"DRUIDS BANE" A Tundrawolf Story

DRUIDS-BANE 'Sacrifice'

Part Two 3500 BC

Arthfael looked down at the terrified boy on the table. For one brief, fleeting second he wondered why he was doing this. He felt sorry for young Cynwrig thinking it was not right to instill such terror on him. Suddenly the second was over as he sensed a truly evil presence move into his mind and look out from behind his eyes. He forgot any feelings of compassion and from this point on, and for the rest of his life, would never have them again. With a renewed sense of purpose Arthfael continued the chant along with the four other young Druids.

Along with the chant that could be heard throughout the cavern a deep humming started. It seemed to be coming from everywhere but that was not the case. It was coming from the table along with a vibration that was growing in strength with every passing minute. Arthfael could feel the table calling to the knife he held in his hand. He looked at the knife and could see the runes burning with the same ghostly green glow as the runes along the edge of the table. He still could not understand the words to the chant but he knew it was the table along with the knife calling for blood. It was an incantation calling for a death for what reason he could not yet tell.

Cynwrig had all but stopped his crying and yelling. He was falling into a trance of some kind probably because of the vibration coming from the table. He seemed to be losing control of his body as his muscles relaxed but there was still a look of terror on his face. As Arthfael watched, the boy stopped struggling and actually started whispering the chant himself.

He lifted his hand that held the knife high into the air. He was holding it so tight his knuckles were turning white. Keeping his other hand on the boys head he brought the knife down in an arch straight into the boys chest. It happened so suddenly and his arm came down with such speed and strength it surprised everyone in the room, especially Arthfael. It felt to him like a huge dark shadow was behind him, guiding him like an adult holds and guides a child from behind when riding a pony for the first time. The knife entered the boys chest smashing through bone and cutting through sinew with ease going all the way down to make contact with the table. The shadow behind Arthfael guided him to bring the knife back up and drive it down again and again cutting all around the heart in the boys chest.

Once Arthfael had chopped all around the heart he left the knife sticking out of the chest and reached his hand into the cavity he had made. It all seemed like a dream as he moved directed by some unseen force behind him. The second he touched the heart in the chest what seemed like a lightning strike passed from the unmoving body of Cynwrig and out into the five boys that were holding him. All five tensed from the brief pain but then let out a long slow breath as a feeling of euphoria spread through them. The feeling did not last long but it was so intense it was all they could think about for a while after.

Arthfael pulled the heart from the chest and brought it up to his mouth and took a bite from it. After he did so he passed it to the boy to his right. The heart was consumed fully as it made its way around with every boy getting a bite. The blood in Cynwrig's body drained from the holes in his back where the knife had pierced all the way through. It ran down a slope that went to the center of the table and then emptied through the hole in the middle into the stone cauldron below. Somehow the boys knew the blood was not for them. Arthfael suspected it was for the unknown discarnate that roamed the tunnels and cavern of the barrow.

The five young Druids felt energized and powerful. Their senses improved, they could see more clearly and colors were more vibrant. Their sense of smell became much stronger and they could hear every sound throughout the chamber, even the pattering of little mouse feet far off in the tunnel. Their tunics felt tighter across the shoulders and the sleeves did not come down as far as they had before the sacrifice. Their breeches were shorter and tighter around the waist not by much but it was noticeable. They looked at each other in wonder at the changes in their bodies.