Author's note: Hello! So I've been going back, editing and proofing future chapters and remembered people are actually reading this and that it isn't me typing all of this out for the hell of it. As a sequel, not only am I pretty positive this story be significantly longer than Lily Flowers & Eternity but it's a lot more graphic. So as a heads up now, I'm posting warnings.

This story is rated M (I can't add enough emphasis on this. seriously.)

This story contains descriptive scenes of violence and sex including slash, het and threesomes. (Oh yeah, I went there. deal with it. but at the risk of sounding like I'm bragging, this sequel kicks ass and I like being able to share my brain vomit with you so I hope that doesn't discourage anyone.)

Alright I'm done. Enjoy. :)

Anala could feel her. Iliana was coming. Anticipation filled her, along with anxiety and longing. Iliana was the closest thing Anala had ever had to a mother. As the Oracle before her, she ran the Naiyaila, more popularly known as the Outland Temple. Anala had her first vision at the young age of seven. Iliana had come to her, scared and confused by what was happening to her and had eased her panic, had been the first to understand completely what was happening to her.

Zain gently brushed away her tears but more replaced them. The day was warm but she felt frozen with terror. She sniffled, entire body shaking. Ruby eyes watched her and warm lips touched her brow. "Why are you so upset?"

She was sobbing. She hugged his waist tightly, burying her face in his shirt. A big hand smoothing over her hair. A sigh. "Dove, please. What's wrong?" She shook her head, hiccupping. A woman, beautiful and pale with long dark hair and kind eyes.

"It's alright Anala. The beast isn't going to hurt you."

Anala scrubbed at her cheeks. "It's not?"

"No."

"How do you know?"

Birds hopped along the grass and fluttered above the grass. "My name is Iliana. I'm the Oracle."

Anala stared at her in wonder, wide-eyed. "You are?"

Iliana nodded. "I am. And soon, you will be the Oracle. You and I are special. The Goddess picked us to help her."

"She did?"

The woman smiled and nodded. "Child, it isn't going to be easy but I can teach you so you can help your brother and your people."

"You can? I can help?"

"Only if you choose to." the garden was bathed in sunlight. Nolan peeking at her from around a pillar, large blue eyes fixed on her. She nodded and Iliana looked up to Zain.

"It's time Zain."

Just as she warned, it was not an easy task. Learning how to control her powers was draining, and learning to accept and understand her visions was near impossible. In the years she lived in the temple Anala learned the practices passed down through each oracle and their role in the world, the duty that came with the mark she bore. The mages she had chosen upon her arrival became her closest friends. Her sisters. They grew and learned together, under Iliana's tutelage. The woman wasn't always fair, or even her usual wonderful character, but she was a good teacher and was always guiding Anala. She was her role model since childhood, and Anala had an endless amount of respect for her.

She chewed her thumbnail.

"What's wrong? I thought you'd be happy to see your mentor."

Anala looked to Jasper, who had come to stand next to her. She could feel Emmett watching her from somewhere in the room, his presence steady and reassuring. "I am happy. I haven't seen Iliana in a very long time."

"Then what is it?"

When she came of age, Anala took her vows. Oracles were brought up to realize that all life was sacred. They took a certain set of guidelines and lived by them. Anala had broken her vows. She killed. She took part in war. She gave in to darkness. Again. An entire lifetime and she had proven once more she was undeserving of this gift. Anala didn't want to see the look of disappointment on her face. Anala bit her lip as her anxiety raised. She felt a soft energy wrap around her and she shot the blonde man a grateful look. His gift didn't work on her but she knew he was trying to ease her. There was movement in the yard and Anala's breath caught. Zain stepped out of the tree line with Rowan and behind them she followed. Iliana. Anala found herself standing on the porch, her heart leaping. It was her. After all these years Anala lay eyes on the woman who taught her everything that created the foundation of who she was. Their eyes met and Anala felt the rush of energy, the link they had to each other as women marked as Oracle.

For a long moment, Anala's anxiety disappeared. Her worry and fear, gone. Anala crossed the yard and flashed past Zain and Rowan in an instant. Iliana's arms came around her tightly and Anala pressed her face into her warm shoulder, inhaling her floral scent. She was crying. Hot tears streamed down her face and blurred her vision of the deep forest as she shook. Everything was flooding to the surface. The pain of all the things Carus had put her and Nolan through, the fear and anger at the unfairness of it all, the self-doubt and sorrow. Anala had died, had seen it, and was left in confusion in a world she wasn't convinced she should be a part of.

"Sweet girl," Iliana lulled in their native tongue. She pulled back and cupped her face and Anala grasped her arms, unwilling to release her. The woman's eyes were sad, flashing blue in the gray daylight as her fingers wiped her cheeks. "You've been through so much."

"I saw it," Anala told her breathlessly. "I watched myself die."

"I know." She smiled and pressed her forehead against hers. "But I saw you return."

"I'm so sorry, teacher."

Iliana pulled back and gave her a long look. She touched her hair and laughed as she hugged her close. "Everything will be alright."

Nolan approached and bowed respectfully. "Auaekro," he addressed her by the title given to formal oracles. "It is good to see you again."

Again? Had Iliana been here before? Iliana nodded and smiled. "No need to be so formal with me my Ahrahn. I'm happy to see you in higher spirits with your dear sister of course."

