My eyes burst open and were greeted by inky darkness. I waited for minutes in hopes that they would readjust, but it remained all the same. Not even the rush of qi to them aided in the slightest.

Qi cannot help if there is no light at all, and no trace of light existed in this place. I grimaced at the blaring headache that had been present from the moment my eyes had opened.

It made it hard to think and hard to remember.

Where was I?

I ravaged through my memories in hopes of finding some clues, but my brain felt as if it would melt if I continued onwards. I was left with no option but to cease my search. I turned my attention back outwards and used my other senses to aid me.

There I quickly discovered that I was in some manner coffin, or more likely a sarcophagus by the stone texture of my cage.

My hands traced the general outline of the sarcophagus. It was spacious and allowed for quite a bit of movement. I was laid down on the coarse and rough stone with nothing between my body and it. My hands could feel the remains of what used to perhaps be cloth. Now it was only tatters and dust.

As I preened my ears for the sound, it was only then that I realized the all-consuming silence of my tomb. I could hear my blood pulsating through my body and the rhythmic beating of my heart.

I could hear the rush of air as I breathed, but apart from that, there was absolute silence.

I shivered slightly as the cold of the sarcophagus gnawed into my flesh. Deciding that I'd spent enough time in this coffin, I pushed up at the lid and was surprised at how easily it slid off. It crashed against the floor with a loud boom that seemed to shake the room.

The dim light of the torches that were revealed by the opening was nearly blinding to me. Immediately I squinted my eyes. It took me a couple seconds to readjust to the light.

Once I did so, I glanced around at the dull and unadorned room. The only thing of actual note being the walls that were carved with symbols of various shapes. All pulsating with a strange purple and blue light.

I attempted to decipher them, but their meanings were lost on me. All that came from my endeavor was a sense of familiarity and frustration. I clicked my tongue as I finally gave up on deciphering them. Perhaps I would come back to them later.

I looked around and realized that the sarcophagus that had contained me resided in the center of the room and was entirely plain with no carvings at all.

I stretched my body out as I readjusted it. Bones snapped and popped as they acclimated to being used again. The headache that had been all-consuming had started to recede from my mind. With how quickly it had begun to recede, it should be gone in a couple more minutes.

As I turned to look behind me, I was surprised to see multiple different people in robes kneeling. The faces were obscured by hoods, and all remained silent. They had been kneeling since I had awoken.

Initially, I was warry, but as they remained in their positions, I became curious.

"Why are you here?" I asked, making sure that no weakness was present in my voice. From the semi-circle of potential cultists formed around my coffin, the one that kneeled at the apex stood and spoke.

"Oh, mighty oracle of the winds goddess, please forgives us for disturbing your sleep, but your humble followers beg that you aid humanity." His voice was coarse. I could practically feel the fatigue as he spoke. Looking at his forearms which poked out from under his cloak, I saw what looked to be the hands of a starved man. His voice had trembled as he spoke.

I glanced at the rest of the people and noticed they all looked equally starved and were probably just as tired. My headache had finally receded, and gradually my memories filtered back into me. I was Alexis Von Numenstrat [Oracle of the North Wind], and I was very much confused why my powers weren't what they used to be.

I tried to speak to the winds to gain more information, but all I got were the bearest and most cryptic whispers. The voice of the wind seemed distant and rather tired. What had happened?

Thankfully my qi had shrugged of whatever sluggishness it had accumulated from my time of sleep and had started to flow at greater capacities than it had back when I had been awake.

"What year is it?" I asked as I exercised my qi and made sure that all its utilities were still available.

"It is the year 5332 Bf Lady Oracle." I blinked in surprise.

"Excuse me?"

"My apologies, my lady, if I have said something wrong." The man's voice that had been tainted with terror was now entirely drowning in it. His voice was shaky as he spoke.

"Don't apologize. I just simply need you to repeat what you said." I tried to speak in my most calming voice, and it seemed to work partially, as he seemed to calm down a bit.

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"Of course, my lady." The relief of his voice palatable, and so was his still entirely present nervousness.

"I said it is the year 5332 Almighty Oracle." He stammered out.

I ignored his use of a more grandiose title. I had heard him the first time but had thought he had been mistaken, but he had said the same thing twice. Either he was mistaken, or I had really slept for over 5000 years. Once again, my eyes swept over the room, and I immediately recognized it as being the deepest room in the mountain that had housed my family all those years ago.

The cobwebs spoke of disuse and abandonment. I doubted my children still lived, and I know for a fact that Arnaud had already left.

Finally, stepping out of my coffin, I walked down the stairs that led down to the semi-circle of kneeling wannabe cultists. The tension increased with every step I took. As I arrived at the final stair, it was nearly suffocating.

The man who had stood up was barely able to stop himself from shaking, and even then, he wasn't entirely successful. "Tell me, what is your name?"

"I am Aren Muter, Oh mighty oracle."

I debated telling him off with the constant title use, but given that I didn't know what exactly the situation was, I decided against it. Tell me, Muter, what all has happened since I have slept?

..........

