Prophecy
Sample Chapter
Gloribel stood on a dazzling mountaintop. The ridge was hardly wide enough for her two feet to rest safely upon it, but the height did not scare her. She was a Seraphim. The two wings upon her back extended, balancing her as a strong wind fought to have her teeter off the side of the mountain.
Beneath her stretched a large countryside. She could make out villages in the mountain’s valley below. Meadows and forests went on for leagues before she saw the gleaming waters of the ocean. They blended in with the setting sun on the horizon, making it difficult for her to tell where the water stopped and the sky began.
“Gloribel,” a voice said from behind her.
Her heart jumped as she spun around.
“Do not be afraid,” the voice comforted.
Gloribel’s eyes grew wide as she beheld a six winged man standing on the mountaintop with her.
“Sealtiel? Is it really you?”
“You’ve grown since last I saw you,” the angel replied.
“My son’s naming day,” she remembered. “Oh, but that was so long ago.”
“It was time for Gabriel to take his turn as ambassador to the palace,” Sealtiel said. “But I have missed our times together.”
A smile spread across Gloribel’s face as she took in the sight of her old friend. When she was young, Sealtiel had been her angel ambassador to the royal castle of Kien Illae. But with each new heir, a new angel is assigned to carrier the Creator’s commands.
“What are you doing here now?” she asked.
Sealtiel turned away from her. Tears filled his eyes as he looked upon the same landscape that Gloribel had admired only moments ago.
“Look at your country,” he instructed. “What do you see?”
Gloribel followed his gaze. “A rich valley, full of life and prosperity. The villages are settling down for the night. A Farmer had a good day with his apprentice. He’s preparing for tomorrow’s lesson with him. Further still, I see a woodland teeming with more of our people. They worked with the beasts today, as they constructed a new home in the treetops for a young couple who have been joined.”
The Seraphim queen stopped. She looked to her angel, suddenly confused as to what was happening around her.
“How do I know such things?” she asked. “I cannot see the people from this height. How would I know what I just spoke aloud?”
“Look harder,” Sealtiel answered. “Look beyond the valley and the forests.”
Gloribel turned her eyes to the ocean and the orange-red sky. As she watched, a pulse of gold light expanded like a wave. The ground beneath her trembled. As the light grew, she saw mighty waves crash upon the beach from its energy. It traveled across the land, flattening crops and crushing trees. Once the light passed over a place, it was shrouded in darkness. She could not turn her eyes away as the gold ring of energy came towards her on the mountains.
“What is it?” she asked the angel.
“It is an end and a beginning,” Sealtiel watched the gold band travel across the land, raising up a great wind in its wake. “It is the prophecy, changing this land forever.”
“I’m afraid, Sealtiel,” the queen said. “What can I do?”
He was quiet as the gold light continued towards them. It had been silent as they had looked out from the mountain. Now, there was a deep, resonating thrum that approached from the magical ring of light. Gloribel lifted her wings to fly out of its reach, but the angel wrapped his hand around her arm. She looked to him to argue, but he shook his head.
“No one can escape it,” he explained. “The sun is setting on Loraillvon.”
The sky came alive in bright shades of red and orange. Gloribel grasped the angel’s hand, squeezing it tightly as the light extended over the mountains and to the pair.
“Do not fear,” Sealtiel comforted. “We will be with you.”
The gold light struck them. Sealtiel’s hand slipped away. Gloribel’s body was thrust into the air.