Ritual Magic (29 page)

"But where
are
our places?" Gabriel
walked bravely towards Mortisha. "I would suspect something to do
with the natural directions of North, South, East, and West."

Mortisha smiled approvingly at Gabriel.
"Yes, we need all the men in that order. You will stand across the
circle from your polar opposite. Solomon is North, therefore Von
will be South. You, Gabriel, will be West so Leo will be East." She
turned around to survey the salted outline of a circle that was
standing at the center of the clearing. She gazed upwards towards
the sky and nodded as the sun began to descend seemingly on cue.
"It is almost time. Since there is a new moon there will not be a
moonrise. As soon as twilight hits, we are ready."

"But Celeste..." Von's voice was actually
pretty close to my right. My head snapped to see that he had just
emerged from the outline of the trees. Maybe he had tried to look
for Celeste. "She is nowhere in the surrounding area."
Well, I
guess that answered
that
question.

"No." Cora turned around and pointed to the
northern section of the clearing. "She's headed this way—she was
preparing herself and she is now in tune." She smiled at the
northern tree line until Celeste emerged.

We were immediately frozen in our places.
Well, all of the men were frozen anyway. Someone even let out an
audible gasp although I was very sure that it was not from me. We
were in awe and it was hard to believe that we were truly
experiencing the same thing—complete and utter euphoria. Euphoria
from just laying eyes on such a breathtaking spectacle.

Celeste now stood in a full-length glowing
gown of white. Her hair was down and waving with the breeze as the
fabric of her gown swayed in rhythm to the same tune. There was
magic surrounding Celeste—pulsating, vibrating, humming magic. The
energy in the air seemed to provide her with a halo—a glow that was
beyond comprehension or comparison. But it wasn't the glow that
made my breath catch and finally stop—it was her eyes. They were
sharp and utterly sky blue. It was a clear and crisp blue, so clear
that it appeared to be back-lit. Her eyes had never been this blue
for as long as we had all known her. Even the blue that she had
donned after her attack on the beach with Leo had been
different—this was new. With her long, brown hair and dainty waist,
it felt like we were in my past. She was a noble woman glowing with
brilliance and beauty that was so breathtakingly shocking that you
could become consumed with just the thought of her.

My senses instinctively scanned the clearing
and it appeared that every man within throwing distance was
entranced by Celeste's beauty. My heart hammered underneath my
shirt as I walked to the northern position of the clearing and
assumed my spot. Keeping my eyes on Celeste, I saw the others take
their positions through my peripheral vision. Von now stood
directly across the circle from me. We flicked our eyes towards
each other and then back to Celeste—she was all that we wanted to
see.

Celeste seemingly floated to her position in
the middle of the circle. She did a 360 degree turn to eye the
clearing around herself as she took each one of us into
consideration. Was she trying to figure if we were in the correct
positions? Was she assessing if we were capable, let alone
worthy
of being chosen for this ritual? No one spoke. Maybe
they were afraid to say anything as well.

My eyes scanned the circle and I noticed a
few things—Von was pensive, Gabriel seemed alive and alert, Celeste
looked unconcerned and regal while Leo...well, Leo looked
incredibly...nervous. He actually looked as if he had been beading
sweat on his forehead, but that couldn't be possible. A demon as
old and powerful as he was would be
incapable
of sweating,
basically because he would never truly be nervous. My eyebrows
pulled together tightly enough that I could feel my eyes narrow.
He's nervous. Damn us all to hell—the demon is
nervous
.

My eyes flicked back to Celeste and I
noticed that she was glowing.

"Hold your hands out to Celeste in
offering." Mortisha's voice carried over the clearing. "You must
willingly offer to Celeste what she cannot take, and she must
willingly accept your offering as a gift to conceive the child of
legend." Mortisha was nowhere to be seen—it was as if she was
projecting her voice to the middle of the circle for all to
hear.

