The Death Prophecy (The Oracle Series Book 2)

by N. J. Cooper

  “So, scooby gang, we doing this or what?” Wyatt grinned. Kyla chuckled and shook her head. He always managed to lighten the mood, it was short lived though as Sky turned to him, slapping him on his arm with a scowl.

  “You damn fool! Go back to your room and if you attempt to come out at all during this end of the world thing, then I’ll kill you myself.” Sky snapped. Kyla and Zarek looked at each other wide eyed before glancing back at Wyatt who rolled his eyes.

  “Not happening, little sister.” He winked. Sky stomped her foot in a petulant gesture.

  “Wyatt! There are going to be vampires here, so many and I won’t have you getting distracted or killed because you can’t control yourself.” She snapped. Wyatt narrowed his eyes, his cheeks staining slightly. He surged forward, his lean frame staring her down from the small height above her.

  “Look who’s talking.” He bit back angrily, glancing towards Kasyn and back. She scoffed.

  “It’s not the same thing.” Sky retorted defiantly. They were locked in a sibling staring contest when Kyla stepped forward, they had no time for their squabbles.

  “Both of you can be a part of this, we need all the help we can get.” Kyla interrupted. They glared at each other one last time before pulling away. Kyla brushed passed them and had made it down the hall when one of the centaurs came after them

  “Your Majesty, Oracle. Something’s wrong,” The centaur said pushing the walkie towards them.

  “What is it?” Kyla demanded, a pit in her stomach growing wider.

  “It’s our communications with the werewolves. There is none, they’ve gone silent.” The centaur revealed. Kyla gasped as Zarek snatched the walkie, speaking into it, trying to get a hold of them. Pictures of her mom began to storm Kyla’s mind. Small and defenceless. What if they had gotten to her after all? Kyla’s breath shortened, her heart clenching. She had to get to her, she couldn’t lose her mom again, not after just getting her back. Kyla went to move but her foot stayed rooted to the floor.

  ‘Don’t even think about it, Kyla. Your mother is the least of our problems right now and to get there, we would have to open a portal, something that would give Onyx a lot more of an advantage.’ Oracle warned. Tears streamed down Kyla’s face as she fought with her inner turmoil. The static over the radio continued as they kept trying to get through. The ground shook roughly, the whole mansion creaking in a loud groan that pierced her to her soul. It was starting and she had a choice to make. Save her mom or take out Byron and save her realm. The choice was the hardest she had ever made. Her chest felt raw and bare as if someone had punched a hole through it, she needed her mom. How could she let her go?

  ‘Make the choice, Kyla. I will only follow you through one of them.’ The Oracle warned, holding her hand out. Kyla gasped. The Oracle was offering to merge, but only if she gave up on her mother. Kyla clenched her eyes shut. She had chosen to save her mother last time and she hadn’t trusted that anyone else could, she had to make a different choice this time, or what would she come back to?

  I just think you should have taken the time to come up with another way to do it.

  Zarek’s advice came back to her, his voice a light in the dark. There was another way and that was to trust that the werewolves would keep their word and keep her safe. Kyla sighed and turned back to the Oracle in her mind, not caring that her body had probably just dropped to the ground. She stepped into the room, tears fresh on her cheeks as the Oracle stood before her, beautiful and poised in her long black gown, red eyes and matching red lips. Her face was the same as Kyla’s, her skin the same pale shade and yet they were so different. But the Oracle was a part of her, another half of her soul and she knew as she looked at her red-nailed, outstretched hand that she should never have betrayed her alter ego, because the Oracle was her. Kyla stepped forward, locking hands with the Oracle, gasping as the immediate surge of power burst through her. Kyla cried out, her hand clasping around the Oracle’s. The power stopped time, slowing everything around them, the room falling away so they stood in the hall with the others, their faces paused in shock. Their surroundings were covered in a misty sheen, their only focus on the eyes of the other. Kyla’s blue to the Oracle’s red, their hands connected and bursting with a gold light that slowly moved up their arms, painting their bodies in the glow. Pain momentarily seared Kyla’s mind, the Oracle’s jaw clenched, and a burning speared her. Just as it had last time, it passed quickly. The pain locked their souls together making Kyla gasp at the fullness that took her. Every bone, muscle and tendon, niggled and pulled, yanking on her insides like a dog on a chew toy. She held on for as long as she could before the pressure built inside to an insurmountable level and tore through her like a wild storm, filling every atom that made up her body. The Oracle dissipated into her, melding into her, fitting neatly into her body where it was always meant to be. Kyla sighed as the Oracle became a part of her, their very essence of being, joining and calming the hurricane within her, settling with an eerie silence that turned time back on around her. Her mind became a more focused, sharper version of itself with a confident instinct that turned in her stomach. She brung herself back to the others, her eyes flicking open as they stared, Zarek’s smile and tender eyes being the thing that stole her attention. The centaur before him had nothing to say, his dark brown eyes wide at witnessing her merge. Zarek wasn’t as paralyzed, he stepped forward and handed her the walkie.

