The Raven Rites

Chapter 6:Dark Clouds

Eclipse

The thing jumped on them with unnatural speed, Eclipse pushed Deidre aside as the Shapeshifter swiftly unsheathed his sword. A bite that hit the air, the push of magic in the Demon's veins, a rise of energies.

Deidre skillfully hit the beast as Eclipse's magic kept him as frozen as possible, the muscles of the monster contorting against his own will. The mumbling low voice of the Demon could be heard enchanting the air as a group of little creatures circled them. Deidre hit the beast, who managed to get out of the unseen force that kept him in place. A huge slit opened to form a mouth filled with rotten teeth and as the monster tried to bite down Deidre impaled him pushing the sword down his throat. Eclipse shouted as the thing kept moving and clawing the air "Get out!" the Shapeshifter pulled out the sword in time as a river of blood rose up in the air, fragmenting in tiny little spears who pushed by magic fell on the raging beast, with a wave of Eclipse's hand, the shards jabbed themselves in the beast's body and exploded, causing bits of flesh, teeth and eyes to cover the alley walls.

Deidre laughed softly "I think I'll have to use your bathroom again..."

Eclipse smirked "Oh I don't mind"

"Alone!"

Eclipse sighed in defeat and shrugged. Deidre looked around "What now?"

"Now we find the rift, that's the easier part. I can track down where it came out from roughly using the creature's blood"

The Shapeshifter looked around "And...how do you recognize it?"

Eclipse raised his hands slowly, and certain pools and drops of blood lifted up in the air "I can feel it, it's different. I could separate each drop of blood from each other"

"So how...are we going to proceed?"

"Give me a minute, kitty" the blood hovered above their heads, shaping itself in weird sigils, until Eclipse hummed "Water...it's near the lake"

"H...how do you...what gave you that information?"

"His memories"

"And you saw those memories through his blood?"

"Mh-hm"

"And where do we find this lake?"

Eclipse pointed at a vague direction towards the end of the city "There's only one in the area, not far from the west gate. It doesn't feel like a big rip, maybe they were interrupted or they did something not quite right"

"Not quite right? You mean wrong?"

"No, I mean not quite right. Raven Rites are not at all difficult to do mainly because you can find your own personal way of doing it, instead of following a strict set of rules...this person must have done it in their personal way, but not in a manner that was strong enough to produce a big rip when the eventual failure happened"

"So what link is there between them? Between one rite and the other?"

"Intention and...the same Entity. That's the only thing you must have, an effigy that represents the Raven Entity"

"So you pray to this God and..."

Eclipse waved a finger in the air "Nah-ha, it's not a God, it's an Entity that's as strong as a God"

Deidre shook his head "The difference being? If you're worshiped and people pray to you, aren't you a God?"

"Entities are more akin to ghosts really. They were living beings, before turning to creatures in the Otherworld"