Dara’s stomach was growling as it protested the lack of food inside it. But she refused to give in to the hunger. She forced herself to look away from the freshly roasted fish whose delicious smell was making her salivate.

Jaejoong started eating the fish. It was clear he was mocking her. Teasing her. She tried to focus her mind on her escape. She tried to see the immediate future. There were two possible futures she could see. Jaejoong would consume every bit of those roasted fish and she would remain hungry. Another one was where she would swallow her pride and ask for food. Jaejoong would then give her the biggest fish.

Pride versus hunger pains. She may be separated from her fireshadow, but she was still the Oracle! And she would not demean herself by asking food from a boy who defied her power and authority!

It’s better that she died of hunger! If she died of hunger, her sister Oracles would be free to choose someone else to replace her. The Oracle would become whole again and would be able to find and punish Jaejoong! As for her, she would be forgotten... A sadness rose inside Dara with such thoughts.

She looked around her. She could die here in this forest. The sadness of dying alone and being forgotten began to overwhelm her. If she died today, no one would mourn her passing. No tears would be shed on her grave because her family would never know where to find her. Only when the Oracle had become whole again, would the new Wisdom find Dara's body. Temple guards would be sent to retrieve her dead body to be brought back to Solaris where she would be given a funeral pyre befitting that of a former incarnation of the Oracle.

Jaejoong’s voice intruded into her thoughts.

"Stop that, Cloud! You are making me dizzy!" He threw his head back and began laughing!

Dara's features hardened. Her anger and irritation toward Jaejoong grew a hundred fold! Here she was contemplating about her death while he continued amusing himself by talking to himself! She set aside thoughts of death. She would not let herself die until that stupid prince who kept talking to himself was dead and burned into a crisp!

But in order to continue living, she shouldn't allow her body to become weak with hunger. She must eat and become stronger. She took a deep breath and swallowed her pride. She also reigned in her anger.

"The Oracle needs food," she called out.

Jaejoong stopped laughing and looked at her.

"I will not feed the Oracle. But if you tell me that Sandara is hungry, I can give you one of these roasted fish."

"Stop calling me Sandara!"

"Then, let’s shorten your name. Sandy? Dar? D?"

"It’s Dara!" she corrected him sternly.

"So, Dara, do you like to eat roasted fish?"

She gave him a look of cold hatred. She wanted to see him dead and burned before her eyes! But in order for that scene to come true, she must remain alive. She needed food to survive.

"Yes," she said through gritted t