The Oracle of Bones

Disclaimer: The following is a complete work of fiction, spun from my imagination and is in no way meant to resemble any real person, place or organisation. This story will eventually contain sexual situations between individuals (consenting or otherwise) irrespective of age, race or gender, so if this could possibly offend you or is illegal in your area then please read no further.

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I would like to take this opportunity to thank Osriel Rodriguez for his hard work in editing and making this chapter legible. Words cannot properly express my profound gratitude. Thank you my friend.

The Oracle of Bones

Chapter 2

Taio stood in guard stance, hands lightly gripping the shaft of his taikara paddle-spear and waited for his next opponent. It was his final test to determine his worthiness of being a Guardian. At sixteen cycles, he was the youngest of his group, but also one of the best and he had been in training since he took his first steps.

He came from a long line of Guardians, stretching all the way back to the founding of the order, which came about from the teachings and philosophies of Lanaika, the first Guardian.

To be a Guardian was the highest pinnacle any warrior could attain. He was first noticed at a young age when he showed a natural ability to wood craft - a key skill required of a warrior; excelling in the manufacturing of spirit weapons from the sacred soul trees that housed the spirit essence of his ancestors.

He made his first taikara at the age of ten achieving adept status in its manufacturing before beginning his studies in word crafting, learning to accurately remember, recall and recite events as they happened. He had little difficulty in this aspect of his training. Taio was born with an eidetic memory that enabled him to quickly assimilate and store vast amounts of information for future usage.

His only real problem lay in the fact that he was painfully introverted and would spend long moments lost in his thoughts as his mind constantly sifted through his experiences gleaning new layers of meaning from everything he saw around him.

He spoke very seldom and when he did it was only ever after very careful contemplation and could sometimes take days to formulate a proper response to questions that were posed to him in purely social contexts. In his younger days this earned him the ridicule of his peers and he became very shy, further enhancing his natural inclination to introversion. The only person he was able communicate with was his cousin and friend Lendra, and when she became a water crafter he knew that his path would follow hers. They would sit for long moments saying nothing to each other but finding meaning and mutual companionship in each others presence and silence. She could read him better than anyone and had an almost uncanny ability know what he was thinking or wanting to say in any given moment.

It was both comforting and disconcerting in equal measure.

His current opponent was a man named Napari, he was twenty two cycles and had become a Guardian three cycles prior and yet to be selected by a water or stone craft master to serve.

Of all the crafts known to the Manai water crafting and stone crafting were the most magically aspected and required such intense study and mental discipline that the practitioners of either craft possessed little or no martial prowess and was one of the main reasons that the Order of Guardians was established, the other was to act as witness.

Napari was content with his fate though. Many Guardians had to wait years to be selected, and there was no shame. Each craft master required different attributes of their Guardians and even if they were never selected, the skills and abilities they accumulated through their training were important assets to their tribes.

The Barakai where the testing was taking place, was packed with the friends and families of the days examinees, who filled the seats and balconies surrounding the central courtyard. War chants and battle songs filled the air as the spectators got into the spirit of the ritual combat about to take place.

Taio let the noise wash over him as he prepared for his final fight, the last hurdle before he could claim his place and earn his title. Everything he had ever worked for came down to this moment.

"Mata!!" Yelled the the Grand Master and Taio advanced, ready to give this battle every last thing he had. He just hoped it would be enough...

The roar of the waterfall overflowed her being with its vibrant and violent power. Lendra drank it all in becoming one with her element. In her minds eye she called upon her crafter's grid and strummed the lines of power that connected her to the water in simpatico with her inner awareness.

Twenty four lines of power she had cultivated in the past two years but still she knew she was far from her mastery. No matter how much she studied it, how in depth she dived into research and meditation, there was always something more to uncover, some new depth to explore and illuminate, some new pattern of power to uncover and implement.

This morning she was determined to practice and perfect a new Dainali attack form by layering it with a spell combination of six interwoven power lines in a spiral lattice pattern with a seventh over lapping and intertwining at predetermined intervals to ground and augment the spells effects.

The effect when done correctly should be spectacular. All her research pointed to it being feasible but no one had ever really used water crafting in such an overtly offensive way.

Water crafting had been used defensively for generations and some had even used it in combat situations to shield, bless or heal and even to enchant weapons and armour but no one could remember using water, the very essence of life, to cause harm.

When she had first conceived of the idea, she had asked some of the different adepts if such a thing were possible and all had looked at her as if she had grown a second head. None had even conceived of it as being a possibility and some even shuddered at the thought of it, but no one appeared to be willing or even able to help her further in her endeavour.

