The Planet Keeper

Chapter 14

 I woke up tied upright on a post, each arm tied to an end of a horizontal post that extended from behind the one my body was tied to, my feet were bound together with vines and tied to the same post as my body. Only vines covered the essential parts and I felt a crown of flowers, twine, vines and leaves sat atop my head. The room was lit only by a fire that burned beneath me and a few rows of tall candles against the walls of the room. A soft chanting to the beat of a one man drum conquered the silence that otherwise held this room. The chanting slightly rose in volume and the beat of the drum grew more rapid. A man found his way out of the crowd and into the center of the large circle gathered around the fire, looking in all directions, turning and spinning, he opened his mouth to speak.

"People of Sparkle, we unite together to pay tribute to the Keeper. We are gathered here together to pay her praise for all she has done for us, through a sacrifice, a sacrifice of the chosen one." The man preached, his voice slightly raspy, mid-toned and loud.

The crowd around the fire erupted into screams of cheer, praise, and excitement. It seemed that the man was some kind of pastor or preacher from the tone he used, his choice of words, and how he went about announcing and explaining my death to those that surrounded him. A staff was handed to him from someone in the crowd, and he held it above his head with one hand as if it were holy or sacred. He pointed the staff up towards me and began to preach,

"The chosen one. The only human to be born with the features and traits required to be sacrificed. There is only one every three hundred and sixty-eight years, and she is tricky to find. People of Sparkle, I give to you, The Chosen One."

Once again the silence,was broken as the crowd erupted in cheers, louder than before. The drums picked up again, starting at a slow tempo and comfortably increasing in speed. A flute softly found its place with the beat of the drum and soon a xylophone wove itself into the beat. The instruments harmonized with one another perfectly, creating a soothing yet tribal, sacrificial tone.

The post I was tied to started to slowly move closer and closer to the ground. I froze, my body paralyzed with fear, but my heart rate remained normal and the fear I felt hardly affected me. I closed my eyes and tried to imagine an alternate reality, but all I could see was darkness. I couldn't envision anything, I could only see darkness. The post stopped moving just as my toes were touching the ground.

The music stopped suddenly, the cheering crowd fell deathly silent and an eerie feeling consumed the room. There was no noise, nothing but the soft high pitched whistle my nose made as I breathed through it. The vines binding my hands to the post and my feet together loosened their grip, letting go of my wrists and ankles, gently floating down to rest on the floor. My arms fell to my sides, numb and seemingly lifeless.

I opened my eyes, but it was like they were still closed. I could see nothing but darkness. The fire and candles had been put out, allowing darkness to consume the room. I moved to remove myself from the post, only to be pulled back by my waist which was still tied to the post. Pulling at the vines with my hands, I tried desperately to tear the vine apart and pull them off of me, but the vine bounding my waist to the post was strong and thick and was not giving in.

The vine finally came loose. Not knowing this would happen, I fell from the post and landed on my hands and knees on the warm wet, hard concrete. It was still pitch black, and I was unable to see anything.

Slowly bringing myself to my feet, I tried to get my eyes to adjust to the darkness, but they wouldn't. It was too dark. Standing, I realised that the ground beneath my feet was wet, but it wasn't cold. No, the liquid seeping between my toes and cowering under my feet was warm, very warm. I told myself it was just the water that was used to put out the large fire and this was all part of the sacrifice.

Pain shot through my body, stemming from the back of my skull and sending shock waves of pain throughout the rest of my body. I fell to my knees. As quickly as I did, I was being picked up and carried bridal style through the darkness.