The Last Oracle

"Get down on your knees bitch!" she could hear the palace guards order her, but they sounded a million miles away. She stared at her hands in disbelief; blood dripped from the knife and made a loud splash on the floor. Was she capable of murder?

"DROP THE KNIFE!" another voice called.

Even as she stared in horror at the scene before her, she could feel her eyes swelling, the blood oozing down her cheek, her ears ringing in an almost deafening roar. The knife slips from her hand and falls to the floor. She had just killed the demon that had beaten her bloody, and he had made it clear that he planned to violate her. Looking up she meets the angry faces of the palace guards, all weapons were drawn, and pointed directly at her. There had to be a dozen of them, all sporting the same black leather armor with a blazing orange phoenix on the chest. It was the insignia of Lord Yutaka, the dead demon man at her feet.

"On your knees! NOW!" an angry voice rings out again.

Slowly she sinks to her knees in the pool of the dead demons blood. She instantly feels the wetness of Yutakas blood soak through her already blood splattered white gown. Within seconds, the guard crosses the room and snatches a handful of her long brown hair. Yanking her head backwards, he sneers as she yelps in shock.

"You murderous bitch! You will pay for killing our Lord!" he hisses between clenched teeth.

The blood soaked girl just stares at him with a look of misery, as he yanks her to her feet and shoves her against the stone palace wall. She cries out in pain as her forehead smacks the stonewall with brutal force, causing her vision to blur briefly. The outraged guard lets loose of her hair and roughly grabs her arms pulling them behind her back; swiftly snapping cold iron shackles around her small wrists.

"Take her to the dungeons with the rest of the scum." He growls. Two of the guards rush forward, take her by each arm, and drag the girl from the room.

The captain of the guard remains behind with the dead body of Lord Yutaka and waits until he can no longer hear footsteps in the hallway. Walking over to the dead Lord, he bends down and flips the man over to his back, revealing the fatal wound. "Foolish man." he smirks to himself. "Killed by an orphaned whore."

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After a long flight of stairs and two locked doors later, the guards slam the metal door to the dungeon cell. Leaving the scared and injured girl behind it sprawled out on the cold stone floor. Trying to sit up she groans in pain as her head begins to throb unforgivably. Blinking back the pain, she drags herself to her feet and stumbles to the door. A small window with three bars lets in the torch light from the dank outer hallway. Being almost to short to see out the window she is forced to stand on the tips of her toes to see out. The hallway was empty; the guards had already retreated to where ever they go. Turning around her eyes adjust to the barely lit cell, there was a small dirty looking mat in the corner, and next to it was a small iron chamber pot.

"At least I'm alive." She whispers to herself.

Taking a spot at the back wall, she sits down and leans back against it. It was rather uncomfortable with her hands shackled behind her back so for a moment she concentrates on wiggling them up under her bottom and around her legs.

"That's much better." she sighs and leans back again.

Across the cell, she could just make out her reflection in the shiny metal door. Her long brown hair was tangled and full of blood, both her eyes were swollen and the skin around them turning an ugly shade of purple. Blood dripped down the middle of her forehead covering her demon markings and for a moment, she was not sure whose blood it was, hers or Lord Yutakas. Quickly she tries to wipe it away, but only smears it. She stares at her mark under the smear of blood; it was the mark of her clan. Two burgundy-colored crescent moons back to back and between them a small blue diamond. It was a sign that she was from a powerful clan of demons. Demons that had once been feared for their ability to see the future and a score of other talents that ranged from mind reading to killing scores of people with just a thought. Nevertheless, that had been over two hundred years ago, when she was just an infant. She had never met her parents, and had grown up in an run down orphanage for parentless demon children. Sighing she pushes her hair back from her head and probes the tender flesh with her fingers.

She smiled when she thought about the orphanage though it was her home. She had lived there for close to two hundred and fifty years, her entire life. On her two hundredth birthday, she had the choice to leave the crumbling place and go out on her own. Instead, she had opted to stay and help take care of the younger children. So many of them needed her help, her shoulder to cry on. Being an orphan was hard, but there was strength in numbers and the orphanage had lots of those. They had all learned to depend on each other and Matron Phyllis. She was a good-hearted woman, gentle and caring, the kind of person that should run an orphanage full of brokenhearted lonely children. The Matron had raised her, so now she felt as if she were her adopted mother and she was a lot of the reason she had stayed.

Again, her head pulsed in pain.

"What have I gotten myself into?" She asks her distorted reflection.

Not wanting to answer her own question she yawns, and then cringes when it causes her head to throb again. Trying to get comfortable on the cold stone floor was totally impossible, so she finally gave up and decided to close her eyes and try to rest.

When she awoke, it was to the sound of a key turning in her cell door. She sat up and tried to blink back the haze of her interrupted sleep. The handle turned and the door swung open as the captain of the guard stepped through. He had a very smug look on his ugly face.

