The Mage & The Oracle

A purple mist flooded the wooded great hall and hung low to the ground. It was wet and cold like a morning frost, but entirely unnatural in origin. The smell was thick, like bloody iron. The Oracle stood in the centre of the hall, draped in heavy deep burgundy robes that covered her whole body. The hall had soaring ceilings that were so high even the tallest trees could fit inside and also become enveloped in the enchanted mist. Next to The Oracle was her magic staff with a black, glowing orb of energy encased in a glass ball that sat next to the handle.

There were 13 of us here for The Uncovering ceremony. The elders had kept our futures a close secret for 16 years. You see, we were destined - all of us - for greatness, or glory, or love, or adventure, or sickness, or suffering, or power, or madness, or early death. As each birth happened, The Oracle was there for the moment of conception. In this moment, when the babe burst forth into the world, the magic was strongest. The oracle would breathe in the first exhale of life that came out of the wet and pink baby, and see his whole life before her eyes. The elders disappear every night when a baby is born to hear the prophecy. It is these prophecies that have kept our village safe for centuries - we’ve been able to overcome war, famine, crime, and disease. The last time I remember something terrible happening was last year when our village was saved from the grasp of a Dark Mage because of the predictions of The Oracle who had seen an early death at his hands. 

Today is the day that we are told our own prophecies and I know that mine will be something special. I’ve always felt like there is a spark inside me. Something bright. Something alive. Some people are happy doing boring things and being boring. That’s just not an option for me. Everything I’ve ever done has been exceptional: from music lessons, to sports, to arithmetic and discourse. I used to play Mage and Oracle with my little brother Hil and imagined I was an all-powerful seer. As The Mage I was to be in the order of warriors, ripping out the throats of the men and women who came to wage war upon us with magic. When Hil and I played with the other little children, they all agreed that my prophecy was going to be a great one. But today was the day the other children in my year were finally going to understand that I was special. Of course the village elders knew. But aside from them, no one ever really understood me. 

Lia was first, then Jar, then Xaf. The purple mist hung around their ankles as they went to greet the Oracle and here their fates. The room felt tense and energetic with anticipation. However, The Uncovering was not a time of celebration. It was a rite of passage that marked our departure from ignorance and innocence, into the responsibility of adulthood. We would be Knowers now, and perhaps one day we would be village elders who would hear the prophecies on the birth days. The 16s were not allowed to have any reactions to the prophecies. No celebrations, no disappointments. We listened to the prophecies. 

Then it was my turn. “Kay” called The Oracle in a smooth deep voice. She was ageless. Her face was entirely unblemished and impossibly beautiful. Some said that when the babies were born she took a bit of their youth and energy with that first breath. She looked at me approvingly, and with seductive eyes. Her eyes ran over my shoulders and traced a line down my stomach to my shoes and then hovered on my lips. “Your prophecy shows you as an integral part of our community.” She paused and I did my best not to break into a smile. The more I looked at her from close up the more beautiful she became. I wonder if she had noticed me before. I was an adult now after all. “You will not find great love, but you will marry. You will not have close friends, but you won’t be alone. You will spend your days assisting with hunting and gathering to feed the village. You will find neither contentment, nor pain, in performing your duties. That is all”. The room was silent. 

I was dismissed after that. 

As I headed out of the great hall, my head was pounding with rage. How could she have been so utterly wrong. Surely it is she who was wrong, and not me?  Was I just perfectly ordinary? I ran outside, seeing nobody, to my favourite spot in the woods where it was always quiet and secluded. No one knew about it except for me. This is where I would dream and plan my future. Now it felt like my future was over. I was not going to be a glorious warrior. I wasn’t going to have an adoring wife. I wasn’t going to be a trust village elder. The Oracle was never wrong. It was proven again and again that her predictions came through. Wasn’t it? 

Or was there another explanation...I thought back to last year when our village went into hiding because a Dark Mage had been looting the area. Everyone escaped with their lives and only some property had been taken. There had been a big celebration afterwards. But could it have been that The Oracle was working with the Mage? What better way to keep people in fear. What better way to steal our riches. What if our society was based entirely on a lie and The Oracle was only stealing youth and beauty from the babies and then inventing a knowledge of the future?

