The snake, jaguar, condor and the Oracle.

The Oracle sat on the beach. His legs crossed under him. His arms stretched up towards the glimmering stars above. In front of him was a deep blue ocean, which went on into an impossibly distant horizon. The calm, mirror-like ocean merged with the night sky and at the spot on the horizon where they both met, a dark line formed which stretched from east to west, and which was much darker than both; the water and the star-filled firmament. Beyond, and into that dark belt of darkness, time and space created a second ocean, a magical body of water which would allow any who could reach it to travel into the Crux itself. But this black ocean’s horizon went further even than any of the children or even the gods could see. Only the One could travel there. And only the eternal twins could ever keep him company in such a place. 

The Oracle meditated while the gentle waves lapped up to his feet, but yet never touched him. The water glowed from the lights made by a million luminescent shrimp   all excitedly glowing together. The small creatures could be seen dancing in the water; they looked like so many falling stars. But the Oracle paid them no heed, instead he kept his mind and eyes focused on that dark space where sky and ocean met. Though he could not travel into that darkness he could use it as the singular point on which to focus his mind so as achieve internal peace and thus better reach a full meditative state. Anchoring his mind and soul to the darkness would allow him to glimpse into the future. Though which of the many possible futures he did not know.  

Gathered around him were three wondrous beasts.

A venomous serpent was coiled to his left. The snake was large enough to devour the largest of men. It was a brilliant green with pulsating red stripes. The stripes slowly rotated around its body. With its forked tongue the serpent sang to the Oracle. It sang of the darkness beyond the horizon and the wonders that could be his, if only he would be brave enough to trust it, and let it swallow him whole. While the Oracle rested peacefully in its belly, the snake promised, it could take him into the darkness itself. All the Oracle needed to do was to trust it, and much power would be his.

To his right sat a splendid Jaguar. The Jaguar’s’ coat was the blue-black of the night sky and his spots shone like the stars. They shone with a universe of colors and bathed

all of the figures around the Oracle and the Oracle himself with magical light. The Jaguar remained silent. It too focused on the darkness between heaven and ocean. What it looked for; the Oracle did not know. But it was well known that Jaguars could see into the future better than even the Children, and the jaguar sat to his right was not any ordinary earth-bound animal, but a spirit jaguar. A legendary beast known to only ever offer their services to the highest ranking and most powerful Inca warlords; the sapas. What the spirit jaguar was doing here, the Oracle did not know. The spirit creature had simply appeared and joined him as silently as the serpent had.  

Flying above them was the largest Condor to have ever flown. It was golden and its feathers reflected the sun and the moon. Both of which were now high in the ski. Though the sun was not its normal golden color, but a dark blue. The dark spots which usually floated on the sun’s glowing surface were not their usual black but were instead a bright, and translucent green. When the Oracle first noticed the blemishes on the sun’s surface, he could see faces through them, as if he were looking through a crystal-clear mountain lake. The faces were screaming, and they seemed to be calling out to him. The moon pulsated as if it were an enormous heart. Like the jaguar, the condor said nothing to the Oracle. It simply flew in circles around the three figures gathered below.

 After some time, the Oracle finally reached his perfect meditative place. His mind was free. No longer did any of the creatures around him occupy his thoughts, instead his inner eyes opened wide and saw The Way. Tears welled up in his eyes. Seeing The Way always moved him to his deepest core. The Way calls out to the soul and can connect with it. That connection can be so strong, that if the Oracle had not been prepared, he could be have been pulled in by it in the same way that a small child who ventured to close to a raging river would be pulled in. Only death would be the end result of such an event.

The Way is an ever-flowing river of spiritual energy, yet if one is careful and well trained, a person could walk onto the Way and use it to travel into the future. Not physically into, or more precisely onto, the future itself, but onto a plane in the universe where visions of the future can be glimpsed. As the Oracle stepped onto The Way he saw that on either side of it was death and birth.

On the side of the Way, which death called home, he saw a giant sea turtle wash up onto a beach covered with tiny exploding stars. The waters that had carried the turtle onto the beach gently receded and the turtle came to rest on the emeralds and rubies which covered the shoreline. The Oracle could see that the beast was dead. Its eyes had been gouged out, and out of those black orifices came a stream of bright white maggots. In the blink of an eye the maggots covered the entire sea turtle, and had begun to devour its flesh. They consumed all of it, even its shell. While the Oracle stared in horror at the scene the sea turtle turned towards him, and opened its mouth as if to speak. No sound came out of it, but instead black smoke, which smelled of sulfur, poured out of its mouth. The stench made the Oracle turn away. He almost stumbled, but managed to keep his footing. When he opened his eyes again the sea turtle was gone, night had turned to day and the ocean was now lit by a bright sun.