  “Hey baby, I’m fine. The pack left for New Jersey but I’m safe with Shay at the compound.” Her mother’s soft voice came through the walkie, static shrouding it slightly. Kyla grinned and held the walkie, her hands closing over Zarek’s.

  “I’ll come get you when this is over, Mom.” Kyla promised.

  “I know you will, Kyla. Go, defend your people.” Her mother whispered, her voice breaking. Kyla clicked off from her mother with an I love you, letting the centaur take over and talk to Shay while Kyla turned to her friends.

  “That was the single most awesome thing I have seen in my life, there were like two of you” Wyatt grinned. She chuckled at his wonder.

  “Yeah, I guess it is pretty awesome. So, are you guys ready?” She asked determinedly as her stomach turned, and thanks to the Oracle, she knew it was because Byron had begun chanting in black magic. Her friends nodded.

  “Then let’s go.” She said and lead them down to the dungeons.

  ~ 28 ~

  The temperature dropped, the closer they got to the dungeons and when they finally got there, Kyla wasn’t surprised that they could hear chanting, echoing in the halls. She sprinted down to the end of the concrete corridors, bursting through the curved archway and down the stairs, halting in her tracks at the sight of Byron. He was suspended in mid-air, a large shard of glass on the ground with blood surrounding it, being added to from the large cut along Byron’ s hand, tightened in a fist, making a large puddle on the floor of his cell. His dark eyes swirled with power as his voice chanted dark magic, the steam from his words seeping out of the wound on his arm, hissing and snarling, the ground shaking beneath them. Kyla looked down the line of cells, narrowing her eyes as every single imprisoned Elder lay dead in pools of their own blood, glass shards laying by their unmoving hands. The blood from their self-inflicted wounds began to move, joining with Byron’s, swirling in a pool at the foot of the stairs. Kyla blasted her power out at him, trying to stop his chanting but the power deflected as soon as it hit the invisible barrier that was up from the blood and flung back at her, sending her back into the wall behind the stairs with a heavy groan and crumbling concrete. Kyla got abruptly to her feet, stopping Zarek from avenging her, his hand reaching for the sword sheathed in her waist. Byron looked up at them and grinned.

  “You’re too late Oracle. Nice eyes though.” He chuckled, a dark echo in his voice. Kyla snarled at him.

  “All these creatures are dead, the ones who followed you, how could you kill them?” She demanded. Byron paused his chanting and cocked his head to the side.


  “Not dead. Sacrificed. And I didn’t make them do anything. They chose to do it; they knew the role they had and played it willingly.” Byron teased before going back to his chanting, his eyes closing, his chest heaving with a deep breath. When he let it out, the dungeons groaned, and the pool of swirling, bubbling blood on the floor separated into a pentagram, the blood turning dark as black steam poured out. The ground shook violently again, grumbling and quaking beneath their feet before the walls began crumbling. The ceiling cracked and a large chunk fell through the blood on the floor, cracking the pentagram. Instead of breaking it though, the force pierced the middle, the pentagram falling into the ground and opening up into a giant black hole. Electrified power arced from the pit, whipping and snapping against every point in the room as they cowered to avoid the strikes.

