W.I.T.C.H.: The Bloody Throne

Part 23

                "Blood sacrifices?" Elyon choked out before she could stop herself. Of all her time learning under her brother and being the ruler of Meridian, before advocating, she had never heard of this practice. Then again she had not learned much of the old myths and legends before returning to live on Earth.

Sensing her discomfort, Phobos gently patted Elyon's shoulder. "Don't worry Elyon, it is an old practice that died out long before the old religion died. Besides, no one was ever killed for this sacrifice. If I remember correctly, the practice of Bloodletting was used on Earth until the twentieth century." Despite his calm voice and reasoning, Elyon still felt unnerved. It also did not help that Will's interest was piqued.

"Why would the goddess Inaska need a blood sacrifice? Does it have something to do with her statue being destroyed?"

"No, silly. Has Phobos not taught you anything of the old religion?" to that, Will only shook her head at Myra and she became a little more annoyed at her husband. If she weren't in the middle of an unknown kingdom and Elyon wasn't there, she would have given her husband a piece of her mind. Myra only smiled at Will's response before continuing.

"Well, it has to do with a legend surrounding the goddess Inaska and her loyalty to her family." Myra then turned to the statue and gently brushed off some dust off its' surface as a mother would to a child that had gotten lost in an old library. "Back when the old gods ruled the world and king Oro was still a child, all the tribes gathered to celebrate the anniversary of Solas and her human husband. There was a lot of celebration and a lot of drink. All were celebrating the joyous occasion, except for one; the leader of the Cebo tribe. The Cebo tribe lived where modern-day Claudan exists. The leader was named Cerobo and he might have had a bit too much to drink or he was simply venting his frustrations that he didn't get a chance to marry Solas, which it is we'll never know. Anyhow, after many drinks, he began to spout one demeaning line after another at the happy couple. At first, no one paid him much attention; he boasted that his tribe held the greatest amount of land, but all knew that the land was settled by his ancestors. Then he bragged that he was the richest tribe leader, but he must have forgotten that all his wealth was gathered by his father. Then he spoke about his accomplishments in battle but neglected to tell that all these battles were just ceremonial jousting battles. Then he boasted that he was married to the most beautiful woman in all the lands, but never mentioned that the marriage was arranged to keep his position as tribe leader. All the guests either ignored him or chuckled at Cerobo's attempts to appear superior."

"What does any of this have to do with the blood sacrifices?" asked Will, her pregnancy hormones making her more impatient than she already was by nature.

"I was just about to get to that point." Replied Myra without turning away from the ruined statue. "All seemed well until Cerobo began to insult Solas, by claiming she wasn't a good woman because all she could give her husband was a single child while his wife gifted him ten. Now, the only one who was there the day Solas gave birth to Oro was the goddess Inaska and only she knew that Solas nearly died that day. Solas tried to keep her sister calm, but Inaska would not stand for such insolence from a mere mortal who had no accomplishments to his name. Before Solas or any of the other gods and goddesses could stop her, Inaska attacked Cerobo's family. She swept up his wife first and ripped her to pieces before descending upon each of his ten children and tearing them to shreds. Cerobo, instead of fighting the goddess or trying to protect his children from her wrath, fled to his tribe and sent his soldiers to defend him. When faced with the Cebo soldiers, Inaska gave them a choice; either surrender their leader to her or be judged as his equals." Myra then looked over her shoulder at the royals and paused for dramatic effect; she had to suppress a grin when she saw how both Elyon and Will hung on every word of her's. Her cousin, however, frowned and gestured for her to continue.