Lily awoke the following morning, suppressing a gag at the putrid odor of her own rotting flesh. She groaned and lifted her head to see the festering sores on her chest. In her brief moments of consciousness the day before, she had accepted that she would die.

How am I still alive?

As her groggy vision came into focus, the view before her was breathtaking. She was perched on a cliff overlooking a beautiful valley that spread out below her. She climbed to her feet and peered over to the edge, recoiling at the sheer drop to the sea below. A massive city loomed in the distance, filthy with soot and ash.

A snort from behind her with a blast of warm air drew her attention. Startled, she whipped around to face an enormous beast with a menacing face. Her eyes widened and she screamed in terror as she stumbled backward, forgetting how close she was to the edge. Another scream issued from her throat as she plummeted toward the water below.

She braced herself for the impact that would likely kill her. Just before she hit the water, though, her body jerked upward as the dragon’s talons enclosed around her. Sea mist sprayed across her face, and she continued to scream relentlessly. She imagined that her final memories would consist of being torn limb by limb and then ground up by the dragon’s enormous teeth. Her eyes blurred, and the water below unexpectedly gave way into land. Her face contorted as unfamiliar memories of soaring through the sky flooded her brain. One beautiful sunset after another flashed through her mind’s eye in rapid succession. The wind billowed through her long red hair, and a sense of tranquility overwhelmed her.

Fear not, dear child. I shall not devour thee.

The unfamiliar voice inside her head caught her off guard and snapped her back to reality.

I am Tiamat. My name doth mean “Mother of Life.”

Lily was convinced she was hallucinating. Where was the voice coming from?

It grieveth me to know that thou hast suffered much pain from the venom of my talons.

“This is impossible…” Lily whispered.

When I carried thee away from my nest, I didst sense something different about thy countenance. I knew ‘twas thine destiny to become the next Oracle.

“The next… what?”

I know that thou mayest find this difficult to understand. An Oracle hath the ability to hear the thoughts of their Totem whilst they maintain physical contact.

Lily blinked, hoping to rouse herself from this bizarre dream. Which this had to be.

‘Tis not often that two different species of sentient beings doth find a means to communicate. I art thine Totem.

“Is… is this really happening?” Lily stuttered.

Tiamat ceased her steady glide, flapping her wings as she descended to what appeared to be the summit of a large mountain. Tiamat released her grip, and Lily fell a few feet to the surface below. The instant they broke physical contact, Lily’s eyes blurred again and the mountain transformed into the same cliff where she had awakened mere moments earlier.

Lily remained silent as she struggled to come to grips with everything that had just occurred. She stood at the edge of the cliff again and looked down at the valley below. The massive city still loomed in the distance. Her eyes followed the landscape to a lush forest below the city where smoke ascended from a patch of charred earth in its center.

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“What’s on fire?”

Tiamat didn’t respond.

She faced the dragon, with a determination that surprised her. “Don’t you see the smoke?”

Tiamat snorted, but still didn’t respond. Tiamat had told her that they could only communicate while maintaining physical contact.

She approached the dragon, but Tiamat did not react. She extended her palm, inwardly praying that the beast would not snap it off. The dragon slowly leaned her head forward and touched Lily’s palm with the bridge of her massive nose.

Lily’s eyes blurred again. Far below in the valley she could see a small village where the charred earth had been moments before. Several dragons circled the village. Her heart clenched at the distant sound of screaming.

“What’s happening?!” she asked?

An Oracle seeth past, present, and potential future. Thou art seeing events that hath transpired this past eventide. I was among the dragons that thou dost see below.

Lily’s face stiffened in horror. “You burned down that village?!”

No. My young fawns were murdered by a wicked man. In my fury I attempted to kill him, but he doth have powers of persuasion wherewith he didst control my mind. Whilst under this wicked man’s control, his men didst set fire to the homes. I smelled that thou wast nearby and found thee forthwith, and didst escape from the wicked man with thy body in tow.

Lily nodded, feeling her heartbeat slow. “I know the man. His name is Timur, and he is indeed a very wicked man. Why did he destroy that village?”

Timur believeth they hath been harboring a traitor, the Oracle who wast thine predecessor. He believeth that the inhabitants of the village wast traitors, so he didst massacre them all.

Lily turned her eyes away. “I can’t watch this.”

Her eyes blurred yet again, and the landscape suddenly changed. No longer were they standing on the edge of a cliff, but at the precipice of the tall mountain she had seen earlier. The trees on top of the mountain were too thick to see down into the valley.

Thou hast a very different smell. Methinks, pray tell, that thou art not from this world?

“No. I’m not. I’m from a world called Earth.”

Verily, the prophecy didst foretell this…

“The what?” Lily queried.

Climb upon the saddle, and I shall show unto thee thine destiny.

Lily mounted Tiamat and they kicked off. As they soared through the crystal blue sky, a feeling of liberation washed over Lily unlike any she’d ever felt before. The land that stretched out below her seemed to go on forever. It was as if her senses had been heightened, no doubt courtesy of the connection that had been forged between her and the beast she rode.

Below, the wide sea had been replaced with lush valleys and mountains. The village in the center of the forest had vanished, and the city in the distance gleamed a glorious white as if it had been built that same day. The beauty of the city was breathtaking. Thousands of people had amassed at the northern gates of the city, pouring inside the walls. The faint drone of a tuba blowing a long low note met her ears.

‘Tis the warning horn.

At the summit of the city, an orb began to glow a brilliant blue luminescence atop a tall spire. It grew to a blinding intensity, and Lily had to shield her eyes. With a slight pop, bolts of blue light shattered outward, connecting with several similar orbs surrounding the city. The light bounced off the array in a spiral across the land, reaching out to unknown destinations. Within seconds, the bolts of light bounced back in a reversed spiral form. A low humming sound ensued, and then, in a brilliant flash of blue light, the land disappeared, leaving a small strip of land behind surrounded by a massive crater.

“What just happened?!” Lily stammered.

Thou didst just witness the transport of this land from Earth that didst transpire over five thousand years ago.

She watched as water swelled inside the crater, filling the void. As they soared above the strip of land below, she did a double-take as she recognized some of the unique trees below.

“Those are Baobabs…” she said, pointing. “They only grow in Madagascar. I remember them from my summer trip there while I was in college!”

When the great machine didst activate, one of the obelisks in the northern hemisphere wast torn down by the enemy. Because this obelisk wast no longer operational, the transport didst leave this strip of land upon Earth.

The vision faded, and her eyes blurred again as the valley below returned to view. Madagascar disappeared, replaced by a massive sea with an identical shape. They continued to fly northward.

After several minutes of contemplative silence, Lily asked, “Where are you taking me?”

I must take thee to the tribes of the northern lands. They shall give thee further guidance.

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