Chapter 4: The Moon Ceremony

Selene drags her feet along the dirt outside, hoping to leave a trail to wherever they are taking her. She is thrown into complete darkness as a sack is placed over her head. Someone grabs her legs and helps toss her into the back of a horse-drawn wagon. Selene tries not to lose her cool. If they are taking her by wagon, their destination must be a good distance away.

This may work in her favor. Wagons are going to leave tracks for her wolf to follow. When did that happen? Since when is he HER wolf? She doesn’t have time to argue with her own brain right now. He said he will come and she believes him. In fact, she hasn’t believed anything so much in her life.

Whatever Marcus had put in her drink only temporarily paralyzed her. She is starting to feel her limbs again, even though it feels like a million needles piercing her skin all at once. If she manages to regain control before they reach their destination, she should be able to get away.

“So what are we doing with this wench of a witch?” a voice from somewhere in the wagon asks.

“Marcus says she’s going to be the sacrifice for the Goddess. Were you not listening? He said it like six times,” another voice replies.

The wagon slows to a stop and Selene feels the two individuals in the back jump down. She can hear them talking to someone toward the front of the vehicle. If she can muster enough strength, now is the time to move. Rolling to her right she manages to flip onto her stomach, but that’s it.

Selene feels useless. She had been asked to fight for her life and she can’t even manage to do that. How could she have been so stupid? She never should have let Marcus into her home.

The voices are back. “Alright, let’s get her out and into the cave before the potion wears off.”

“You better not touch me!” Selene manages to yell. With the potion wearing off, she is at least able to give them a good tongue-lashing. “When I get my strength back you’re all going to pay!”

“Oh look, the potion is wearing off,” one of the voices comments.

His partner in crime gives a deep chuckle. “Why are sacrifices always so loud once they regain the ability to talk? Actions speak louder than words, witch.”

“Trust me when I say you’re going to regret this, I mean it,” Selene replies.

The two individuals pull her out of the wagon and carry her along. Selene wants to continue berating them, but she’s trying to save her strength. She feels the temperature drop as she’s carried into the cave. The men plop her down to the ground and one of them removes the hood from over her head.

She can hear the clang of a cell door behind her as Selene’s eyes adjust to the dim lighting. There’s a bonfire about fifteen feet away from her, closer to the mouth of the cave. Two coven members are standing around the fire. Selene guesses they are the two that just unloaded her from the wagon.

The cage they put her in is easily large enough to fit three shifters. Selene reminds herself that she hadn’t been the intended sacrifice. The old metal is starting to rust at the hinges. If she can work the lock with her magic, maybe she can slip out without being noticed.

Selene puts her hand over the lock and tries to work the gears inside. Unfortunately, her efforts are for nothing.

Someone starts slowly clapping behind her, and Selene whips around to find Marcus standing outside her cell.

“It’s useless, you would be better off saving your energy. I have placed Talismans, seals, and runes all over the cave. They will do more than prevent you from using any magic. You will find yourself feeling weaker as my spells drain your energy.”

Selene tries to move, but her body feels too heavy. “You have no idea who you’re messing with,” she replies.

Marcus’s lips twist into a smile. “Don’t I? You are Selene, daughter to Jazelle and Derek. I knew your parents well. Derek was a High Priest, like me. Your simple mother was a nobody, and I never could understand why your father wanted to be with her so badly. Probably due to her beauty…”

“Do not call my mother a nobody!” Selene screams. “She was powerful and intelligent. She clearly saw you for the monster you are!”

Selene has always wanted to know about her parents. They died when she was so young, but she doesn’t want to hear their names come from Marco’s lips again. She uses all her strength to turn her back toward him.

“Not very bright, are we?” Marcus hisses.

“Oh, Goddess!” Selene screams as something is jabbed into her shoulder.

She manages to look over to find a ceremonial dagger sticking into her arm. In spite of the shooting pain, she isn’t able to move. Selene watches as the grooves in the blade fill with her blood.

“Did that hurt?” Marcus asks sarcastically. “How do you expect us to perform a blood ceremony without any blood? Come on, Selene. You’re a witch, and as such should understand how these things work.”

It’s true, she does understand how ceremonies work. The fact of the matter is, her family doesn’t use blood magic.

“Blood magic is too dark and can turn on any witch who chooses to use it,” her grandma had told her.

Selene can feel her strength leaving her. She closes her eyes and asks the Goddess to please hurry her wolf along. The pain is almost unbearable. Ceremonious blades are often infused with magic, meaning the smallest cut can do more harm than one made with a regular blade.

“Why are you doing this?” Selene whimpers.

“Tonight is a special night, and you are our guest of honor,” Marcus explains while pulling back the blade. “The full silver moon only happens once every hundred years, and tonight is that night. Once the moon reaches its temple in the night sky, your blood will be spilled. As your last breath is emptied from your lungs, the Goddess will gift me with unimaginable powers.”

Marcus’s maniacal laughter echoes as he turns and walks toward the fire.

Selene can feel the first rays of the full moon cresting the horizon. She thinks back to her home where a box of candles and goodies waits for her. The moon Goddess shrine in the back of her hut will go unused tonight. If she can’t figure out a way to escape, the shrine will never be used again.

Selene is not sure how much time has passed. She can sense the moon has almost reached its temple, and time is running out. She doesn’t know when due to persistent blackouts, but her clothes had been changed from her everyday wear to a form-fitting golden dress. The silk is uncomfortable against her skin as she tries desperately to move.

“Get her out and into the chair!” Marcus yells.

Two coven members enter her cage and pull her from the enclosure. Selene’s feet drag along the ground as she is moved closer to the fire. She’s placed on a chair that resembles a throne and her hands and feet are tied in place. Her vision is a little blurry but she can make out a sea of hooded figures on the other side of the fire.

The moon casts light over everything outside the mouth of the cave, and in any other situation, Selene would have found it breathtaking.

“This is it,” she thinks to herself. “Soon I will be back with my family and never have anything to fear again.”

She’s still unable to speak, but the tears running down her face say it all. Her wolf never came and the Moon Goddess can no longer hear her. Marcus finishes addressing the group of coven members and turns to her with the blade in hand. She doesn’t need to ask what he’s going to do with it, the look on his face says it all.

Marcus swings the blade over his head, chanting something Selene doesn’t understand. The coven behind him chants a response and the voices raise up, eager for the offering to be made. Selene closes her eyes and takes a breath. If this is going to be her last, she will make sure it’s a long one. Before Marcus has a chance to plunge the dagger into his offering the sound of howling breaks through the chants.