Nolan's eyes shifted to Anala's and he smiled at her. "It is."

Soft apricot eyes stared into her. Iliana's hands slid down her arms to take her hands. "As happy as I am to see you, tell me, why did you call me here?"

Anala shook her head. "I—I did not call you."

"Then why am I here? You called me Anala. Unaware it seems but you called me nonetheless."

"I wish to return to the temple, just for a while."

"You are no longer my student and the temple is yours. You do not need my permission."

"I may be the Oracle but the temple has always belonged to you." Iliana smiled. "So I ask."

"You are always welcome."

Anala paused. Now came the hard part. Very few men of the outside were ever allowed to enter the Temple and even fewer received outright permission. "I ask your permission to allow my Mate to join me."

Iliana's eyebrow raised and brown eyes gleamed. "Mate?"

Anala was nervous. Emmett didn't need Jasper's gift to know that. Her body language told it all; the slight hunch to her shoulders, the tightening around her eyes, the unintentionally inviting way she bit her lip. She was anxious and he wasn't quite sure why. Anala had told him some about Iliana. She had been the oracle before her, the last marked before she was born and it was passed on. She had taught Anala through her childhood and adolescence, helping her manage her abilities and control while opening her to the gift she was given at birth. He could tell the woman meant a lot to his mate, he could see it in the way she talked about her, the respect she had for the woman who had taught her so many things. But he didn't understand her anxiety. It definitely raised his curiosity. According to Nolan she had arrived here once before, after Anala's death. The temple had finally been found and her mentor had arrived but it had been too late. Anala had been gone. None of his family had ever seen her however. Iliana left soon after meeting with Nolan, who explained everything that had been happening.

Iliana hadn't been what Emmett expected. His mate cried and the woman soothed her with ease. She was tall and willowy, graceful and regal yet fierce. Her skin was pale and creamy and her long dark hair was in a thick French braid, falling down to her mid-thigh. A white string was threaded through it. Emmett couldn't quite figure out what exact color her eyes were, her gaze focused on Anala, and then Nolan. Her clothes were odd, yet strangely attractive. The maroon skirt fell around her calves, a slit showing the long expanse of her leg, starting high up her thigh. The boots on her feet were made of a soft material. While the brown material didn't seem like leather they looked durable and easy to move in. she wore a thin sleeveless shirt that was an off-white color, also made from a soft material he wasn't quite sure was cotton. She wasn't wearing a coat, instead it almost seemed like a large covering of black fabric, draped around her like a cloak and a looser bit at the back of her neck that formed a hood. An odd ornament hung around her neck. There was something ethereal about her. Iliana radiated an energy, strong and noticeable. Emmett listened as they spoke, looking at his family to gauge their reactions. Like him, they were curious as they observed the stranger, listening to the melodic sound of the two women speaking. The words rolled off Anala's tongue smoothly, like an easy current of a calm river. He had heard her speak a few words before but hearing her really speak the strange, exotic language was unpredictably sexy. Emmett didn't know what was being said but he did recognize one word. Maeku.

Mate.

Iliana stepped around Anala and looked to the porch where Emmett stood with his family. She walked forward slowly, observing them, and Emmett suddenly understood why he couldn't make out the color of her eyes. There was no color, at least no set one. Her eyes were a cerulean blue, then a pale red, then a murky yellow, then warm brown. The colors changed slowly, shifting from one to another then another. The woman was suddenly standing in front of him. One moment she had been on the lawn and the next she was on the porch before him. A growl left his lips at the suddenness of it and he sensed his family shift in response. The eyes went mauve. Grey. Bright green. It wasn't anywhere near Anala's vibrant emerald but the green was deep, like moss. They stared at each other.

"What is your name?" she suddenly asked. She spoke with an accent Emmett would never be able to place.

"Emmett." Her ever-shifting stare was making him edgy. He looked over her shoulder to Anala, feeling himself relax a bit at the sight of her standing calmly. Iliana didn't pose a threat. Relax.

She spoke quietly, but her words carried purpose. "You are her mate."

She wasn't asking. Those shifting eyes looked him over and Emmett felt like she was staring right through him. Their eyes met once more and hers narrowed a bit, giving Emmett a long calculating look. Emmett suddenly felt like a boy who had done something wrong. I literally have done nothing, he told himself. Her head tilted a bit but her eyes remained on his. "He may accompany you Anala. But he obeys temple law. Completely." She turned to her.

Anala nodded, smiling. "Yes, Iliana."

Emmett wasn't sure what had just happened, but he was happy that the woman had . . . approved him? Nolan was there, introducing her to his family and Emmett watched them enter the house. Rowan was groaning and Zain smirked at him. Rowan unsheathed a dagger Emmet had seen the blonde always carried and hand it to the dark haired man. Rowan shook his head and looked to him.

"Emmett you lucky bastard." Then the blonde was disappearing through the trees.

Emmett looked to Zain for an explanation. "We made a bet that she wouldn't let you in the temple." He grinned. "I said she would. If I won I got his favorite dagger." He waved it in his hand.

Emmett chuckled. "Nice."

"Congratulations Emmett. You are officially one of the very, very few men who will see the inside of the Outland temple with express permission."

Anala climbed the steps and Emmett smiled at her. She took his hand and squeezed. "Last chance to change your mind. You don't have to come with me."

"I want to, love. I'm going to." he wasn't going to be separated from her.