I looked around at the rather dingy room that I had been led to. Compared to what the rest of these townspeople had available to them, this was probably luxury, but it was still disgusting.

I made no complaint though, I had lived in worse. It reminded me of my missions to impoverished villages and slums back on earth. Muter bowed as he closed the door behind him. I could hear his hurried footsteps as he rushed off somewhere else.

I honestly didn't want to be here, but I had nowhere else to go. I had asked Muter about the whereabouts of my children's tombs, but he had no idea. No surprise there, but disappointing nonetheless.

I had then attempted to go to the other rooms within the temple but had been stopped. Apparently, they had all collapsed when the Hunter of man many had attacked many millennia ago. The books in the library had been taken by the children. Their location currently unknown but suspected to be located in the libraries of the clans.

Learning all this had brought sadness to my heart, and for a moment, I had wanted to cry.

I had grown to love them after all, but I decided against crying in front of strangers.

The tomb room was the only room still standing, and it had only been discovered because the people of this town had somehow found out that this was the original mountain humanity had originated from. They had been desperate enough to dig into the mountain with subpar tools and try to find any sort of aid that they could.

I had been told of mankind's fate since my departure, and it wasn't pleasant in the slightest. My visions back then had never even implied that this might be an outcome. But of course, my foresight couldn't account for the action of gods, and apparently this forsaken mist as well.

When we had walked out of the tomb, I had hardly noticed until I looked upwards and saw a darkened sky. The outside of the mountain looked nothing like it used to. The pillars were gone at the sky piercings trees were nowhere in sight. The grass was black and looked half-dead, while the entirety of the landscape looked poisoned. The sun was nowhere to be seen.

In addition, there was now an ever-present fog that humanity referred to as the void mist.

Historians believed that it was a punishment by the winds goddess. They thought that in her grief over the death of storm god, she had sent this fog.

At least that was what I had understood from the nervous ramblings of that man.

I sighed as I sat on a rickety chair and looked out at the grey landscape. The trees were sparse, and all looked skeletal. The river that was supposed to be here had left only a canyon in its wake.

Humanity could not be left in this position, but apparently, not only were we besieged by the other races and by internal politics, but we were the ones most vulnerable to the mist. Any damage that it caused to the other races harmed us even more.

I was pulled out of thoughts by the sudden knock at my door.

"My lady, we have a change of clothing for you." It was Muter.

"Bring it in." He came in and placed some clothing on the bed before bowing again and rushing out of the room. Not once daring to look at me.

When I had awakened, I had been naked since all my clothes had degraded, so I needed new clothes. I didn't particularly care about being naked and hadn't really cared that I had been, but the people hadn't dared to look.

The clothing that was brought in was of a decent quality.

They had to be.

Apparently, I would soon be meeting the person responsible for the excavation of the mountain. The man had been the one who had proposed the idea of my tomb still being there.

He was some noble by the name of Velkor of the Marek clan, the patriarch to be exact.

I let out a small sigh. With a quick whirl of my qi, I rid myself of all dirt and grime on me before putting the clothes on. They consisted of a rather pretty yet uncomfortable dress and some rough and coarse undergarments. It was ill-fitting, but I paid it no mind.

Once dressed, I looked at myself in the rather grimy and unclear mirror. Despite its flaws, I quite liked how the dress looked on me. The light green especially matched my eyes.

I then made my outside of the little wooden house that I currently resided in and was greeted by the sight of an Iron carriage drawn by two rather hideous beats. They jaguar-like bodies the size of horses and heads that looked a prolapsed anuses. I couldn't help but crinkle my nose at the sight of them.

The area was also filled with people. The men and women that had been there at my awakening were nowhere in sight.

The only exception being Muter, who stood of to the side. The rest of the people looked to be guards that lined up by the sides of the carriage. Finally and probably most importantly, standing right in front of the carriage was a pretty young lady with jet black hair and equally as dark eyes.

"Oh, lady Oracle it is an honor to meet you." The moment she noticed me looking, she spoke and courtesied lightly.

"The honor is all mine." As I spoke, I walked to the carriage.

She moved out the way as I helped myself onto the carriage. She followed right behind me and sat opposite of me.

The interior of the carriage was much more appealing than its exterior. It was lined with silver and gold and actually looked like one befitting of a noble. She wore a polite smile on her face as she looked at me.

Despite her best efforts, it was easy to tell that she was analyzing me. She wrapped her hands twice against the metal before a grunt was heard outside, and the carriage began to move. Outside, the sound of many hooves moving alongside the carriage could be heard.

The lady Genei as she called herself, made polite conversation that I only halfheartedly responded to.

Most of my efforts were spent trying to see what remained of my title's power. Hopefully, lady Deventus may she guide us eternally had not totally forsaken us in her grief.

Halfway through, Genei finally got the hint that I wasn't all that interested in chatting. From then on, the ride settled into a tense silence.

Looking out the metal bars of the carriage, I saw far off into the distance a walled section of the town that was adorned with guards.

As we approached closer, I began to hum a little song under my breath.

The winds blew.