Thats why this morning she was determined to practice and put proof to her theory even if it killed her, though she was really hoping that wouldn't happen.

She closed her eyes and called up her grid. The pattern forming in her minds eye, as she had memorised it. She started slowly feeding her power through it and fine mist began to gather, steadily thickening and drifting faster and faster towards her as the very moisture in the air responded to her spells summons and gathered around her hands like gauntlets. At the same time she moved through the different guard and block sequences of the beginning of the Dainali form.

Lendra shifted effortlessly into the counter attack pattern and the water she commanded responded accordingly. Her power followed the augment line, activating the different attachment nodes on her grid.

The mist gauntlets shredded and reformed into six balls of water which stabilised and rose around her head. She moved into the final part of her grid pattern and activated the spell in its entirety, feeding power into the sixth line and throwing her hands forward in an open palmed strike. The orbs erupted into long streams of high velocity spray that suddenly froze over turning into long shards of ice that impaled a number of nearby trees after carving through a couple of trees closer to her.

Lendra stared in open mouthed surprise. The fact she had succeeded was one thing, but the efficacy of her spell almost appalled her. A groaning creak snapped her out of her thoughts and she quickly ran for cover as one of the trees she had sheared through began to lean precariously in her direction before toppling over and crashing to the ground a few feet away from where she had been standing, followed promptly by a second tree, and then finally a third, knocked down by the force of the second trees fall, this time backwards with the spears of ice still sticking out like the quills of a deranged porcupine.

A loud cry followed by a pain filled sob came from the direction where the third tree had fallen. Panic filled her but instincts took over and before she even had time to think about it she was running to help.

Adherence to the Lore meant she was honour bound to help any and all who were hurt and in this particular case, because it was by her actions that the person had been harmed, she was directly responsible for them.

Incanting a prayer to Vaidana the Preserver she slipped around the fallen tree searching for where the noise was coming from. She didn't have to look to far however, she could see the legs of someone trapped beneath a branch of the fallen tree.

Whizz-snickt!

The sound of something impacting into a tree, mere inches to her left, had Lendra stop in fright. A long straight stick, with a strange tip of some unknown material at one end and feathers attached to the other, impaled the tree and vibrated menacingly. She dropped to the ground and slipped around the tree for cover, peering around to see where the projectile had come from.

There appeared to be no further movement and just as she was about to get up and move closer another shape stepped cautiously out of the tree line holding another one of the long stick attached to a curvy stick and a piece of string.

The figure appeared to be a boy or possibly a man, not much older than her but unlike anyone she had ever seen before. He was tall, much taller than any other man she had know, and his features were alien looking.

The men of her tribe were all short but heavily muscled from long days of hard work and training. The stranger was well structured but not bulky more lean and athletic than what she was used to; like how she would have pictured Aletai but much taller and his skin colour was much paler, almost white. His hair was a fiery red colour that Lendra would have thought impossible had she not seen it herself.

He was still quite a distance away so she couldn't make out any other features but he was quickly and cautiously approaching, heading in the direction of the person trapped under the fallen branch.

He started calling out in an unfamiliar language, his voice a deep bass filled with concern and worry. The trapped person responded in a pain-filled baritone that confirmed for her that the person trapped beneath the tree branch was male and made her insides knot with worry.

She had to get to him, she had to help him somehow, someway. The fact he was in pain was all her fault and she now had an obligation to render aid in whatever way possible.

She stood and mustered all her courage before stepping out from behind the tree, her hands raised above her head in a gesture of surrender and supplication.

The red haired strangers head snapped up at her sudden movement from behind the tree and he drew the string back to its full length and took careful aim at her as she slowly and carefully made her way over.

"Drahzakh nin kovakh!" The red haired man shouted at her as she approached.

She just shook her head hoping he took that to mean she didn't understand and not that she was refusing to comply with whatever statement or demand he had made.

"Drahzakh nin kovakh!!" He yelled once more at her, his face a mask of anger and fury.

He looked like he was almost going to let fly another one of the sticks but the man trapped beneath the tree branch said something to the red haired man that caused him to lower the weapon and rush to where his friend was.

Sensing that she had somehow earned a reprieve she felt doubly indebted to the man she had harmed. Whoever his friend was, he would have been well within his rights to slay her where she stood, and she said a brief prayer of thanks to Vaidana for sparing her life as well.

Quickly she made her way to where the two men were and began assessing the situation. The red haired mans deep green eyes were a storm of incandescent rage and he glared murderously at her as she approached and withdrew a long knife of a type of material she had never seen before. It was a dark grey colour and pocked and nicked from frequent use and didn't look like it had been sharpened for a while. Flecks of red and orange stood out here and there giving the long bladed knife an almost diseased look.

