The Seers of the Silvanaori

“There weren’t always dragons in the valley. Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when the-“

“Amma! You can’t use the introduction of an otherwise very famous TV show. That’s plagiarism.” Kat scolded. She rolled her eyes, exasperated. She had been trying to help her sister with her assignment for the past hour but since she was a little more eclectic than other Seers, it was beginning to become impossible.

Amma blinked at her with her almond shaped silvery eyes.

“Well it’s not a TV show in our realm.” She said innocently. Kat sighed, and dragged a hand down her face.

“How about - long long ago in a galaxy-“

“Now you’re just trying to get on my nerves.” Kat scowled.

Amma was 15, almost of age to be inducted into the Silvanaori - the Society of Seers. They would decide her fate in their realm. And in their realm, fate was everything. Being the first born in their rank-less family with a diluted bloodline, Kat knew her place when she entered the Academy. She was reminded of her "potential" every day there. Diluted blood meant her Sight would only manifest itself to meet the lower-ranking fates. She had worked painstakingly hard as a result. She knew how much it meant to her parents if she received a purposeful mid-ranking fate. How much it would mean to Amma when she came of age. And so she worked tirelessly, harder than anyone in her class. She focused her Sight to see cosmic events. Trying to work to unfold the mists that shrouded her realms events. It took years of effort, constant sacrifices, throwing herself at the right people and begging to be taught by the best. She shook her head, trying to block out certain memories that wanted to rise up.

She looked at her sister, black hair rolled into two buns on her head and sighed again. And here her sister was barely passing Mylin History. If she focused her vision less on shows and movies in other realms and more on their own realm… well she could be something great as well.

“Amma… what are you going to do if you get placed to be a teller? You know what kind of life that is.” Kat warned. Amma gave her a look, and rolled her eyes.

“My grades aren’t that bad. Plus my sister is the Grand Council's Seer, they would never make me a teller for the sake of their own reputation.” Amma said matter of fact. Kat wanted to throw the crystal tablet at her face. Instead she grabbed it and got up.

“I’ll be back in an hour. This introduction better be done. History from OUR realm. Not the others - especially earth realm, Got it?” She said sternly. Her sister nodded freely and gave her a wave.

Kat suppressed the grunt and bubbling frustrations she wanted to release, and walked away. Once she left her sisters room, she let out a sigh. Her sister wasn’t wrong. The Council wouldn’t make her sister something as low as a teller. That would go against their whole belief in bloodlines and inherited power. They would likely place her in a mid-rank fate than to risk admitting their belief in rank and bloodlines to be wrong. She knew the lies they spewed to the rest of the realm when they reluctantly chose her to be their seer. She knew just how much some of the council members hated her for being as powerful as she was. Kat pushed down the rising anger that lingered deep inside. She took a breath and tried to think of something light. She imagined her sister as a teller, wearing the tacky black uniform, sitting at parties telling peoples life paths. She smiled a little, it would be pretty funny to watch.

She found herself in her family’s solarium. Every Seer’s family had one in their home - even family’s as low of rank as her family had been. It was a place to focus their Sight and receive their purest visions. It was necessary.

At times, she missed the tiny solarium in the house she grew up in. It was a small room filled with sunlight and little house hold plants tucked behind the kitchen. It had been more of shed in comparison to the solarium they had now. She looked around the expansive space. They had thriving plants rooted into the soil, trees that towered towards the glass covered dome. Her family’s power was grounded in the land, so the council had gifted them with one of the finest land bound solarium she had ever seen. They had filled it with plants she had only ever dreamt of seeing in school, ones that fueled her power. She had always been grateful that her family was bound by the land and not another element like fire. She couldn’t imagine how unbearable that may be.

“Oh honey, do you need to work?” Her mom's voice was suddenly there. Kat had been so caught up in her thoughts that she hadn’t even seen her mom sitting amongst the cantilever trees. She started to get up.

“I can leave.” She offered, brushing off her pants. Kat shook her head.

“No, it’s okay. I haven’t received anything from the Council today. I think my last vision was enough to hold them over for some time.” She said simply, but she could feel the rise of dread as she felt the wave of her last vision slipping back up. It had been terrible - like most of her cosmic visions were.

She wished she could talk about it with her mom, with anyone but the Council members, but she knew she couldn’t. Her mom gave her an empathic look and placed a hand on her cheek. She leaned her head until their foreheads touched. She knew her mom's sight had shifted towards their family. She knew her mom received visions that let her know how they felt and the life events they would face or were facing. Still with the level of power she had, Kat knew she could never truly see everything. Just glimpses, and feelings.

“I’m here Katlolin. You do not need to burden it all on your own. We are all here.” She said gently. Kat nodded, her eyes closed. When she fluttered her eyes open, she stared into her mom’s silvery eyes, a reflection of her own.

“Now have some peace. I’m done here anyway. I got what I needed. “ Her mom shook her head, pausing.

“Your sister is going to put me in my grave, all I ever see when I see her is quotes of movies and shows that I’ve never heard of.” She sighed but her face was light with humor.

“Oh, don’t get me started.” Kat spewed but smiled back.

She watched her mom leave through the glass doors before sitting down in her favorite spot nestled between the madolian plants. Their sweet scent always had a way of calming her. Her eyes fluttered close. She wanted to focus on something light today, something to relieve the anger and fear that had been threatening to spill over. She felt herself drop into the space between her eyes, felt her higher self rise and then all was quiet.

It came in as a storm, in flashes and turbulent energy. Kat found herself in a darkness so deep it was palpable. She could feel the weight of the darkness around her, so heavy she had a difficult time catching her breathing. Flashes and thunder rolled around her, silent and then as if the volume was suddenly turned on, terrible roars and screams filled her ears. She had been here before. In the last vision she had seen for the Council. But she had not called for this one. This one came to her. From her years of studying, she knew what this meant. She took a breath, and told her body to move toward the screams. There was something here that she had missed, something more than what she had initially thought. She could feel her blood pumping, her fear as she knew what she was about to see.

The screams came in louder as she drew closer. She stopped short and saw what she had reported to the Council the day before. It was the great city of Alamund - the city of dragons. It was burning, all the glass buildings on fire, and people were dying. She watched as people shifted into their dragon form and tried to put out the fires. The water dragons calling on water, the air dragons trying to smother the flames. She wanted to tell them to stop, but she knew it wouldn’t make a difference, not here.

When she had first seen this vision it was hard to make sense of what was happening, but now she knew what she would see. She watched dragon after dragon call upon their power, begin to use it and then suddenly begin to lose their color as if the life was draining out of them. Their vibrant scales drained entirely leaving a lifeless grey husk and another body falling from the sky. Kat didn’t want to see this, but she had to. She had to see what was needed to be seen. She looked down at the scene, trying to grasp at what she was watching.

"You know, this isn’t enough." She felt herself freeze at the foreign voice. It was cold and icy, knowing. It had been here last time too. She felt the deep fear rise out of her, threatening to pull her out of her vision as it did last time. Her breath caught and she felt someone in this space with her. Felt it’s ominous prescience lingering behind her. A cold crept over her, a feeling of pure death.

"You know" the voice whispered in her ear. She screamed and was jolted back into her body.