Prologue

"I'm cold," Brezia told her brother Graco in a whisper. She did not want the warrior that advanced a few paces ahead of them, to hear her and lash her with his whip, as it had happened to a fellow young prisoner who dared to ask for a drink of water.

"Sister," said her brother, who was walking hand in hand with her. "Let's not make things worse."

"What will happen to us?" The girl asked again. "I am scared."

Dusk fell rapidly and the persistent rain that had accompanied them during most of the journey contributed to increase the inclement cold that went right through their bones. All prisoners; men, women, and children went almost naked, covered just by a loincloth. They walked side by side in rows of two, bounded by their wrists with hemp ropes. That was part of the ordeal they had to endure as punishment, before being sacrificed to the God of the Oracle, in a ceremony of oblation that would take place as soon as they arrived at the site of the sacrifice.

The prisoners were part of the offering with which Runolf, Lord of the Northern Clan, expected to ingratiate himself with the supreme leader of the Fellowship of the Oracle and to increase the influence of his clan before the other three rival clans. The party traveled along a narrow path through the middle of a dense forest, lit by maple torches that marked the way held by slaves belonging to some of the tribes this clan had subjugated.

Brezia and Graco were children of Theobald, leader of a clan of warriors who had opposed and fought the fellowship that had subjugated and enslaved all the other tribes of the territory of Pelair. The rebel clan, which dwelt deep in the forests of the Misty Mountains, was the last that had remained independent of the yoke that gripped the rest of the clans. However, they had finally fallen prisoners of the feared Brotherhood.

"Halt!" yelled the captain of Runolf's guard. Theobald, his elder son Randal and two other imprisoned rebel warriors, transported Runolf in a litter made up of a pallet placed on four intertwined wooden rods with a small awning that shelter its passenger from the rain.

Runolf got out of the litter to stretch his body. He approached the side of the path lit by a torch his lieutenant brought near him, to relieve his bladder. At opening his heavy bearskin coat, he uncovered a torso full of tattoos and a thick neck bearing an iron ring that had a small oval-shaped topaz embedded into it.

"Maybe about three leagues away, my lord," said Runolf aloud as if talking to someone else. "It is possible that about three hours by a hurried pace" he commented. "Yes, Sir. I take them prisoners. I got their leader carrying my litter, Sir," he answered again. "Yes, I keep an eye on him myself, Sir."

There came a short silence before he spoke again. "Yes, Supreme Priest. I will do my best to get there as soon as possible."

Runolf voiced aloud the conversation he held in thoughts with the High Priest, only to boast and brag before his clan of the power he possessed. That topaz was one of the stones that made up the Gems of the Golden Serpent. This and three other topazes held by three other lords that formed the four clans of The Brotherhood of the Oracle, had the peculiarity of allowing their bearers to communicate by thoughts to each other, and with the Supreme Priest of the Brotherhood, who guarded the Golden Snake that housed the rest of the gems.

The power of the Fellowship resided in the gems embedded into that snake-shaped device. A large golden snake rolled on itself stood half-lifted with its head pointing upward. It held with its mouth, a four-pointed golden star by one of its spikes. Between each spike, there were four receptacles to fit the four topazes.

The center of the star embedded as well, five particular gems. Two crescent-shaped white quartz that fitted perfectly with each other with a circular opening at their center, which in turn fitted a pair of black opals, also crescent-shaped, forming a black circle inside the white one. The black opals had the ability to propitiate evil, while the white quartzes surrounding and framing them, interfered with that power. As long as those four stones remained together, there would be a balance between the forces of good and the forces of evil. The lack of any one of the quartzes liberated a power within the opals, which generated fear and propitiated malicious acts. Both opals in the absence of the two quartzes gave their possessors the ability to dominate the minds of others through terror. The whole set of gems was held together by a diamond that fitted like a brooch throughout the center of the opals. This diamond completely nullified the power of all these gems.

The caravan of the clan and its prisoners continued their journey through the dense forest surrounding an ancient volcano that emitted perennial fumaroles It was known as the Mountain of the Oracle. From time to time, small eruptions threw incandescent lava, which ran through a spillway that led to a large opening on the ground at the side of the mountain. The volcano in this way swallowed its own spills.

It was not long until midnight when the clan finally arrived at a great clearing in the middle of the forest. One of the boundaries of that clearing bordered the openings through which the molten lava went back to entrails of the earth.

