Chapter 26 Ritual
RITUAL
We’ve eaten, we’ve rested—and now we’re back inside the cavern of the Black Dragon’s birthplace, to make that ancient wrong right.
Glimmering rune-worked stone towers around us, the ancient guardian dragons snarling at us with their dead faces, as we finish levitating supplies in on our Bloodwinds.
We’ve set up everything we’ll need for the next few days in a vault next to the door.
Prepared now, to dive into our trickiest feat of magic yet.
Though we still haven’t relocated the library, we’ve been able to cross between Realms, to bring supplies here from the underground citadel.
As Bjorn and I finish levitating crates of foodstuffs into our storage niche now, Mikkel and Strom deposit a massive bed, lofted upon their combined Bloodwinds, in the center of the cavern.
Baldur and Laerke have just finished setting up magical torches in a vast ring all around; despite the comforting fire flickering around us, pushing back the uncanny rune-light that glimmers throughout this ancient space, a deep trepidation fills me now.
Because despite our preparations, I know we’re basically flying blind on this one. Even though Baldur has assured me he’s gotten enough information out of Hedda’s scrolls to begin our Soulstone-creation ceremony, all bets are off once things really get going.
Everything in this ceremony hinges on whether we can break the black curse that still lies around me in the Void. As I survey our readiness and Aesa’s Truthstone hums upon my chest, I know this is going to be one of the toughest fights we’ve faced yet.
Maybe even the toughest fight of our lives, so far.
Because nothing has broken that black curse around me in the Void. Not Aesa giving me her protection, nor my Bloodbond with Baldur, even when we used the bond’s joined powers to blast whomever Excommunicated me via the False Knights.
And none of our magical shenanigans since have touched it, as we bonded more strongly as a group. Even giving my drakes Aesa’s silver rings has done nothing to that magical containment around me in the Void.
A massive barrier between us and what we hope to achieve here tonight.
Heaving a brief sigh, I turn, making one last evaluation of our space. Despite our readiness, however, the creeping feeling of evil here is not gone; something about that bothers me tremendously now, as we become ready to get this Bloodwalking ceremony started.
Because if I look at the vast space of the cavern just right, I can still see the shimmering oilslick aura that coats the air in here. Not to mention the diseased runes ripped right into the cavern’s massive sigil, along that sundering crack through the floor.
It gives me a feeling of foreboding, even as I also feel the deep support of my drakes and Laerke, as we gather now in the center of the space.
We’ve not stepped into the middle of the floor over the crack, but just to one side of it, as if nobody wants to be right on top of that creeping doom-energy.
It’s just as well, as we look around at each other now, making sure everyone’s ready to do this, and on-board with their roles, at least for the first part of the ceremony.
Each of my drakes wears silken pajama pants now, and I’ve got on a new deep plum silk robe, whereas Laerke wears her battle-leathers.
Since all of us are going to be doing the naughty to skyrocket me and Baldur up into the Void for this ritual, Laerke is our muscle now, our protection while we’re all out there, getting it on.
I’m beyond glad for it now, as I see her stand ready with a fierce flash of chartreuse in her lovely vivid lavender eyes.
Ready to fuck some shit up, if anything accosts us in this space.
“Okay,” Mikkel says now as he claps his hands, his go-go-go online as a reckless energy takes his shining copper-black eyes.
“We’ve got the main bed and two replacements ready, plus bedding.
We’ve got extra clothing and battle-leathers in case we need them, six washtubs full of water to drink, two additional crates of torches, and at least a week’s worth of food, even for our dragons.
That should cover us for a few days, if this ceremony takes that long.
If it takes longer, we can hopefully break and restock. ”
“Laerke? Are you ready to give the signal if you feel anyone’s energy dangerously flagging?” I ask as I turn to her next.
“I’m ready,” she says as her piercing eyes flash.
“If there’s any significant danger, like anyone’s energy getting especially consumed by your Bloodwalker power during the ritual, you’ll get a dart of my poison every fifteen seconds to break your trance and alert you.
But if there’s real danger…” She eyeballs me now.
“You know I’m just going to barrel in and rip all of you apart to break the ritual.
