The Raven

The Ritual

"Once I assimilate her powers, my reign over the Living shall begin! They will be sorry for all the bad things they said about me because I shall prove all of them to be true! It will be so bad that they will regret the day they were born!" He finished with a gleeful laugh.

After finishing his little speech inside my head he said out loud: "Grab her but don't harm her. I want her to witness my victory. That would tear her soul much more than anything you could do to her. She doesn't need any other torture but to see me winning and standing by my demon bride." He said with a toothy grin. A pair of strong hairy hands grabbed me and held me in a way that barely allowed breathing which was more of a calming habit than it was a necessity like it used to be.

The Devil and my friend, or what was once my friend, started approaching the bone throne, and the demons started making a noise of approval. As the Devil sat on the throne, what was once my friend, knelt before him. The Devil was pleased that she seemed to know what she was supposed to do without being told so.

A group of monstrous servants arrived and brought huge containers filled with red liquid. They put one of them next to the throne and the other one next to the future bride. Obviously, it was human blood, and I had no idea why they needed so much of it.

"First you shall drink the blood from my container, and then you should bathe in the blood of the innocent in the container next to you." He told her.

She obeyed without even thinking about it. She opened her mouth like a baby bird waiting for its mother to feed it. As she did that, the Devil poured a huge amount of blood into her mouth. She eagerly drank it, as if it were holy water, instead of the blood of her fellow humans. But she was no longer human, was she?

Repulsed as I was, I couldn't help but stare at the repugnant scene in front of me. It was one of those situations where it was horrible and gruesome to watch, but you don't seem to be able to turn your gaze away from it. Perhaps it's because you are petrified so much that you are unable to do anything but stare. Your hands might shake, you might feel sick to your stomach but you do nothing.

Blood pouring in my friend's open mouth and all over her face was so much more unreal to me than anything that I had seen before that moment. The reason for that was the fact that I could remember that same mouth singing beautifully and laughing with mirth. That memory was in such a striking contrast with the scene before me.

I couldn't help but wonder if there was even a chance that my friend could be saved. She looked more like a demon than anything else, but I didn't want to repeat the same mistake I had made when she became the raven. I wanted to at least try.

There were too many demons and monsters holding me back, and a lot more between me and the dark ceremony unfolding, but I knew I had to do something before the ritual was completed. I tried to go past my repulsion, and think of a plan that would be beneficial for my friend as well as disrupt the Devil long enough for me to ruin his plans.

The ritual continued as I tried to think of a way to stop it. My friend seemed to be exhilarated by the taste of fresh blood and wanted more. She went into the container that she was meant to bathe in when the Devil stopped pouring blood into her mouth. She dived into the container of freshly squeezed human blood as if it were a refreshing lake.

The moment she did that we could hear her lapping up blood as she bathed in it. Her blond hair became red and sticky from all the blood that got into it. Any frightening demon would have feared her then, as the only white thing about her were her teeth, and they could be seen because she was laughing in delight.

She was splashing around so much that some demons approached her gruesome tub to get a drop or two of fresh human blood that they craved. As they moved away from me, I saw that as my chance to do something.

But what would be the right thing to do? To try to attack the Devil directly would be a waste of time, I couldn't destroy the Devil. Attacking other demons was pointless and fighting my friend was impossible for me. I couldn't do it again. That is when I had another one of my unusual ideas. I thought about the things I read before I died and how powerful a regular human could be, so I decided to test that power.

I gathered all my energy and letting it out I chanted these words:

"Everything but me shall stop and freeze.

No one except me shall be able to move with ease.

The time shall stop and cease

until it is restored by my power's breeze."

No one was stunned more than me when it actually worked.

People were right in saying that words had the power to change the world. We never believe in the power of words, we mostly rely on physical strength but at that moment I could see how truly powerful the words could be.

The power wasn't mine, it was the power available to anyone. I was able to see that and use it. I didn't believe in the power that resided in my very soul, let alone outside me when I was alive. I did know I had some power, and I used it. Ironically enough, I only realized the extent of my power and the types of power that existed, after I died.

The moment I could see it was working, I rushed towards my friend, who was luckily for me, outside the container when I stopped time. Few drops of blood stood mid-flight, frozen before they could reach the ground. I knew I only had a few precious moments, having in mind that I was dealing with the Devil, so I had to act fast. There was no power on Earth that could keep him contained the Devil which meant I had to use the time I did have wisely.