---Silves POV---
Thoughts of Orin Distracted me. As we swam back to the Academy this was way to close. Yet to think that the Land Oracle was here. This close, it was sural. Yet the other fool was saying that he was the Oracle. There was so much left to learn, thinking about what we would need to do. Maybe asking Saous to assist us would be a good idea, it would be good to have the assistance of a graduated triton. If we could help her tap into her latent talent it would only be more beneficial.
“Silves?” Echo asked as we crossed the academy grounds.
“I’m fine, just thinking about Orin. to think we would meet the Land Oracle so soon. There is still so much to learn. But how did he have a book, was it like ours and if so why was he not known to be the oracle.”
“Silves, calm down. I am sure there is much that is confusing. But there is still much to do.” Echo said. “We are still only first years, there is nothing we can do yet. We cannot even leave this academy without permission.”
“I know, but how are we even supposed to do any of this. It makes no sense.” I said softly.
“Saous, I’m glad to see you with them, you need to report to the headmaster.” a triton said swimming up to us.
“What is going on?” Saous asked.
“I don’t know. But I don’t think it’s good,” he said leading us towards the Headmaster.
We were ushered into the room, the triton, stood guard outside the door. Saous, Echo and I were alone in the office with the headmaster.
“Saous, I have a mission for you,” he said, he was an ancient merman.
“Yes, sir?” She said standing at attention.
“You are to guide these two north, to the arctic. You will guard them as an official escort and guard for the duration of their stay.” his voice was stronger than you would expect from someone who was so old.
“What happened?”
“Those jerks are pushing for Echo and Silves to be expelled from the school and the community. Saying that not only did they cheat on the fight, but they attempted to kill their kids. Sadly they are a very influential family. Some of the others are saying they should be killed for this, trying to butter up to the family. There are still a number of Nobel families that argue against this, of course. Mine is making the most noise, but we are not as strong as we once were. I am old and have no heirs. To ensure their safety while this calms down sending Silves to the north seems the wisest thing seeing as he seems proficient with Ice magic.”
“I understand.”
“I am not a fool. I remember the old ways. Though it has been centuries, my family was very powerful in its time. That song is something I never thought to hear again. My Great grandmother would sing to the tides, it sounded very similar. Thank you for that.” he said a tear falling from his eye. “To hear her song again, even if it was slightly different means so much to me. I don’t know why you know that song, or where you learned it.”
“I don’t know. I didn’t even know I was singing.”
“Sir who was your grandmother?”
“She was the Last Oracle of Delphi. She lost her powers long before she died, but she never stopped singing or telling me of the old ways.”
“I met her in a vision, after finding the book she left for the future. It held all of the knowledge about the magic she knew. I am her successor, the heir to her knowledge. Saous,” I said she nodded and left the room. Returning shortly with the book.
“This is her legacy, Echo has been chosen as my guardian. Saous can hear the book because she is a female triton. I don’t think you will be able to hear her words, but her legacy lives and I will do my best to honor her.”
He looked at the book, tears falling, “She told me once of a book she had created, but never did I expect to see it.” Reaching into a drawer he pulled out a bracelet. Tapping the book to it, the book vanished.
He handed the bracelet to me. “I packed this full to try and help prepare you for the journey. Place a drop of blood on the bracelet and it will bind it to you. Which will keep others from being able to access its contents. I want you all to leave at first light, no one is to know you are leaving, I don’t want them trying to cause problems when you are out in the open.”
“Thank you sir,” I said softly.
“If you are my grandmother’s heir then you are mine as well. The arctic mer are much more chaotic than us. They have to be, the waters there are hostile, and silves, most of them are omnivores. They eat what they can find. Even other unfortunate mer should it come to that.”
“I understand sir,” I said quietly, shaking a little.
“Now go. And remember silence. I will inform your families two days after you leave. That way if something slips hopefully you will be far enough away to be safe.”
We left the room, Saous guided us back to our dorm, informing us she would be back at first light. The night passed quickly, both Echo and I too nervous to sleep too much. This would be the first long trip, I’d ever been on just before the sun rose, Saous lead us from the academy.
The first few hours were uneventful. As the sun rose into the sky, I drifted closer to the surface, enjoying the feeling of the sun. Saous and Echo swam on either side of me. They seemed much more on guard than normal. As it was about time for lunch an island came into view. With much prodding from me, we crawled up onto the beach and ate our meal.
The soft clouds blowing in the sky, the bright blue, and the warmth of the sun made me feel so comfortable.
