Prophecy

{ Vynetta }

“Vynetta Okeanos, what have I told you about wind storms in the garden? My carrots have not had peace in 17 years.”

“Sorry Mama!” I called out from the kitchen.

The truth was that that particular wind storm was an accident. I was attempting to create a small whirlwind inside a cup, hoping for a similar effect of a blender. My latest practice had been precision of my abilities. However if the small tornado that ransacked my mother’s garden was any indication, I needed more practice.

“Do you need help out here?” I asked as I entered the green house.

“No love, I can handle it. Thankfully the structure was not damaged this time, only lost vegetables to gather. You are lucky that they are ripe or I would have your head.” Mama replied.

I gulped. Knowing how true that statement was.

“I am sorry Mama, I contained it for several seconds before I couldn’t anymore. When I finally stopped it, it had already come through here. I don’t understand why the precision is so difficult for me with wind. Water is the hardest of the elements and I can control it easily down each atom.” I told her as I gather rogue zucchinis.

“Netta, water is the most complex to control, but you control it with your logic. It is not affected by your emotions the same way that wind is. Wind can sense disturbances inside you before even you can. It can sense your doubt, your worry, your sadness, any negative emotion and those emotions cause it to be unstable. Your grandmother has told you over and over that you must have a steady heart to be able to fully control the wind. And you know you won’t get there alone. So don’t put so much stress on the precision until you find him. It will all come together after that.”

I sighed. It was the same story I’d heard all my life. 3 of the elements I had been controlling since I was a toddler. Water took the longest, fire was easy but the damage it caused while learning was the worst, and the earth was the most natural for me. I was after all, one with the earth. But wind was a monster I couldn’t control alone. I needed to control all 4 elements of the Earth before I could fulfill my destiny. But with “him”, I wouldn’t be able to have complete control of wind. Leaving me one short and incredibly frustrated.

“How do I know he is even really out there? How do I know he will ever show up?”

My mother smirked, “My love he will never just show up. Of that I am sure. If only it was that simple. I kdon't know much, but I know enough to know that much.”

That’s my mother for you, always cryptic.

“I’m going to find grandmother to say goodnight.” I told her as I kissed her cheek and then went into the house.

I found her sitting in the rocking chair on the upper deck that overlooked our cove. Surrounded by mountains, hidden by valleys and waterfalls deep lay a small cove flourishing with life. It was secluded, an escape from the rest of the world. Its location only known by the few of us who inhabited it. It’s location guarded in ways I still don’t fully understand. Nature itself was the prime protector of this place. Each mountain, flow of lava, drowning waterfall placed perfectly to interfere with any tracking equipment or GPS so as far as anyone was concerned looking over us or at a map, we weren’t here.

“I came to say goodnight, grandma.”

“My dear, let me ask you something before you go.” She spoke softly as I sat beside her in my own chair. “How many days until your birthday?”

I chuckle, knowing she knows the answer but I tell her anyway. “37 days.”

“Have you felt him?”

“No grandma, I haven’t. Not yet.”

She hummed in response to this. We sat quietly for a few minutes.

“Do you worry that Kayden is close to finding us? Do you think he knows of me yet?” I tentatively ask the question that has been haunting me more each day as my 18^th birthday approaches.

Her smile fades as she takes in my question.

“I worry he does. Gabryl reports that he has not made any moves that indicate he knows who you are. Each child born is still checked, monitored and introduced to the King. He has no way of knowing, just like us, which generation you would be apart of. But I sense he has doubts about whether you have been born or not yet. I sense that he is beginning to be skeptical of whether you are already here.”

I sighed. This was not the answer I wanted, but it was honestly the answer I expected. I noticed my grandmother’s worry increasing recently and I had a hunch this was why.

“He cannot find you here my love.” She spoke quietly.

“Yes, but in 38 days, I will no longer be here. And then he can.”

“When you were young, your mother and I disagreed about whether to tell you about who you truly were. We disagreed about how much to tell you and when. You know of who you are, we never hid that from you from the first time you asked. But the complete story of what you must face, you have not yet heard.”

I’m sure my face showed my confusion because my grandmother exhaled and continued.

“You know of Kayden. You know he searches for you. You know he longs for your power. But you do not know the history of all that happened to get us to the uprising. You do not know the history of the man who seeks you. Your mother and I agreed that that truth, that story, you didn’t need to hear until you absolutely had to. And my dear, that day has come.”

She paused and looked out to the cove. With winter beginning the frost was the most prominent piece of nature in the cove. My grandmother’s favorite season was spring however, making this cove where winter dominated 3 of our seasons a bit of a nightmare for her. After a minute she still hadn’t continued and I read the emotions on her face as she forced herself to tell me this story. I closed my eyes and connected with the Earth, my other half. I felt the warmth leave my hand and moments later a long vine grew between the deck boards, wrapping around my grandmother’s mahogany rocking chair she carved and made herself. It wrapped carefully around the legs and weaved between the back bars until it reached just near her shoulder. The vine extended gently as I told it to until my grandmother finally noticed it out of the corner of her eye. As she turned to face it I bloomed her favorite flower, a white orchid from the end of it and small jungle flowers along the entire vine itself.

“You always know how to cheer me up, child.” She chuckled. She reached out and touched the flower gently before she inhaled its sweet scent.