I held my hands out with the palms up as if
I were offering Celeste something physical. Really, it was more
symbolic than I would have felt truly comfortable with—I had
already given her everything that I could offer. I had given my
kingdom, my life, my future, my hopes and my fears. They had all
been sacrificed to stand a single chance of being with her. I would
give that much and more if it meant that I would be able to spend a
lifetime with her.

My eyes swept over Celeste in the middle of
the circle.
Please let this strangeness wear off after all of
this madness. Please bring back my old Celeste
.

I closed my eyes and then opened them again
to find Celeste and Cora standing back to back. It only took my
vampire senses a second to see that Cora was in a defensive stance
while Celeste's right hand glowed as the handle of a long, etched
Gaelic sword was held within her gentle fingers. It was just the
right length for her, a sword for a Maiden of War. I was
dumbfounded. But I still had more to experience, more to be stunned
by...

Celeste slowly began to emit a soft glow as
her hair began to braid on its own, bands of silver appearing in
between the magically manipulated strands. Her gown took on more of
a glimmering white appearance, the dress morphing into a low-belted
dress that was typical of maiden dress back in an era long
forgotten. She now had room to move as she and Cora shifted to
stand closer to each other.

Reaching out with my senses, I immediately
knew that we were in danger. Shadow demons...at least twenty were
now descending on our position, skirting the clearing and cackling
to themselves with their raspy breath. I felt my fangs burst from
my gums as well as my claws flick out of my fingers. If I knew my
own body, my eyes would be a moon-glow white and my senses were
immediately heightened.

"Pull in closer! We must protect Mother!"
Cora's voice chimed within our minds as a command that was not to
be ignored—her voice held weight and power. "Bring everyone..." She
didn't get a chance to continue before Celeste's voice took
over.

"No!" Celeste waved her sword in the
direction of the swarming mass of shadow demon flesh, which was
basically all around us. "I will not run and I will not be
protected like a child." She backed into Cora so that they stood
even closer than before. She held her hand over her shoulder and
grasped Cora by the shoulder as well. Closing her eyes, she opened
her mouth slightly and breathed in. Then, releasing her hold on
Cora, she turned to face the demons, squaring herself into a
defensive stance just like Cora's. "Mirror image." Celeste breathed
and Cora nodded even though she knew that Celeste would not be able
to see the movement.

"Where should we stand?" Von's voice carried
over the growling and drooling sounds coming from the forest.

"Out of our way." Cora nodded in Von's
general direction. "You don't want to be around for this. In fact,
maybe you should leave."

"The hell we're going to leave!" Jack's
voice boomed through the clearing as the movement towards the
circle began.

"Jack, we don't have time to play this game.
Do as we ask you." She pleaded with him gently although I wasn't
sure why she decided that this moment was the best time to be
gentle with him.

I squared my shoulders and shared my view as
well. "We aren't going anywhere."

Cora nodded and her hand reached over to me,
offering me a broadsword. "You were always good with the sword."
She smiled up at me as I nodded and took my position at the elbows
of Cora and Celeste.

There was a swift movement in the outer
reaches of our clearing and then we were being descended upon by
the largest number of shadow demons that I had ever seen in one
place during my long life. Their numbers had actually more than
doubled, but we all held our ground.

All of my gut instincts told me that Celeste
was the sole target for this attack, and she was the only one that
they would concentrate on. Celeste would be the goal, and possibly
anyone else that might be standing between them and their ultimate
prize. My back went stiff and my shoulders squared as I began to
move toward the mass of shadow demons—their dark shapes inching
closer with every breath.

"Stop!" A new voice sounded on the other
side of Celeste and Cora. I turned my head around to see who it
was. Standing with his back to Celeste and Cora, hands held high
above him, was the albino that had appeared on the wing of the
plane. "Stay within the circle!" His voice rang out over the growls
and grunts from the shadow demons.

A subtle glow began to form around the
circle, creating a barrier between us and the shadow demons. Leo's
growl rose over the din of the shadow demons as he leaned in
towards our little center circle. "What are
you
doing here,
Enrique?!" His voice was menacing and full of anger.

