Page 35 of The Shadowed Oracle
“In more ways than one.” Dean was still flat on the ground, hands clasped over his head. “After Makkar has gained control in Ealis, he’ll look to absorb all of Earth’s power too.” He lurched forward, then pushed himself to his feet with ease. “Do you get where I’m going with this? What that would look like? He’d destroy or enslave everyone you’ve ever met.”
“Why?” Ingrid asked. “What do Immortals want with us?” she stopped herself. “Or,them? You know what I mean. What can humans possibly give him?”
“Maybe nothing,” Dean scoffed. “But that doesn’t matter to him. Makkar is a religious fanatic who thinks our worlds are linked strictly for the benefit of Ealis. It’s old teachings. Old rites.” Vexation, anger and disgust painted his face all at once. “He sees Earth as the lesser of the two. Thinks humanity’s only purpose is tofeedEalis. Feed his world and the Viator, keep them powerful, keep them immortal. Like the snake endlessly eating itself, only, in this metaphor, Ealis would be the head, the world of soul, of spirit. And Earth would be the tail, the world of flesh and… sacrifice.”
Ingrid steadied herself against the wall again. “But wouldn’t that hurt Ealis too? By that logic, he’d be decimating his life source? His… food.” Ingrid’s stomach turned at the word.
“Exactly. You understand.” Dean was suddenly, oddly elated. The subject was ghastly, but he seemed happy to be finally getting through to Ingrid. “If Earth is the fuel, then why waste it all by sacrificing us? It’s a lie. A cover story to hide his intentions. He wants all of Ealis worshipping him as some God-King that brought their world unthinkable power.”
“Would they? Would Ealis become more powerful?”
“Maybe. I mean, technically.” Dean said it with a frustrating shrug. “The one truth we know for sure is that there’s a limited amount of energy, power and magic surging through our worlds. Surging throughallliving things. If there is less energy needed in Earth, then in theory, more would be available to Ealis.”
Ingrid’s face flushed. “Do you have proof of this?” she asked. “Couldn’t this be more of his lies?”
“No, no proof,” Dean said, seeming not at all attached to it. “Anything is possible but, again, Makkar’s religion is an old one, full of very faithful followers. They don’t look at facts. It goes beyond the ouroboros theory. They believe gifted Viator can enhance their power by absorbing the lifeforce of others of their race, too. Like some twisted competition.”
“And by absorbing, you mean…”
“Murder, yes.”
“Seems convenient.” A violent man adopting violent principles. It was all too familiar. Every history book she’d ever read was full of examples. “Do their teachings actually say that plainly?” Ingrid asked with a snort.
Dean held up a finger, walked back to the control panel and opened one of the metal drawers in the old desk underneath. After a few missteps, muttering to himself, he found what it washe was looking for. He pulled it from the rusty compartment like he’d just caught a fish with his bare hands.
“Here it is,” he said excitedly. “From the man himself.”
Dangling from his fingers was a small, leather-bound notebook with no markings or lettering. “If you’re wondering why it looks so old,” Dean chuckled. “It’s because it is. Karis brought it here from his home outside of Hydor about a billion years ago.”
Shuffling through it gently but quickly, he stopped at a page in the middle. Placed within the bound pages was an even more ancient-looking piece of loose parchment, tattered around the edges, and full of colorful depictions akin to Egyptian hieroglyphics.
Dean noticed Ingrid staring at the archaic drawings, apologized, then flipped it over to reveal the other side.
“The Mother relinquishes, pullingfrom her unending well,” Ingrid read aloud. “She does not entreat on her children, does not beg to be compensated.”
She paused, peeking around the withered page to lock eyes with Dean, “What is this?”
“A page from their… I guess you could call it their bible. TheVolmen Vericious. But most call it theLoquent Truthnow,” Dean said plainly. “Copies of the original text are nearly extinct. But these updated versions, they’re full of liberties taken by the most devout followers. And these teachings are circulating again, after millennia of being mostly weeded out.”
Fighting the urge to snag the thin document from his hand, Ingrid asked if she could see it for herself. Dean obliged, gingerly passing it to her. The smell it gave off was at once putrid and intoxicating. Something like death and decay permeated the air, but along with it was a mysterious, otherworldly musk.
She held it at eye level, again orating for Dean, “It is in this hecatomb that we children must take heed of. For the absenceof a question does not mean an answer should not be given. To feed her, as we have been fed, there is no greater pursuit. No grander sacrifice.”
She lowered the page again, pursing her lips curiously. “It’s trying to convince us to kill people, right? That’s why you’re showing me this?”
Dean nodded. “It doesn’t end there. The revisions go on to talk about a bonded world—Earth. They talk about Viator going on crusades to this other world to make offerings to The Mother, to Ealis. All throughout history, people like Makkar and his followers have come here to honor their god with sacrifices. It preaches of a sort of scale. A give and take. Not just hinting but actually declaring that any Viator can go through the portal, take human life, and Ealis will eventually bless them with unrealized powers in exchange for their offerings. I know it sounds like a reach, but you haven’t been there. You haven’t felt the infectious energy that’s all around you. It tends to breed believers.”
There was a twinge of nostalgic ire infecting Ingrid now, reminding her of the nuns back at the group home. She remembered a specific pious nun in particular, all pale frowns and sharp stares, using God as an excuse to physically punish some of the children.
Ingrid was one of those children, one of many, but she had never uttered that admission aloud. She refused to lump herself in with the children she knew that suffered far worse. Hurt by the hands of those who claimed to be dedicating their lives to the fight against evil, no less.
Wherever you went, no matter the God, no matter how divine the teachings or how much good could come from faith, there were always those who would distort the message to fit their own desires.
Misreading Ingrid’s contemplative silence as more skepticism, Dean said, “And before you ask again about theabilities, I’ll give it to you as simply as possible. Some Viator can conjure fire, manipulate plant-life, oceans and rivers. While Karis could temporarily close portals, invade other Viator’s minds, see outlines of the near future and past. But all of these powers, however small, they are few and far between. Any gift is rare.”
“What about Makkar’s? Is he?—"
Dean shook his head. “We’ll get to him later.” It seemed like he was stopping for his own sake more than Ingrid’s, as if he didn’t like to linger too long on how skilled his opponent was.
