The Grey God

Sofi ground her teeth. They Traveled to a place where it was cold and dark but didn't stay long. The Watcher led her to a hole in the back of a tunnel, and they emerged in a sunny, warm world. As if a shaken bottle of soda had been uncorked within her, her magic swelled and burst from her body. She staggered at the sensation, taking in the crumbled world around her.

The Watcher steadied her. Several of his guardsmen stood nearby, their uniforms emblazoned with green cuneiform symbols. He waved them away.

"You know this is for your own good," the Watcher said, leading her towards one of the only standing buildings she saw.

"I don't know that," she answered. "My vision isn't strong enough to See that. I do know the alternative will see us all killed."

"A full day after you've been here in the immortal world, your vision will clear. You will see as you never have before."

"I will become as if I'd lived here my whole life, isn't that right?"

"In a sense, yes. The most powerful Oracle in millennia."

"What of my child?" she asked, hand going to her stomach.

"It depends on how long you are here." The Watcher glanced at her belly. "A full day will make you powerful and probably, a mother."

Sofi concentrated on stepping through the rubble of what looked like a once-great city. The woman in her screamed for her to leave, to find Damian and have their son in the place they'd planned in a few months. The Oracle side of her knew there was more at stake, that there was no guarantee they'd make it out of the immortal world, if Darian didn't do what he needed to.

"You'll be safe here," the Watcher said, not unkindly. "You did everything you could. We were impressed by your sight and sacrifice."

"It's only a sacrifice if they don't live through this!" she snapped. "I have faith in Darian, not you. We are here because I saw this as the only chance we really had."

"If this ends as it should, I'd gladly help him hunt down the remaining Others."

"When this is over, I'll encourage Darian to hunt your kind as well."

"We mean no lasting harm to humanity or to your family. We are protecting you the only way we know how."

Sofi bit back her response. Already, she could feel her body changing in the immortal world. While she welcomed the feeling of newfound power, she was terrified for her son.