“I don’t even know what the prophecy sounds like.” Silver said.
“Weird lines that sometimes rhyme, and make absolutely no sense basically.” Carson shrugged.
“The last part of the prophecy we already know, that started this quest says,
‘Fourteen must embark on a quest to search.
But they must first find themselves.
The prophecy must start at the darkest day of night.
Where the brightest light’s glow reflects.’
That’s how we found the Oracle.” Margaret said.
“Darkest day of night? That doesn’t sound right.” SIlver frowned.
“Yeah, but we figured it out eventually.”
“Who are the fourteen?” Silver asked.
“Seven times two is fourteen.” Thomas said.
“I know how to multiply.” She rolled her eyes.
“He means, seven Alphas times two.” Margaret said.
“Each pack Alpha and their Luna makes fourteen. For now, there are seven Alphas and two Luna’s, which is nine. The day we found you was the 9th of the month, your cell number was nine as well.”
“Wow. So, where do we find the next in line?” Silver asked.
“You tell us. You’re the piece of the puzzle we have, you’re supposed to lead us to number ten.” Keith said.
“I honestly have no idea.” Silver said with a crestfallen expression and Hayden held her closer.
“Let’s do what we did the last time. Sleep on it, and meet again tomorrow.
**********
“You guys, I found something inscribed on the gem that wasn’t there before. Look.” Margaret said as she joined them in the common room the next morning.
“What does it say?” Silver asked.
“I don’t know. It’s not in a language I understand.”
“Vance, languages are your thing. Maggie, give it to him.” Thomas said, and she gave the gem to Vance.
“It’s in an ancient language. The scripts I studied when I learned it were so old, most of them were unintelligible.” Vance said.
“So you can’t decipher it? Well, we’re doomed.” Jerald sighed.
“Relax. I recognize some letters, I’m trying to form a word that makes sense from them.”
“What letters? Maybe we can help you figure it out.” Raymond said.
“The first letter of the first word is either D, or B. Then one that looks like I, G is the first letter I’m absoluty sure of, then maybe an E…” as he talked, Thomas scribbled on a small notepad he had pulled out from his pocket.
“The next is either an M, or double N, the next looks like the last letter that i said could be an E. This kind of looks like half of the M letter, so maybe N, and then G.”
“So, we have DIGEMEMG, if we’re to go with all the first options.” Thomas said. He scribbled for a few seconds, and then said.
“BIGEMENG is another option.”
“Why couldn’t these things come with a manual or something.” Carson wrinkled his nose.
“BIGENNEMG is another option.” Thomas said as he kept scribbling.
“Or BIGENNENG.”
“BEGINNING!” Margaret exclaimed.
“You weren’t sure of the vowels, you must have misplaced them Vance.” She added.
“That’s one problem solved, and who knows how many more left.” Raymond sighed.
“Okay, the next word looks like IF.” Vance said.
“BEGINNING IF.” Carson rolled his eyes.
“The next depicts something that comes first. This language mixes letters and symbols. So maybe it means the first letter of the Alphabet, which is A.” Vance said.
“That sounds reasonable.” Hayden said.
“The last word is a symbol for something new or new growth. I don’t know exactly, but it kind of looks like a small plant. What does a new growth of a plant signify.”
“Life maybe?” Keith said.
“Okay, so BEGINNING IF A LIFE?” Silver asked with a perplexed look.
“BEGINNING OF A LIFE sounds better. The vowels seem to have a tendency to get mixed up, or lost in translation.” Margaret said.
“Life began a long time ago. How are we supposed to know what exact part the prophecy is referring to without any more clues?” Keith asked with a frown.
“No one ever said this would be easy.” Thomas said.
“And the line says BEGINNING OF ‘A’ LIFE. Not the beginning of life itself. Singular, not plural. So, we must be looking for one person or plant’s beginning.” Jerald said.
“How does a person even begin? Carson asked sarcastically.
“By birth you ninny.” Raymond spoke as he nudged Carson, who was seated beside him.
“It may not be. You never know with these lines. It could mean one thing, or fifty at the same time.” Carson shrugged.
“This inscription appeared on the gem after Silver joined the crew. Maybe it had something to do with her.” Margaret said and they all turned to look at Silver.
“The way you all are staring at me is a bit creepy.”
“Something must have happened at your birth for you to have been named Silver. And it doesn’t burn you like it should.”
“My name isn’t really Silver, it’s just a part of my name. As for the silver resistance thing, it has always been like that. My mum told me a story.” She shrugged.
“A story about your birth?” Hayden asked.
“Yeah. She told me that I wasn’t born in the pack. I was born in a cave.”