“Go and make some tea. Pick your favorite from the garden, and bring a blanket. It’s time you heard this story, through and through.”

{ Prym }

I waited as she came back with the tea and her favorite quilt. She handed me my tea and then settled herself in. At 17 years she was already a grown woman, wise well beyond her years and kind beyond compare. The weight of her destiny was weighing on all of us but she deserved to know exactly what she would be up against. And It was time she learned exactly why she was chosen.

“You know of who you are. You know of who we come from. But to truly tell you everything, you will hear that story again…. Years ago, when I was a child, the world was at a place that most considered it’s peak. Economy was thriving, population was thriving, technology was expanding. But beneath the superficial, there was anger. There was resentment amongst social classes and races. The tension was rising and with each passing year we felt war was brewing. However the war that came, was not the one we expected. Because what we didn’t know was that there was a greater threat than we could ever imagine living among us. Kayden was born a man. He was born to poor parents in the streets of Italy. He came from nothing, he grew up with nothing, and he began his life as an adult with nothing. His earliest history is unknown to many, but over the years the hatred in his heart grew. He had resentment towards not only his parents but every human who looked down on him. Each day he grew more spiteful, more angry and more vengeful. Until the day when we sought out the source of evil.

Kayden made a deal with the source of evil, a deal that was sealed in blood to bring horror and evil to Earth. To corrupt the soil, kill the people and begin about a new world. To do this, Kayden needed to become powerful. And to commit the evil he was destined to, he needed to become inhuman. So he was granted a new power among men. The next full moon, he began his transformation. He became the beast that men would fear. He gained a wolf in exchange for his humanity. Along with Kayden, his followers also turned, creating an army of werewolves who were commanded to bring hell to Earth.”

I paused here to glance at Vynetta. She was lost in thought and I knew she had to have questions so I paused longer and waited. She glanced at me, but simply nodded for me to continue.

“This transformation happened long before the uprising. For with the werewolf blood, came advanced healing. He had a longer lifespan, no common illnesses. His bones healed rapidly and he no longer needed medicine. He had the energy of a dozen men and the metabolism of the same. He and his men spent years in the shadows. They found women, bred new warriors and grew the army. Over time they learned the best ways to hide from humans. Breeding with a human was only a 50/50 chance of a werewolf child so this took several generations. Along with prolonged expansion of the army, they also learned that while they gained new traits and abilities, it cost some as well. The werewolf gene only fully formed in men. It could be carried by women, but no woman has ever formed into a werewolf. And Kayden himself was shocked to learn after many attempts that he was infertile. He tried many women, but even after decades was never able to conceive a child. After some time he sought out a sorceress. She was the last of her kind, she had lived hundreds of years and had remained hidden all that time until Kayden tracked her down.

He demanded to be told of why he was King of werewolves but he could not reproduce his heir. She revealed the prophecy. The one that changed everything.”

I stopped speaking as I heard Netta stand from her chair and walk to the railing. I waited once again for questions, but as if she knew I was waiting for her she nodded her head for me to continue without turning around.

“The sorceress revealed that the source of evil had granted him his powers, but he did not have the powers to grant him fertility. His warriors were turned as humans, but Kayden had traded his humanity for his wolf. And with his humanity, his ability to feel and his ability to reproduce were taken as well. He fought her and forced her to find a way, not understanding that this ability could not be simply conjured up by a sorceress. She refused to even attempt it, and placated him by searching her powers for any information about his future. She revealed to him a prophecy, but not one he was fond of.

She told him, You will be successful in your overturning of the world. You will destroy the human race as we know it, killing those who oppose and ruling those who obey. Your warriors will create a sustainable population of werewolves to live with and rule over the humans. But as long as you shall live, you will remain infertile. Unless you can find the Luna.

Mother Earth will be unhappy with your overturning of the planet, you will corrupt her soil, darken her skies and fill her blue oceans with blood. She will send her spirit down to be born again in the bloodline of Gaya. This woman will be known as Luna. She will be the Goddess of the Earth and the Moon. She will have control of the elements of Earth, but she will also have the power of the moon, this power will make her a werewolf. But the blood that flows through her wolf will not be made from spite and revenge. It will not be cursed as yours is. She will be the Mother of the earth and of the wolves. Through her a new line of werewolves will be created, both women and men will turn. To create this bloodline, Tellus will send his spirit down into a man. This man will be the Father of the new bloodline of wolves, he will be her Mate. The first of the kind. They will hold a bond as strong as Mother Earth and Father Earth. They will be bound to each other, drawn to each other and hold no other.

When she turns 18 her wolf will awaken. On this day, she will able to sense and find her mate. On this day, you will also be able to sense her. She will stop at nothing to find her mate, and he will journey the earth twice over to find her. Should they find each other, Her powers will grow to their full strength and she will have the ability to overturn you. They will mate and they will fix all you have ruined, bring life back to the soil, love back to the humans and peace back from your ruin. But… should you find her first. Should you find her before she finds him and should you mate with her, she will bear your child. Her powers will never reach full strength and she will be unable to challenge you. You must mark her as yours and if this is done, you will receive an heir and the future of the Earth.”

I exhaled as I finished the prophecy. I wished desperately that this was a story I was telling my granddaughter. That this was fiction she could revel in and enjoy. But unfortunately, this was her future. Her reality. And in this story was a thousand things I had never told her before. So I prepared myself for her response.