"Draberun! Vikath na hun", the red headed man looked like he was about to slice her heart out and feed upon it before the other man stopped him with a pain filled command. The red head looked from her to the other man and then back to her again before putting the knife away and trying desperately to figure out a way to get his friend out.

"I don't know if you can understand me," she said in a concerned voice "but please let me help."

The man injured man moaned and writhed in pain.

"Help... Please..." he asked in her tongue, heavily accented as it was, before another pain filled sob slipped out.

"I will, my name is Lendra, I'm a water crafter and I will do everything in my power to help you. Can you ask your friend to move a little? I need some space to craft"

The injured man began speaking to the red head who looked like he was about to argue until the injured man groaned once more, killing the red heads argument before it had even left his lips.

He moved away slightly to one side but eyed Lendra like a dangerous animal, ready to kill her at moments notice.

She broke off the tips of two of the ice spears and stabbed them into the ground underneath the fallen branch to either side of the man trapped beneath. She called up and reconfigured the pattern she had used on her grid, removing two of the lines of power and replacing them with two others. She made a number of changes to the augment line for a new purpose before quickly feeding her power into it.

The ice tips took root in the ground and began to thicken and lengthen, taking the form of miniature pillars that lifted the branch slightly off the ground and giving her enough clearance to attempt to move the injured man from beneath it.

The red head spoke quietly to the injured man, his voice filled with concern. Lendra still hadn't seen what the injured man looked like until then, but even in his pained and injured condition she thought of only one word that could describe him. Beautiful...

She pulled a vial of healing water from a pouch at her waist and called up her crafter's grid. She recalled a familiar pattern and used ten of her lines of power; three lines were used to diagnose his injuries, three lines were used to treat his pain and three were used to stabilise his injuries until she could ascertain exactly what was wrong.

The final line was again the augmenter, allowing her to make changes to the pattern as necessary, interconnecting and overlapping in sequences pertinent to the information she would receive as the diagnostic strands feed the information gathered directly back to her. The healing water crept over the injured man's body, glowing a soothing blue colour before sinking into his skin and starting to do its work.

The extent of his injuries were severe, he had a fractured pelvis, his left leg was broken and his left arm but what worried her the most was the internal bleeding. She would need to treat that first so she pulled out four more vials of healing water, uncapped them and then poured them over her right hand. The water clung to her hand like a glove, her left hand reached for her crafter's pendant and traced the familiar pattern which helped calm her mind and prepare her for what she was about to do. She muttered a pray to Aduin the Healer and reconfigured her grid pattern accordingly while it hummed with power, before placing her water incased hand where her awareness directed.

The water flowed from her hand and through the injured man's skin, sinking deeply and heading directly to the areas of greatest damage, repairing severed and damaged blood vessels and staunching the flow of internal bleeding as well as replacing a small portion of the fluids he had lost before she moved onto his other injuries.

The fractured pelvis was the next most serious and would cause him a lot of pain unless treated. Fortunately none of his organs had been damaged which surprised her. She reconfigured her pattern once more, taking two strands out and replacing them with two others, and used the last of her water to knit the pelvic fracture back together. The broken arm and leg would need to wait until she could get him back to her village.

"I have to take you back to the village to treat the rest of your injuries. I have no more water with me and it would drain too much of my power to try a draw it from the air and consecrate it for proper use. Is your friend able to carry you?" she asked as she checked him over to make sure he was more or less alright and used it as an excuse to take a proper look at the man.

He was taller than anyone else she had ever seen, not quite as tall as the red head, but only marginally so. Where his friend's hair was bright red, his was a deep shining black that made his pale complexion seem even more so. His eyes were almost as impossible to believe as his friends red hair, they were a shocking cobalt blue that seemed ageless and depthless and she felt power behind those eyes the likes of which she had never felt before.

He spoke briefly to his red haired friend who just looked at her and nodded, and while the murderous look had gone there was still a seething anger behind that gazed that made her quail inside. She knew she had some explaining to do but first she needed to make sure he received proper treatment for his injuries.

She took some bandage cloth from her pack, which she tore into strips, making a sling and strapping for a leg splint to stabilise his broken arm and leg. Once he had been properly strapped up the red haired man gently scooped up his friend into his arms and cradled him against his chest, being ever so careful not to cause him any further pain.

The return to the village was quickly accomplished without further incident and only took an hour to accomplish. All the while the red haired man carried his friend as though he weighed nothing at all.

