[/b]Hello Everyone. There is a book I posted here on Nairaland about that I needed co writers for. In case you don't know what I'm talking about, peep here:

https://www.nairaland.com/2635785/writers-needed-collaborative-project

This is the first chapter of the book and I want to know your thoughts about it. Note: what you are about to read is my primary draft and nothing has been corrected. So please don't mind any blunder you discover while you read. I'm looking forward to your comments/corrections /contributions



[b]Chapter 1: The Prophecy



Sage Maya sat with her legs crossed in her very spacious and fairly lit office.Her middle aged and dolled up face frowned as she looked down the panoramic view from where she sat and nursed her bandaged left hand.In her view, cars flew on the route to residential areas,other skyscrapers with few lit offices and digital billboards displaying adverts for products ranging from smart communicators to snacks.Her eyes filled up more the longer she looked and it seemed she could tear up at amy moment.She seemed to see and notice everything in her view as her eyes browsed the city in her presence- The Ash city which was the military base of Ilunna: the nation whose military she led. But All she seemed to notice was the large digital town clock just below the Flame Sage Mountain where gigantic statues of her two predecessors and of course,herself stood tall and seemed as if they were watching over the country.The clock read "23:54" as she stared at it and let out a deep sigh- still maintaining the frown on her face. In this moment, she began rubbing her bandaged hand more rapidly and she was about to bite the well polished nail on her right thumb when the large automatic fibre twin doors to her office, which she was backing, slid open to reveal the people on the other side- the two guards stationed at her office door, each of of them standing on either side of the door frame and three other people between them:two bald dark-skinned,tall and well built men who wore cotton shrouds wrapped around their torso and knotted on their left shoulders and white ankle-length chinos trousers. They were barefoot and had white chalk-like markings on their faces,arms and chests. They also wore identical necklaces made of leather ropes and a tiger canine as pendant. The two men were led into the office by a tall,skinny albino woman. She was also bald and had chalk-like markings on her head. She had potruding cheekbones and a long neck and Her body frame was well hidden in a loose dark-blue gown. As the three people approached Sage Maya's desk, she turned her head swiftly. Her eyes brightened and her mouth gaped as she saw the figures approaching her. It seemed she had been expecting these people forever. She immediately stood up and touched one of the buttons on her desk and suddenly the office was fully lit to reveal all it's contents. The office was a symbol of nobility and authority;Sage Maya's seat was big- more like a throne and was covered in velvet with floral prints. Her desk was also large and made of well polished timber and its pedestals had beautiful carvings on them. The top of the desk was covered with a touchscreen tempered glass with three soft touch buttons on the edge where she was sitting by: a power button,a 'bulblight' button and a phone button. On the other side of the desk were two smaller seats covered with black leather. The whole office floor was covred with a red rug and carnation prints all over it. And on the large red wall to Sage Maya's right was a large engravement of Ilunna's coat of arms and just below it stood a shelve with objects such as swords, shields and helments kept in it.
"Akira. Tell me you have it." Sage Maya said with a sharp tone as she walked towards Akira and her companions.
Akira, the albino woman is a well respected witch from Ajiria:The estranged land of sorcery and she had been hired by Sage Maya three weeks back to retrieve The orb: an object highly rumored to contain a prophecy which is said to have provided the events that will lead to the restoration of the world to normalcy and balance.
Akira did not answer Sage Maya's question as she and her companions walked closer towards the center of the office. Sage Maya also walked closer to them and both parties met exactly at the center of the office.
"greetings to you my noble sage" Akira said in a polite tone as she and her companions bowed before Sage Maya in a synchronised manner.
"Tell me you were able to do what I paid you for" Sage Maya said in a louder tone ignoring Akira's show of respect.
"Well, we both agreed I show up here before midnight today and here I am"
"We both agreed you show up WITH THE ORB before midnight today" Sage maya stressed, wearing a straight face this time around.
"very well." Akira said with a half smile "I have retrieved that which you sent for". She raised her left hand to the chest level of the companion on her left in a manner which stipulates that she wanted sommething placed on her palm by him.
The companion reached into his shroud and brought out a black cotton cloth which was wrapped around an object and secured with white twine. He then untwined the small cloth before placing it on Akira's palm. She moved her hand away from the companion's chest and stretched it towards her front where sage Maya was standing quite startled at the moment. "see for yourself" she said confidently as she raised her hand to Sage maya's face level.
Sage Maya raised her slightly shaky hands slowly and began to unwrap the cloth with extreme anticipation written all over her face. Her eyes widened as she finally unwrapped the cloth to reveal what it concealed- the orb.It was the size of a baseball and was made of very thick glass and on top of it was a silver cone shaped lid. A dark cloud of smoke floated inside it. She picked it from Akira's palm and looked at it closely with her widened eyes.
"this is it" she said, not taking her eyes away from it "This is the prophecy".
The floating smoke suddenly turned silver and began to glow and then, a voice- an eldrly man's voice began to speak from the orb:


