The Prophecy and The Man of GOD

‘A child shall be born, the son of a King and a young maiden, and he shall rescue all of High and Low Earth from their tribulations. I, the Oracle who watches over all the Earth, must bless the child, for untold evils seek to end its life before it begins. I tell thee truth, the expecting mother must make the journey from High Earth and the child must be born here to ensure its protection and the fulfilment of the prophecies.'

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1.

The Oracle paced back and forth in his hut with intent. Even a man of his short, thin frame didn't need many paces to cross from one end of his humble abode to the other. But not for long, he thought. He would very soon trade this meagre hamlet for the most royal of palaces on High Earth. If only the High Earthens knew what deception he planned to feed them. He would give them their Great Prophecy and in doing so finally get all that he had craved so long for – more power, dominion over High and Low Earth, and ultimately a gateway to the other world. A world where his powers could far surpass anything these puny, primitive people of High and Low Earth could even dream of or imagine.

His plan was already well in motion. Abidel, servant of the Most High, had already returned to the Edge, the town that linked High Earth to the deserts of Sara. He had returned with the prophecy as told to him by the Oracle. Messengers were immediately sent to the Emperor Melek's palace with the news that the time for the Great Prophecy was nigh. The fact that the Oracle had subtly implied that the child would come from High Earth was not lost on Abidel. Even though he thought it strange that the Oracle had included such specifics that weren't in the original prophecy, it did help them narrow down the search. Despite his concerns about the accuracy of the Seer's claims, he’d felt obliged to deliver the message. After all, the Oracle had correctly predicted the end of the drought that had plagued the Edge.

Alas, of all the Lords and Chieftains of High Earth whom the prophecy might have been speaking of, it was the Emperor himself who had taken a young maiden, Marah, as his wife only two lunar cycles ago. She was immediately summoned and once the medicine men verified that she was indeed with child, all the Emperor's advisors and scholars of the Holy Scrolls agreed that this must be the child spoken of in the Great Prophecy. Immediately, the Emperor and his wife began making preparations in earnest for the journey to see the Oracle. As Abidel had feared, suggesting that the Oracle's claims were untrue caused an uproar in the Palace. The Elders of the Emperor's council accused him and Beza, his right-hand man, of blasphemy and banished them to the desert of Sara to live out their days. They had only been spared the death penalty because of Abidel's popularity as a man of God who had performed many great wonders on High Earth. Still, this was more than the Oracle had hoped for. His plan was unravelling nicely.

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2.


The course of Cynthia's life changed forever when she discovered she was pregnant with Johnny's child. They had only started dating when the unthinkable happened, and months later she was still reeling from the consequences of what they had done. She had once been the talk of her church as the most elegant, most God-fearing woman who had graduated with a 1st class and owned her own studio flat. Now she was the talk of the church for very different reasons. The youth she had once taught secretly sniggered at her whenever she walked past them, and many of her peers whom she had considered friends seemed to be making less than subtle efforts to distance themselves from her. Things were not much easier for Johnny, she thought. His family had given him a very hard time since the news broke, particularly because it was unclear how he intended to financially support the child. Even his parents had resented the fact that he had turned down a lucrative R'n'B career to lead praise and worship in the church, and now they were pillorying him for what they had considered a stupid decision on his part. Cynthia was startled back to reality by a knock on the window. It was Johnny. She'd been sitting in her car daydreaming about what might have been. They had come to church for the parenting class they had agreed to attend together. They stepped into the class which had already started and couldn't help but note the disapproving looks from the other parents-to-be at their lateness, or perhaps at their presence altogether.

"Everyone's staring at us," Cynthia whispered to Johnny as they took their seats.

"Don't worry. This is for the best, remember?"

"I suppose so. But it's very awkward, how long do we have to bear this for?"

