by Kristen Day
“You’re right, but there is honor in sacrifice,” I lectured her resolutely. “It cleanses the world and offers up new promises of the future.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it!” she hollered at me, and fought against the shining fabric. I stood calmly and strolled leisurely toward the ocean waves as they lapped at the sand. It was better to allow her to get it out of her system beforehand. She needed to be strong, but the quicker she resolved her emotions, the better. She ranted about selfish Goddesses and evil dark energy for at least another hour. I eventually tuned out her shrill accusations and nonsense. Instead, I set to creating the marks in the sand I’d been shown in my dreams. I picked up a long, thin piece of driftwood that I found was perfect for sketching.
A ritual as paramount as this would require nothing less than perfection. The crooning melody in my head had grown to a deafening pitch and I was equally driven by its passion; its supremacy over my heart. The images that accompanied the music only proved to be that much more persuasive. The most recent had been a map with directions I needed to follow. The blood moon would rise. The blood moon would feed. The cycle would replenish and the cycle would provide. Oh yes, it would provide. A shower of blessings would rain down on its closest worshippers – lighting their souls and filling their essences with prestige and infinite strength.
I hummed the song that repeated in my mind and worked diligently. The lower the sun sank below the horizon, the more powerful the moon would become. I smiled up at the fading light of the sky and closed my eyes with contentment. The euphoria I felt was immediate and intense. How could Fallon not see what an amazing night this would turn out to be?
I’d just finished up the outer circle when I noticed the glaring absence of Fallon’s rage. I hoped she’d fallen asleep. Rest would replenish her energy and prepare her for what was to come. I began to scratch lines in the circle to signify the different tidal cycles. A slightly smaller inner circle would work to represent the lunar cycles, and a large pentagram in the middle would provide the avenues of energy throughout. When I dragged the driftwood along the sand and created the last line, I stood back and inspected my masterpiece. It was exactly as I had seen in my dream. It was ready.
I breathed in the increasingly crisp air and grinned with elation as I walked back towards an unconscious Fallon. Her body was laid over to one side against the white stone of the cliff, and I watched with fascination as her chest rose and fell with each measured breath. Her almost ivory-colored hair flowed over her strong shoulders and tone arms, but her face betrayed her youth and innocence. She was still just a girl. Her skin shimmered in the moonlight, and she embodied everything the light side of the moon should be. Which is why she would be perfect for the sacrifice.
I knelt down next to her and inspected her features with endearing respect and admiration. It was a shame the world would never know of her potential. But at the same time, her life would not be a waste. She would be honored. She would be revered. And so would I.
I ran a hand over the moon trace on the back of my neck, then I gently pulled back her hair and peeked at her matching one. It was a pale violet, but still glistened with the moon’s energy. It was bewitching and enchanting in its own right. As I released her hair and rocked back on my heels, her eyes flew open and her face contorted in anger.
“You’ll thank me for this later,” she hissed at me through gritted teeth. Her eyes flashed violet and she cried out as she blew her essence outward; breaking free of her binds and lunging at me. The thimble-sized ball of light she’d gathered in her small hand was suddenly thrust at my eyes, and the world exploded in a flash of light. I tumbled backwards in pain; scratching at the inferno that had erupted in my eyes.
“Stop her, Anastasia,” a calm, enlightened voice instructed me. Without a second thought, I rolled onto my stomach and pushed up to my knees. I blew my essence outward – a mixture of blue and violet energy – towards Fallon, who was already running down the beach. She turned to deflect the attack, but not quickly enough. She collapsed onto the sand, and several cloaked figures converged where she lay motionless.
“Well done,” she smiled down at me smugly. A barely conscious, convulsing Fallon was dragged back to us. She painstakingly lifted her head and glared at her aunt; my grandmother.
“You can’t do this, Selene! It’s not right! It goes against everything!”
“Don’t taunt me, girl,” Selene retorted coldly. “Cyrus, take her below. Quickly now. We have little time to prepare.”