And use as much of my poison as I need to get you all to wake the fuck up. ”
“Good enough for me,” I tell her, as my drakes chuckle and Bjorn nods.
“Baldur?” I turn to him next. “You have the stone you want to use?”
“Eternallurim, yes.” He nods as he raises an incredible, brilliant white stone now, holding it up for us all to see. About the size of his fist, it’s spherical and smooth, the beautiful white color like an agate, except it has incredible veins of silver and gold lancing through it, everywhere.
Plus the same astonishing white metal used in the cavern’s runes.
“It has exceptional sigil-binding properties, from the silver, gold, and eternatus metal running through it,” he says as he identifies the strange white metal used in this space, and living in the stone he holds.
“Sigilwrights in my clan would kill for an eternallurium stone this size, to work a ritual with. Fortunately, I knew the citadel had to have some, as eternatus metal rarely occurs in any other rock. I found this stone in a cache inside this cavern, actually, in one of the furthest vaults.” He nods at a spot far away now, furthest from the doors.
“Most of the spheres in the cache had been pulverized by some massive magic that happened here, probably the Black Dragon’s creation.
One in the very bottom of the cache was still intact, however—this one.
So we have one chance to imbue the Five’s sigils into this stone. ”
“Don’t fuck it up.” Strom chuckles, though his look is dire as his emerald eyes flash brimstone.
“Okay.” I glance around at everyone now. “We’ve got our stone, we’ve got our supplies, we’ve got Laerke as our lookout, in case anything goes amiss. Anything we’re missing?”
“Except not knowing shit about how to dissolve that black veil around you in the Void, we’re just peachy.” Mikkel chuckles, even as Laerke scowls at him and elbows him in the ribs. “Any plan for that, by the way?”
I look at Bjorn now, because he’s been the one I’ve discussed this part with. As he scowls, nodding for me to tell them, I feel his righteous anger bolster me.
“We’re going to leverage Aesa’s Truthstone to break the black veil around me in the Void,” I tell everyone as I glance around my drakes and Laerke.
As astonished sounds come from them, save Bjorn, who already knew about this plan, I hold a hand up.
“Hear me out. Even though Aesa’s stone has been a blessing to us, helping me understand what is true and what is false, she gave it—and her energy—to us for a reason.
She knew there would come a time when she had to give her all, again, to defeat the Black Dragon.
That time is now. We need the extra firepower Aesa can lend us to break through the dark veil surrounding me in the Void.
Because if we can’t do that, then we can’t even do the first step in taking down the Black Dragon.
So it’s go time, and we’re using every resource available to us. I’m sure Aesa would recognize that.”
“I still wish you would reconsider using my energy to help you.” Laerke snarls now, though she and I have already had a very long private chat about this issue.
“You’re not Bloodbonded to us,” I tell her firmly but with compassion, because I know how much she wants to donate her power to help us and keep her brother safe.
“We need you as the outside woman. We need you to watch out for our physical bodies while we’re in a trance.
Because we can’t do that. And if anything comes calling while we’re in there—we’re toast. In some ways, your position guarding us is the most important of all. ”
Laerke says nothing, only crosses her arms as she sets her pretty lips hard.
I know she’ll do as I’ve asked, however; though defiance glitters in her lovely lavender eyes, understanding does also, that we’d be goners if anything accosted us while we’re far out in the Void during our Bloodwalking trance.
“Do you know how all this is going to go?” Strom asks me as he massages Laerke’s shoulder, and she gradually thaws.
“We prepare the proper sigil-container, we donate blood, then we fuck,” I say succinctly, before glancing at Baldur.
“Once we’re into the Bloodwalking proper, we first break the veil around me in the Void, if we can.
Then we use my power to locate memories of the Black Dragon Five from those who knew them in life.
Then Baldur collects those memories with his power, imbuing them into the Soulstone via his sigilwright ability, to collect a full imprint of each of the Five’s souls. ”
“The Five can only be completely severed from the Black Dragon by us making a precise sigil to ritually entrap their souls away from the creature,” Baldur adds as he glances around my drakes.
“We can only draw them out of their wight-bones into the stone if we have that soul-signature exactly correct in the runes I will imbue into the object. Which is what our Bloodwalking ceremony is for.”