Chapter 6

It wasn’t everyday one learns that they are to become the savior of mankind, and Mykella took it better than Krieger had expected.

“Oh,” she murmured as she stared into the fire. Numbness overcame her as she listened to him talk about the prophecy to be fulfilled and her part in it. She listened to the story of Orion and how he had entered the Forbidden Realms; that was when the world had changed.

She stood up and went to the far side of the hut and hunched over. She didn’t care at that moment if Krieger had watched her vomit.

He pitied her more than any other time. He wondered if it was such a good thing that they had hid her story from her as long as they had.

When she was finished, and made sure that nothing else was coming up, Mykella went back and sat down again with a new look of self control. “Sorry,” she said with a bashful grin. “I think I’m ready to hear more.”

Krieger shrugged. “There’s really nothing more to tell. I don’t know any more about your prophecy than I’ve told you. Only one other person can tell you the rest, and I haven’t seen her in a very long time.”

“Who?” Mykella was surprised to learn that there was someone else outside her circle that knew anything about her and her prophecy.

“A nun; Sister Agnes. But I don’t know if she’s a nun anymore. There isn’t much in the way of theology nowadays.”

“Agnes,” she repeated in a thoughtful pause. “That name sounds vaguely familiar. Has Dad ever talked about her?”

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He nodded. “About eighteen or nineteen years ago, we were imprisoned in Orion’s castle – that’s where we all got our damned catalog numbers.”

Mykella didn’t realize that she had been rubbing her number as she listened.

“Agnes came into the castle and rescued us. She was all by herself. We couldn’t believe anyone could get inside – especially a lone nun. We parted soon after.”

“Why?”

Krieger shrugged and looked into the fire. “Soul searching, I suppose. Kinda like why I’m out here, too.”

She looked at the fire and then back at Krieger. “Why are you out here?”

A pause issued from him before he answered. “Your father,” he began, “told me of this entity, called Ilias, who was an angel of God and then an Oracle of Time. He gave Orion his first power.”

“Dream travel?”

Krieger smiled. “You’re quick,” he replied. “Yes; dream travel, and the ability to transform people into their worst nightmares. I thought if I could persuade him, Ilias could take back his powers.”

He stopped, leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes.

Mykella stared at him in silence. Was he dead? No; he’s still breathing.

“Mykella,” he said, startling her from her worries. “When I die, I want you to take my notebook. Don’t let my memories die unread.” He hadn’t opened his eyes.

“If you find Ilias,” he continued, “plead with him to take back Orion’s powers. That’s the only way you can stop him.”

She turned to look at the fire once more. An uneasy feeling entered her soul; she knew she was sitting next to a man on the edge of death.

She looked back at Krieger and realized that she was alone. She closed her eyes once she saw that he was no longer breathing and came to understand that she was alone. She could hear the wind crashing against the hut and she thought that the rain would break through the roof.

She had never felt so alone in this world.