Book of Darkness
Chapter 4: Oracle’s Origin
Shanara, Helaine, and Score stared at Oracle. “You know about this Inter-Realm place?” Helaine asked.
Oracle nodded, his face drawn and grim. “I should. It’s where I’m from.”
The three magic-users stared at him in shock and surprise. “What?” Score whispered hoarsely. “Where you’re…from?”
“Yes.” Oracle sighed and massaged his temples, as if he had a great headahce. “You already know that I don’t truly exist on this plane, right? That’s because my physical body is trapped in the Inter-Realm.
“You see, several centuries ago, before the Triad came to the Diadem, I lived on a planet called Orisai.” Shanara’s eyes widened, but he held up his hand to keep her quiet. “I wasn’t human, so I couldn’t manipulate magic, but I could travel through Portals because I was of magic – sort of like the unicorns.”
“You look human to me,” Score said dryly.
“I’m not,” Oracle replied. “In any case, I traveled through the Portal one day, but never made it to my destination. Instead, I found myself trapped in the realm that one travels through to get to their destinations – that was the Inter-Realm.
“There is no easy way out of the Inter-Realm, and I lacked the courage to try to leave. So when the ones who ruled the Inter-Realm, called the Omnipotent (and they’re a strangeness unto themselves), asked me to choose, I chose the second option. Stay in the Inter-Realm, and become a guardian.
“I was placed in a crystal, where I stayed in sleep until I was called on. I’m not sure how much time went by – I imagine it was years on the Diadem, but time had no true meaning there – but soon I felt the pulling of the Oracle spell that Eremin cast. She drew my spirit to this plane, and I became Oracle.” He sighed and closed his eyes. “And you know the rest.”
“So Pixel was pulled out of this plane to the Inter-Realm by these Omnipotent?” Helaine asked uncertainly.
“No,” Oracle said, shaking his head emphatically, “and that is the strangeness of this. The Omnipotent never choose people to come to the Inter-Realm – they merely wait for someone to become trapped. My guess is that whoever took Pixel through the Portal had nothing to do with the Omnipotent, but somehow, Pixel was trapped in the Inter-Realm. I imagine his kidnapper is beside himself at this latest development.”
“So…there’s no way to get Pixel?” Shanara asked, getting to the heart of the situation. “You said that there is no easy way out.”
“There’s no easy way out,” Oracle said, “but there is a way out.
“It’s called the Void.”
The mere name sent chills down the three’s spines. “That was ominous,” muttered Score. “So what’s the Void?”
“The Void is exactly what it sounds like,” Oracle replied, “a void. There is a gateway in the Inter-Realm that leads to it, and nothing else. If you walk around to the other side of the gateway, without actually entering, all you will see is a giant stone slab. It’s almost as if the entrance is a Portal itself – a Portal to a land of terror. Many have tried to enter – most return to the Inter-Realm too frightened to go on.”
“But Pixel is one of the Chosen Three,” Blink piped up from his place in Shanara’s arms. “He’ll be fine.”
“Magic is forbidden in the Void,” Oracle said gravely.
“What?!” Score shot to his feet, completely ignoring how tired he was. “Oracle, just how dangerous is this place?”
“Remember Zarathan?” Oracle asked.
Helaine paled. “Yes.”
“Imagine a thousand Zarathans,” he said, “and then triple that danger. That, my friends, is how dangerous the Void is. And that’s just what I’ve heard from those who returned to the Inter-Realm from there. Those who haven’t – well, we’ll never know what it was they faced.”
“Then Pixel…” Score looked at Helaine. She bit her lip and couldn’t hide the fear on her face.
“If Pixel is truly as smart as we give him credit to be,” Oracle said softly, “he will stay far away from the Void.”
