the woman screamed, horror written all over her bloodied face. She tried to pull free from the chains wrapped around her wrists. They were attached at the top of two pillars on either side of her, holding her arms stretched wide and dangling her above the ground.
“We already have, Catherine,” the man said at the edge of the rounded stone platform beneath her, a smirk upon his face. “This has been planned for some time now. After disposing of the problem that arose, it was easy to guide you where we needed you to be.”
“W-what?” Catherine asked, shocked as she trembled from exhaustion and pain. Blood dripped down her wrists where the chains dug into her skin, the steady flow painting splashes of color on the gray stone below her.
“Well… you see, Derrik was getting too close to finding out things he shouldn’t. He had to be dealt with swiftly in order for us to proceed with the ritual. A hunting accident was the perfect way to go about it, wouldn’t you say?” A slow, satisfied smile spread across his face as he watched the woman jerk in despair.
“No! No, no, no. How could you?” Catherine sobbed, tears dripping down her face. “He did everything for this pack. For his family!” she screamed. “You were his closest friend. He helped you when you needed it, helped you become who you are. And this is how you repay him? Repay us?”
“Yes, well… his sacrifice was needed, as is yours,” the man scoffed. He stepped up onto the raised circular stone platform as ancient writing began to glow along its edges. “Don’t worry my dear, it will soon be over.”
Catherine frantically tried to free herself from the chains, wrenching her body from side to side and kicking her legs out as the man came closer.
He pulled a blackened blade from beneath his cloak, as the hooded figures surrounding the edges of the platform began to chant the language of the old. Catherine’s eyes widened as she realized what this was, what was about to happen.
“You have no idea what you are doing,” Catherine whispered. “You will plague these lands with creatures that are not meant to be. Creatures that should stay below and never surface. You cannot undo this. Think this through. The lives of so many will be lost over time,’’ Catherine begged, her eyes pleading with his dark stare.
“Not for you to worry, my dear. I think I can handle a few pesky creatures that come out of the below, especially with what you are about to give me.” The man laughed, floating up to her so they were now face to face.
The chanting grew louder, the ancient writing glowed brighter with an ominous mix of violet and black, pulsing to the same rhythm as Catherine’s heartbeat. The hooded figures raised their arms above their heads, swirls of red extending from their fingertips, flowing toward where Catherine hung.
The man looked over Catherine’s face and raised a hand to cup her cheek, almost lovingly. “You were always supposed to choose me, you know?” the man murmured. Catherine’s eyes hardened at his words, disgust written on her face. “If you had, perhaps this wouldn’t have happened, and I would have waited for your replacement instead.”
“Don’t you dare touch–”
A blade to the throat cut Catherine off, a small whimper escaping her as the man’s sadistic smile widened. “Don’t worry, I won’t be touching anyone anytime soon. I have things I am required to prepare for.”
Catherine’s body was slowly being drained of energy, exhaustion weighing her down while grief blurred her mind. The feeling of helplessness and what she was about to lose sparked the last of her saddened soul to cry out, moving her lips as if Zahariss herself was speaking.
Catherine’s delicate markings begin to appear on her face, curving around from above her eyebrows, trailing around her eyes, and down below her cheekbones. The man watched in confusion and awe. He had never seen these markings in person, only read about them in historical texts.
“I curse those who commit wrongs against me and mine,” Catherine said in a voice that was not her own. “I curse those who steal what is not freely given to feel pain and suffering over time. I curse these lands until its last days. His hounds will hunt and gather and kill all who did an injustice against the line!” Catherine screamed as a pale colored light shot out of her markings, flying toward the night sky as her life slowly began to fade from her eyes.
“No!” the man roared, his blade slicing through the air and straight through her neck in one swift motion. Blood poured out onto her chest, dripping down her naked body onto the stone below. Her lifeblood began seeping into the lines of the glowing runes, turning their color red.
“Did it work? What’s happening?” a deep voice said beneath the cloak he wore, rushing to step onto the platform.
The ground beneath them began to tremble as the man still hovered before the now lifeless woman, her skin taking on a bluish tint. The markings were gone from her delicate face leaving bloodstained skin the man had wanted for his own.
The platform began to crack beneath him. He looked down as swirls of black smoke flowed toward him almost angrily. He inhaled sharply as the smoke made contact with his skin, breathing through the prickles of pain as he accepted the power of old into his body.
“I suppose we will await the next moon cycle to see if the ritual worked,” he replied to the cloaked figure as he looked around the grassy clearing. He breathed deeply, a cruel smile curving his lips as power rushed through him. “Either way, this is a new beginning.”