The rain had finally receded, allowing the moon in its waning quarter to light up the sky, studded as well with myriads of stars. In spite of that, a row of torches that reached all the way up to the edge of the opening of the volcano, illuminated around that large clearing.

A pyramid of three steps and four sides made of large crude stones rose at the center of that great clearing within the forest, with a large esplanade at its top. However, this esplanade was not a flat space. Most of it consisted of a rather shallow depression filled with innumerable snakes of all kinds and sizes. Some tried to climb up the walls of that receptacle; some others crawled along the floor, while others rolled up and entwined with each other to form a mesh of vipers.

A stone chapel surrounded by a pit from where hot smoke and ashes emanated rose at the very center of that depression. That pit was the mouth of the Oracle. A narrow hanging bridge made of wood logs tied up by hemp ropes, allowed the access to the chapel from the side of the esplanade.

A pedestal of pink granite rose in front of the door of the chapel, upon which the Golden Serpent and its gems rested.

The other three clans had already arrived, placing each one at one side of the pyramid, according to a cardinal point that established their place. Their lords handed their topazes to the Supreme Priest, who placed them between the spikes of the star.

Shortly afterwards, Runolf's clan arrived taking it place at the Northern side.

"Here you have it my lord," Runolf said as he handed over his topaz to the High Priest. He took care not to get too close to the priest, who carried a great python wrapped around his neck.

A deaf drumming indicated the beginning of the ceremony. The Supreme Priest raised his arm and pointed a staff he held towards the group of prisoners. A party of warrior piercing with their spear the backs of the prisoners, obliged them to go all the way up the pyramid to the esplanade, surrounding the edge of the depression.

The High Priest walked up the pyramid right behind the prisoners. He reached the edge of the wooden bridge, crossing it towards the chapel. He made a bow before the Golden Serpent and with the aid of a warrior, took of the heavy hide that sheltered him from the cold. He went completely naked with his body painted in red ocher. A string of human teeth girthed his forehead just below his baldhead. With premeditated parsimony, he unrolled the python from his neck and unbuckled a diamond from a brooch that hung of a golden chain from his neck. He placed it right over the center of the black circle within the opals on the Golden Serpent.

"Who's the leader? The Supreme Priest asked pointing with his staff to the captives.

"The blood of the innocent will fall upon you," declared Theobald proudly, taking a step forward.

Four warriors from to the Northern clan took Theobald by his arms and piercing his back with their spears, forced him to cross the bridge and kneel before the Golden Snake. The gems on the Golden Serpent glittered illuminated by the torches. A warrior handed the High Priest an ax with a large blade of sharp metal.

The moment the priest took the weapon, the drum ceased its pattering. Only the croaking of the toads and the screeching of the crickets in the depths of the forest interrupted the silence that followed. Some light clouds swept by the wind covered the moon at times, and the shadow they cast made the night even more sinister.

An owl hooted somewhere in the dark frond. Another hoot and another followed, as if presaging the imminence of what was about to happen. The Supreme Priest raised with parsimony the ax he carried in his arm, upheld it for a short time over his head, not out of indecision, but rather to create more tension. The punishment should be exemplary and serve as a warning to anyone who dared to rise against the Fellowship of The Oracle.

However, he should have executed his act more diligently, for when he was about to drop the ax on the neck of his victim, another howl was heard followed by the whisper of a sure arrow that pierced his heart. At first, no one understood what had happened. Then, an uproar shook up the members of the four clans. Suddenly, dozens of warriors surrounded them, black painted and covered scarcely with a loincloth. The attackers threw themselves with tomahawks against the unsuspecting worshipers. Very few clan warriors went armed, for, in order to avoid any betrayal, the Supreme Priest had ordered all weapons to remain at the entrance of that great enclosure.

The rebellious clan belonged to the only brotherhood that worshiped Noor, the Moon Goddess. The rest of the tribes subjugated by the Fellowship of The Oracle worshiped the Sun God. For their part, the four guild clans worshiped the God of the Oracle.

Laria, the Supreme High Priestess of the Order of Noor and wife of Theobald, had orchestrated the capture of her husband, their kids and some other member of their clan, in order to deceive the unsuspecting Brotherhood, to try to seize some of the stones of the Golden Serpent. Now however, luck had presented them with the opportunity to seize The Golden Serpent with the full set of gems.

Theobald and Laria had had to put their family at risk to give credibility to the capture. The High Priestess had received a message in a trance from the Goddess Noor, demanding that such risk be taken. The plan was to make a fair attack in the middle of the ceremony, free the captives and get the gems.

