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One eye opened, and she regarded me craftily. Her tone changed to the slightly mocking one I’d come to expect when she opened her mouth to speak. “Fuck her if that’s what it takes.”
The old fraud was playing me again with her phony trance. I choked back a blast of rage. It was my life she toyed with.
She closed her eyes and continued, taking on once again the intonation of the Holy Oracle. “It has begun. The Lord of Darkness has awakened. He seeks to enslave our world, to make all who dwell here bow to his will. Blood will flow. Pain and misery will pour over the land. Even now, his followers meet in secret to plot the overthrow of our kingdom.”
Him again. She’d spoken of the Lord of Darkness before in her many doom-laden rants. Long ago, when she first began, I chalked them up to the ramblings of a sad old woman locked away alone far too long. I even wondered at times if this mythical lord was an old lover who’d spurned her and left her to languish in this hellish place, elevated to the image of evil incarnate by years of rancor. But over the years, as I prepared, I listened to the tales told by elders. Legends of a time when fierce dragons flew through the air and a great battle raged in our land. I studied ancient history written on the scrolls in her library. I stared at my reflection in the mirror and saw the reflection of my own beast. I came to believe her words – and tonight, despite the fire burning within me, they sent a chill down my back.
“It is written that the strength of the Lord of Darkness lies in the sacred sources. There are five in all. He stole them from the gods and harnessed their immense power. But in the last great battle, the Woman Clothed with the Sun took them back after defeating him with her spell. She hid each one in a secret place. His followers searched for centuries and found four of the five. They guard them carefully, for when they find the last, he will be able to tap into their power once again and become strong enough to claim the World of the Seven Stars as his own.”
She turned a sightless gaze on me. “Your role is to find the source from whence your dragon was born. Destroy it.”
Find the sacred source that gave birth to the beast within me. If I did, and I managed to destroy it, would I also put an end to my dragon self? The more she spoke, the more questions arose in my mind. But I knew better than to interrupt her by now.
“The dark lord seeks to conquer the queen. Claim her body and own her soul. He will make his offspring the rightful heirs to the throne and condemn our world to a thousand years of misery and pain. You must protect her. For it is written that she alone will deal the fatal blow. Only she can pierce his heart, enchain him, and send him back to the hell from which he came.”
“You are not alone,” she went on. “Four more will join you in your battle to defeat the enemy, each one with a special gift. Five valiant souls on the quest to seek out and destroy five sacred sources. But in the end, each of you must face your darkness alone.”
This part was new. Four others with special gifts? What creatures did they shift into?
The pace of her words increased. Her tone of voice became more urgent. “When your quest ends, the warrior will appear. He has his own task to perform. But you must learn to work together. To share your knowledge. To share your queen. For only with all five of you by her side will she defeat the Lord of Darkness.”
I couldn’t stay silent any longer. “What do you mean ‘share our queen’?”
Her eyes flew open, and she spoke once again in her normal tone – shrill and slightly mocking. “I mean share, boy. Take turns ramming your dicks in her.”
I shook my head. She’d always been crude. Spoken to me as another male would if we were in a tavern drinking ale and exchanging bawdy stories of our exploits between the sheets. Even when I was no more than a lad.
But tonight she’d taken things to a new level. Showed me more than ever before. Made mefeelas well as see. My cock was still swollen from Melisandre’s touch. My balls ached. The dragon inside me wanted her with a savage hunger.
Suddenly, I’d had enough. I was tired of the Oracle’s endless games. The spouting of damned prophecies written in riddles.
“So before I even claim her, you’re telling me I have to let some other man fuck her, too?” I shouted. “And not just one. We’re supposed to share her five ways?”
“You will,” she replied calmly. “You must. She will draw strength from your seed. From each of you a different kind of strength.” Her voice grew somber. “Melisandre has her own skills, her own powers. Powers she has yet to discover. Each of you needs her as much as she needs you. Only by uniting with your brothers to cherish and protect her will you all succeed.”
“You’re a daft old bitch! I don’t know why I keep coming here to listen to you.”
She gave me an infuriating shrug. “You made your choice long ago, when you first stepped into the fire. Now, you cannot choose. You can only do. You are no longer ruled by your head, but by the beast that dwells within you.”
The beast. She’d brought out that beast in me, with the seductive power of fire. Made me believe I could master it. I was not much more than a child back then. Had I known what was to come, I’d never have condemned myself to the flames. And now she had the gall to rub it in my face.
I rushed toward her, determined to wrap my fingers around her scrawny neck and choke off the words. But she stopped me dead in my tracks with a wave of her hand.
“You cannot control your beast. Nor can I. But I can still control your human form.”
I tried to charge forward, but I was trapped. Rooted to the ground.
Rage bubbled to the surface, the rage that dwelt deep inside me all the time now. Hot and red, like the flames. Like magma from the volcano she’d summoned from the earth that first night.
I could feel my skin splitting apart as the fire built inside me. Scales forming on my blistered body. The wings sprouting from my back. The unbearable pain…then the rush of unimaginable power.
I unfurled my wings as I breathed in, spread them wide. Rose to my full height and fixed my eyes on her, determined to destroy this abomination forever. I opened my mouth – and a tongue of fire shot out.
Over and over I roared, spewing flames. But she’d erected some sort of invisible barrier around her and try as I might, I could not burn it down.
She showed no fear. Simply nodded. “Go,” she said. “I’ve accomplished what I set out to do. Your beast has awakened. Go – and claim your destiny.”
I flew.
