The Ritual

This is going to be a series of short stories tying together in the end.

     “Are you sure this is going to work?” Meil asked, rubbing his hands together nervously. His mind flooded with doubts as they prepared the prison wagon for transport up the steep hill that held the alter.

     “It will work because it has to work!” replied Senal from under his tan monk's hood.

Meil looked once more into the door of the cage, where the dark figure sat, unmoving in its slumber. He had only ever seen this one sleeping in its cage, its features covered by a natural cloth-like material the formed what looked like a cloak around it. He never would have believed a Karvol was real, until the monks killed one that broke into Meil's house right as it was running towards him.

      The monks told him that he had been targeted for his bloodline, because he was the only one who could stop them from executing plans to tear open a hole from some realm that they only described as “horrific.” It still took him a while to agree, but eventually they told him to meet them on that night in order to perform the ceremony.

      The cart shifted back and forth as the group began to progress up the hill, Meil felt out of place among the seemingly emotionless monks. They seemed to speak only when it was necessary, and even then each statement seemed short and conversational. The strange thing was that they seemed to have incredible speed and strength; only one of them was needed to push the wooden cart up the hill, though if it was a strain, he seemed not to notice.

When they finally reached the top of the hill, Meil was surprised to see that the grass hilltop faded into one solid, flat slate of marble. There were two, already lit torches atop stone pillars to either side. One side of the hilltop contained a large white outline of a circle, and about ten feet back, a rectangle.

      “Stand in the circle,” said Senal, pulling out a small piece of paper and handing it to Meil. “Read this when we put the wagon in the square, then your part will be done.”

      Taking the paper, Meil waited for the wagon to reach the square eagerly. He was no soldier, nor monk, this was none of his business and the quicker he could be done, the better.

      As the monks put the wagon in the white square, they began to hum in unison. Once the cage was in place they stepped into a circle around the two and Senal nodded at Meil without ceasing his humming. The melody sounded familiar to Meil though he couldn't figure out where he had heard it before, but he also couldn't shake the ominous feeling it gave him.

      The sun was setting quickly now, and the humming was growing louder. As the noise increased, so did the flames of the torches, sending them high above the hilltop and killing visibility beyond them.

Meil looked at the paper, ignoring his gut-clenching anxiety. There were only three words on the page scribbled hastily on paper that looked to have been torn out of an old book. “Reincavar...” he began, pausing as the wind howled suddenly, sucking the air from his lungs.

      “Leictus” he continued, grabbing the paper with two hands. The monks shadows began to grow elongated, making it look like they were growing taller. Now, Meil noticed their humming beginning to vibrate through the air, even through the massive gusts of wind. Wanting it to just end, he spat out the final word, “

      As he did this, several things began to happen at once, the monks began to grow taller, as their cloaks stretched to cover them, they began to tear at the ankles and wrists, showing grey skin underneath. The sky seemed to shimmer, then go entirely black: no moon, stars, or even torchlight.

      Just then when fear and confusion had dropped Meil to his knees, a surprisingly young-sounding voice sounded from where the cage had been. “Fool! You've just given them the key!”

      He felt a monk's shaking footsteps approach him, then through the blackness, he could somehow see the outline of its hood, bent low near his face. It began to pull back its hood, slowly and deliberately.

      Meil didn't want to look, but couldn't look away, as the creature lifted away the cloth. He could only see the outline of a massive head, but he somehow knew that he was looking at the eyes. As he looked he felt himself falling into the back of his mind, loosing control to something... else. The presence pushed at him until all he was, who he was, was trapped in a small corner of his own mind as he faded into forced unconsciousness.

Author's Note

First Draft, I know it needs work, but its a start. Any opinions welcome.

Reviews

[Mockingbird]

i enjoyed the story. i can almost hear the humming of the monks vibrating making my teeth rattle. the images that progressed to the end was full of suspense and was ominous. it's a great start, great length, that's all you need to complete this scene. (i have a short attention span). makes me want to read more about who these people were and how things came to be, background information like. excellent job.

[NoblePariah]

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it. I diid't want to make it too long, because the ending was important to another story I'm going to write, so I figured I'd switch characters and scenes for suspense purposes. Again thanks for reading and reviewing!