  Kyla tried to pull the hole shut but her powers couldn’t get through the barrier. Frustrated she pushed the others back up the stairs, her stomach sensing the destruction wasn’t finished. Just as she had guessed, the stairs crumbled away, falling into the black pit as the cell doors shook and shattered everywhere, the shards of onyx falling into the portal that was opening wider and wider with every piece of debris it swallowed. Byron stopped chanting abruptly, then looked her dead in the eye with a grin so wide she shivered. The mansion groaned from every crevice, loud and thundering in her ear as the steam he had conjured, covered every piece of concrete it could find; the walls, the roof and the floor. Kyla’s stomach threatened to overturn, and she knew it was time to go. She shoved at her friends.

  “Go, get out of here. Hurry!” She screamed as Byron continued grinning. They had just reached the top of the stairs, staring back down at the horror scene that was the dungeons when the mansion gave up the fight, the entire side of it combusted, falling away before their eyes as they ran to take cover, leaping over the holes that crumbled away the ground. The floor, the ceiling, the above floors, every marble gold and white feature turning to debris and falling into the hole in the dungeons, opening up into a bright, snow-white sky outside that told her exactly how screwed they were. The hole swallowed every piece, stretching wider and wider until everything stilled. Centaurs ran in, their thundering hooves coming to a halt as the mansion stopped falling apart. The black portal hissed and steamed, lightning coming back to arc through the open air. The mansion’s side was completely destroyed, the gates and the city completely exposed. And that’s when she felt it. The energy, the power and the distinct crawling through her spine that told her Onyx was close. Kyla moved out from behind the beam she had hid behind, her friends trailing her. She walked forward, he was breaking through and the sight was impossible not to watch. Her eyes glued to the portal as the first glimpses of red came through. His form levitated through the black hole with a grace that just pissed her off. His cowl was over his face, his head down, his blood red cloak was open to reveal a pale chest with a black mark over his heart, except it had changed. Black veins stretched over the entirety of his torso and stomach. Kyla’s fists clenched and her whole body homed in on her power, directing it straight towards Onyx. His head came up, his eyes arresting hers with their black pits, a slow smile curving up his face.

  “Are you ready, Oracle?” Onyx challenged with a deep voice that dripped with a sinister echo.

  “Are you?” She bit before engaging him, her heart pounding as she threw as much of her power into an electrical stream that was deflected with a simple swat of his hand, right before witches and vampires burst through the portal, chaos erupting into the supernatural realm. Creatures of all kinds; Falcons, shadow demons, giants, goblins, witches, vampires, assassins all emptied from the pit, and she wasn’t sure if they were from the human realm or whether Onyx had brung them through using his own grip on the portal but either way, the creatures came at them with snarls and battle cries. The centaurs rushed in, blocking their advances, Zarek began swinging his sword, backing himself with his elemental powers as Byron came at him. Wyatt went straight in with his speed, throwing creatures away with telekinesis. Sky attacked the shadow demons with Kasyn, keeping their impossible-to-beat forms out of the way by flashing light into their world and cutting through them with the immortal blade that Kasyn wielded expertly. And while her friends helped, she went for Onyx, her powers connecting with his skin more times than she had hoped for and yet he never went down. Neither did she though and she clung to that strength. Her adrenalin thundering through her, Kyla summoned her immortal blade, swinging at him, but he blasted her back with a shove of wind, his form over her to slash at her arms with long black claws. She kicked him away from her, his form regaining elegance quickly as he swung at her with a dark sword, entwined with dark twists of onyx shards encrusted on the hilt, that he held with leather gloves. Kyla swung at him with her blade, over and over again, using her powers to get in blows as well and his face kept smirking as he came back at her every time. He was so strong, and the force of his attacks were intense, her body feeling every hit down to her bones. He sent an electric bolt at her which she cringed at and sidestepped, just in time to hear Zarek’s grunt of pain. She looked towards the sound, rushing in when she saw that he was stuck in a battle with a vampire who held him tightly as a falcon stared him down, Zarek’s sword clattered to the ground. Kyla threw her hand out, blue flame flowing easily, the connection to the hostile power quick and easy, the foundation of trust already made. It attacked the falcon, taking him down as she thrusted her immortal blade into the vampires neck. Zarek broke away, thanking her breathily before shoving her to the side.