As the two hooded figures carried a hysterical Fallon away, I turned to Selene obediently. Suddenly, I couldn’t remember what I was about to say. I thought about stepping forward, but decided against it for some reason. I simply stood there while Selene surveyed the white sand beach and the fading light of the sunset on the horizon. Her long, dark locks fell into her stunning ashen face, while her silver eyes followed the design I had drawn in the sand. She gracefully inspected the perimeter as her long, layered dress sailed along the wind and whispered across the sand.
The radiant silver folds of the dress were highlighted by tiny shimmering moonstones sewn onto a top layer of sheer fabric; matching the ornate headpiece perched atop her head. The sterling crown was delicately encrusted with moonstones and crystals that reflected light at her every move. It stood several inches in height, and was as beautifully majestic as it was frighteningly intimidating. A single red gem hung from a necklace around her neck. It appeared to pulse lightly.
“You have done well,” she approved of me with a tight smile. “The ritual arena is exactly as I envisioned it to be.”
Once again my thoughts began to form, but then faded into a cloud of numbness before ever reaching my lips. I looked on dumbly as she stepped towards me. She reached in a hidden pocket amongst the folds of her dress and produced a large white moonstone. She held it in her palm and brought it up to eye level, and then peered into it and sighed happily.
“I had no idea it would work this well,” she cackled deviously, and stiffened her posture before moving closer. “The possibilities are endless, really. Who knew I could control your energy with a simple stone? You didn’t know you had such a smart, cunning, beautiful grandmother, did you?”
Not waiting for an answer, she strode right past me towards the white cliffs at my back. I yearned to turn and see what she was doing, but decided it would be too much of an effort. She continued talking.
“Fortunately for me, this is just the beginning. Not only have you successfully delivered the moonstone to me, you’ve brought me the last person standing in my way.” She walked up behind me and took my hand in hers. My feet decided to move forward on their own, with my mind just along for the ride. I listened to the cadence of her voice with the fascination of a child as she led me to the middle of the ritual circle. “Sit. Face the cliffs.”
I did as she said without even thinking and met her gaze numbly. She examined my face, and then chuckled darkly before sniffing the air in disgust. “You should consider yourself lucky. Fallon was not my first choice, but sacrifices must be pure. And from the smell of it…you, my dear, have been spoiled.”
An unattached, bubbling warmth began in my chest and spread throughout my body with painstaking slowness, but I was finally able to recognize it as anger. The only clue as to my inner feelings was the slight frown I wore on my otherwise blank face. The lethargy was as thick as cement and just as hard to maneuver through. Just when I thought I could finally move a leg or an arm, my mind went blank again and all motivation was squashed with a wave of exhaustion.
“Anyway, as a tri-Goddess, you should understand this ritual well,” Selene explained simply, and then her eyes focused on movement near the cliffs. She smiled. “He’s right on time. As always.”
Chapter 46
Stasia
“As ripe as a fruit ready for harvest,” he hissed at me. His breath reeked of rotten lettuce, and I fought to lean away from him as he actually smelled my hair. “I imagine you ta
ste just as sweet.”
“Menoetius.” Selene’s deadpan tone could be heard from several yards away. He stood and licked his lips as his sickening eyes dragged over my body before walking away. Thankfully he took the pungent cloud of his burnt essence with him. A soot-filled smokestack would have been less disturbing. I held back my gag reflex, and several seconds later I felt the urge to rip his throat out. What was wrong with me? Why were my emotions and reactions delayed? It was almost like I’d been drugged. I forced my thoughts to search for information. It took way too much concentration, but I diligently sorted my memories of the last thirty minutes.
Most of it was a blur of sounds and shapes, but one image in particular stuck with me. A moonstone. She’d hidden it in her dress, but it had something to do with my energy. Hadn’t someone recently mentioned my energy being manipulated? I had to think! Who was it? A pain shot through the center of my forehead and I put my head in my hands.
