The Oracle

"Move along!" An officer yelled as dozens of police lining the streets pushed crowds of shackled civilians toward a loading area.

Towering walls and guard posts encircled the containment area. This was the holding pen for civilians to be detained until they could be transported to correctional facilities.

"Hey, you gotta let me outta here! I was just minding my own business, please! I was just in the wrong place, officer!"

The pleads of random people echoed against the cold unfeeling walls and fell on deaf ears as the troopers stepped over to kick down the civilians who tried to stand.

"Shut your mouths! You all have the right to remain silent and you should exercise it!"

The trooper slammed the butt of his gun into a civilian’s head and fluid splattered the ground as the man’s skull cracked open.

This kind of violence was commonplace in a situation like this; I'd seen it all before. They rounded up large crowds under false pretenses and punished everyone even if they just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

This time was no different. Thousands were corralled and taken from the streets by these brutes.

Unlike the other times, there had been no riots or killings, no protests or demonstrations. They just ambushed entire neighbourhoods and began searching the new crowd. Anyone they came in contact with were slapped with restraints and moved along toward the pen.

"All kneel for the arrival of the Lord Regent!"

All the guards saluted as a man in black uniform ascended to the top of the highest wall.

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A shock ran through everyone present as strength failed us and we had no choice but to kneel.

"Hail!" The guardsmen called out to their leader.

"At ease guardsmen! Some of you below are no doubt wondering why you've been brought here against your will."

The lord’s voice boomed as if it was coming from all around.

"Amongst you is a traitor to the city and a traitor to the entire human race. I will free the man who tracks down this traitor among you, though we do not know which of you it is. We have received a tip that he possesses the mark of Horus on his right eye. Secure your freedom, find the traitor!"

The people shuddered. Horus was an old god who had achieved great power during the Immortal Age of mankind. His mark was a symbol of his blessing; the ability to see anywhere in the world. The carrier only needed to close their eyes and entire populations were wiped out.

I knew all about it. The damn sight had been giving me headaches since I received it years ago. The unmistakable mark in my right eye was a dead give away. But what the Lord Regent didn’t know is how the Sight and being gifted with it actually works.

"Officer this man here has a blue iris and a black mark in his right eye!" I shouted.

Boom!

The man I was pointing to near me exploded into a rain of flesh and fragments.

"Confirmed, this man had the sight. Though we are still picking up weak readings in the pen sir!" The officer closest to me reported.

They were trying to pinpoint me exactly, eh? Perhaps I should give them a demonstration of my power.

My right eye became hot as the fabric of my hood and eye cover began to ignite. I'd been disguised as a leper for a hundred years but I guess it was time to move on.

My eyes flamed with hues of blue and black as the lights of the pen dimmed and went out. Only a sea of blue illumination filled the darkness. Everyone there had the sight now.

What could they do? Kill us all?

Maybe this is why others are so afraid of Horus and this power. The power to see all and grant the Sight to anyone really could change the world.

"They all have the Sight, sir?!?"

The Lord Regent took a step back as the sea of blue wisps floating below him spread. Thousands of eyes turned on him, an endless and deep maw opening before him. He began to see himself standing before the crowds looking right back at him, while his brain refused to perceive what was happening.

"Execute the heretics!"

Blasts rang out, as the walls of the holding area were torn to shreds in a hailstorm of bullets and shrapnel.

As the guns fell silent the only thing left standing was one set of burning blue and black eyes in the endless dark.

Countless times I'd seen slaughter and countless times I'd been the cause of it. They never seemed to understand that the law of man is meant to govern men; it has no power over Gods.

A receptor in the back of my mind began pinging softly.

Visions of old-world warriors flashed through my mind, the first leaving a trail of bodies in his wake as he ascended through the city ruins. The second appeared to be a shambling corpse roaming the fringe farming communities. A third held a man by the throat, draining the poor soul of its life force and regenerating the ancient flesh.

It seemed a few old gods had risen from their tombs.

The world was about to get a bit more interesting.