The Rosewood Prophecy

Deciphering the Prophecy

Aaron

We had our group discussion late in the afternoon. Instead of staying inside the inn, we opted for the back of the inn, where Rachel, Indigo, Katherine, and I had tried to figure out a plan earlier. Hardly anyone came out here, and it was secluded enough that we didn't have to worry about being overheard. Even so, Ashley still cast an anti-eavesdropping spell and a few protection spells to secure the borders.

We sat in a circle on the grass, with a small pile of documents and books in the center. Rachel had written out the prophecy on a piece of paper for us to reference.

"I can't believe we didn't bother trying to decipher the prophecy until now, but better late than never, right?" Indigo started the discussion. "Does anyone want to share their views or their understanding of the prophecy?"

Jason raised his hand. "I think the first two lines are pretty straightforward. 'Seven shall rise in times of fear/Trek far to defend all they hold dear'. That just means there are seven chosen ones and that they have to travel very, very far."

We nodded in agreement. There didn't seem to be any hidden messages there. Lucian raised his hand next. "The third line is 'Hidden desires become fatal baits'. That probably means that we'll be tempted by the evil lord and that the consequences will be devastating if we give in."

"Sounds about right," Indigo agreed. "The Elders did warn us about temptations."

"Yeah, so no matter how many chicken drumsticks the evil lord offers you, don't give in," Jason teased Lucian, who rolled his eyes at Jason.

"I should be saying that to you," Lucian countered. Indigo held up her hand.

"Alright, alright, let's not get sidetracked. What about the fourth line? 'Snow and fire obscure their fates'?"

"Does that mean even the prophecy doesn't know what will happen?" Ashley asked. "There's snow and fire, which could be a number of things: a blizzard, a wildfire, a volcanic eruption..."

"The keyword is 'obscure', so we don't know what our fate will be," Katherine piped up. "All we know for sure is that we will encounter snow and fire."

Not knowing what else to make of it, we moved on to the next stanza. Indigo pointed at the lines on the paper. "I think it's pretty self-explanatory. Three of us will face Lord Victor, with three magical items: a sword, a cloak, and a spear."

"But how will we know which three of us? How and where will we find the magical items?" I asked.

Everyone thought about it for a moment. "I guess we just have to wait and see," Rachel said. "Continue with our quest, and maybe we'll encounter the items somehow?"

She said it questioningly, like she didn't believe it herself either, but that was our only option. It's not like we could approach anyone on the street and ask if they've seen the sword of destiny.

"I wish the prophecy told us how the items would help us fight and defeat Lord Victor," Katherine sighed. "What if we can't figure it out in time, or not figure it out at all?"

"I'm sure we'll be able to figure it out," I reassured her. "We're the top students at the Academy. We have Indigo the mastermind. I bet it'll be really obvious once we acquire the items."

Indigo rolled her eyes at me. "Just because I'm the mastermind doesn't mean I know everything. I'm sure it'll be a team effort to figure out how to use the items in conjunction with each other. But since we don't have any leads on that right now, let's move on to the third stanza, which I think is the vaguest and hardest to understand part."