impact left Lance unconscious…


~Stoneharte, Gale~


“Where’s Vern!” Evious kicked down the door to the Duke’s manor. The entry way was dark and empty. A desolate howl of the wind could be heard as if a door was open. Evious took a few steps inside. Following the Necroking was the young prince Dune who was ten years old, wearing matching armor to that of his father. The captain followed his king inside.
“Sire, are you sure about sending a young child as your back up?”
“This boy is a prodigy. His self taught Necromancy techniques are top notch. Dune killed a band of assassins, single handedly, killing professional killers. If you question me again, I’ll send you to slay the dragon.” Evious shouted until a blast of fire shot towards him. With a motion of his hands, the Necroking formed a tempest to shield him from the inferno. Many of soldiers who were loyal to Dial leaped out into plain sight with sword in hand.
A vortex of darkness formed on the ground and a halberd of black metal rose from the portal into the hands of the Necroking. The vortex dissipated. As the first wave swordsman charged, dune opened an urn and ash rose from it. The ash entered their bodies though the mouth and nostrils. From each man’s abdomen burst out the ash, this killed them. The next wave charged, and Evious thrust the spear into a soldier’s chest. As the spear went deeper into his chest, his skin began to wrinkle and his hair turned white.
“Don’t you see, fool! This spear, the Youth Pilfer, just as the name suggests, robs you of your youth!” The soldier’s body aged to dust. Baring witness to this inhuman power, the other soldiers fled.
“To the throne room we march, Dune!” Evious shouted.
“Yes father!” Dune saluted. The Two ran towards the throne room where they were assaulted by a blast of fire. Dune quickly formed a barrier of ash to block the fire. Evious looked up and saw Arianna riding on Kreyan, her dragon.
“Dune, you must slay the dragon because Youth Pilfer is completely ineffective against a dragon!”  Evious shouted. A small bone golem leaped from the shadows and punched Dune in the face, knocking him unconscious. Soon Kreyan flew low so Dial could leap on her back. When Dial got mounted on the dragon, Arianna signaled Kreyan to take off. She flew through the hallway and out through the courtyard, leaving Evious in the lifeless mansion.


~Seven Years Later
Ishon, Okaron~


“Big brother! Wait!” A ten year old boy wearing rag ran towards a well dressed teen with holding a black tome.
“Jonah, I thought you were adopted by a family in Heskarr.” The well dress boy questioned.
“I was kicked out. People didn’t respect me. They all thought I was some trouble maker. Where are you going?”
“They saw me as a prodigy and their shipping me to a medical school in the Guild.”
“Brent, you can’t go to the Guild. All you’ll find there is a snobby community with a lot of rules.” Jonah thrashed in anger.
“Jonah, I need this stability in my life. I can’t be a nomad like you. Besides, this black tome intrigues me. I need to study it and the Guild has a great assortment of knowledge. All the pages are blank except the cover page which has a note written on it for me. It reads that I was given the gift of knowledge. It was written by an oracle named Vern.” Brent had shown him the book.
“I don’t care about some black book! Things wouldn’t have been so complicated if we’d have never left home.” Jonah cried.
“We had to run away from Aterre. After all we killed the Elder…”


~Present Day
Ishon, Okaron~


“So you gave me a gift, Vern? And I am of the Harmonious Three you choose to share the knowledge of the black tome. I will accept Necromancy but not for destruction.” Jace lifted himself from ground, blood running from his nose and his mouth.
“If you insist on a quarrel, son then I will give you one to remember!” Dial shouted as his golem threw a fierce punch. The large bone arm was stopped by Jace’s bare palm.
“How is this possible, a giant golem being stopped by a bare hand?” Red asked Kasaud as the two ran towards the battlefield.
“Jace is a Harmonious, a one who is not bound to the practice of a single mancy but can practice all forms except celestialmancy. One of the unique abilities of the Harmonious is to suppress mana. By suppressing mana, which is the energy that fuels mancy, Jace weakened the bounds that held the golem together. This caused Dial to have to focus more mana on the bounds and put less focus in the punches.” Kasaud explained.
Dial froze in awe of that sight. Citizens of Ishon gathered around to watch the duel of the Mancers. Jace removed his arm from his blocking position. With dynamic motion of the arms, Jace manced some bones from the golem’s form, creating a bone spear. Without warning, soldiers of Ishon and soldiers of Khaul gathered around the site with sword, spear and mancy. A sudden blur flashed by stopping in front of Jace. It was Xarik, who threw a punch into Jace’s forehead.
“Jace, son of Dial, you are under arrest by order of the Royal Family of Khaul.” Xarik spat his banter as he caught Jace, who was knocked unconscious. The soldiers closed in on the other group members except Reiken, Terra, and Red Eye who hide in the shadows as Dial was torn from his golem by chains. Dune surrendered peacefully as Lance and Kasaud were chained together.
“I can’t hide in the shadows while our friends are carted away as prisoners.” Red cried until Reiken put his hand on her shoulder.
“Chill out, baby. Dune has a plan…”