On approach to the village Lendra called in a haunting sing song chant requesting permission to enter with an injured traveller and his companion. It didn't take long before a reply came from the top of the palisade walls of the fortified village. Permission was granted and the guards stationed around the entrance stood down and allowed them to enter unhindered.

Lendra led them straight to the House of Water. Grandmother Adelai was sitting out front, spotting her as soon as she came around the corner and stood calling out to her.

"Dear child what have we here?" she asked.

"An injured traveller and his companion Grandmother, he was injured by a falling tree and has sustained severe injuries. I have treated the worst of his injuries but ran out of consecrated water and the strength required to complete his healing." she lithely brushed over her involvement in causing his injuries but that would wait until later. She would have to call a meet to decide what the consequences of her actions would be, and she wasn't looking forward to that.

"Very well child, take them to the infirmary and make them comfortable, then get Grandfather Toroneiha from the Sanctum, he can complete the healing you begun."

She stood and bowed low to the travellers for one as old as she before greeting them formally.

"Welcome honoured guests, I am Grandmother Aledai, water crafter of the Nati Lamaina. We will see to your wounds and extend our hospitality. Please follow Lendra, she will see to your needs."

She bowed once more before resuming her seat and gestured for them to enter the House of Water.

"Gratitude.", his thick accent almost indecipherable, but Grandmother Aledai understood none the less and smiled before looking more closely at the injured man.

As soon as they locked eyes however, the breath seemed to leave her body and the smile she had previously was replaced by a brief look of consternation that only the two men saw as Lendra led them inside.

Once they had gone inside however she picked up a small bowl filled with water, called up her crafters grid and used a familiar pattern of three lines plus two augmenters and filled it with her power. The water in the bowl sparkled and swirled and the face reflected back was not the same as her own.

"Grandmother Takeda, I need to see you as soon as possible." she spoke softly into the bowl. The reflection of Grandmother Takeda simply nodded before the image swirled away into oblivion.

gLord Alerdon, the Tarneska is close to the end, she requests your presence before it comes so she may atone. If you will follow me please...h The man servant bowed low before him, eyes downcast and hands clasped at the front in the correct manner of a court servant, awaiting a response from him.

The Lord Alerdon sighed inwardly and rose from his seat. He straightened his robes and indicated for the man-servant to continue with his appointed task with a simple nod of his head. The man-servant scurried forward opening doors and ante-chambers, on their way through the Royal apartments. They moved with an urgency that would normally be considered unbecoming if not down-right rude within the royal suites, but given the circumstances, time was of the essence.

The doors to the Tarneskafs room were open and the guards bowed low to him as he moved through them on his way, and then into the main bed chamber. The sight that greeted him was a vastly different picture from the one he had seen just over a quarter cycle ago.

The Tarneska had slid significantly since being diagnosed with the wasting disease and now the once bright room was drawn tight against the light of the sun. Incense burners stood like mausoleum pillars lining the carpeted path to an enormous canopied bed. In the centre, amid a pile of pillows and cushions and swathed in blankets, a solitary, sunken figure of a once powerful woman gazed down at him, regal, even in her current state.

The Lord Alerdon bowed prostrate at the foot of the Imperial bed, forehead to the floor. The Tarneska made an annoyed hiss and gestured for him to rise and come beside her. An usher jumped to attention and hurried to do the Tarneskafs bidding.

gI am on my death bed and you choose now to stand on formality Dovarkan?h She asked; her voice weaker but still commanding respect, even if it dripped with sarcasm.

gYour majesty's willh He replied with a completely blank expression and a perfect bow. The Tarneska sighed and snapped her fingers twice, a scribe and a priest of Caladon scurried forward, eager to do her bidding.

gDovarkan, The Lord Alerdon, you have been summoned to hear my confession and to bear witness to my final proclamation. I call you as Confessor and First Witness, do you accept the call?h The Tarneskas personal priest recited on her behalf as was customary.

gI do, your majesty.h Dovarkan replied, bowing to the Tarneska in acceptance of his task. The Tarneska nodded, the hint of a smile upon her lips before turning to address everyone present.

gIt is my will that all who are gathered now bear witness and confirm the veracity of the events undertaken this evening. What say you all?h

gYour majesty's willh was the unanimous response.

"No word of what transpires this evening will ever be breathed to another living being unless it is to bear witness to the events veracity of the written and spoken word in court of formal challenge. What say you all?"

"Your majesty's will"

gVery well, first my confessions. I, Tarneska Bolaroven Stasia do hereby confess to the following crimesch

As she began, the priest of Caladon placed the Tarneskafs hand into a bowl of purest water, whilst the scribe documented every last word which slipped from her lips.