"Not for long I'm sure, they're just not used to an unmarried couple taking the class. Give them time." He was right, never in the history of their church had an unmarried couple taken this class, and it was certainly ruffling a few feathers. But they both knew that their Pastor had advised them wisely. There was no point compounding one mistake with another that would last a lifetime. They would resist the pressures to get married just because they were having a baby. They only would if they were sure it was God's will. Right now, they were simply focusing on how each of them could be better parents when the baby arrived.

After a few moments she firmly grabbed his hand, and somewhat startled, he returned the squeeze reassuringly. "Don't worry, the baby will soon be here, then we can focus on doing this for real."

"It's not that," she responded in a panic, "I think my water just broke!"

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3.


After the journey from High Earth that took three lunar cycles, The Emperor and his men where nearing the Path of the Oracle when Marah went into labour. They rode at full gallop to meet the Oracle, who was waiting with his assistant to usher the expectant mother into his hut. No one else was allowed to enter during the delivery so the Emperor and his men waited outside pensively, but patiently. A look of anxiety swept across the Emperor's face as Marah's screams only seemed to intensify after she was taken in. Her wailing persisted for another thirty minutes and then suddenly stopped. Ten minutes later, the Oracle's assistant stepped out of the hamlet, holding a blanket with the baby wrapped in it. The Emperor stepped forward to receive the baby but his initial excitement evaporated when he saw the despondent look on look on the servants face.

"Your Highness, cursed am I to bringeth thee this terrible news - the child hath not survived the delivery."

The Emperor's face twisted in anguish as he fell to the ground. He let out a wail that could surely be heard for miles beyond the Path of the Oracle. His Royal Guards rushed to pick him from the ground as he wept bitterly. After a long time, the Emperor finally composed himself, dusted himself down and once again looked the epitome of dignity and nobility. He turned to Ebed-Melek, the General of his Royal Guard. "Set up camp to the west of the Path and we return at first light!"

At this point, the Oracle stepped out of his hut and all eyes fell on him. The Emperor walked straight up to him looked him in the eyes. "Is this thy blessing and protection of the Great Prophecy? It may be better if thou leavest this place. If thou art still here by the rising of the sun, I may return to High Earth with thy head on a platter!"

The Oracle didn't bat an eyelid. He returned the Emperor's stare and responded with an air of confidence that surprised even the Emperor. "At least, thou must remain here three risings and fallings, in accordance with thy customs, to pay respects for the dead. Thou knowest not what wonder thy God might perform if thou abideth in obedience."

Hence, Emperor Melek, his wife Marah and his men remained at the Path of the Oracle three days in observance of the time of mourning before making the return journey to High Earth.

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4.


Cynthia was hauled onto the stretcher when they got to the hospital and Johnny ran along beside her, encouraging her as much as he could. She was pushed straight into the delivery room but Johnny waited outside - they had agreed that this was as far as he would come. Inside the room, the delivery was anything but straightforward. Cynthia had never experienced so much pain in her life. She had a migraine that was so severe that she started suffering hallucinations. She saw flashes of a thunderstorm, lightning and torrential rain. These were very much like her other worldly dreams she'd had just before she got pregnant, but even more intense. One minute, she was lying on the delivery room bed, and the next minute she was in a tropical monsoon, and so the flashes continued. The only constant between the two switching scenarios was the piercing screams, which the midwife no doubt attributed to the normal pangs of childbirth. If this is what childbirth feels like, I might as well die now! Cynthia thought. Then suddenly, the storm calmed and subsided. After two hours of intense pushing and gut wrenching screams, the baby eventually came. But it wasn't crying. It didn't make a sound.

After cutting the umbilical cord, the midwife checked the baby's airways. After clearing the airways, there was still no breathing. She turned to the second nurse present, "Turn on the gas supply, and pass me the mask. And get Doctor Patel in here!"

"Is my baby okay?" Cynthia asked looking at midwife who strapped the mask across the baby's nose and mouth and started pumping oxygen into the boy's airways.

Doctor Patel came in and took over the ventilation process from the midwife. After a few minutes, he moved on to chest compression techniques but there didn’t seem to be any improvement in the baby’s condition.