I lit a small fire in the fire pit before me. The pit was full of small animal bones and ash. As I stared into the flames my anger rose. I screamed out loud, feeling completely powerless. Had this Oracle fooled us all? I will not be ordinary. I want great love, strong friendships, and to live up to my potential to lead and shape the future of the village. I want glory. I want blood. The first step was to prove that she was a fraud - that her magic was either not magic at all. Or that I could become magical like her. Like I was destined to be. For that I would need to take action. 

The next morning at the crack of dawn I broke into the great hall. Picking locks had always easy for me. I saw evidence of last night’s ceremony - unwashed cups still on the tables, and the metallic smell of magic lingering. At the centre of the hall stood the Oracle’s staff. It stood by itself without any support. I put my hands around the wooden staff and grabbed it. It offered no resistance. I slipped out and headed back home. 

With this act, I was convinced that my plan would work. Surely her powers came from the staff, and without the staff she would be powerless. If she was all-seeing, she would never allow the staff to be stolen. I hid the staff for 3 days. Then 4 days. Then 5 days. And then, there was a birth. The village elders rushed through the village to be there for the prophecy. 

I waited for the news. Any news. News that there was no prophecy. News that the oracle had died because her staff held her youth. News of anything. But I heard nothing. 

After 3 weeks I couldn’t bear it any longer. I walked into the great hall where 5 village elders were sitting and conversing to see if I could gather some information. They didn’t acknowledge me as I passed. Their talk then turned to whispers and I listened carefully. “Now that the staff is gone it seems that the adults trust in the Oracle has deepened even further.” Whispered one elder. “Yes, I agree. They finally see that it is she who has the power and not the staff.” Another agreed. “This is a very good thing, I wish we had thought of this sooner!”. 

I could feel the blood rising into my face. I had been wrong about the staff - I had no magical powers now that I possessed it. I had also been wrong about the Oracle, she apparently gave another prophecy at the new birth. What else could I have been wrong about? Could I actually be supremely ordinary? I still hadn’t told my brother Hil about the prophecy. I couldn’t do that to him. 

I tried to go about my day as normally as possible. At school I breezed through arithmetic class and sat by myself during break time, thinking. The other students had heard what The Oracle had said. I knew they were making fun of me behind my back. I came home around mid-afternoon and found Hil with a few of his little friends. They weren’t that little anymore, of course. They were 12, but still played Mage and Oracle, where little blocks of wood represented a magical character. I stopped to watch them play. Hil was playing as the Mage character. Similar to real life, Mages had to be trained from a very young age in order to realize their powers. As the Mage character, Hil had to accumulate enough points to get through training and try to become all-powerful. The other pieces represented characters that were also vying for power. They reminded me of the elders at the Great Hall, whispering away. 

I got bored of watching quite quickly, as I often do when having to interact with this type of childish game. I was about to leave when one of Hil’s friends laughed a little bit. Another friend looked up and me and snickered. Hil looked stone faced and wouldn’t look up nor laugh. “What’s the joke then?” I said. “Go on, spill”. The kids all stopped laughing. “Nothing, nothing.” Said Hil. “They are being stupid like always”. I hate getting involved in this silly child’s play. I sighed and grabbed him by the collar. “You’re supposed to learn how to be polite and grown up playing this stupid game. We grown ups tell other grown ups everything. So tell me, what were you laughing at.” 

Hil looked terrified and I pitied him for half a second. He was still shaken up over the death of his pet owl last week. He was always so tiny.  But very obedient. He was surely prophesied to be a follower of some sort. That owl was so loud.  “Nir said that you don’t like this game because you will never have any power.” Hil said quietly. The little shit. I stared into Hil’s eyes, though he was looking down. I could feel mine burning. There were adults all around us so I let him go. His friends were all looking at the ground. 