“It is time,” Selene announced to the man with the bad breath and sooty essence. “Ensure everything is in place.”
As he disappeared into a modest opening in the side of the white cliff, Selene walked out to the middle of the pentagram to where I still sat helplessly. I knew something wasn’t right; I just had to figure out what that something was.
“Time for you to prove your worth,” she informed me plainly. She circled me once while watching the moon rise above the ocean, and for the first time, I noticed the oppressive pressure squeezing at my mind. At her closeness it intensified tenfold, and I struggled to fight it. It felt like I was drowning in twenty feet of water, and then suddenly being pushed down even farther to a thousand feet of water. I had no time to come up for breath and had no idea when or if I would black out. A sharp pain exploded on my cheek, and I realized several seconds too late that she had slapped me across the face. I felt my body reflexively flinch, also several seconds too late.
“That’s for tainting my blood line,” she hissed at me, and then spit in my face. My jaw tightened in anger and I was actually able to narrow my eyes at her. “You may not be the sacrifice, but I have even better plans for you. Starting with tainting that precious soul of yours.”
She started to walk away, but thought better of it and knelt back down in front of me. She smiled at me and whispered, “Fight all you want, sea Goddess. You’ll never be stronger than me.”
She stood stiffly and walked away; disappearing through the same passage as Menoetius. I sat alone on the empty beach beneath the rising moon, left to wait and listen to the cadence of the crashing waves. I began to grow tired and was mesmerized by the beating of my own heart in my chest, and then forgot all thoughts while I painstakingly inspected the grains of sand at my feet.
It could have been minutes or hours later when two figures finally emerged from the doorway in the cliff wall. I’d lost all sense of time, but from the location of the moon in the sky, a couple hours had passed. I watched numbly as they marched toward me in unison; covered head to toe in dark crimson cloaks. The silver of their eyes caught the moonlight, and I assumed they were two of Selene’s Aura warriors. I’d had to confront them one other time, also on the beach. Was it at night? The pain in my forehead stopped me from reaching back into my memory banks any further. The slicing pain was unbearable.
I concentrated on the two figures coming closer by the second, and the pain disappeared right along with my thoughts. Both figures held sizeable objects in their arms. As they entered the circle, they split and headed toward opposite sides. The one to my right sat down a heavy-looking object that resembled a large piece of gray stone, but it wasn’t until he twisted the face towards me that I realized it was the moonstone. My moonstone. The one I’d found in the caverns of Atlantis. The pain in my head returned and I looked away.
The cloaked figure to my left set down an immense sparkling stone that had to measure at least three feet high and two feet wide. As the moonlight shone down upon it, the stone pulsed to life; violet light running along its exterior and a soft glow coming from within. Luna’s crystal.
The two figures remained on either side of the circle; standing just outside my drawn lines. My head swiveled back and forth while I inspected each stone. I felt the vibrations they caused in the sand as the power of each filled the air and penetrated the ground, but never mixed together. Sitting equal distances from both, I felt the two opposite energy forces fighting for space; pushing on the other but never making any ground, since they were so equally matched. A constant dance of equals, always pushing - always trying to force their will on the other - but never coming together as one. It reminded me of something, but what exactly continued to elude me.
Maddening frustration sent my pulse into overdrive and I fought to push my own essence outward to drown out the two stones, but once again the splitting pain in my forehead stopped me. That’s when I noticed the line of cloaked figures slowly descending upon the circle. They walked in two single file lines, side by side, and flanked outward into their appropriate sides of the circle. All totaled, there appeared to be twelve of them.
They stood absolutely still, facing inward. I felt their judgmental, silver eyes on me and I tried not to make eye contact. After several minutes of awkward silence, four more figures in red cloaks came into view. When I noticed what they carried in their arms, a memory scratched at the back of my mind. It was a rectangular silver tray that glinted in the moonlight, with a dark form resting on top. They entered the circle soundlessly and strode straight towards me.
