22. Chapter Twenty-Two #2
Xena and the other stryx led them to the new campsite, which was tucked into the forest on the far side of the lake.
There were remnants of structures there, too, which the stryx promptly got to work fortifying and covering with their animal skins once more, packing the bases around with snow for additional insulation.
They were incredibly adept at it, and got the camp set up in little time, even adding an extra shelter for Ty, Ena, and Turner.
By the time the sun began to set, they had made their way back to the rim around the lake, where they were to all gather for the Awakening.
It was dark, and the moon was new, but the sky…
it was clear, and filled with millions of stars that reflected off the lake.
Ena wasn’t sure she’d ever seen so many stars—and as high as they were, they almost felt close enough to touch.
Ena, Ty, Turner, and the stryx stood in a group before Xena, whose back was to the immense lake—an attentive audience before her.
It felt eerily similar to her Summoning in many ways, but unlike her experience, there was no fire, no ritualistic items, and no leader came forth to speak.
Ena was learning that although Max was highly respected among the stryx, he wasn’t exactly their leader—the stryx didn’t really have any official leader at all, so there was no one to lead the ceremony now.
Instead, Xena spoke for herself.
“I am a vessel for Omnis, as are we all,” she said, her voice confident and steady.
It didn’t sound like any of what she said was prescribed, though—more like she was speaking off the cuff.
“Omnis works in ways we do not understand—bringing life, and death. Periods of chaos, and periods of stasis. Growth, rebirth, decay, and decline. All of it is a part of Omnis, as Omnis is a part of us all.”
Both balance and chaos a part of the same god?
Ena had never heard of such an idea before.
Gaia was the Goddess of balance, and Iblis the God of chaos.
But, of course, that separation had all but been blown to smithereens during the unbinding ritual when they thought they’d summoned Iblis, but gotten what she knew as Gaia.
Did the stryx believe they were both the same being? Or just two beings intertwined somehow?
Ena didn’t have time to dwell on these complex thoughts, as Xena started talking again.
“I am ready, today, to Awaken my Change. I am grateful for the blood, and the life it brings to me,” she said, bowing her head in deference.
Ena noticed then that the stryx who stood before Xena began passing around a bone cup. One by one, they pricked their fingers or cut their arms—all except the young children—and let a drop or two of their blood fill the bone cup. Once everyone had contributed, they passed the cup to Xena.
Ena remembered what Max had said, about the stryx almost never drinking human blood because it caused hallucinations, but she supposed this was an exception.
She watched silently as Xena brought the cup to her lips, and there was a tenseness in the air as she did.
As if they were all waiting for something to happen.
After she drained the cup and passed it to Kaya, everyone took several steps back, and at first, Ena didn’t understand why.
Then Xena tipped her head back, looking to the star-filled sky above her—and laughed. She kept laughing—maniacally almost—and Ena could tell by the manic look on her face that something was happening to her.
“I can feel it—Omnis,” she said, looking at her hands as if seeing them for the first time. “Inside me, around me. Omnis is everywhere.”
Suddenly, she looked up, her eyes darting around at them all, and the smile on her face fell. Her eyes sharpened, and her brow furrowed as the look of joy on her face was replaced by one of pure, unadulterated hunger.
For a second, Ena was frightened. Should they be standing here? Would Xena attack them?
But then, with zero notice, Xena turned on her heels and ran, taking off along the rim of the crater as fast as she could until she dipped into the forest, and Ena lost track of her in the darkness.
“What the fuck was that?” Turner asked quietly, saying out loud what she was thinking.
“Don’t worry,” Kaya responded. “It’s normal. The human blood induces a state of intense euphoria. She is overcome with the need to hunt, and the extra blood she drinks will push her to Change. Once she does, she’ll be back to normal.”
“But I thought stryx could only Change on the full moon? We’re still several weeks away from another one,” Ena asked.
“The first Change, when someone drinks human blood, is an exception. It triggers the Awakening of your Change being, as well as the hallucinations.”
“And…what do we all do until she does Change? Just wait for her to return?” Turner asked, staring off after her and seeming somewhat concerned.
“Yes,” Kaya said simply.
The stryx, seeming incredibly unfazed by how weird Xena had been acting, dispersed back to camp in small groups, chatting companionably. Once they arrived, they gathered around their fires, drinking pine tea and laughing while they waited.
Ty and Turner decided to go fetch some wood for their own fire, so Ena found herself sitting next to Kaya and Max.
“What did you think of the Awakening?” Kaya asked kindly.
“It was…interesting,” Ena answered truthfully. “Very informal compared to a Summoning.”
“Yes, the stryx don’t work on ceremony or ritual nearly as much as witches do,” she explained. “Their beliefs are much less rigid. Mostly because that is the way of Omnis.”