I smiled and walked away. This is what my life was going to be like from now on. Since the prophecy was exposed my life had become entirely meaningless. If I couldn’t prove that the Oracle was a fraud by taking her staff, perhaps I could do it in another way. I suddenly froze. A new plan was coming to my mind. If no one would take me seriously anymore and they all thought I was an average joke, I would have to become something none of them could have suspected. I would prove the Oracle a fraud once and for all with her wrong prophecy. 

I went back to Hil’s friend group. “I know you kids think you’re all grown up playing your silly game. But have you ever actually done anything really grown up? Like climbing onto the great hall roof? I bet you haven’t.” The kids looked up at me, at a loss for words. “I’ve been climbing up there since I was 9. Hil, you’re too young to remember that. I can’t believe you haven’t done it yet.” The kids seemed to be thinking about this. Nir spoke up first. “I’ve totally climbed the roof before. My big sister showed me how. It’s not actually that scary.” I smiled. “What about you Rig?” I looked at the largest of the group who had pink puffy cheeks. “I’ve never done anything like that,” Stammered Rig, “I don’t think it’s a good idea.” Nir was egged on by this. “Of course you wouldn’t do it Rig. You don’t do anything fun. You’re scared of life itself” 

This is how they all ended up coming with me to climb the roof of the great hall. It was at least 4 stories high. Higher than any tree they could climb in the forest next to the village. One by one we climbed up the wooden logs. I led the way, and the younger ones followed. Nir was feeling very confident. Hil hadn’t wanted to go but he was silent. 

When we reached the top a few birds flew off. It was the tallest point in the village. We couldn’t have done this at any other time of day or we would be seen by everyone. But now, a little before dinner, everyone was occupied with dinner food preparations. Rig was scared. He was unsteady and the sloped roof was hard for him to grab onto with his chubby fingers. “If you didn’t eat so much you would be able to hold on better” I taunted. This type of joke is beneath me, but I felt that he deserved it for his participation in today’s laughter at my expense. Anyway, I knew it would hurt him, so my comment did the trick even if it wasn’t clever. We were about to come down, when I tapped Hil on the shoulder. “Hil” I said. “I know what people have been saying in the village about me.” Hil looked like he was trembling. He was small and quite frail. Born premature, I was told. That, or The Oracle sucked up too much of his vigor and left him shrivelled and weak. Another possibility.  “I need to show them all that she’s a liar. That she isn’t right about me.” I growled at Hil. “That I’m going to do something extraordinary.” Hil was wide-eyed. “Kay…” he whispered, just as I pushed him off the roof. 

I had a flash of regret. Perhaps I had taken it too far. No one had seen me push him off, but he was my little brother after all. But there really wasn’t any other way. The other kids were stunned and screaming. “Oh my God, Hil!” Nir cried out. I had to hide my smile. We couldn’t see the body, and heard nothing. We scrambled to get to the ground as quickly as possible. As we descended I knew once and for all that I was right. That The Oracle was making things up. She was a phoney. I was, of course, destined to be whatever I wanted to be. For now, I was possibly the worst criminal in village history.

On the ground we encountered an unexpected site. A group of elders and children were gathered around, smiling and laughing. A giant pile of hay had appeared next to the building. Had that been there before? How could I have missed that. Hil was exhilarated. Children were laughing all around him and lifting him in the air. “Hil’s flying! Hil can fly!”. The village elders found these kids games amusing. They weren’t even mad at him for this supposed stunt. Hil’s friends rushed around him and they all hugged and laughed today. Hil waved gaily at me. “Did you see me fly, Kay? It was amazing! I was gliding like a bird. Maybe I have special powers!”. 

I looked away, barely acknowledging him. The Oracle had been right after all. I couldn’t do anything out of the ordinary. I couldn’t even become a criminal. I was supremely, utterly, and completely average. I was destined to live an average life. 

Away from all listening ears, The Oracle and the elders gathered that evening. “The past month has been successful.” The Oracle announced. “The plan appears to be working, but we must remain vigilant. We will have to watch him for his entire life. He is bound to try something like this again.” The elders all nodded in agreement. “He could have been one of the most powerful Dark Mages of our time.”