NaZooverse - Book 1: The Risen Curtain

Chapter Thirteen - Magic is Real

I don't believe in witches, but that they exist, they exist.

Miguel de Cervantes

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Mammals walked around the storehouse, most of them gathering around the circle drawn on the ground of the old, abandoned place. Percy, the horse; Zane, the tiger; Butch, the wolf with blue and violet painted fur and claws; the hooded figure which species could not be identified, and also another animal that someone would have difficulty to notice at first, a possum.

This possum was female, standing 2'8'' feet tall. The fur of her body was of gray coloration, with a much softer shade, close to white, on her face and down her neck and stomach. Her limbs also had white fur, with black on her hands and feet. Her eyes were of a deep yellow coloration, with the fur around each her eyes being of a darker shade of gray. Her tail was long, thick and pinkish, devoid of fur, as it was normal for possums. Her ears were black in the outside and pinkish in the inside. She used tattered clothing consisting into a purple top, a pair of jeans pants, and a long coat of the same purple coloration. She was standing with the other mammals around the circle.

The other two animals were on the outside of the circle. The dog was sitting on the craters on the corner, apparently tapping into a keyboard that only he was able to see. He seemed like he was completely distracted from the other animals in the places. While the coyote, Hudson Coyle, was on another corner, near the cages. He seemed that he was checking on whatever was inside of them, and they seemed to be feisty, by the way that the cages were shaking.

"So, how do we do this?" Butch asked, looking at the others. "Do we do just like the other nights, or do we change something tonight?"

"Just like other nights, only with the sacrifices." The hooded figure said, "You, Percy and Zane slice their throats while the five of us chant the lines of the ritual. These rituals are very specific." She spoke, looking around. "So, everyone remembers the lines? Boys? Harlie?" She asked. The three males and then the female possum, Harlie, nodded back at her. The hooded female then turned to the coyote and the cages.

"Hudson, you doing it fine with them?"

"They are pretty feisty." The coyote said, as he walked from one of the three cages to the next. "But they have no chance. They will be nice and obedient when they are to be sacrificed."

"Why there need to be sacrifices, by the way?" The dog on the craters asked.

"Because this is how Formalcraft works." The tiger said, sounding annoyed, looking at the dog. "In order to be able to take something you need to offer something back, in this case, we offer their lives. Otherwise, we would need to keep chatting all night every night to achieve the same results. Besides, their blood will help the ritual along. You would know that if you were not a Technocrat." The tiger spoke the last line with a certain disdain. The dog glared back at him.

"First of all, I am an ex-Technocrat. Second, I have helped you guys a lot by locating a source of energy with my methods and also calculated the best possible time that would allow the most of energy to be gathered by your little ritual." The dog said, and he spoke that almost as if he was challenging the tiger to retort, which the big feline seemed to be about to do when the hooded female cut him off.

"Zane, leave Evan alone. He's done his part." She spoke firmly, and the tiger obeyed, remaining silent. "If you are truly frustrated, you can vent killing the sacrifices."

The tiger seemed to be satisfied with this. He, like everyone else, seemed to be oblivious to the fact that there were some mammals spying on them, and that they looked horrified by what they were hearing.