Chapter Text
"Spiritus lucem et lucem adjutorium mihi."
The candles in my room lit, brightening my room. I took a candle and crept into the dark hallway. I hear chanting coming from the end of the hall: "Vivat dominus Lunam!"
I feel myself get goosebumps; I've never heard this chant before. As I continue tip-toeing down, the chanting grows louder. I peek around the corner. The chanting is at its fullest; the noise was like a choir sent by death. There were my brothers and sisters, in a circle with their arms extended above their heads. In the middle was Rhoswen. I held my hand to my mouth, trying not to scream. Dread twists in my gut. Rhoswen is standing over a lifeless man with a grievous, bloody hole in his chest. His heart is in her hand. Blood gushes from the organ and runs down her arm. "We thank Eldon for this sacrifice. Every life given goes to the return of Cthulhu, the Moon Lord." The circle of robed people began to shout in unison. "Vivat Dominus Lunam!" The gathering of people then disband. I run before they could see me.
I felt so sick.
I ran back to my room as fast as my feet could take me. I opened the heavy wooden door quickly yet silently. I leaned against the door, huffing. I tried to breathe, but terror sucked the very breath from my mouth. I sank to the floor, and my body wracked with an onslaught of silent sobs and tears. A small puddle of blood began to form on the cobblestone floor. I couldn't stop crying. I cried for what seemed like hours, then I just stopped. My face, bodice, and collar are soaking in blood by now.
Oh, only if I didn't cry out what was flowing in my veins.
My toes curled, fingers twitched, and my eyes blinked as I awakened. I sat up, feeling light-headed. My back was sore from sleeping on the cold hard ground. I wiped my face. Dried flakes of blood stuck to my fingers. Then the feeling of dread rose from deep below. I had been lied to all my life.
Death. Sacrifices.
Master and Rhosewen have always said that nobody should die to bring life. I sat silently, hunched over with a sense of loss so great that my muscles couldn't move an inch.
My soul had been swept away, empty emotion strangling it whole.
I felt hollow. Like shell, I am bone.