Karial 03

Past

The oracle moved tonight.

Not a full rotation, or even a quarter of one, truly. Nothing that could remotely be called a whirl, which is what we are told to look for- but it did move.

For a moment I assumed I had brushed it with body or limb, but then I remembered- no mortal hand can move the oracle.  The sister who served before me invited me to try, as the sister before had invited her.  I touched it tentatively at first on that day- I was awed enough to be handling a device of the Ancients, let alone attempting to manipulate it- and then with more force.  It did not move for me then, and it did not move for me tonight.

But it moved for something.

The chronicles speak only of whirling, of spinning- no mention of incremental movement.  I do not know what it means- and so I continue as I always do, and watch.  Perhaps with warier eyes than before.

***

The oracle moved again tonight, near-on a half rotation from the position it held at dawn.  And when I laid my hands on the body of the temple, I realized that the [living flame?] seems agitated, stirred up.  There is a sense of… rising tension, which I have never before felt.  Almost as though it is waiting for something, and gathering itself in on itself as it does so, as a [predator?] does before it springs.  I wonder- is that what the oracle is reacting to, when it moves?  And is it different from what brings the travelers?

Time will tell.

***

I no longer have to lay my hands on the temple to feel the [living flame?]’s growing intensity.  I feel it thrumming in my bloodstream, calling out to me and to all living creatures, whether they know it or not.  My earlier wondering, if the agitation was connected to the oracle’s movements, seems correct.  The oracle is now moving steadily- very, very slowly, to be sure, but it is never still, now, and I feel certain it will begin to “whirl” soon, as I swear it is gaining speed by the hour.

But if I am correct, I don’t understand why we need the oracle- how could anyone miss this rising pressure?  Yes, the mothers who spoke over me praised me for what they called my extraordinary sensitivity to and dexterity with the [living flame?] but surely this swelling is so great that anyone who is trained to use the could feel it?  Couldn’t they?

I have prepared a place for the traveler- not that there was much to do beyond what is perpetually kept in readiness- and I watch always for their arrival.  I do my best to keep my mind still, my inner self calm, but it is difficult, with the ever-moving oracle preventing me from putting it out of mind.  During meditation earlier today, two of my legs would not stop curling in anticipation, a problem I have not had since the earliest days of my novice-training.

Come soon, traveler. My dignity cannot stand long delay.