Updated Nov 20, 2025 • ~6 min read
The Oracle arrived on the third day.
Nobody had summoned her. She simply appeared at the monastery gates—an ancient woman with eyes that reflected stars, walking without aid despite looking like she should barely be able to stand.
The Council ushered her inside with reverence. Oracles were rare, and this one—known only as The Seer—was legendary. She’d predicted the marking thirty years ago. Had warned of the Void incursion when no one else believed.
If she was here now, it meant something.
Liana was in the training yard when word spread. The Seer wanted to speak with the Catalyst.
“That’s not ominous at all,” Liana muttered.
Kaelen appeared beside her, always tracking her location through the bond. “You don’t have to go.”
“If an Oracle specifically asks for me, I think refusing is a bad idea.”
They found The Seer in the monastery’s chapel, sitting before an altar covered in star charts. She didn’t look up when they entered.
“The Catalyst and her Starborn,” The Seer said. Her voice was like dry leaves rustling. “Sit. We have much to discuss and little time.”
Liana and Kaelen sat. Through the bond, Liana felt Kaelen’s wariness.
“You’ve come to tell us when we die,” Kaelen said flatly.
“I’ve come to tell you when you must choose.” The Seer finally looked up, and her star-filled eyes fixed on Liana. “The Void will attack in three days. Not here—the city. They’ve been gathering their forces, waiting for the marked to leave. Once you’re gone, they’ll tear reality apart and consume everything.”
“Then we go back,” Liana said immediately. “Defend the city.”
“That’s what they expect. What they want.” The Seer spread her hands across the star charts. “The Void Lords aren’t mindless. They’re strategic. If you return to defend the city, you’ll be fighting on their terms, scattered and reactive. You’ll lose.”
“And if we don’t go back?” Kaelen demanded. “Let millions of people die?”
“No.” The Seer traced a pattern on the charts. “You go to the source. The original rift—the first tear between worlds, opened by Void Lords centuries ago and sealed by the first Starborn. It’s been weakening. That’s why the Wraiths could come through. Why the marks appeared. The universe itself is calling for defenders.”
Liana’s mind raced. “If we seal the original rift—”
“All the others collapse. Every tear between worlds closes. The Void Lords are banished permanently.” The Seer’s expression was grim. “But the power required is immense. More than any one person should be asked to channel.”
“The prophecy,” Liana whispered. “That’s why the Catalyst burns.”
“Yes.” The Seer’s eyes softened with something like pity. “One person, channeling the power of all marked bonds simultaneously, directing it into the original rift. It will seal the breach. But the cost—”
“Will kill her,” Kaelen finished, his voice hard. “We already knew that. What we need is a way around it.”
“There is no way around it. Only through it.” The Seer looked between them. “But burning doesn’t always mean dying. Fire transforms. Changes. Transcends.”
“You’re saying she might survive?”
“I’m saying the prophecy shows possibilities, not certainties. The Catalyst burns—that’s fixed. What rises from those ashes? That depends on choices made in the moment.”
Liana’s hands were shaking. “Three days. We have three days to figure out how to survive the unsurvivable.”
“Three days to gather your strength. To solidify the bonds. To prepare.” The Seer stood slowly. “The original rift is in the Deadlands—the wasteland north of the city. You’ll need to journey there, all the marked together. Stand at the center. Open the network. And burn bright enough to seal a wound in reality itself.”
“And if we fail?” Kaelen asked.
“Then the Void consumes this world, and eventually, all worlds. The barriers between realities collapse. Everything ends.” The Seer’s expression was ancient, tired. “No pressure.”
“You’re hilarious,” Liana said weakly.
The Seer smiled—actually smiled. “I’ve lived too long to sugarcoat apocalypses. Yes, this is impossible. Yes, you’ll probably die. But you’re the Catalyst. Impossible is what you do.”
She left then, departing as mysteriously as she’d arrived. Liana and Kaelen sat in the chapel, processing.
“Three days,” Liana finally said. “We have three days until I—”
“Don’t.” Kaelen’s hand found hers. “Don’t say it like it’s inevitable.”
“The Seer just confirmed—”
“The Seer said you burn. She also said what comes after depends on choices.” Kaelen turned her to face him. “We make the right choices. We find a way.”
“How? I’ll be channeling power from thirty-seven bonds. That’s—that’s beyond anything we’ve tested. Even if I can hold it without exploding, when I direct it all into the rift—”
“I’ll be there.” Kaelen’s eyes blazed silver. “Anchoring you. When you start to burn, I’ll pull you back.”
“That could kill you too.”
“Then we die together.” He said it simply, like it was obvious. “I told you before—if you burn, I burn. That hasn’t changed.”
Liana wanted to argue. Wanted to tell him he was being stupid, sacrificing himself wouldn’t help. But through the bond, she felt his absolute conviction. He meant every word.
“I don’t want to die,” she whispered.
“Then we’ll find a way not to.” He pulled her into his arms, and she went, burying her face in his chest. “Three days. We’ll spend them preparing. Training. Making sure you’re as strong as possible going in.”
“And if that’s not enough?”
“Then we improvise. We always do.”
That night, Magistrate Voss called another assembly. The Seer’s warning had spread, and everyone needed to hear the plan.
“We leave tomorrow,” Voss announced. “Journey to the Deadlands. Position ourselves at the original rift. And when the Void attacks the city—when they commit their forces—we strike at the source.”
“We’re using the city as bait?” Maya asked, horrified.
“We’re using the Void’s strategy against them. They think we’ll defend the city. Instead, we end the threat permanently.” Voss looked to Liana. “Everything depends on the Catalyst. On all of you working as one.”
Liana stood, feeling the weight of seventy-four pairs of eyes on her. “I know you’re all scared. I am too. But we knew this was coming. We’ve been training for this. And tomorrow, we’ll do what the universe marked us to do.” She took a breath. “We’ll save the world. Together.”
The marked erupted in determined agreement. Not cheers—this wasn’t something to celebrate. But acceptance. Resolve.
They had three days.
And they’d make them count.
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