  “Watch out!” He yelled, his sword blocking the ball of electricity that had been aimed at her by Onyx who was sauntering closer.

  “Blue fire. Impressive Oracle. That stuff won’t let even I, tame it.” He admitted through a clenched jaw.

  “Because you don’t know loyalty, the fire needs it, needs to be feed and guess what Onyx?” She glared, the flames dancing over her knuckles “It’s hungry.” She bit sending the flames shooting towards him. It almost made contact, but he swatted the fire bullets to the side, their whines getting angrier. She forced more out, it obeyed making contact and smothering his arm. Kyla felt the fire’s content mood as it ate but Onyx snarled charging her, not even trying to shake off the fire. His iron clad grip locked on her neck, the blue fire brushing against her, burning as she screamed.

  “Might want to rethink the fire, Oracle.” He snapped, his eyes daring her to keep it there, he would let it kill her. Zarek went to stop him when Byron was there, throwing Zarek aside. But Zarek was quick, he rolled and charged Byron again who kept him distracted so he couldn’t get to her. She bucked and kicked until she couldn’t handle the pain and called the fire back. Onyx’s arm was a mess of scarred, burnt flesh but he didn’t even seem to notice. Instead he launched her body across the room like a rag doll. Her back bowed against the pillar, her head hitting the concrete as she hit the ground. She groaned and pulled herself up just as Onyx came through, gliding over to her with his annoying grace. His chest moving up and down gave him away though. He was getting as worn as she was. She wiped the blood from her head and stood before him, her eyes glancing over his shoulder to see the faces of her friends who were sweating, bleeding and fighting for their home. She would live up to that.

  “You won’t win, Oracle. Give up now.” He tried but Kyla shook her head. The Oracle power still burned through her veins and it wasn’t spent yet.

  “You know that’s not going to happen.” Kyla defended. Onyx grinned and came at her again. He hit her with everything he had this time, determined to take her down and she had to admit, he was formidable. He looked scrawny but he was wearing her down. His powers kept coming, never slowing, never lessening in intensity. Sweat dripped from his forehead but blood dripped from hers. His wounds healed instantly, and he threw her around the half alive room of the mansion like he was barely trying, but she was. She was giving him everything she had, hitting back with as much force as she could. Fire, earth, wind, water, electr
icity, paralytic transferred between them, she tried teleportation, but he predicted where she would land and had his dagger waiting, the sharp blade piercing the flesh he had already scarred. She clutched it, crying out before swiping out with her immortal blade, his stomach taking the slice. He hissed, faltering back before his eyes narrowed. That had pissed him off, but it hadn’t healed. The sight gave her a second wind and she lunged at him with her blade. In her fight with Onyx, she hadn’t realised how spread out the creatures had become, her friends and the centaurs were being forced into the city through the gates as the creatures who went unchallenged, ran through buildings, setting them alight and looking for victims. Kyla gritted her teeth; she had to end this. He was taking over and she had to stop him. She swung her sword again, narrowly missing him. He shook his head then clamped his hand over her wrist, knocking her back with a headbutt, forcing her wrist to drop the sword. She caught herself before she fell and only just recalled the sword before Onyx picked it up. She had just pulled it back to her hand, her attention on the blade so she didn’t see him coming for her. By the time she did-it was too late. He had her. Pain exploded from her throat as the slashes from his long talons poured blood from her neck, spilling down the front of her shirt. Her body seized as he grinned. She was frozen, her body draining of life as his eyes bared down on her. She dropped to her knees. She heard the faint sound of Zarek’s strangled cry but there was so much fog and heaviness in her veins that she couldn’t get to it. Kyla’s eyelids fluttered closed as she crumpled to the ground, looking out at the others fighting, still wrapped up in their own battles but even to Kyla’s slowly drooping eyes, it was obvious they were outnumbered. The numbers they needed were on the other side of the borders. Locked there by her and her stupid plans that always ended the same way, her getting stabbed and outsmarted. This time was no exception, well except that she hadn’t been stabbed, she had been ripped open. Warm blood pooled from her wounds, the liquid curling around her cheek where it lay on the cold concrete. Onyx came over her, his face smirking as he watched her die.