From the time when she blamed a servant girl for stealing treats she herself had stolen to more recent diplomatic crimes which she had instigated either for her own benefit, the benefit of The Tor-Phidian Empire or Great Plan, she listed as well as she could recall all her crimes and incursions up until the last.

gc and finally, I confess to sinning against you my friend. The finality of my crime will not be known until after my death, but you will not love me for what I have done. I can only say that you and you alone are our only hope. There was no other way, please believe mech a hacking cough wracked her small frame and it seemed as if it took all her power just to remain conscious. She fought to sit herself upright and the flame of determination burned once more behind her eyes.

gBear witness, the Lord Avestos has been appointed executor of my will. As my final proclamation I Stasia of House Bolaroven, last and final Tarneska of the line of Caladon, long live his name, do invest all the powers and privileges of my line upon House Alerdon and with, my final breath do I proclaim him Regentch she coughed and coughed and coughed again until a gurgling pop erupted from within her chest. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she lurched forward, spilling blankets and pillows all about and lay still. The priest of Caladon and Danask, the Tarneska's man-servant were beside her in moments and it was evident that she was gone.

Dovarkan reacted immediately; he pulled a vial of oil from a pocket in his robes and began to administer the Tarnesk Davitanyi.

gCaladon, First Tarneski, I commit unto your keeping the soul of Stasia of House Bolaroven, last and final Tarneska of your line." Dovarkan pour a little oil into the palm of his left hand and resealed the bottle. It was oil from the manika flower. A highly fragrant variety that was distilled mostly for ceremonial purposes and for its sweet and lingering scent of citrus and strawberries. He dabbed his right index finger in the small puddle and placed a little oil on each eye lid.

"Unto my keeping she has committed her final confession, and with her final breath invested all her powers both worldly and otherwise in my House and upon my shoulders to keep in sacred trust." He turned her arms over and dabbed a small amount on each wrist as he continued.

"Cast your light upon her and accept her into your presence. So be it!h with the final words he inscribe the sigil of Caladon upon her forehead using the last of the oil and stepped back. A whispering rush ran through his body as he completed the ritual and the benediction of his God overcame him.

He stepped back again and the former Tarneskafs body began to glow with Caladons Light, claiming her as one of his own and blessing her sacred remains.

The servants scurried around him, preparing the Tarneska for burial. The guards and assorted other servants all hovered back watching and waiting for him as he stood there, staring down at his one-time friend who had just done what she promised she would never do.

He had kept his promise though, even after all this time, he had kept his promise.

Three days laterc

gLast will and testament of Stasia of House Bolaroven, last and final Tarneska of her linech Lord Avestos began the reading of the Tarneskafs will to the gathered lords and ladies of the Tarn High Council. The final proclamation had invested the regency of the Tarn and the empire with House Alerdon, but succession arrangements still needed to be tended to. The Tarneska had left no acknowledged heir and all known persons of her name and line had passed. She was to have been the last hope for a once great house but no matter how much she tried with husbands and concubines, she was never able to hold a child full term.

gI, Stasia of House Bolaroven, being sound of mind and body do herebych Dovarkan paid no attention to the proceedings. His regency would end with the new succession orders the reading of her will would initiate. The Bolaroven family had ruled the Great Tarn of Tor, and the Tor-Phidian empire by extension, for over two hundred uninterrupted generations so the rites of succession had never had to be invoked before. The Great Temple of Transitions would be opened and the scroll of Illumination would be consulted to best appease the gods with the selection of the new Tarnesk.

gTo the Lord Alerdon I leave my man servant Danask and the contents of my private library and study. The totality of my families remaining estates and lands and their chattels are entrusted to the care and preservation of House Alerdon and a stipend for their maintenance has been arranged and is included in their deeds of ownership. I also name him Regent until the Crowns Choosing has been completed at which time the lands, estates and personal fortune will become the sole property of the new Tarnesk..."

The rest of the reading dragged on as the Lord Avestos named the recipients of the late Tarneska's favour, some received lands for their dedicated service while others, notably her favoured servants and slaves were given money and, in the case of the later, their writ of freedom; essential making them and all their issue free citizens of the Empire.

Dovarkan knew many, if not all, would remain in their present occupations, but their writs gave them rights within the empire and their children the chance to access education, public facilities and granted them the right to prosecute infractions against their person committed by other citizens and backed by law.

It was curious then that Danask, closest of all the Tarneska's servants was not released, but was instead bequeathed in to Dorvarkan's service. No matter, it just made certain things easier in the long run, much easier indeed...