"Shall we try to administer drugs via an umbilical venous line?" the midwife asked. She knew this was a last resort procedure.

"I'm afraid there's no point in giving him drugs if he isn't breathing adequately!" the doctor responded.

A few minutes later, the Doctor came out of the delivery room to give Johnny the bad news. "I'm sorry, the baby was stillborn. There was nothing we could do for him."

Johnny slumped to the floor distraught as he felt his world crumble around him. And then everything went black.

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5.


Abidel and Beza rode their horses through the plains of the Masai as quickly as they could. They had to reach the Path before it was too late. After a period of forty days and nights in the wilderness dedicated to fasting and prayer, the Oracle's plan had been divinely revealed to Abidel. The Oracle planned to simulate the birth, death and resurrection of the Chosen One in one fell swoop. By stealing a baby from the other world called Earth, he would deceive the people of High and Low Earth to worship him as a deity and thus cause the abomination that would reek utter desolation to the ends of this world, and beyond. If Abidel was right, they only had three days to stop him!

On the third day, the Emperor and his men went to the Oracle's hut to take the baby's body and begin the long procession back home. The Oracle met them at the door, stopping them in their tracks. "Have thou forgotten the Prophecy of the Holy Temple, that it shall be destroyed and built again in three days?"

Ebed-Melek, the head of the Royal Guard and the Emperor's right hand man stepped forward. "Of what consequence is the Holy Temple to the Great Prophecy? Hath thou not proved thyself a false prophet already? I should run my sword through you right now!"

"O thee of little understanding," the Oracle cried as he lifted his hands to the sky and the clouds began to darken and gather above them. "Now thou shalt understand the meaning of the prophecies and see the very power I have to give life!" The Oracle's eyes turned a pupil-less black as lightning flashed across the skies above and a storm engulfed them. The Emperor and his men began to run for cover but the Oracle simply smiled and lowered his hands as if to tell the storm to calm. As suddenly as the heavens had opened above them did the storm suddenly subside. As the clouds began to move away and the skies began to clear, a cry could be heard from inside the Oracle's hut. The cry of a baby!

All of a sudden, another cry could be heard emanating from the Masai plains. A battle cry. Abidel and Beza appeared in the distance at full gallop. As they approached the Path, Abidel raised up his staff, and the clouds darkened again. Lightning rippled through the sky and the sound of thunder deafened the ears of all present. The Oracle's assistant rushed to enter the hut and retrieve the baby, but before he could reach the door, a bolt of lightning struck the hut with such force that he was thrown into the air and landed several metres away, body completely fried! Abidel and Beza did not wait to survey the damage they had caused. They rode on to Low Earth, with the Royal Guard led by Ebed-Melek hot on their heels. The Emperor rushed into the Oracle's hut which was now only half standing. His child lay on the altar inside, miraculously without a single scratch on his body. But to his dismay, the baby was not alive. He threw his cloak over the child and wept bitterly.

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6.

The nurse was about to call the time of death for Cynthia's baby when he suddenly coughed and burst into life, breathing his first breath of fresh air since being delivered, at least in this world. She ran out and met Doctor Patel in the hallway, who had just delivered news that had floored Johnny. She ran towards them screaming "The baby is alive! The baby is alive!" The child's recovery from certain death had been miraculous. Later, tests showed that his heart had been jolted back to life by a charge similar to that from an electrical defibrillation unit, even though no such procedure had been administered. After spending two days on life support and another week in intensive care, the child lived to make a full recovery.

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7.

The Oracle's plan had been thwarted for now, and his hut, the portal to the other world, had been destroyed. However, with the help of an unwitting Emperor now seeking revenge against Abidel for the loss of his child, he would continue his plans to deceive and reek utter desolation to the ends of High and Low Earth. Once he used the Emperor’s armies to conquer Low Earth, nothing would stand in the way of his opening a new portal to Earth and taking hold of that world too! And there were only two that could stop him now. Abidel and Beza. That Man of God and his apprentice.