Bloom - An Anthology

The Ritual

            It was the earliest hours of the morning. The landscape was cast in shadows, with the crescent moon as the primary source of light. The woodlands, deathly quiet, held only a small sound of crunching leaves. There was that, and nothing more. Not even the usual creatures of the night dared to stir as a single form slowly walked through the underbrush. The form, humanoid in appearance and carrying a small, bobbing lantern, took strides with a sort of tempered hesitance. There was a nervous air about them, and as they stepped into a small woodland clearing the lantern seemed to topple from their grip.

            A small, somewhat effeminate yelp came from the person's lips, soon accompanied by a more masculine string of profanities as they scrambled to search for the toppled lantern. While crawling on hands and knees, another item seemed to topple as the figure shifted around. A small, rectangular object fell to the earthen floor, landing with a soft thud as the figure quietly cursed again. The lantern seemed to be of top priority, however, as the other object was abandoned and the small, metal light source was still the first thing retrieved. The figure, now sitting down on the ground rather than crawling, sifted through their belongings for a long, tense moment before fishing out another small box. A small match was pulled from the box and struck on the side of it, and as the lantern relit it illuminated the figure's face.

            Splotchy freckles fanned out across pale cheeks, and wide, vibrant green eyes peeked out from behind unruly ginger hair. The person, human in race and looking to be a young man, stared into the lantern's flame for a long time with a small frown on his lips.

            Actually, he looked to be more of a boy than a man, with a round face and scrawny stature. He barely looked 15, and the pitch of his nervously quiet voice indicated the early stages of adolescence. Hunched forward, the boy hesitantly lifting the lantern to scan the grass for this other missing object. Said object came into view, and the boy reached out to pluck it from the ground. It was a book, worn with age and adorning more than a few battle scars. The boy hurriedly dusted it off with one bandaged hand before starting to frantically flip through the pages. One glance at the sky fueled an even more rushed search through the worn tome.

            It was almost too late.

            The boy quickly found the needed page in the book, depicting worn instructions and a depiction of an archaic ritual circle. Laying the book upwards-facing on the ground in front of him, the boy quickly set to work. He got up, quickly clearing away debris that lay in the area soon to become his play space. He worked quickly and clumsily, glancing upwards every few seconds to watch for any signs of the encroaching daylight. The oncoming morning would be a hindrance, so he needed to work fast.

            After frantically clearing the area, the boy pulled a small jar out of one of his side pouches. He swiftly shoved his hand inside, pulling it back out again to reveal a sort of oily red paint that coated his fingertips. With this paint, he started to draw in the dirt. He used the circle in the book as a guide, and though his wasn't the most clean rendition, he knew that it would get the job done. It had to get the job done.

            Tucking the jar away and wiping the excess paint on his already grass-stained shorts, the boy went back and picked up the book. He lifted it up, reading the faded directions silently before raising one hand towards the makeshift circle. The hand shook, but the boy took a deep breath to help his resolve before he started to speak. The words spoken were unrecognizable and rigid sounding, obviously part of some old, archaic language. The boy seemed nervous to speak them, and though he tried desperately to keep his resolve, his fingers trembled more and more with each shaky phrase.

            As words tumbled out of the boy's mouth, the circle started to glow faintly. The glow intensified with the passing moments, and by the time he finished the glow was almost blinding. The book fell from the boy's hands, and he slowly reached his now free hand down to grab at something else on his belt. He grappled for a few moments, fingertips grazing a bare spot on his belt, and it seemed as if the object in question wasn't there. The boy's eyes went wide with fear, his raised hand faltering slightly as his breathing started to quicken. Thoroughly panicking, the boy raised his free hand to his mouth and shoved his shaking thumb in between his teeth.