War price

 War Price

         “Alva. It’s time.” says Lorelei. I get up from my kneeling position. The gods are more merciful to the ones that always respect them, and now more than ever, I need them to see me with a good eye. Forcefully entering their sacred realm is a dangerous thing to do, even for a High Priestess. But desperate circumstances demand desperate actions. And there is no situation more desperate than losing a war. 

I walk with Lorelei by my side to the riverbed, where Aquilia is waiting. While I was praying for mercy, they prepared the rest of the ritual. Aquilia made the drink that will take my soul to the other realm, Lorelei prepared the altar for the sacrifice.

Evanora, the forest’s guardian, a nymph, comes from the woods with a deer, a majestic grey-brown animal, tied by the neck and an owl, resting on her shoulder. The former will be sacrificed, killed and burnt, the latter will take the smoke to the gods. Evanora seems upset. It is one of her beloved animals that is going to be sacrificed after all.

Aquilia walks towards me with a wooden cup in her hand. Petals are floating in the liquid that smells like the sea and blood. I drink it without much thought, if I don’t perform this ritual I might as well say goodbye to everybody I know. The king threatened if we don’t bring victory to the kingdom he will burn us like traitors.

I take off my sleeveless hood and let it fall on the ground. I feel exposed without my usual clothes, all of them charmed for protection, but I need to seem as humble as possible in front of the supreme rulers. 

The potion makes me dizzy and tired, that’s how I know it is working. Aquilia notices my unsteadiness and nods towards Lorelei and Evanora. I close my eyes. I can’t see them, but I know they are walking towards the altar. Last time a ritual like this was performed, the High Priestess died. I was the one killing the sacrifice, a black wolf. Later Aquilia said that the gods hadn’t been pleased by the fact that we had killed one of their sacred animals. We were all lucky we didn’t died right then and there.

As if the deer senses his fate, he starts making noises of distress. Lorelei and Evanora struggle, their grunts echoe in the forest’s quiet. It is in this moment I realise the quiet is Nature’s doing. It is in this moment I realise they are watching us, they have been watching us since the beginning. 

I can feel my heart beat wildly, struggling to escape my chest the way the deer struggles to escape death. But when the silver blade of a knife slashes the animal’s throat, it falls quiet, while my heart just seems to beat faster.

I open my eyes and start walking. The water is ice cold, but calm, almost unmoving. Smoke darkens the sky. Evanora lets her owl free, it flies with speed, grateful it didn’t meet a fate like the deer’s.

Lorelei starts singing a prayer, calling the gods. Instead of murmuring along like I am supposed to do, I continue the prayer that I left unfinished. I’m begging for mercy. 

Lorelei’s voice grows louder, the smoke thicker. When the water reaches my waist, I feel like I am almost dreaming, floating. The water is cold, the air feels hot, hotter than it should during mid December. It is asphyxiating.

The pain starts from my chest and spreads to my entire body. I cry climbs up my throat, stops at the tip of my tongue. Hands start pulling me, the Spirits, the Defenders. They are the ones guarding the space between our realm and the gods’.