The Dark Lady gathered her children in front of her, they were now all sixteen years old and were almost completely finished their training. She was proud of what they had become and hoped they would work well in a team. There was just one more major problem the Dark Lady faced, having to tell them all of their destiny and involvement in the oath.

"My children, it is time I told you a story," she said smiling at each of them. "Once a young priestess was given a great gift by the Mother Cadora, the gift of a prophecy called the Mother's Oath. It was entrusted to her family and all her descendants would guard it's secrets and wait until it came alive. She only has two descendants alive now, myself being one of the two. The Mother's Oath has chosen out time to come alive. Now listen to the Mother's Oath and remember it."

The Dark Lady recited the Oath with such power in her voice that each of the young people never forgot a word of it from that moment on. Several minutes of silence followed as all considered what had just been said. This was the first time any of them had learned anything about who the Dark Lady was and they were all amazed that the woman they had come to consider their mother could hold a position so important. It was the ever thinking Zendoria who broke the silence.

"So you are one of the special two mentioned in the first verse," observed Zendoria. "You have always told me that I was conceived with the earth, does that mean I was conceived at Beltide? Am I one of the six? Are you the dark friend from whom the six will learn their skills?"

The Dark Lady smiled but inside was rather surprised that Zendoria had immediately placed herself in the six, ignoring the chance that she might have belonged to the other group of blessed children. The Oath said nothing of when the Great were born, so they too could have been conceived during the rites.

"Zendoria, my treasure," the Dark Lady said smiling, "I never doubted, from the moment you were born, that you were on of the chosen twelve. You were conceived the night of the Beltide rites seventeen years ago, as were the rest of you, that is the link that holds you all together. I am one of the special two specifically the dark friend and one of my roles in this prophecy was to train you."

Marcus, the quiet observer, caught her words, "You said your role was to train us. You used the past tense, does that mean that we have finished our training?"

"Yes, Marcus. I have taught you all I can, I can do no more to prepare you for your future. You must all now learn to depend on each other. I will still see you upon occasion, but you no longer need me to make decisions for you."

"But where will you go?" asked Estelle with a small tear in her eye.

"Don't worry, my sweet, I leave you all this house and I will travel the land. There are several people who will be able to provide me shelter when I need it. I am prepared for this journey, you needn't worry about me," the Dark Lady assured her.

"What are we to do?" asked Bandj, who always proved to ask the practical questions.

"As a group, you are all destined to be great. Go forth and claim the land for yourselves, rule it together and you will be unstoppable, but if your loyalties stray you are destined to fail"

The Dark Lady looked at each of them. Sirad sat quietly in the corner absorbing as much information as he could, she understood his silence, having never seen him as the talkative type. Kazor, however was acting rather strange, sitting with his knees pulled up to his chin, Kazor watched everyone closely, no sign of any response or concern showed in his hazel eyes. The Dark Lady tried to shake away her sense of dread that grew as she noticed Kazor was leaving his normally unquenchable curiosity behind.

"You needn't worry just yet for I shall be staying for a little while yet to ensure that you are all thoroughly prepared for all the lies ahead," she said softly.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Six months after the Dark Lady had shared her news, Zendoria sat with the other five, holding her head in frustration.

"Look, Sirad," she said slowly, trying not to raise her voice, "I doubt any of the villagers will be intelligent enough to see through our illusions."

"What are you talking about, girl?" Sirad questioned angrily, "You're suggesting that we lead an imaginary army into the village and demand they surrender. Surely, even you can see the insanity in that. The villagers aren't going to freely give in, they are going to put up a fight."

"But couldn't Kazor or Bandj use their sorcery to subdue them," suggested Estelle quietly as Kazor shot her an annoyed glance. Over the last few days, Kazor had spent much of his time alone. No one was quite sure what he had been doing.

"I'm not going to use my powers for reasons that can be solved without them," said Kazor blankly.

"Exactly," exclaimed Sirad, "Let us stay here awhile longer. We can plan in greater detail and hone our skills. I also think that, while we are here, the rest of you need to learn hand-to-hand combat."

Zendoria paused to consider, then asked, "Do you all agree?"

"I say we move now. Why wait when we can easily conquer any who oppose us?" demanded Bandj.

"If we wait, we can take the time to get stronger," said Marcus mildly, but he grinned slightly as he continued, "Plus, Bandj, perhaps you can take the time to discover you are not the center of the universe and loose some of your cockiness."

Estelle giggled but nodded her head in agreement. The rest quickly agreed to wait. Zendoria finally gave in, "Then we stay and prepare."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

It took twelve years before Zendoria had finally convinced the rest of the group that they had to make their move now or never. Having spent the last two months preparing, they now gathered to make last minute plans.

"So we are going to the small village just north of Ador plains. Kazor, you went to scout the village?" Zendoria turned to Kazor, gesturing for him to speak. Having spent so much time on his own, Zendoria was worried that Kazor might be up to something suspicious.

Kazor glanced at her angrily. Often leaving for several days, he had never told anyone where he was going. How could Zendoria know where he had been? How much did she know about his trips to the village? Did she know of the girl he had become friends with?

"Yes, I have been down to the village several times now. Most of the people are peasants and unskilled in combat, and those with any combat skills are old and bent out of shape," he paused, wondering what Zendoria wanted him to say.

"Do they worship someone? Do they have a temple?" she questioned. Kazor muttered curses under his breath as he realized that she knew everything about his trips.

"They worship Mator the Unwanted. There is a temple on the far side of the village," he said glaring at Zendoria.

"Fools! Worshipping Death? Who ever heard of such a thing?" scoffed Sirad.

"Sirad, quiet," said Zendoria, breaking off her stare at Kazor long enough to cast an annoyed glance at Sirad. "I want the attack to happen in five nights time. Kazor and Bandj, you shall have to find some way to make an illusion that will convince the people they are being attacked by a sizable army. Estelle, Marcus, you two should not find it too hard to get some hostages into the basement of the temple. Don't bother with the elders, only get the children and the adults who are still healthy and strong. Sirad, you will be guarding the prison. Make sure the prisoners don't think about trying to escape. Surely you can handle that. It will take us a day's journey to get to the village, so we shall leave in four nights."

Zendoria got up and left, the others following shortly. Everyone went off to start their own private preparations except Kazor, who was lost in an inward debate.

During his trips to the village, Kazor had befriended a young girl, Elizabeth. She fascinated him, always seeming so mysterious yet so trusting and caring. He had to warn her. He couldn't let harm come to her, but Zendoria would know. She might think that he had betrayed their cause. He couldn't let Zendoria think that, but if he didn't warn Elizabeth she would surely die. He had to do something, but what?