Sea birds screeched and swooped over the beach, nothing but blue sky behind them. Strange voices drifted in from the ocean. He could not understand what they were saying. He did not recognize their language. He began to see distant white shapes on the water. At first, he thought them to be massive sea creatures. There were three of them. But these beasts were nothing like he’d ever seen before. Instead of swimming through the water these monstrosities floated over it with the help of multiple white wings. Their wings had colorful yellow and red feathers which gracefully trailed over the beasts.

As the creatures got closer the Oracle could see that they were covered in swarms of what looked to be men. But these men were clad in pure metal. Not gold, but more like silver. The three massive creatures and their occupants turned towards him, and out of their sides came out large black spines.

The sea birds stopped screeching, and even the sounds of the ocean ceased. When all was quiet, the spines burst into life, and fire poured from them as it does from some of the local fire mountains. Not far from where he stood the water began to explode upwards as if giant rocks had landed on the surface. More and more of the turquoise blue waters began to burst up from the ocean’s surface as even more of the creature’s black spines starting spewing fire. The water churned violently, and soon it took on a new color. Instead of the aqua blue of a tropical sea it turned dark red. The ocean was now a sea of blood. The sea birds were dead and on the shoreline the Oracle could see the bodies of his people. Like the sea birds they too were all dead. The human’s bodies were covered in black sores. Some of the dead he could recognize. Amongst them were his woman and his children. He wept. He looked away, and tried to run back to the beach, but he couldn’t. The serpent was now blocking his way. Above him the condor screamed at him, and told him his end had come.

When he thought he would lose his mind in despair, the jaguar came to him. It reached out and bid him to look up. The Oracle did so. The sky was once again blue. The scenes of death and destruction were now gone. In their place was a beautiful valley surrounded by snow-covered mountains. The jaguar looked towards those mountains. It was early dawn. The sun was shining from behind the mountain range. At any moment Inti would rise above the mountain tops and bathe him with his golden warmth. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the jaguar had begun to walk away from him, and then the jaguar began to run towards the darkness. Soon it had disappeared from view and the Oracle could no longer see it. He stopped looking for the animal, and instead looked towards the mountains, hoping to see the sun rise in all its glory.

The rays of sunshine flowed over the smallest peak and then over the tallest. As he looked closer the sun began to rise high above the mountains and valley. But something was wrong. The sun was rising tall and was actually stretching into an elongated form. It was no longer a sphere but had begun to stand up, making a shape roughly similar to one of the large mushrooms he had seen growing in the forest. The sun became brighter and brighter, and then it suddenly burst, and the Oracle tried to shield his eyes from the intense light.

 Coming towards him was a wall of fire which reached high into the sky. In the blink of an eye it had reached the spot where he was standing. Powerful winds blew trees, and even large rocks away as if they were mere blades of grass. The Oracle felt immense heat, and looked down into his hands. They were turning black. They were burning. His flesh was falling off. He tried to scream but realized that no sound would ever come out of him again. The all-consuming fire would soon fully turn him to dust. So, he fell to his knees. And then he saw his body burst into flame.

 And then he thought no more.

 But a few moments later, or perhaps it was after many hours or even days had passed, he felt the gentle touch of water upon his feet. He opened his eyes again. The snake, jaguar and condor were gone. It was no longer night, and the sun was high up in the sky.

 He looked towards the horizon and saw the ocean as he remembered it. Turquoise blue, white caps gently dancing on its surface. He looked at his hands. They were fine. His flesh was intact. He heard a flute in the distance. The melody was somehow familiar, though he could not remember the song itself. He was tired. His eyes ached. He could not stand up yet. He felt as if he were rooted on the spot.

 He noticed the sea birds. They were flying high above. He looked on the sand and for the first time noticed the bight green emerald laying right by his feet. He reached for it and picked it up. He looked into it and then held it up to his eyes, staring through it he could see the distant horizon. There, inside the gem, he thought he could see shapes on the ocean. Giant black creatures with white wings and yellow and red feathers. He could not take his eyes off the emerald. He kept looking into it. He wondered if he was still in a trance. But he knew he was not. He forced himself to put the gem down, and now looked onto the ocean and saw nothing. Nothing but blue water, as far as the eye could see.

 Suddenly he could move.

 He got up.

 He ran.

 He cried.

He had walked The Way.

He had seen the future.