I love magic and expanding magic systems, it is a joy.
I hate how weak the lore was, it had so much potential
One week later, the Day of the Full Moon Ritual
Slitting his palm, Gabe poured his offering into a cup he stole for his purpose. He was used to pain, it was a strength at this point. Grinding up sage and pine and bay into a past mixed with salt and blood, he dipping his fingers into the mixtures and painted symbols onto his naked chest, symbols he expertly learned for this purpose. The spell was simple, a simple assessment for connection to an element. All beings had an element they were tied to, some more than most, but all had at least one. He was unsure of his, knowing it would make magic easier to master.
Once he finished, he kneeled in a circle of chalk runes and a pentagram, candles at each point. With his mind cleared, he uttered summoned each element in turn and lit their candle.
"Air, whispering winds from afar, blow knowledge into my mind's waiting ear.
Fire, bright and burning clear, sear ignorance and lead me to truth.
Water, wash aside misunderstanding so I can see all that is true.
Earth, Nourish creativty and inspire me hidden depths.
Spirit, with clarity and inspiration, help me find my truth!"
With each candle lit and element summoned, he focused on the spell.
"With offerings giving, I call to thee
Spirits of truth and clarity
Find it now, give me the truth
Sweet and calm as vermuth
Let me know my element, let it's presence be known
So I can call it's power my very own!
In an instant, he bent over, searing magic shot through him, his runic marks all burning with frightening intensity. He watched in amazement as they evaporated off of him, spiraling through the air before all of the candles were dispelled... all the candles but one...
The purple candle...
Spirit.
He reached for it, and the moment he touched it, a surge of power washed through him. Light and airy, cold and sweet, the essence that bound the mortal soul... he almost cried.
"Magic is real, I might survive this..." he bent over now, tears crossing his face." I thought, hoped it was real, to have a chance at life, any peace and power but now... now I know." he wiped tears away. "Now,...is it an affinity, a goddess given gift or just a leaning?" he frowned, and focused... and the truth washed through him... and he sighed, then smiled. "I do not want a gift, I want to earn my power, to be untied to anyone that doesn't have my best interests in mind. I am okay being free of an affinity. Spirit, thank you for coming, I honor you for your lack of bias. Thank you."
Bowing to the elements, he looked down at his hand, the cut hand, and saw that it was almost entirely healed. All there was, was a thin white line that ached ever so slightly. He smiled in gratitude.
Standing, he quickly cleaned up his stuff.
"Now I have my first Full Moon Ritual, so wish me luck."
And off he went.
"""
From the realm of mist and shadow, she watched the boy with a smile, pleased with his deeds. 'A true lover of magic... interesting... but will it continue if he learns the price for his desire?'
Curious she continued to watch him, wondering and hoping that he would be ready when the time came...
::
Sweet, smoky incense engulfed Gabe as he entered the dark arched foyer of Nyx's Temple. He walked deeper into the foyer and he heard running water. He passed a beautiful fountain, and then the entryway curved gently to the left. Within a thick, arched stone doorway stood a vampyre he happily recognized. She was dressed entirely in black-a long skirt and a silky, bell-sleeved blouse. The only decoration she had on was the silver embroidered goddess figure over her breast.
"Merry Meet, Anastasia."
Anastasia smiled and dipped her finger in a rock bowl she was holding. Then she traced a five-pointed star on his forehead, and he felt a rush of thin magic wash through him. "Merry Meet, Gabe. Go inside, as a lover of magic I am sure you will love what is to come. We will speak later, I am sorry I have been so busy lately."
"Blessed be." He said.
"Blessed be," She responded.
He hurried into the room. There were candles everywhere. Huge white ones suspended from the ceiling in iron chandeliers. Big candle trees held more of them and were lined along the walls. In the temple, sconces didn't burn oil tamely in lanterns. The only furniture in the big room was an antique wooden table situated in the center that was kinda like the one in the dining hall-only this one wasn't just loaded with food and wine and such. This one also held a marble statue of the Goddess, arms upraised and looking a lot like the embroidered design the vamps wore. There was a huge candelabrum on the table, its fat white candles burning brightly, as well as several thick sticks of smoking incense.
There was a huge circle of people-students as well as adult vamps- stretching around the edges of the room. He quickly found his spot
Four forms seemed to materialize from within the darkened corners of the room to become women who made their way to four spots just within the living circle, like the directions on a compass. Two more entered from the doorway through which he'd just come. The man started to speak.
She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies...
As he spoke he moved slowly toward the circle. As if his voice was music, the woman who had entered the room with him began to sway, and then to dance gracefully around the outside of the living circle.
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes...
The dancing woman had everyone's attention. It was the incomprobly beautiful Neferet. She was wearing a long silk dress that had tiny crystal beads sewn all over it, so that the candlelight caught each of her movements and made her shimmer like the star-filled night sky. Her movements seemed to call alive the words of the old poem.
Thus mellowed to that tender light,
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
Somehow both Neferet and the managed to end up in the center of the circle as he finished reciting the stanza. Then Neferet took a goblet from the table and lifted it, as if offering a drink to the circle.
