Everyone had been rushing around for hours, with no warning at all. It had started out just like any other normal day before the clouds rolled in and the screams of terror began. Since then Catisa had not ceased to direct the flow of staff members and guards wherever they lacked it. Constant running around and shouting took its toll, half a day passed and evening descended, though it looked no different than the daytime at this point. Fires illuminated the horizon, places where the scourge had broken through their ranks.

    “Miss Wells?” One of the chambermaids paused her bustling about to peer at the aspiring sorceress inquisitively, “Are you alright?”

    The truth was she had felt light-headed all day and hadn’t eaten a thing, but in the state of things she hardly felt like she could eat. “I’m fine, thank you! Please, keep…” Her breath escaped her and the world began to spin as her legs gave out. The chambermaid let out a gasp and caught her just before she hit the ground, though the mage was out cold. After the woman dragged her off to the side of the courtyard Catisa stirred once more. She drew a deep breath and jumped to her feet.

    “Miss Wells, I really must insist you take it easy!” The older woman cautioned.

   “Yes, yes, please come join me. Order whatever you like.” His voice was deep and inviting as he looked to Dairon, “I apologize if I caused you concern earlier. Your guards haven’t been so inclined to grant me an audience and when I saw you all here I thought I couldn’t waste such an opportunity!” A belly laugh escaped the old man as the girls quietly shifted their way over to join him, “But enough about that, I’m sure you have a lot of questions.”

   “How do you know I’m The Oracle?” Catisa blurted out before her partner could give her snide remark, who opted to simply scowl and fold her arms as she stared him down. “What does that even mean, anyway? And why me?!” Her voice shook as she demanded answers and only paused when the older gentleman held up a hand as though to interject.

   “Well, Miss Wells I presume,” Waren started as he leaned forward with one arm braced against the table to hold himself up. “I do not know why any of us were chosen, but I do know that you are the anchor, the connection to this realm from the other side. Those nightmares that plague you are visions of a future yet to come and it is my goal to prevent it. I too was visited by a shadowy figure who told me I had an important role to play. To gather you up with the other servants and prevent this prophecy from taking root. To which I might add we should waste no time in beginning our search for.”

   “Are you kidding?!” Dairon spat, “You expect us to just give you some kind of free pass because you claim to be some kind of Prophet?” The leather wrapped around the woman’s knuckles tightened audibly. Catisa’s brow knit with worry and reached out with one hand to attempt to help calm her partner.

   Waren sighed as he was about to plead his case yet again to the young monk, but found himself cut off by the mage herself who turned to look her partner in the eyes as she spoke, “I believe him.” She started, “This cloaked figure keeps appearing in each and every dream no matter how the dream may differ from the last. Every time he appears he tells me to ‘Awaken’ and that it’s time. It has to be related, there’s no way this could just be a coincidence.”

   The old man caught himself in awe of the presence that was emitted from the petite mage in that moment and had to wonder what potential truly lay beneath that well kept shell. Some deep power that resonated of something darker, just on the edges of her mind and out of reach. Dairon huffed and offered Catisa a pleading look before she finally nodded her resignation, “Alright. I trust you.”

   “Thank you,” The aspiring sorceress grinned and turned around to address Waren once more, “So where do we start?”

  He was taken aback by the sudden change in the course of the conversation, but it appeared that at last he had found the one. The true Oracle. “Well,” A smile found its way to his aged features as he settled back into his chair once more. “There’s the trouble. Outside of locating you, I’ve had little luck finding the others. The Seeker would probably know where to find them, but that trail fell cold long ago. I have heard a rumor of a Kaldorei that calls herself The Hand gone rogue in Darkshore, however. That’s where I was going to go next after I found you, but now I am beginning to think this might be a job better suited for younger… more versatile hands.” As he spoke he gestured toward the pair of women knowingly.

   “Wha- I don’t know, is that all we have to go on?” Catisa asked with an arched brow after exchanging glances with Dairon.

  “I heard the tale from one of those Kaldorei Sentinels. I expect you’ll gather more information by asking the locals, but I urge caution… The Hand is the most fierce of the Servants and the most loyal. Their role is that of the Enforcer.”

    Tattered ears twitched as she heard leather soles steadily descend the seldom used staircase that lead down to the cells. It wasn’t yet time for a meal and as far as she could tell she was the only one down here. This visit was unscheduled, she surmised, though as the footfalls grew more near a fanged snarl parted her lips. She may be blind, but her sense of sight was more keen than others in certain ways. For she saw the energy of one’s being and the energy that flows through all life, but this presence set her on edge.

    “Well, I must say I expected more from the one called The Hand.” The husky deep voice of a male rang forth once he had stepped into the chamber. She did not need to see his smug expression to know it was there as it dripped from his very tone. 

    “What do you want?” She snapped at the man.

    “My, what temper!” A hearty laugh escaped him as he regarded her curiously, “I am Waren Fitzgerald, the Prophet that The Oracle spoke of and the keeper of your Prophecy.” After a brief pause to look her over her continued, “Ah, I see. You traded your service for sight. It must not be easy to see the truth that others are blind to.”

    Lilyda let out a low growl, she did not like being kept as a spectacle to be observed from within a cage.

    “Fret not, my fanged friend. I only came down here to see you with my own eyes.”

    “Satisfied?” She spat.