The Oracle's Prophecy

15

Nakano was only alerted to the ghostback's presence a second before the giant wolf appeared. It raced out of the dark forest and was about to attack her when it stopped short, suddenly confused.

With few options available she'd shadowed herself and her horse from the beast. It was an invisibility trick which worked by swaying the mind into disbelieving its senses so that your presence became nothing more than an apparition.

Sniffing the earth to try and regain her scent, the ghostback – one of the smaller colossals – repeatedly shook its head to try and clear its mind as if it knew something was wrong. Unlike people, animals – especially predators – were all natural instinct, and for this reason were harder to deceive.

If only she could communicate with the wolf through the tuning, she thought. Then she could order the beast to leave her be. Unfortunately, that anamoly power was a rare ability which she did not possess.

The wolf continued to circle her and she could feel it becoming harder to sway. Her fragile mind was failing her and soon the illusion would be broken. Before that happened she had to lure the wolf away.

Carefully she pushed a thought into its head that it had picked up another scent no more than a mile away. For a moment the colossal hesitated. Then as quickly as it arrived it was gone.

Nakano shivered, as much from the cold of the night as from the sharp pain stabbing into her head. She was deteriorating fast. She needed to hurry. If she didn't get to the Pathfinder soon, it might be too late.

* * *

Cooper's father spoke quietly, his eyes mesmerized by the fire.

"Our time in the Borderlands is over. Now there's a gateway in Harvardtown, it won't be long before this place is swarming with Directory soldiers. Before they come, we need to be over the mountains to the north, and into the Great Unknown. It's the only place we'll be safe."

"We should leave the souks immediately." Mayat insisted. "We put ourselves at risk remaining here."

Cooper looked at her in dismay. Why so soon? She'd waited her whole life to be here, surely they could give her one more day before they took her even further into the wilderness.

Thankfully, Acadia came to her rescue.

"As much as I'd like to agree with Whiskers here, we don't have all our supplies yet. One more day here maybe a risk, but a greater one would be to make the trip north without enough provisions. We could starve."

"We stay one more day." Her father agreed, then addressed Mayat.

"I need you to find out what Moloch knows. Specifically, if he suspects me."

"I'll be back at first light." She said as she covered her face and hair with her head scarf.

"I'll walk the perimeter." Acadia stood and reached for his weapons. "The rest of you should get some rest."

Cooper hadn't said a word since her outburst and tried to follow Riley into their tent without catching her father's eye. When she passed him, he called for her.

Turning on her heels, she took a step closer to the fire so he'd see the resentment on her face.

For a moment he said nothing and when she looked into his eyes, she thought she saw something she hadn't expected, regret. Immediately, she knew if he apologized she'd forgive him. She silently begged him to do it.

"Don't forget you have the last watch of the night." He finally said and looked at her critically.

"I'm yours to command, apparently." She bristled and gave him a mock salute before marching away to her tent.

* * *

On the other side of the souk, Moloch's men led Pickwick into a large tent where they found their leader staring spellbound into the fire. Pickwick made to step-forward and address the trapper but Moloch's men held him back and told him to wait until he was finished.

Finished with what, Pickwick wanted to ask, but he'd already learned these men asked the questions, not the other way around.

As he watched the fire, the trapper leader jotted something down into a notepad on his lap.

"You have a crink for me?" Moloch asked eventually after snapping out of whatever trance he'd been in.

Pickwick did his best to smile humbly.

"Not one. I have three."

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