Noel and I trekked back to Sharun and the hunters in silence. I was stunned by the fact the Oracle knew we hadn't been inside the cave. Was it because she was an oracle? I suppose it made sense that an oracle would know if we had done something like that. Maybe The Terrible was some sort of supernatural being, like the things we'd seen in the moon and red star, and the Oracle had asked it if we'd been inside.
"Should we run away?" I asked as we neared the camp.
"To where?" said Noel. "Every tribe on the Plains of Serenity follows the Oracle. If she tells them all to exile us, we would have nowhere to go." Noel shrugged. "Except for maybe the Forest of Three, although then it would become the Forest of Five."
"Wait, that forest is named after the number of people who've been exiled there?" I said.
"Yes," said Noel. "Each tribe has different customs about punishment, but exile from one tribe means you can try to make a home somewhere else. Even murderers can find a place inside a rival tribe as long as they agree to take on dangerous hunts and scouting missions."
"But the Oracle is powerful enough to exile us from every tribe," I said. "That's insane."
"It makes sense," said Noel. "The Oracle is the oldest and wisest elf, and she can even tell the future. If she thinks someone is a danger to the whole community, people are going to trust her. Even if that means exiling a close family member."
"You said three people have been exiled by the Oracle," I said. "Could you tell me about them?"
Noel nodded. "The first person was the last king of the elven tribes: King Barson Jora, also known as the Mad King. The Oracle led nine of the twelve tribes against the Mad King, who led the Jora, Bandari, and Kisi tribes. He was defeated and then exiled into the Forest of One by the Oracle."
"The elves used to have a king?" I asked, shocked. They lived in a hunter gatherer society now. Were they a feudal monarchy before? No wait, she said the king led the tribes. Maybe he was closer to a tribal chieftain. But then why was I hearing the word 'king'? I guess the word she was using was for a leader that fell somewhere between a chieftain and a king.
"The second was the Witch of Desire, who was practicing evil magic in secret before the Oracle caught and banished her. And the third was the Forsaken One, but we're not sure why he was exiled," said Noel.
"You exiled someone even though you don't know if he had done anything wrong?" I asked.
"The Oracle said he would bring ruin to all the tribes," said Noel, "but his tribe, the Kisi, tried to defend him. It was only when the Oracle sent the powerful Que tribe to surround the entire Kisi camp that they allowed the Forsaken One to be exiled."
I see. Inter-tribal politics were a thing on the plains, and it seemed like the Oracle didn't have complete control over everyone, she was simply the most powerful political figure.
"And what happened to the exiles after they went into the forest?" I asked.
"They were never seen nor heard from again," replied Noel.
Silence settled in between us again. Now that I knew getting on the Oracle's bad side was not an option, I had to come up with something. We couldn't run away to another tribe and there was no way I was going inside that cave, especially not after being told to do so by a strange Oracle that decided people's fates on a whim.
"Maybe we could run away after all," I said.
"We can't," said Noel, "we would have nowhere to go. I think we have no choice. We have to go get a real blessing from The Terrible."
I shook my head. "No, you don't have to be an oracle to predict that going inside that cave is a bad idea."
"But getting exiled is an even worse idea!" said Noel.
"Why?" I said.
"Why?" she repeated. "Because we would have to live on our own, gathering food while fighting off monsters. And I wouldn't even be able to talk to my family! The Oracle could make my own tribe try to kill me if I came near their camp."
"That's because everyone respects the Oracle," I said, "and they do that because she's old, wise, and has powerful magic. And we may not be old and wise, but we do have something else…" I concentrated above my hand and a small flame burst forth. "We have our own magic!"
Noel shook her head. "Our magic isn't powerful enough to defeat twelve tribes of elves led by a powerful magician like the Oracle. We couldn't even beat uncle Sharun unless we managed to catch him by surprise."
I extinguished the flame above my hand. "We only learned the foundations of magic from the birds yesterday. If we start studying and practicing, we could become strong enough to defend ourselves, and maybe even take down the Oracle."
Noel's eyes widened. We were still far from camp but she looked around to make sure no one could have heard me. "Are you crazy? The Oracle can see the future. The future! How could we possibly fight someone like that?"
"Because we don't have to fight her," I said. "We just need to be powerful enough to not be worth the trouble. Remember what you said about the last person to be exiled? The Forsaken One. It sounded like the Oracle might have overestimated her power when she tried to exile him. Her ability to see the future is clearly imperfect or she would've stopped people like the Witch of Desire before they began learning evil magic. In fact, if she could see everything, she might have already exiled us for having learned magic!"
It took a little longer to convince Noel that we could resist the Oracle. It was only when she was sure we didn't have any other options, especially after I kept telling her to think of all the horrible things that could be inside the cave of The Terrible, that she finally agreed to give it a try.
"Besides, we have the perfect excuse to not go to the cave yet," I said.
"Right, the one star monster," said Noel.
I nodded. "The Oracle didn't really tell us how to fight it, but after we tell the elders, I'm sure they will try to contact the other tribes. Then the tribes will put together a joint hunting party to take down the monster."
"You don't think they'll follow the Oracle's advice to retreat to the highlands?" asked Noel.
"No," I said, "I don't think so. You told me the highlands don't have as much food as the plains, so going up there early, and with even less food reserves than usual, will be a death sentence for many people. I don't think the elders will agree to letting their tribesmen starve to death before at least trying to fight the monster."
Noel frowned. "That does make sense. But if we stay on the plains while preparing to attack the starred monster, we might reduce our food reserves even more. Foraging isn't enough to feed the tribe consistently during this time of year."
"That just means they'll try to throw together a hunting party as soon as possible," I said. "Still, that should give us some time to become stronger."
"And how are we going to do that, anyway?" asked Noel. "You sound like you already know how to improve our magic. Were there more elves with weird names in your tribe who said things that might help us?"
"Yes, but we don't need their help right now," I said. "All we need to do is practice."
"Practice?" said Noel.
I nodded. "We already know how to use our fire magic, but we don't have a lot of experience casting it. Knowledge doesn't only come from reason, it also comes from experience. That's why your grandpa Starry was able to use fire magic without understanding fire. Experience will also help us work on the 'wisdom' part of the foundations given to us by the birds."
Noel nodded slowly. "Alright, but how will we practice magic in the camp. Somebody might notice and it's too dangerous for anyone to let us go far enough away on our own."
I frowned. That was a serious problem.
"Wait," said Noel. "I have an idea."
"What is it?" I asked.
"Nobody is going to go ask the Oracle for advice after we did, right?" said Noel.
I nodded. "There isn't enough time and we have no reason to lie to them."
"Which is exactly why we should lie to them!" exclaimed Noel.
"Noel," I said as I grabbed both of her shoulders and smiled. "I like the way you think!"