“Seeing seafolk is rare.” a voice said causing us to turn. Echo and Saous preparing to attack.
“Woah, Woah, No danger here.” a voice said. A young man peaked out from behind the boulder he had dove behind.
“Who are you?” Saous asked.
“I am Balth, I am Skyfolk. I’ve been exiled and have lived on this island for the last few years. I didn’t know there were any mer pods around here.”
“There are not, we are traveling on a journey to the north,” I said softly.
“North? Who wants to go there, it’s cold.”
“I am to be trained there, to use my Ice magic.”
“Magic, I’ve heard of it, but never seen it,” he said finally coming out from behind the boulder.
He looked to be in his early 20’s, he looked like a human, except for the wings on his back.
“I’ve never seen a Skyfolk before,” I said.
“There are not many of us left. We are dying out.”
“I heard fewer of your kind were able to take your human forms, being stuck in your animal ones. I am sorry.” I said softly.
“It is okay, we know what’s happening, but are trying to make the best of it. If humans would leave us alone it would be better.”
“What do you mean?” Echo asked.
“Humans lost magic before any other race, so they started capturing any being who could use magic, killed them and used their body to create items that would allow them to harness the power of the creature they killed. Even though we don’t have access to magic anymore, killing a sky folk, and using their feathers you can create an item that allows humans to fly. Even the skies are no longer safe for us.”
“That’s horrible,” I said horrified.
“What happens if they capture mermen?” Echo asked.
“That is a hard one, mermen and mermaids are different, humans know this. I guess it would depend on what the merman was skilled in. Usually, they are taken to land and they live in tanks until a human buys them, then they are usually butchered for what the human wants. Then are thrown aside, no longer of use. We Skyfolk bury their remains when we can safely retrieve them. We remember the kindness of the Seafolk.”
“Oh, I see.” Echo said seemingly upset.
“Humans, see us as animals. That’s it. They don’t see us as other sentient races. They think we are primitive animals, and they use that to justify their actions.”
“Do you know of the Skyfolk Oracle?” I asked curiously.
“We have not had an oracle in a very long time. With no magic, it is hard to guess who would even be able to take over that position.”
“That makes sense,” I said looking at my food.
“Why did you ask?”
“I am the next Oracle for the Seafolk.”
“Really? I’m sorry for my impudence,” he said bowing. “I didn’t realize you were someone of such status. Forgive my ignorance.”
“Don’t be like that. This is still new to me. If my mission is a success, I hope we are able to repair the mistakes of the past.”
“What do you mean?”
“Land, Sea, and Sky, made mistakes after the World core was cracked. If we can fix the core, then we might be able to fix everything. Yet it would still require much.”
“I understand,” he said nodding.
“We must get going there is still much distance to cover before nightfall,” Saous said.
We said our goodbyes and left the island. As night fell we found an abandoned cave. Saous said she would stand guard. Echo wanted to stand with her, but she informed him she could stay awake much longer than him and he would need to stand guard when she needed to sleep.
Leaning against the back wall I pulled the book out and glanced through it. There was a lot to learn from the book, yet even with the knowledge it still required a lot of practice. It would take us six months to reach the Arctic academy. I needed to learn as much as I could in that time, hoping that it would be enough to help us fix everything that went wrong.
When I came back to myself, Echo was leaning against me. “Sleep now, Silves,” he said.
Smiling, and putting the book away. Laying my head on his shoulder my eyes drifted closed.
Saous woke us in the morning. While swimming, a pod of dolphins swam up to us. We swam together for a few hours before the pod drifted away. It had been fun playing with the babies. It had been easy to see why they had swum over to us. There had been a few sharks in the area. Dolphins were protective, it was nice smiling and having fun with them. Even Saous seemed to have a good time.
We ate a quick meal while on the move. It wasn’t nearly as comfortable, but it did save us time and since there wasn’t an island nearby I didn’t feel like stopping. Neither Saous or Echo had a problem with it. Saous seemed to want to get as far as possible as quickly as possible. There were other animals and some beautiful coral, unusual rock formations, caverns, so many things, I never thought to see. Underwater was enchanting, there was an underwater cave that opened up into a pool in the middle of a cave-like area, but the top was open to the sky, the plants were growing over the edge, it was enchanting.
That night we slept in the open. Saous seemed on edge. Echo didn’t sense anything so I figured that she was just nervous having so much open space around us. Echo held me as I slept.
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