Warriors of Prophecy

Rhiannon stared at Mikal and then she slowly nodded. “Yes, I know.” She was a fool to think she could keep her secrets to herself. The possibility of someone recognizing her never entered her mind as she escaped the prison. Yet here stood Mikal, her father’s healer and friend.

“Are you going to tell Prophet and the Wild Ones the truth?” Mikal locked the door again as he moved deeper into the room. He moved over to a metal cabinet to gather the supplies he would need to heal her.

“I hadn’t planned on it, no.” She answered truthfully. As far as she was concerned the less people that knew about her, the better.

Mikal whipped around and gave her a hard glance. “You have to! They are our leaders! They kept us alive all this time. To not tell them would be wrong. Especially with who you are! The prophecy!”

Rhiannon stepped forward. “How do we even know that I’m a part of it? Morrighan could be the one!” She protested. It scared her to think that a story she had been told all her life was now coming to fruition and she was knee deep in it.

“It is said that the Wild Ones would need two beacons of light. Two Rhiannon. That is you and your twin.” Mikal’s mouth turned up into a frown. “You and your sister are the heirs to the Kingdom of Light and the only surviving members of the Imperial Family. Your father was Emperor of our people!”

“I don’t need a history lesson!” She snapped.

“Obviously you do. Because you seem to have forgotten who you are.” Mikal’s eyes narrowed. “When F.E.A.R came with the Matriarch, why do you think your father sacrificed his life to hide your and your twin away? He knew that you’d be of great importance later on. The Legion can’t do this without you.”

“Look what happened to my father, and now my sister?” Rhiannon’s voice cracked. “The Matriarch has her still in that damn prison! Morrighan gave herself up so I could escape. I don’t want to be of great importance.” Her lower lip trembled.

His face softened. “We must all play our part. Come now child, let me heal you so you can go meet the Wild Ones.”

“They can’t know who I am.” Rhiannon told him. “If they know who I truly am all hell will break loose.”

“I will not lie to any of them.” Mikal shook his head.

“Mikal, you were the Imperial Healer and you brought me and my sister into this world. Please help me?” Rhiannon begged. When he just stared at her, she sighed. “I’ll tell them. Just…not now. I have to find out if I can trust them first.”

“You can Your Highness.” Mikal slipped into his old habits. “They are great leaders and have saved many of your people.”

“No, no titles. I am Rhiannon. Not Your Highness, or even Princess.” She shook her head in fear. “If the Matriarch or any of the Shadow Men know that I’m alive these people are in danger.”

“Rhiannon these people are in danger every day. They face the armies of F.E.A.R and aren’t afraid of them. You have a lot to learn.” Mikal stood before her. “I suggest you get to know your new allies.” He sighed.

“I will. But trust will be difficult.” She swallowed hard.

“Enough of this. Let me heal you. Prophet will never forgive me if I send you to him with bruises and cuts dusting your soft skin.” Mikal chuckled.

Rhiannon rolled her eyes. “I doubt he cares very much what I look like. Although I must thank him for saving my life.” She instantly thought of the young leader and she couldn’t help as a blush stained her cheeks. He had been kind to her and very gentle. That was rare in this day and age.

“He’s saved many lives.” Mikal smirked as he cleaned up the blood on her temple and on the cut above her eye. “Prophet is a good man.”

“Does he have a given name? Surely he can’t go just by Prophet?” She asked.

“That’s not for me to say.” The healer went about to see her to wounds. “The Legion knows him as the Prophet.”

For the next hour the healer did what he could to fix up Rhiannon’s wounds. He also gave her food and water for nourishment. She ate the food as if it were a grand banquet back at the palace she once shared with her family. To her nothing tasted as heavenly.

“You know you can’t stay down here forever.” Mikal chuckled. “They are expecting you. I would be a horrible person if I hid you down here.”

Looking up under long lashes, Rhiannon knew she couldn’t play the fool. Slowly she nodded. “I know.”

“Come, I will have someone escort you to them.” Mikal walked over to the door and unlocked it. He called out into the corridor. Suddenly a young boy appeared. “I need you to escort Rhiannon to the Council Room.” The boy nodded.

Rhiannon gave a small smile to Mikal. “I’ll see you around then?”

Giving her a soft hug, Mika chuckled. “Of course. If you need anything I’m here for you, child. Now go. Don’t keep them waiting any longer than you already have.”