"On your feet bitch." The captain ordered her.

"No." She replied defiantly. "If you want me you will have to come and get me."

The captain smiled, "My pleasure." He strode across the room and reached down for her. He never saw that she had managed to get her arms free of her back and that she was wielding the chain of her shackles as a weapon. With one quick movement, she swung the chains with all the strength left in her small body. It connected with his face sending him backwards with a scream of shock and pain. He landed with a hard thud between her and the cell door. Spotting her chance to escape she leapt to her feet and scrambled for the door. The captains' large hand closed around her ankle as she tried to sprint past him causing her to lose balance and fall to the stone dungeon floor. For a few seconds she struggled to take a breathe. The captain started to drag her back towards him; she chanced a glance back at him. Now on his stomach, he reached out with his other hand and it clamped down on her calf. He sneered in victory. Panic swells in her as she kicked out with her free leg, her foot landing directly between his eyes. She heard the distinct sound of his nose crunching under her heel. His grip on her ankle loosened and she watched as his eyes rolled backwards in his head. She had knocked him unconscious. Dashing out into the hall, she was surprised that there were no other guards rushing to their captains' rescue. She raced for the outer dungeon door praying silently in her head that it was unlocked. To her amazement, it was. Yanking the heavy iron door open she peers out into the hall, once again there was no one to be found.

"This is too easy." she noted to herself.

The lack of guards disturbed her. It should not be this easy to escape from a palace dungeon. Pulling the door shut behind her quietly she looks up the hallway and spots the stairway leading up into the palace. It was the only way out.

"Great." she mumbles to herself as she forces her feet to shuffle in that direction. If she ran into anyone on the steps, she would be caught for sure. She did not want to be thrown back into that cell.

Taking one-step at a time, she climbed the staircase, careful to hold her chains close against her so that they would not clink and give her away. As she crested the last step, she could hear voices. Peeping around the doorway a large room came into view. Elegant tapestries hung from the walls depicting naked maidens riding barebacked on white horses and several other various disturbing scenes. There were huge plush armchairs scattered across the room, tables with huge bowls of fruit stood in front of them. Across the room was an open door, she saw a man pass by on the other side wearing a white smock. The clinking of pots and pans could be heard over the chorus of laughter from the men inside. Deciding that escaping through the kitchen was not an option she scanned the rest of the room until she spotted another door, but it was closed. Glancing back at the kitchen door she bolted for the other door. It was a large door and it's hinges were made from iron, the handle wasn't the kind that turned, but just a huge iron loop. Grabbing the iron loop she tugged at the door but it did not budge. She almost panicked. Again she tugged this time using her foot as leverage the door creaked loudly in protest as it popped from it's jam. A light breeze blew past her letting her know that this door lead to the outer grounds of the palace. She let out a sigh of relief as she pushed the door farther back to reveal a small courtyard. The sun was blazing through the clouds but it was still cold. She quickly looked around the courtyard for her escape route. To her left there was a path that wound around a huge display of holly bushes, to her right the path lead to yet another door. She did not want to be back inside so she chose the path to the left.

She had to duck behind the holly bushes twice to not be seen by palace servants she found herself standing in front of a two story bricked structure. The sign on the door simply said "Servant Quarters." She looked behind her for any other direction to go, but she had not passed any other path. Skirting around the buildings side she came to a high stonewall, there was maybe two feet of space between it and the servant quarters.

"Damn!" she cursed under her breathe. Just as she thought that her luck had run dry she spotted what looked like a thick rope hanging from one of the higher windows behind the building. A spark of hope flared up in her as she proceeded to squeeze herself between the wall and the building. A few times she almost got stuck but she forced herself forward until her hands closed around the rope. For a moment she wondered if she had enough strength to haul herself up and over the wall. She looked up and saw that she would have to pull herself up at least fifteen feet. Somewhere on the other side of the building she heard shouts ring out into the chilled morning air.

"The Oracle has gotten loose!" She heard a gruff mans voice shout.

That was all she needed to hear, she reached deep inside herself and began to drag herself up the wall.

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Gideon had just finished pulling his black leather pants on when there was a knock at his door.

"What is it?" He growled, he was not in the mood for any disturbances this early in the morning.

The door swings open and Sebastian steps into the room, Gideon eyes him with distaste.

"My lord, there is a messenger here from the council." He announced.

Picking up his swords he slides them in place at his side.

"What does he want?" Gideon watches as the short little man twitches and wipes a hand across his baldhead.

"He wouldn't say, he was instructed to only give you the message my lord." Sebastian quickly replied, he kept his eyes on the floor not daring to look his lord in the face.

Gideon turns and takes a quick glance at himself in the huge ornate mirror on his bedchamber wall. Running a hand through his thick waist length black hair he spins and walks past Sebastian into the hallway.

"Show him to my study." He snaps in an irritated tone.

