The Sacrament

Chapter One: The New Key

Coven Tenet I: If harm be to none, do as ye may.

Tonight would be a full moon. The only time a new Key could be called on. For this reason many had journeyed to the Covenstead to take part in the ceremony to call down the moon or at very least witness it, though you had to be invited. Aster was one such person, along with her brother Jorah who served as Keeper to High Priestess Fen. Only one non wolf was allowed in such ceremonies, a hunter by the name of Koren who acts as witness and scribe. When the moon is called down upon a shifted witch she often does not remember what's been given to her, and Koren's purpose is to remind them. At the moment he sat off to the side preparing his instruments. He had to be ready to move quickly to keep up and, if needed, slow down a wolf by hampering them with wolfsbane. The new Key needed to be anointed and in meditation before the shift came. The sun was dipping into the horizon so the time to begin was at hand.

The old High Priestess of Key, Tarva, had become too old to continue her duties. Thus a new one had to be named. Her dress was like the other sisters, a thin gown of white that hovered just before the ground. Before the moon rose they would strip together, along with the other onlookers. Her gray hair was pinned up to be out of the way of the ritual. The Key to be, Maybelle from bloodline Yerrow, stood nude in the circle surrounded by her sisters. They were the current High Priestesses, needed to raise their sister up to the moon. One could tell the new key was trying not to fidget as the crone anointed her in the ritual oils.

Tarva turned to the small crowd. The bulk of the Hives were not invited to the ceremony but would attend the celebration at day break. "Tonight we call down the Goddess to attune our new priestess so that she may guide our family." Tarva joined the priestess circle.

Maybelle crossed her arms over her chest, and brought her feet together. "Goddess of the Moon, You have been known by many names in many lands in many times.You are universal and constant. In the dark of night, You shine down upon us and bathe us in Your light and love. I ask You, O Divine One, to honor me by joining with me, and allowing me to feel Your presence within my heart." She opened her arms wide to the purple and pink sky, a welcoming gesture to the Goddess.

Maybelle was just old enough to be considered for the position, the Key must always be leaving their time as a Mother to be eligible. The Torches who saw to other duties were preferably Mothers still in the midst of their youth, and could later be given the position of Key. Once a Key is deep into crone they could decide whether to give up the position in favor of retirement like the current Key Tarva was doing, or to stay until their passing. Some favored retirement over the latter. Although their magics were powerful and potent, having someone in power who could not safely shift was looked down upon. The transformation was too taxing on the body and often older witches died during them. Tomorrow Tarva could be gone, or she would be sore and just as unwieldy and wonderful. Only time could tell. For now she stood next to the Torches, Nimah and Sadirah. Twin sisters from the Ovid bloodline. Their father was an outsider to the coven, the source of their dark skin. It was not unheard of, but uncommon for the more powerful bloodlines. It hardly mattered for they were potent at the craft, excellent hunters, and had the luck to be twins. The only way they could be more privileged was to be of triplets. Triplets were always seen as moon chosen, specifically picked by the Goddess to lead as soon as they became of age. In those cases the age requirements to Key would be lifted allowing the triplet to take power as one unit.

Rarer still, when positions such as this came available an existing High Priestess was chosen by the seers, but not this time, and that fact did not sit well with many. Especially High Priestess Fin as she was entering her crone years and would no longer be eligible. Even now as Maybelle appealed to the Goddess she could feel the animosity wafting off of Fen. Jorah had his work cut for him tonight.

As he was not a High Priestess or Priest he could not be a part of the circle but stood behind her a few feet off like all the other Keepers charged with protecting their own. Like herself Jorah had a mess of blonde hair and tan skin, although his hair was sunbleached and parted to the side. They shared similar hazel eyes but hers always seemed a shade brighter. Overall they looked very similar and were often mistaken for twins by other Hives within the Coven, although Jorah was a year older. Their main distraction from their sameness was a scar that cut across her face from just under the right eye to under the left side of the chin, it's origin a childhood accident from coming out of a shift. Healing properties of the wolf weren't quite as potent in children.

Maybelle's blue eyes began to glow fiercely. A sign she had connected to the Goddess. Commonly this would signal a powerful witch or a potent casting. On a rarity there were witches whose eyes always glowed, but she had only met a small handful of them.

Maybelle began to speak, the voice not entirely her own, "I am the Mother of all life, the One who watches over all. I am the wind in the sky, the spark in the fire, the seedling in the earth, the water in the river. I am the vessel from which All Things spring forth. Honor Me from within your heart!

Remember that acts of love and pleasure are My rituals, and that there is beauty in all things. Honor Me on this night of the full moon! I have been with you since the moment you were created, and shall remain with you always. Let there be beauty and strength, wisdom and honor, humility and courage within you. If you need Me, call upon Me and I shall come to you, for I am everywhere, always. I am the Maiden, the Mother and the Crone, and I live within you."

The ritual oil seemed to shine across her skin, her arms trembling at the connection as the Goddess continued, "Be true to Me, honoring that which I have created, and I shall be true to you in return. With harm to none: go and roam, my children, so shall it be."

Maybelle's eyes flickered and she collapsed onto her knees in the grass. No one went to her for that is not the way. This was her moment to feel the power of the Goddess and from here she would enter her meditations. Throughout the night she would continue to have revelations for the course of the Coven. I pray swiftness to Koren that he may keep up.

The sky had changed into a deeper blue with shades of purple at the horizon. The High Priestesses started to shed their clothes and the others followed suit. She slipped out of her thin ritual dress, setting it gently on a nearby rock. She was thankful that Jorah was turned away from her. She had gone this long without knowing what his junk looked like and she hoped to keep it that way. Being a witch and a werewolf, nudity was a common practice among them. She was comfortable in her skin, though she had outsider friends that weren't, even leaving the room to change at sleepovers.

She kneeled into the grass for her meditation, however brief it may be. As a witch she'd dare say she was average, but as a wolf she often got her butt handed to her in sparring. Her and Jorah were of the Vendara bloodline, the 13th and last bloodline to drink of the Sacrament, thus the weakest. Jorah was highly gifted as a wolf, the reason he was able to be a Keeper at all.

She felt her muscles tense and looked up at the darkened sky. The moon had begun its crest. The transformation was always painful. As a child it taught us temperance, that power had a cost. A teaching that went hand in hand with her witch studies. Her back arched as white hot pain shot through her, her bones and muscles rearranging at their whim. She belonged to the forest now.