Ahriana found herself rereading the same passage a few times feeling as if she was truly seeing it for the first time. She felt herself drawn to it, unable to pull her eyes away.
The Man of War shall break her, he will, with one swift action lead the warrior to the path that faces darkness, the path that leads to the Dark King. The Panther Greatling King will hold her steady, but he cannot heal her. Then shall come the Man with Many lives, he shall be her match, her true other half. He is coming Warrior, prepare your heart.
Ahriana blinked a few times and flipped the page back and forth. She was fairly certain that had never been there before. She squinted and placed a finger on the page to be sure her mind didn't place words together that were not truly there.
The Woman of the Future will journey to The Warrior, when she arrives the rise of The Power Bearer shall begin. The Man with Many lives will have been found and lost and The WARRIOR fully made. The Warrior will fight the magic, the first to do so, and the only for all time. Do not worship her Glass Woman, such a thing leaves scars time cannot erase.
What was this? Ahriana had studied this prophecy her entire life, to an insufferable degree, taught by scholars, her parents, Meekah, and countless others. Never before had she seen such a passage. Ahriana looked at the binding of the book and realized it was a copy she had yet to open until this night;she had traded a Nomad for a few bushels from her garden last fall. So long ago that she had simply forgotten about it.
She turned it over in her hands a few times, it felt old, older than anything she could have ever found in a library or shop in Imerald. The engravings were ancient, and many of the lettering formed words that Ahriana was unfamiliar with. She felt that strong pull many spoke of when the magic took control of a situation for its own gain. It hovered in her stomach and gave an odd twitch that made her feel like jumping up and down, then yelling while throwing up her dinner, all at the exact same moment.
Ahriana opened the front cover and stared at the writing on the first page. It was very old script, far older than the language she spoke. When she had originally grabbed it from the shelf she must not have been paying attention. How had she managed to open to that page though without any kind of marker?
She questioned Meekah but all she got back as answer was a picture of a half-eaten carcass of deer.
She wrinkled her nose and narrowed her eyes in frustration looking at the bookcase half expecting random books to just fill in the empty spaces. Nothing happened, no matter how closely she watched. She even tried to not watch while watching but still nothing happened.
Ahriana sighed in frustration and opened the book again searching for the page she had been on but now couldn't remember where she had seen the passage and now all the pages looked exactly the same all of a sudden. She balled a fist and exhaled a quick breath. Her jaw tightened and relaxed as she struggled to contain her temper. She hated the prophecy, and the magic and power, but she hated it more in times like this. She could feel its unrelenting fingers wrapping through her life again and finally lost the struggle throwing the book across the room with a scream. That made her feel moderately better. She stood and closed her eyes, planning on doing a few calming exercises to help her before she attempted sleep.
Meekah's thoughts began to seep into her mind and she slowly stood on one foot and extended her sword arm out in front of her. Just as she went to slowly lower her leg and lean all her weight against it, Meekah's voice rang out in her head, he was in a dead run for the house, and he was angry and scared. She stumbled then blinked trying to bring her mind to focus on his words.
Ahriana put the fire out and hide now. It is very important; do not answer the door DO IT NOW.
There was a part of Ahriana that wanted to rebel but she felt the fear in Meekah's command and so she did as he asked. In his mind she saw an image of a woman, why would a woman cause Meekah fear? She wasn't the best warrior in Imerald but no matter how hard she tried, Ahriana couldn't think of a woman who was better. Fairsh had trained her for years, no other could claim the same, who could possibly cause Meekah such panic.
Though she was confused and unconcerned Ahriana did as Meekah asked. Especially since his fear was building as he sprinted through the thicker sections of the forest, she felt the thorns and branches rip at his fur. She flinched a few times as one particularly nasty branch cut through his shoulder and Ahriana felt it on her own. Meekah was clawing desperately up boulders, and barely clearing the trunks of trees in his haste. His fear and speed was beginning to create the same feelings in Ahriana.
She threw water on her fire and sat next to its slightly smoking ashes on the cooling stone floor staring into the darkness of her home. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust and breathing to slow enough that she could hear the movement outside. After a while she heard footsteps she didn't recognize just at the edge of the woods.
They were light and dainty, a woman, Meekah had been right. No man or Greatling could mimic such footsteps, no matter how good a scout they were. Whoever it was, was not trying to ambush Ahriana, she wanted to be heard. Her first thought was Taki, that was the only woman she could think of that would have any reason to come here trying to start a fight. Still it was the middle of the night, and Taki liked having an audience.
Ahriana rose slowly and moved to the wall pulling a sword down. Something told her if Meekah didn't hurry she was going to need it. There was a knock at the front door that made her jump. She had been expecting a noise, but it always seemed the more you know something is coming the more it surprises you when it does.
Whoever was at her home wasn't declaring themself, and yet they weren't exactly breaking down the door either. It was common knowledge she was home, where else would she be? Ahriana didn't go into town, she supposed they could assume she was out of Imerald all together but that too would be gossip known. Why would they knock? she wondered, if she was going to attack someone she wouldn't knock. What would you say exactly? "Hello I am here to kill you, would you mind too terribly much?"
She heard the door knob turn, had she locked the door? Why was she so frightened, who would possibly want to harm her? If they did want to harm her, why would they have knocked, alerting her to their presence? The more she thought about it, the more she convinced herself that the sword was unnecessary, and yet she didn't put it down. Quite the opposite, her reflexes were super charged, her body had the distinct feeling of being able to tear down a mountain with nothing but her bare hands.
Ahriana saw the moonlight illuminate the figure of a pregnant Elderald in the entrance of her home as the door slowly swung open with an ominous creek she was fairly certain it had never made before. Her heart stopped beating for a moment.