This

"Sagus, wait!" Sagus turned toward Marianne, his face a mask of stony coldness. She gasped softly, then took a step toward him. "Sagus, what's wrong? Stradi spared you. Aren't you happy? You can still catch Arakarin. You can stay with m...with us."

He turned all the way around and approached Marianne. And for the first time, she backed up a step. "Didn't you see it? That look in his eyes. He's going to try to steal Arakarin's **** from us! He's going to kill him, not us!"

"So?" Sophie chimed in. "As long as he's dead, who cares who does it? I say, if they want to kill each other, let them. Worst case, Arakarin will win, and then we can still kill him. Best case, Stradi will win and we can go home."

"It's not that simple. Stradi and Arakarin can never fight each other."

"Why not?"

"Because, i've heard that if they do, they'll destroy all of Tyren."

"Who told you a stupid story like that?"

"A wandering blind oracle. Naikrara."

Marianne dropped the dagger she had been salvaging from the campsite and her face went pale. "Naikrara? Are you sure!?"

"That's what she said her name was. Why, you've heard of her?"

"I...I also was given grave news by Naikrara. She told me that I could never...use my full potential. Now she's told you that Stradi and Arakarin's battle will end the world?"

"That's not all." Rebecca spoke flatly, but this time it was obviously put-on. "I once spoke with a blind oracle calling herself Naikrara. She told me that if I used my special arrow, it would take my soul. I'm still going to use it, but...it was a pretty grim fortune."

"Then I guess we've all been the recipients of Naikrara's bad news. She told me I would one day accidentally create a compound that would become an airborne pestilence. But she wouldn't tell me what it would be made from, so I can't be sure when or if it'll happen. I risk it every time I mix catalysts."

Sagus had softened considerably. "Then we have all heard from Naikrara about how dim our futures are. Yet, i've always heard that she was famous for bearing good news when hope was lost. Why has she given us warnings of misfortune?"