Eye of the Oracle Read Online Free

“Do you have a preference?”
    “Choose whatever pleases you. I will arrange things to make your new name work.”
    Lilith smiled. “As you wish, my master.”
    The serpent’s tongue flicked again. “I have news about the sword.”
    Lilith lifted the blade. “The secret to its flames?”
    “Yes. The sword is designed to detect the nature of the hands that grasp it. The flames shoot from the blade only if the hands are innocent and undefiled. Of course, the Cherub who guarded the Tree of Life was holy, so he was able to use the blade’s protective shield over the tree.”
    Lilith ran a finger along the blade. “And Samyaza’s hands have been deemed corrupt.” She gazed at the grip, wiggling her fingers around it. “Can the sword be fooled into thinking it is being held by holy hands?”
    “Perhaps. It has no thinking process of its own. It merely responds to how it was forged.”
    Lilith studied the etchings in the blade’s silvery metal. “Who are the two dragons doing battle in the design?”
    “I am one of them, and I struggle with a dragon who is to come, a warrior who will fight with me to become king of the dragons. Michael etched that symbol when he gave the sword to Samyaza and commissioned him to find and protect the holy dragon who would come to try to conquer me.”
    “I see,” Lilith said, nodding. “So this king must have holy hands in order to defeat you.”
    “Yes. But since this usurper could be a human representative for the dragons, our goal is to corrupt every family line, whether dragon or human, with the seed of the fallen ones. But, beware. Elohim has already hatched a plan to thwart ours. I know little more than a code phrase one of my disciples overheard ‘oracles of fire.’”
    “That’s it? No context?”
    “Only that there are two of them. Perhaps a pair of angels commissioned specifically to infiltrate our ranks and destroy our work from within.”
    “I will watch for them.” Lilith lowered the sword. “And when will you become a dragon again and leave the garden?”
    As the serpent slithered along Lilith’s arm, she raised her hand to the tree. It coiled around the branch, and its head turned back toward her, its voice echoing like a ghostly whisper. “When I steal the body of a certain dragon, I will be whole once more.” It crawled back into the thicker foliage and disappeared.
    Naamah ran from the tree and sidled up to Lilith, crossing her arms again. Lilith chuckled and kissed the top of her head. “Don’t worry, Sister. Yours will be a marriage of convenience. We can dispose of Ham when he has served his purpose.”
    Naamah turned her back to Lilith, her arms still crossed. “Then you marry him. You seem ready to betray your husband.”
    Lilith grabbed Naamah’s shoulder and spun her back around, her eyes turning bright scarlet. “I’m doing this for us!”
    The pain from Lilith’s grip made Naamah shake. As she stared at her sister’s fiery eyes, she felt tears forming in her own.
    Lilith slowly relaxed her fingers. Stroking Naamah’s hair, she leaned close and whispered, “Lucifer has given me the means to carry out the plan that will save our lives. He knows Samyaza is not likely to cooperate, but I don’t really want to betray my own husband.” She pressed the tip of the sword into the grass. “I won’t resort to draining his power unless I have to.”
    “Draining his power?” Naamah pointed at the sword. “With that?”
    “No.” Lilith spread out her fingers, showing Naamah her palm. Splotches of purple stained her skin from the heel of her hand to her fingertips. “My seed concoction has many uses, and absorbing potency will come in handy.” Reaching up, she caressed one of the red fruits dangling from the tree. “Speaking of seeds” she plucked the fruit “I think these might also come in handy.”
    “For posterity again?”
    “In a manner of speaking, yes.” Lilith dropped the apple-sized fruit on the ground and chopped down