"I'm here to help." The albino turned
towards Celeste and Cora as he tilted his chin uncomfortably
towards Leo. "Sophia sent me." His eyes were covered by the darkest
sunglasses I had ever seen. My mind wondered how he saw anything
behind those pitch black lenses.

"And why would we accept
her
help?"
Leo snarked. "She tried to..."

"Forget what she wanted." His words were
heavy and abrupt. "She sent me to ensure that the shadow demons did
not harm Celeste." He eyed Celeste up and down as if he were just
noticing that she was...different. "But I now see that you didn't
really need my help." His voice trailed off as he took one step
away from the center of the circle.

Celeste turned towards the albino and
nodded. "This is true. I did not require your help." She allowed
her eyes to sweep the outskirts of the circle and came back to nod
at the albino. "But I will accept it in the spirit it was offered."
Turning to Cora, she laid a hand on her as tension seemed to roll
away from Cora's shoulders. "We must carry on before our moment of
opportunity has passed." Her voice and phrasing didn't sound like
Celeste in any way. She was so radically different, and that left
me shuddering in my frozen shoes.

Cora turned to look at Celeste with deep
sorrowful eyes. "Yes." She nodded sullenly and then took a step
away from Celeste. "It is time."

There are moments when time seems to freeze
and the entire world shines like a diamond in a sea of confusion
and beauty. That's what this moment felt like—frozen in time with
no sense or reason, but it was frighteningly beautiful.

We had each taken our places around the
circle again but stood closer inside to allow for the others that
were now trapped inside with the five from the ritual. We held our
hands out like we were bearing gifts to Celeste and that's when the
world turned upside-down.

Celeste held her hands out to her sides and
began to glow with a light that was at first subtle, but then grew
to be so bright that it was blinding.

I crammed my eyelids shut but held my stance
to ensure that I could continue to participate. The light was so
incredibly bright, that even with my eyelids closed, my eyes ached
from the radiance and heat. The heat began to flow around me and I
could feel the movement of wind. After a few breaths, the wind
began to tear at me so swiftly that I was afraid that I was going
to lose my footing. Eventually the wind began to lift my feet up
off the ground, which caused my eyes to pop open in response. I
felt weightless and slightly frightened—a sense of helplessness
burst through me for one brief moment. A vampire should never feel
helpless.

We were all hovering several feet above the
ground. My eyes caught the figures of our party that were still
standing firmly along the outsides of our circle, eyes wide open as
the shadow demons screamed and clawed at the barrier that separated
them from their prize.

My eyes turned to Celeste and I watched as
she smiled eerily, mouthing words that she was possibly only saying
to herself. She began to spin in a lazy circle, curling into
herself and then coming out as if she were finding enjoyment in the
sense of weightlessness.

My body twitched and curved with the wind
and finally, with a sudden sense of release, we all fell like hard
lumps of clay against the cold ground. Scrambling to my feet, I ran
to Celeste's body, which was now lying on its side with her back to
me. Throwing my arms around her, I could feel her body shudder
under my touch.

"Celeste," I whispered as I pulled her into
my arms, "Celeste, are you okay? Did the ritual work?" My voice
sounded panicked in my own ears.

"It worked." Jack's voice shook from the
outskirts of our group. He sounded like he had tears in his voice.
My head jerked in his direction and I saw he was standing alone,
almost hugging the line of salt that was our protection. "She's
gone." He turned his back and faced the tree line to see that the
shadow demons were still there to attack us at the first sign of
weakness. "She's gone," he said again as his shoulders heaved in
pain.

Celeste pushed up from her spot and took my
hand to allow her to stand. She didn't brush herself off before she
turned to eye the perimeter. Earth was clinging eagerly to her
gown, dusting it in a rich brown, but not taking any of the beauty
away from her appearance. I had my arm around her, which gave me
comfort. I hoped that she felt the same way. My eyes followed hers
as we scanned the circle, noticing finally that Cora was gone.