Parting from Mikal, she nodded and then exited the room. She followed the young boy as they climbed the stairs. Taking a deep breath, she knew what she had to do.

~ ~ ~

“It’s been almost two hours, how expensive do you think her wounds were?” Prophet sighed as he paced around the room. “She didn’t look that badly hurt.”

Destroyer shared a look with Mystic as they both smirked. It was obvious that their leader was quite interested in the woman. Yes, they all wanted to know more about her but Prophet was exceptionally bothered by her. “Relax, you said so yourself that she and Mikal knew each other. Perhaps they were just catching up?” Destroyer offered.

Mystic kept quiet as he sat in his chair. When he first met the woman he could see the true meaning of her name in his head. Rhiannon. It was ancient Welsh. Great Queen. She was meant for more than just hiding in the desert. She had secrets and it was best that they found them out.

Prophet turned to glare at Destroyer and before he could say anything there was a knock on the door. He gave his friend another glare before he walked over to it and opened it. There stood the woman of their discussion and as soon as he saw her a sense of relief washed over him. She had indeed been cleaned up and her wounds were now bandaged up. Once again he was drawn to her ice blue eyes as he struggled for words. “Please…come in.” He motioned with his hand.

Rhiannon gave him a tight smile as she brushed past him, ignoring the jolt that ran through her body. “Thank you.” She took in the scene before her. The Council Room was an abandoned room inside of the factory. It looked to have been an old board room or something similar to it. There sat a round table with broken chairs around it in which the members of the Wild Ones sat in. She could feel their eyes on her as she walked in.

“Hello Rhiannon.” Mystic spoke to her. His voice was soothing and soft as if to calm her. It was as if he knew her every secret, and she was afraid he did.

“Hello Mystic.” She bowed her head in respect as she stood before the table.

Prophet walked past her as he took his seat at the table. “I’m glad to see Mikal tended to your wounds.” He stared at her and Rhiannon swallowed hard. It was as if he could see right into her soul. Blue met blue as their eyes met. The electricity crackled into the room and it was almost as if it were tangible so you could reach out and touch it.

“He did. But then he was always great at that.” Rhiannon murmured.

“Right.” Prophet leaned back in his chair. “Speaking of that, I think we need to clear the air between us. You’ve seen who and what we are. Now we need the same respect from you.” His eyes narrowed. “Just who and what are you Rhiannon?” He asked bluntly. “I know you’re just not a woman we found in the desert. You have ties already to this base. You say you have a twin who is being held in the prison?”

Now it felt as if she was on trial and Rhiannon didn’t like one single second of it. Her own eyes narrowed as she placed her hands on the table. “Yes, my twin sister is being held by the Matriarch. Morrighan gave herself over to her so I could escape. Mikal was my father’s friend.” Once again she gave them half truths.

“But where were you all this time before the prison?” Mystic asked. There was definitely something she wasn’t telling them.

She sighed and winced as she rubbed her bandaged temple. “My sister and I were being kept in a safe house. That is until the Shadow Men found us.” She couldn’t lie about that. “They took us away in the middle of the night. They killed our guardians right before our eyes.” Rhiannon’s voice was soft as if the memories fresh.

“What about your parents?” Prophet asked. “Why did they give you over to the guardians? What about your father?”

Rhiannon’s face took on a hollow look as she paled. “The Matriarch killed my father right before me and Morrighan’s eyes when we were young. It was the battle when the darkness took over. Our guardians got us out of there and took us away. My mother died when she gave birth to us.”

Mystic’s head whipped around as he stared at Rhiannon. His eyes widened as he sucked in his breath. He knew then. He knew the truth. He knew exactly who Rhiannon was. He wanted to stand before her and bow his respect but the way she was guarding herself he feared she would run. “Rhiannon…” The way he said her name again, he got his meaning across.

Her eyes met his and she knew she had been discovered. Her head hung as she nodded. “Yes Mystic.” She couldn’t hide herself from him. Mystic knew the prophecy and he knew of what came before the darkness. He could see into a person’s soul to discover the truth.

Prophet slammed his hands down on the table. “Will someone tell me what the fuck is going on here?”

Mystic stood up and came around the table. He took Rhiannon’s hand gently and squeezed it in friendship. “Prophet, this is who we’ve been waiting for. This…is the light.”

Notes