Theobald only hoped that his warriors would be on time. Otherwise, everything would be lost. He knew that he would be the first sacrificed to the Golden Serpent and he had trusted that such would be the case. His plan had developed to perfection. At hearing the uproar and the beginning of the struggle, he rose from the ground and sprinted after the relic. He grabbed it on the run and sprinted to the interior of the chapel, scurrying away through a small back door that led to a back bridge used by the Supreme Priest. He took advantage of the confusion to run down the pyramid and went right into the depths of the forest, while the bloody strife developed on the esplanade. He did not notice that in his haste to seize the relic, the diamond dislodged from its center and bounced to fall between an interstice within the wall of that chapel.

The warriors of the clans of The Oracle recovered from the surprise and fought back. Being by far more numerous than their attackers, they soon took control of the struggle. However, the unthinkable had happened. The rebellious clan had seized The Golden Serpent and its gems and got away with.

Runolf left at once with a party of warriors after the fugitive. The darkness helped Theobald, for it was very difficult to see where he had gone. Brezia noticed the moment her father had taken a quick run to seize the Golden Serpent, and ran as well through the bride after him. She entered the chapel just as the diamond came off the relic. Thinking it was important, she headed where she saw the gem fall, and guided by its brilliance managed to get it. Only that by the time she went after her father again, he had already disappeared into the forest. She was terrified and did not know where to go. Being alone and not knowing what to do, she put the brilliant into her tiny loincloth and hid in a small gap between two columns inside the chapel. That was the last time she saw her father.

"Where's Brezia?" Laria asked her son Randal.

"I don't know, Mother," replied the young man contrited. "No one saw her after the struggle began."

"And Graco?" she inquired again for her other son.

"I saw him fleeing with some of our warriors," Randal replied more calmly. "He'll be well protected."

"We must return to fetch Brezia," Laria said pleading with her husband Theobald.

"Yes. We'll do it. But first we must put the relic in good shelter," he pointed out.

"Our daughter is first!" replied Laria. Her hart ached for her daughter. However, she knew that she had to deal with the gems. They should not fall again in the hand of The Clan of the Oracle.

The group had gathered in a small cave by the mountain, dug up perhaps by one of the many eruptions of that old volcano. Only that little Brezia did not know or did not remember how to get there.

"Sir," called one of the warriors who had managed to reach the agreed point interrupting them. "We are almost surrounded. We have to get out of here."

"Theobald," Laria called her husband's attention. "We can't allow the gems to fall again into the hands of the Brotherhood of the Oracle," she said. "We have to go separate way," she said with tears running down her cheeks. "If the Goddess allows it, we will meet again."

"What do you suggest? he asked.

Being priestess of the Motherhood of Noor, Laria knew well the characteristics and power that emanated from each gem.

"I'll take these," she said, detaching one of the opals and a quartz from the golden serpent Theobald had just snatched. She then joined the stones to form a half-moon-shaped gemstone. "I'll try taking them to the order. There, we will guard and protect them. Randal," she added, addressing her eldest son. "Take these. . ." She extended her hand to give him the remaining opal and its respective quartz which she had already joined together to form the other half-moon shaped gem. "Go south to Antair, or even further to Pelair. It is necessary to keep both halves as far away as possible." She pointed to both crescent moon shaped gems. "Never; listen well! Never ever separate the opal from the quartz!"

When delivering the gems to Randal, she noticed that the diamond was missing.

"My lord," another warrior interrupted again. "The hosts of one of the clans have already discovered us. You have to leave."

"Take one of the topazes as well," Laria said handing her son one of those gems "In this way, we will always keep in touch."

"Keep in touch? How so mother?" asked Randal intrigued.

"Just take it and you'll learn".Laria said. "Hurry up and the Goddess Noor protects you," she said, while approaching to kiss him on his forehead.

Randal barely had time to flee into the forest, when the screams of the group of warriors that chassed them, approached to the mouth of the cave.

"Take these," Teobald said in turn, handing the other three topazes to Dianna, a young warrior-priestess that had accompanied them. "Do not let them catch you. Run away and if possible head south too. Re-encounter with Randal through the gems. Laria," he said turning his head to his wife. He barely had time to see her fleeting figure entering through one of the tunnels, fleeing into the cavern. He did not have time, however, to do anything else, for an arrow pierced his heart.