I watched as they lowered the tray lengthwise beside of me and melted into the circle of identical figures surrounding me. I twisted my head ever so slightly to see what looked to be a person wrapped in black fabric from head to toe next to me. The urge to fight my way out of the circle was so overwhelming it burned deep in my soul, but as soon as I was able to muster up enough energy to move, the sharp pain shot through my skull and I was paralyzed once more.
Instead I waited motionless on my knees, next to the still form on the tray, and followed the lines of the pentagram over and over with my eyes. The long shadows seemed to have a more powerful presence than the people they belonged to. They haunted me; reaching out to strangle me with their long arms and envelope me in their empty chasms of darkness.
My eyes flitted upward with dread and examined Selene and Menoetius as they walked to the circle, arm in arm, and I struggled to find my center in order to somehow break the paralysis that had taken over my body. Menoetius stopped to give Selene a soft kiss before she entered the circle, and I felt my anger bubble up once more. She seemed to float towards me before kneeling in front of me in the sand.
Out of nowhere, a frigid wave of energy crashed over me and sent spikes of ice through my heart. I pushed at it with my essence, my energy and my thoughts with whatever I could, but it just wasn’t enough. I was too depleted; too fragile. My frantic thoughts were instantly replaced with a smooth sense of calm as it wrapped around my mind and suffocated my soul. A powerful surge of power blossomed from my essence and shot outward in a wide arc that appeared as a bright halo of violet above the entire circle.
Selene smiled at me and I felt my heart soar with love. Then I realized with jubilation that I could move again! I clasped my hands together with anticipation, and wanted to embrace her in a hug. She was radiant and strong; encompassing all of the things I aspired to be. When she glanced up at the moon, I obediently followed suit. After a moment of reflection, I looked back down at her patiently. She met my gaze and her eyes flashed.
“The moonstone represents the dark energy of the moon, while the crystal represents the light energy of the moon. Your essence will fuel the infusion of the two while I reap the magnificent benefits; making me the only moon Goddess this world will ever need. You will obey my every command. You will offer your essence up to the moon. Once the pieces are set, you will seal the shift with a sacrifice.”
I glanced at the body lying beside me and then back at her with question marks in my eyes,
but waited patiently. I felt the energy beginning to build around us, so I took a deep breath and smiled at Selene as she continued.
“She will sacrifice her life.” She leaned towards me and I watched her mouth turn up in a sneer as she laughed in my face. “And in killing her, you will be sacrificing your soul…to me. You will be mine to control. Forever.”
Forever. Hers? That didn’t sound so bad. With the moon filling my essence and a mentor to teach me, what else could I possibly need? She closed her eyes, and I noticed how she seemed to personify the light drifting down from the moon above. She began to chant quietly.
“The blood moon will rise. The blood moon will rise. The blood moon will rise.”
It was only when I found my own mouth chanting with her that I realized she was speaking Greek. And more amazingly – I understood every word. As even more endless vitality surged through me, I chanted louder and felt the beat echo in my bones. While I continued chanting, Selene stood without opening her eyes and began to sing the song I’d heard in my mind countless times. I swayed to the beautiful melody in a hazy euphoria filled with sound and light.
Then she began to dance. She lifted her arms to the sky and gently careened around the circle, leaving silver energy flowing in her wake. The dress she wore only enhanced the beauty of the moment; swirling and shifting with her every movement.
As her body danced in rhythm to the sweet melody soaring out of her lips, I felt my essence lift and float along a cloud of light as my mind entered a beatific trance. Suddenly, the cloaked figures dotting the outer circle clasped hands and began to walk in a counterclockwise motion. Selene circled me faster and faster in a clockwise motion; creating an illusion that made me dizzy with energy. It felt like I was spinning so fast I might shatter. Selene chanted once more, and I closed my eyes and listened to the whisper of her voice caressing not only my ears, but my soul.