[insert prophecy poem]


"what's this? What does this mean" Sage Maya asked with a confused look on her face
.
"thats the prophecy noble sage" Akira answrerd. "you just heard everything that shall transpire for balance to be restored. If i heard correctly, this prophecy says that we have a bigger enemy than what you all think it is"

"I-I dont understand" Sage Maya stammered maintaining the confused look on her face.
"Im a witch and i didnt come from the future. This is beyond my comprehension. All I know is whoever made this prophecy has a very powerful soul"

"Powerful soul? How do you mean?"

"you see, prophecies made like this,in this form, are made out of a fragment of the prophet's soul. This fragment contains a some of the prophets power and it could be any form. The reason we don't comprehend this is because we don't have a related soul to the prophets." Akira explained.

"So you mean we have to find a related soul to fully understand this prophecy. Right?"

"exactly"

"How do we do that?"

"You have to let events unfold and the stars align themselves. What is provided here cannot be denied and nobody has the power to change it"

"Time is elu--"

"Sorry sage you called for me" a thin voice from behind akira's companions interrupted Sage Maya . Akira and her companions turned their heads to see who it was.
At the entrance of Sage Maya's office stood a dark, slim young woman. She was wearing square frame glasses and had a long hair which she tied to a pigtail and she wore a light pink skirt and blouse. She also wore pink lipstick and pink flat shoes to match. She wore an akward smile as she noticed she interrupted a meeting.
Sage Maya hid the orb behind her immediately she noticed who it was.

"I hope I didn't interrupt anything" the young lady said, finally breaking the short silence that suddenly filled the office.

"of course you did" Sage Maya responded, with a straight face. "why are you late?"

"I went through a series of security checks to get to your office. Those guards acted like they don't know me. This doesn't have to do wi--"

"yes it does" Sage Maya interrupted. "as you know by now, Ajani was killed in combat yesterday by a band of rusticants. They are probably x-class as you can see" she raised her bandaged hand for the young lady to see.

"so I heard ma. I'm sorry for that...and this" the young lady answered."I'll come back at an appropriate time". She turned back and started walking out the door.

"i didn't ask you to leave. Did I?" Sage Maya said.

The young lady stopped immediately and turned back."sorry ma". She said as she smiled awkwardly once again


"Sit down. I was just rounding up with this meeting" Sage Maya said, pointing towards the two leather seats by her desk.

The young lady immediately walked to where the seats are and sat quietly.

"sorry about that. She's my vice Secretary" Sage Maya said, turning back to Akira.

"no problem." Akira responded, almost interrupting Sage Maya."I understand that there's no time on your side but I trust that a wise sage like you knows what to do in situations like this". She then smiled broadly. "I will advise that you keep it safe, out of reach as whatever tthis prophecy holds is of great value and mmay attract lunatics. Lunatics like those you encountered yesterday. My companions and I didnt obtain it easily"

Sage Maya nodded.

"I'll have to take my leave now" Akira turned back without Sage Maya's aprooval and her companions followed suit. The door slid open and the three of them walked out of the office.

Sage Maya turned to where the young lady had been seating quietly. "i called you here because I have decided to relieve you of your duties as my vice Secretary" . Before the young lady could respond, Sage Maya continued. " you are now my first Secretary and personal bodyguard"

"wow! This-this is huge. I..."

"we don't have time for thank yous. Now your first directive on this job is to send a notice of meeting to the other sages. Schedule it for next week and tag it as very important" Sage Maya interrupted.

The young lady nodded and walked quickly out of the office.