Chapter 336: Holding Power
"In times long past, they were called the Children of the Heavens. They were the Oracles who held the power of Prophecy."
Amahle’s words struck Ashlynn like a bolt of lightning. She had never heard the term ’Oracle’ before, but no one who had been raised within the Church of the Holy Lord of Light was unfamiliar with the term ’Prophecy.’
"You, you’re talking about Berosus, the Great Prophet of the Holy Lord of Light," Ashlynn whispered in a voice that still held a hint of reverence for one of the most holy figures within the Church. "The Great Prophet who foresaw the rise of mankind and, with his disciples, used the stars to chart humanity’s path to the Heavenly Shores."
"I suppose I am," Amahle said with a heavy sigh. Her spider-like limbs twitched in agitation but she took several deep breaths and forced her heart to slow, banishing the crimson energy that threatened to rampage as she thought about the human’s ’Church’ and the damage it had done to the natural order of things.
"In the history known to your Church, there was a time when witches and Eldritch clans walked the lands that humans came from," Amahle said slowly. "Has your church taught you what happened to them?"
"The Church teaches that the Great Prophet unified mankind against the evils of the land, purging witches and ’demons’ alike," Ashlynn said slowly. "Then, the disciples of the Great Prophet founded the seven nations, ushering in more than a century of peace. There are more than seven nations now, but every king who rules in the old countries claims to be descended from the Great Prophet or his disciples."
"True enough," Amahle said as she left the table to fetch a bottle of fortified wine and two small wooden cups. Some conversations, it seemed, required something stronger than lemonade in order to wash the bitterness from her tongue. "At least, true enough according to the ones I interrogated. The Inquisitor referred several times to ’sealed histories’, though it seems his access to those records was incomplete."
"Are you," Ashlynn started before a knot formed in her throat as she struggled to put her turbulent thoughts into words. "Are you saying that the Great Prophet Berosus was like us? That... that he wasn’t an emissary of the Holy Lord of Light, but that he was just a person with strong magic?"
"Oracles have as much in common with Witches as Witches have in common with Vampires," Amahle said, emptying her cup of wine in a single swallow before pouring another cup and one for Ashlynn as well. "But there is something that should be true of all of us. How is it you came to be the Mother of Trees, Ashlynn? Where did your power come from?"