Dara thought she would live her life going through the three incarnations of the Oracle. First as Destiny during her childhood, then as she became a woman, she would transition to the Wisdom incarnation. But when she had finally become Wisdom, the prophesied Lord of Darkness, Prince Jaejoong, kidnapped her and changed her life forever! Because of that, she could never become the Memory incarnation of the Oracle. She would never grow old and die being part of the Oracle.

Helping the people of Haldor to continue having lives full of peace and prosperity as an incarnation of the Oracle was no longer possible. Like the world of Haldor, Jaejoong had also changed her fate and her life.

Now at age twenty-three going twenty-four, she had ceased being part of the Oracle. The Oracle that had guided Haldor all through the ages had been destroyed by Prince Jaejoong. The science and technologies that had once been dominant in the world of Haldor, now had to brace themselves with the coming onslaught of magic. Magic that would be unleashed by Prince Jaejoong and his companion, Cloud. Cloud, as far as Dara knew, was an eternal being who could only be seen and heard by a few people.

Dara once possessed magic inside her. Her magic allowed her to see the future and its different versions. But her magic had been drained out of her body and in exchange for that, she had acquired the fighting skills and horsemanship of Prince Jaejoong. The latter meanwhile had acquired her power! And since he was nothing but a spoiled, stupid fool, he couldn't even use her magic properly to return it to her!

She sighed. Her horse's steady rhythm made her close her eyes for a moment. She wasn't worried she'd fall over and hurt herself. She was an excellent rider, and she could sleep on top of her horse without falling if she chose to. But thoughts and events from her past kept her awake.

From being an Oracle incarnation, she had now become a swordhand. She had sworn to protect and fight side by side with the man riding in front of her in exchange for several coins of gold.

Not that the man who called himself Han needed protection. Han was far from being weak. He was six feet and two inches tall, with wide shoulders, muscled arms, sturdy hips and powerful legs. He could cut through a dozen trained fighters with his long sword and not broke a sweat. Han was a warrior. Her trainer and now, her employer.

At times like this, when he couldn't see her, she often found herself studying him. Everything about him. When she first met him, he had close-cropped hair. His hair had now grown and reached the back of his neck. He now kept his raven-colored hair tied behind his back. Even from behind, the man, with his wide shoulders, commanded respect. Anyone would instinctively knew he was an experienced fighter. A man who had seen and experienced a lot of things at the age of thirty-eight after wandering all over Haldor.

Even Jaejoong's pride and stubbornness were quickly subdued by Han's mere presence. The boy prince found himself intimidated and at the same time fascinated by Han's courage, fighting prowess and sensible advice. During their training days, Jaejoong followed and obeyed Han without complaint. Exerting himself to the point of exhaustion just to prove to Han that he was the better student than she was. But Dara always beat Jaejoong during training. She was able to master to perfection all of Jaejoong's former fighting skills. The prince had to retrain himself to be able to become a good fighter again. But he remained inept in using Dara's powers.

Han never berated them during their training in the oasis. His way was always encouragement. His usual words were, always turn your weakness into your strength, and use your strength to your advantage.

After Jaejoong had destroyed the Oracle and found himself another quest to pursue, Han had asked Dara to become his swordhand and to accompany him back to his home.

Since an ex-Oracle with the skills of a veteran fighter needed to eat and find shelter, Dara accepted the job. She'd rather follow Han back to his home than accompany again the irritating boy prince to his crazy adventures. Jaejoong had a tendency to find trouble wherever he went, and everyone with him had to suffer the consequences of his actions.

She had enough of Prince Jaejoong! And since it was impossible to get back her powers from the young boy, she had decided to embrace and accept what she had now become. A fighter and a warrior able to stand on her own!

"We are here, Dara!" broke Han's voice through Dara's musings.

Dara looked around her. She and Han had been travelling since they left the City of Solaris yesterday, stopping only to eat and sleep.

"This is the City of the Dead! I thought we are going back to your hometown?"

Haldor was divided into five regions and the City of Solaris. In the intersection of these regions, right at the center of the land, lay the City of the Dead. All the graves, mausoleums, and crypts of the ancestors of the people of Haldor occupy the City of the Dead.

"The passage to my home lies beneath the City of the Dead. Don't worry, Dara, the dead won't rise this time," joked Han.

She snorted. Dara wanted to forget that experience. She never wanted to fight hordes of undead again!

"It's the fastest way back," he assured her. "We can't take the horses down the crypts though." Han alighted from his horse and started taking his packs from the horse's back.

"We are just going to leave the horses here?"

"We will set them free. Let them join the other wild horses in the forest." Han untied the saddle from his horse, patted its rump and started walking away.

"Goodbye then," Dara silently whispered to her horse before dismounting. If this was Salamander, she would have never left that horse behind. Salamander was Jaejoong's reliable horse that fought beside her as the hordes of the undead descended upon them. A horse she had grown fond of.

A wind was blowing toward them as they navigated themselves amongst the rows of graves. The wind playfully tried to free her braided hair. As part of the Oracle, she had allowed her hair to grow and reached down to her feet. As a warrior, long hair proved to be a distraction. She had cut it down to shoulder length when she became Han's swordhand.

The wind was the only noise Dara could hear. The dead in their graves remained silent as she followed Han toward one of the biggest mausoleums in the City of the Dead.

She was surprised to see the double sword crest and name of the Kim family carved on the mausoleum's facade.

"These are Jaejoong's ancestors!"

"I don't think they would mind if we pass through." He took out his torch and murmured magical words. The torch instantly ignited and gave a bright light. It would continue to burn until Han once again recited the magic words.

There were several marble tombs inside the huge mausoleum. Two of them belonged to Haldor's past king and queen. Most of Kim Jaejoong's ancestors were chosen to become king of Haldor. One could say that even if Jaejoong was dressed in rags, his royal bloodline would still show through.

"Han, are you a Kim?" Dara couldn't help but ask as they began going down a flight of stairs to the crypt benea