Rise of the Darkness

Up to Interpretation

Oculeera

I can barely see the sunlight through the trees as I run in human form towards the Elders' hut. A refreshing but slight breeze tries to cool me, but still sweat builds on my face and limbs. Master told me not to be late, but my nap at the lake lasted much longer than I planned. No one came to wake me up either, though to be fair I never alerted anyone, not even Shushir, that I was there or that I needed to be woken before sunset.

Finally, I arrive to the meeting place. I spot Master Pulrar and Elder Gumaro son of Blakas, the fortune dragon chosen as one of our four Elders. Each of our Elders is a different type of dragon, an arrangement that, while common in clans, is not universal. With them stand my sisters who are spirit dragons and still juveniles: Truseni, Ferosha, Shikalo, Gali, and Buce. Buce has the seer gift. Ferosha and Shikalo might be as powerful as me, but it is hard to tell as they are quite young. Only Gali has more years than me.

"Welcome, Oculeera. We are just about to begin." Pulrar says to me.

"Am I late?"

"I had hoped you would arrive sooner, but we have no specific time frame right now." Gumaro says with a grunt.

I nod my head. I hope Master does not hear about me being late.

"One of your siblings," Pulrar began, "Shushir, discovered a new prophecy. Not a minor one either. This one the Elders have named The Prophecy of Shadow. It goes as such:

"'A spirit daughter of Geeo, young but powerful, in the land of Man shall chance upon one more powerful. Together they hold the fate of Dragon kind and Mankind in their paws. For darkness shall encompass the world, and little hope exists of lighting it. If these two shall falter, all is lost.'

"I have received this same prophecy, as has Gumaro. Word from the Tendal clan says that one of their fortune dragons has also gotten this prophecy. The more dragons that receive it, the more urgent the situation becomes."

Gumaro continued. "We have decided to gather you all because of the first bit of the prophecy. A young spirit daughter of Geeo. You six are the only ones who fit this description. A large number, but your mother hatches a lot of eggs and these tend to morph into spirit dragons more than any other type. We will also keep an eye on those of your siblings that are yet unmorphed. As young means not an adult, the prophecy may very well mean one of your youngest siblings."

Some of the largest dragons can lay well over fifteen eggs at a time. While Mother cannot lay that many at a time, she mates often, often scaring young from her nest before they morph. She told me once that her instincts are strong and raising a clutch if eggs is one of the greatest joys in life. One I hope to experience in time.

"Some of you have more raw power than others, some of you are not very powerful for your age. We have chosen to ignore that part for now, as there are many interpretations of powerful."

Pulrar shook his head. "The two of us are adept at interpreting prophecies, and yet this one begets more questions than answers. However, we will give you our best guess thus far. Keep in mind that this is after only a day of contemplation; this will not be perfect nor entirely thorough. In time with input from other dragons a clearer interpretation will present itself."

"Indeed. First, 'in the land of Man shall chance upon one more powerful.' One of you shall find a Lakis more powerful than yourself while among mankind. This is quite troublesome, as none of you are fit to live among them yet and only one of you is a seer. Beyond that, whoever you are supposed to find must not be well known, despite having more power than a spirit dragon. Of course, again there are many interpretations of powerful. But we are clear that in some respect this Lakis is more bestowed of magic of some skill than one of you."