Sebastian bows and scurries down the opposite direction to fetch the messenger.

Flinging open the door to his study Gideon stalks around his huge oak desk and glares down at the stack of parchments that has doubled in size since yesterday. He loathed going through the expenses of his lands, and he always put it off until it could not be ignored any longer. Judging by the stack of paper, he was close to that point. Sinking down into his chair Gideon gazes out over his study, two very large bookcases lined each wall and were almost bursting at the brim with various books. Sighing, he looks back down at the mound of work that had accumulated over the last few days.

"At this rate I will never get my morning rounds done." He complains to no one but himself. After a few minutes of idly thumbing through the stack there is a swift knock on the study door.

"Enter." the annoyed Lord announced.

Sebastian pushes the door open to reveal a tall human male, wearing the plain teal colored robes of the Demon High Council. Gideon sized him up for a moment, the man was nearly as tall as he was, which would make him around six foot three. Neatly combed short brown hair, and beady looking brown eyes to match. Standing Gideon motions the man to the chair on the other side of his desk.

"Have a seat... what should I call you?" Gideon took his seat and waited for his reply.

"You may call me Jared my lord." his voice was an octave higher than Gideon would have expected.

Pushing aside his looming paper work, Gideon leans slightly over his desk resting his elbows on its smooth surface.

"Now, what is so important that the Council dared sending you to see me?" Gideon got straight to the point he saw no need in formalities. He despised humans for the most part and he was a tad irate that he was going to be late for his rounds. Jared shifted uncomfortably in his chair under his scrutiny.

"The Demon High Council has requested an audience with you, there is a pressing matter that they think you should handle." The messenger stated flatly. To this Gideon raised and eyebrow then shook his head.

"I am not interested, Keioto knows that I am not at his beckon call." Gideon snapped.

Again Jared shifted his weight in the chair, but he drew in a deep breathe and pressed on.

"Lord Yutaka has been murdered. His palace is in chaos, the Council sees fit to summon you to help locate the person responsible."

Anger flashed across Gideon's face.

"How dare they assume that I care!" he roared. "The fact that Yutaka has finally met his match is no concern of mine!"

Jared flinched openly at Gideon's obvious outrage.

"If that is all that you have come to tell me than you should leave. I do not care, nor will I come running because the old halfwits of that council cannot control this themselves." Gideon shoves his chair back and stands.

Becoming slightly nervous by the lords angry outburst Jared stands as well.

"They told me to tell you... that his murderer was a woman." He replied quickly.

Gideon grunts in disapproval. .

"Even more reason for me not to care." He hissed, he was passed being annoyed now, he was down right pissed off.

The council meant nothing to him, he was easily more powerful than the entire lot of them. Who were they to summon him? Did they really think that he would stand for such ignorance?

"His murderer was a woman of the Oracle clan." Jared took a step back not sure at how Lord Gideon would react to this, and at this moment he was terrified of him.

Gideon looked shocked for a brief moment, as what Jared said sunk in. His expression quickly switched back to anger.

"Impossible." He growled. "That clan has been extinct for over two hundred years, not one of them survived the war." Gideon turned that thought over in his head for a moment. The Oracle clan had been very powerful then, it just might be possible that one of them escaped the wrath of Yutaka's armies.

"My lord, it has been confirmed by the matron of the orphanage the girl lived in. She is young, merely two hundred and fifty years old." Jared continued on like a trooper. "She was found over Yutaka's dead body holding the knife that inflicted the fatal wound, she was tossed in the dungeons but the next morning she had vanished."

Gideon began to pace. His thoughts were racing. An orphaned child of a powerful extinct clan. This he had to see for himself, if it this murderer was indeed of the Oracle clan she was the only one left. Once word spread she would be hunted down and killed, or used to some ones advantage.

"Very well. If this is true.." He turned and met Jared's eyes, "Then I should be the one to locate her. Tell your damned council to expect me before dawn of the next day."

Jared was relived to be dismissed and he nearly ran from the room to deliver Lord Gideon's response to the High Council.

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Once the girl had made it to the top of the wall she was almost out of strength. Looking down she saw nothing but trees on the other side. None of them were close enough to jump too.

"Damn it all to hell!" She was running out of time, it had taken her longer than she expected to climb the rope. Her shackles had slowed her considerably. The echoing sounds of men searching the palace grounds were loud. If she didn't move now she would be caught. The rope would only help her for a few feet at the most, she would still have to drop about twelve feet. From behind her she heard someone gasp.

"What are you doing up there?" she heard a woman's voice call to her. Looking over her shoulder she saw an middle aged woman with black hair leaning out of a second story window of the servant quarters.

"You might break your neck if you jump from this high up!" She continued on even though the girl had not responded to her.

Looking back to the other side of the wall the girl shrugged.

"It's better than the dungeons." She whispered as she tightened her grip on her rope and jumped.

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