Chapter 36: The Moon Marking Ritual
1021 Words
Lucy’s POV
I stood with my pregnancy bump prostrating under the blood moon, completely barefoot and shaking. The night air did its own by romancing and kissing my skin, cutting through it and sharp as blades, but that didn't make me change my mind.
Well, not anymore, after everything I've passed through.
“Are you really sure you want this for yourself?" Elder Nyra asked, and in her silver eyes, I could see concern from how she searched mine. “I wish to bring it to your notice that there's no going back, child.”
“I was cruelly thrown off a cliff and allowed to die,” I said quietly, “but in all, I still survived. Nothing can be compared to the sin of betrayal, especially from those you once dined with. Let the moon not hesitate to do whatever it must.”
The circle of elders who had tagged along stood around me. They were heavily cloaked in shadows, and as I listened to them, I could not grab even a word of what they were murmuring, as it was an ancient chant. The chants kept vibrating through the earth, even beneath my feet. The ritual had finally begun, and I won't rest until it's completed.
My heart thudded as I didn't know what to expect from the ritual, but I had already made up my mind, and there was no going back. My thoughts suddenly drifted to Ryker, then to Eli, even to the point of thinking about the babies inside me. My stomach suddenly fluttered, and I couldn't tell if it was from having thoughts of my twins or from fear of the unknown.
Elder Nyra moved closer and smeared moonstone ash on my forehead. “Tonight, you boldly embrace everything that concerns your birthright. Tonight, you are here to boldly release and awaken the wolf within.”
The moon then pulsed from above, which could be mistaken for a heartbeat.
All of a sudden, pain tore through my whole body, threatening to burst my veins.
I screamed for help, running around to calm it down, to see if I could get myself.
It felt more like my entire body was forcefully being ripped in half and pulled from the inside out. My bones weakened and cracked as if they would break. My entire veins suddenly turned to fire. My knees couldn't carry me again, so I dropped down to my knees, carefully clutching my stomach.
“Lucy!” That was Eli’s voice. It vibrated somewhere not far from the background, but the pain didn't allow me to determine the exact place he was calling me from, as it was louder and increased every second.
“Stay back right there!” Elder Nyra snapped. “No one should interrupt the bond for no reason, and that's a must!”
My vision suddenly blurred, and then, completely before, I saw fire. I also saw snow. As I was still processing that, I saw a glowing white wolf snarling right inside my mind.
“You’re probably not ready for this,” the wolf whispered.
“I have to be, by all means,” I cried out in severe pain.
“Then you must be ready to accept death to be reborn.”
Agony spread like a wide fire through me, from my veins to the bones in my body in violent waves. I gasped for breath, but the more I tried, the more I drowned in moonlight. I clawed for support on the ground, and as I did that, I could feel my surroundings turning around, and my nails elongated and became sharpened. My senses also exploded, and right there, I could sense every sound, even right down to every whisper of wind; they were too loud, too much for me to bear.
As everything was fast becoming darkness, lo and behold, I saw my mother’s face. As I was still trying to figure out what was really happening, I saw my father’s, then Ryker’s, suddenly, I saw...nothing.
Darkness from nowhere swallowed me completely.
Was this what it's all about?
Was this the price I would pay to belong?
A soft voice was heard as it whispered from somewhere I don't know exactly, but I know it was deep within me.
Rise and shine, Luna blood. Rise, and dominate thou, true daughter of the moon.
Then light emerged, threatening to burst from my chest, but I kept my cool, saying nothing at all.
A howl suddenly ripped from my throat, to the point it terrified me that was listening to it. I noticed it wasn't even human, and still not quite wolf. It was something ancient, not the regular thing we see every day. This one was terrifying, even to me, that it was coming from.
The pain suddenly disappeared, to my surprise, like it never existed.
That was when I was able to open my eyes.
Everything was way sharper than usual by this time. The world even appeared brighter on my side—I don't know for others. My heartbeat wasn't unsteady as it was before; it became stronger.
I looked down to observe that my skin didn't dry up as expected; rather, it shimmered greatly. But even at that, my hands never stopped trembling, maybe because of what my eyes saw.
“I...I'm surprisingly still here,” I whispered to one in particular.
“No child,” Elder Nyra said, and she took a few steps forward, but in her eyes, I could see something different, more like a reverence. “You are not just here as you thought. You have finally become one of....”
The circle could not even allow her to finish as they bowed low. They held so much adoration in their eyes that I wondered if I had become a deity during the process.
The ritual, which I had feared would take my life, was finally complete.
I had survived everything, not even my enemies could stop this.
But something inside me, something that seemed to be part of me whispered:
But you should know that it's not without consequence.
- Writer