"Welcome Nyx's children to the Goddess's celebration of the full moon!"
The adult vamps chorused, "Merry meet."
Neferet smiled and put the goblet back on the table and picked up a long white taper that was already lit and sitting in a single candlestick holder. Then she walked across the circle to face a vamp Gabe didn't know who was standing at what must be the head of the circle. The vamp saluted her, hand over breast, before turning around so that her back was to Neferet.
Then everyone turned to face east. Out of the corner of my eye He could see Neferet raise her arms over her head as her voice rang against the stone walls of the temple.
"From the east I summon air and ask that you carry to this circle the gift of knowledge that our ritual will be filled with learning."
The vamp who was standing in the east pulled a thick yellow candle from the folds of her dress, and Neferet lit it. She lifted it into the air, and then placed it, flickering, at her feet.
They turned and Neferet continued. "From the south I summon fire and ask that you light in this circle the gift of strength of will, so that our ritual will be binding and powerful."
They turned to the west. "From the west I summon water and ask that you wash this circle in compassion, that the light of the full moon can be used to bestow healing to our group as well as understanding."
Finally they turned to the North.
"From the north I summon earth and ask that you grow within this circle the gift of manifestation, that the wishes and prayers from tonight will come to fruition."
Suddenly I could feel the softness of a grassy meadow under my feet, and I smelled hay and heard birdsong. A green candle was lit and placed at "earth"'s feet.
The drop-dead gorgeous poet was standing across the fire from Neferet and Gabe could see that he was holding a big purple candle in his hands.
"And last, I summon spirit to complete our circle and ask that you fill us with connection, so that as your children we may prosper together."
And Gabe sighed as the now familiar essence of spirit fluttered in his soul, proof of magic he had never had before... and that was everything for him. Then Neferet began to move around within the circle, speaking to us, meeting our eyes, including them in her words.
"This is the time of the fullness of the moon. All things wax and wane, even Nyx's children, her vampyres. But on this night the powers of life, of magick, and of creation are at their brightest-as is our Goddess's moon. This is the time of building...of doing. This is a time when the veil between the mundane world and the strange and beautiful realms of the Goddess become thin indeed. On this night may one transcend the boundaries of the worlds with ease, and know the beauty and enchantment of Nyx."
Gabe shivered, the woman's magic, the power she had invoked, was pressing against him, washing against him, and he knew even more that magic was real.
Then the poet began to speak in his deep, powerful voice. "This is a time for weaving the ethereal into being, of spinning the strands of space and time to bring forth Creation. For life is a circle as well as a mystery. Our Goddess understands this, as does her consort, Erebus."
"Light...dark...day...night...death...life...all is tied together by spirit and the touch of the Goddess. If we keep the balance and look to the Goddess we can learn to weave a spell of moonlight and fashion with it a fabric of pure magical substance to keep with us all the days of our lives."
"Close your eyes, Children of Nyx," Neferet said "and send a secret desire to your Goddess. Tonight, when the veil between the worlds is thin-when magic is afoot within the mundane- perhaps Nyx will grant your petitions and dust you with the gossamer mist of dreams fulfilled. This is a time of traveling unseen in the full moonlight. A time to listen for music not fashioned by human or vampyre hands. It is a time for oneness with the winds that caress us" - Neferet bowed her head slightly to the east-"and the bolt of lightning that mimics the spark of first life." She tilted her head to the south. "It is a time to revel in the eternal sea and the warm rains that soothe us, as well as the verdant land that surrounds and keeps us." She acknowledged the west and north in turn.
Then the four women who personified the elements moved as one to the table. With Neferet and The Poet, each of them lifted a goblet.
"All hail, O Goddess of Night and the full moon!" Neferet said. "All hail Night, from whom our blessings come. On this night we give thanks to thee!"
Still holding the goblets, the four women scattered back to their places in the circle.
"In the mighty name of Nyx," Neferet said.
"And of Erebus," the poet added.
"We ask from within your sacred circle that you give us the knowledge to speak the language of the wilds, to fly with the freedom of the bird, to live the power and grace of the feline, and to find an ecstasy and joy in life that would stir the very heights of our being. Blessed be!"
Neferet drank from the goblet she held, and then she offered it to the poet, who drank from it and said "blessed be." Mirroring their actions, the four women moved quickly around the circle, allowing each person, fledgling and adult, to drink from a goblet.
Gabe happily drank, his body easily accepting the potent magic within the goblet, in the air, and in himself.
"Tonight I want each of us to spend at least a moment or two alone in the light of the full moon. Let its light refresh you and help you to remember how extraordinary you are...or you are becoming." She smiled at some of the fledglings. "Bask in your uniqueness. Revel in your strength. We stand separate from the world because of our gifts. Never forget that, because you may be sure the world never will. Now let us close the circle and embrace the night."
In reverse order, Neferet thanked each element and sent them away as each candle was blown out, and as she did so I felt a little twinge of sadness, like I was saying good-bye to friends. Then she completed the ritual by saying, "This rite is ended. Merry meet and merry part and merry meet again!"
The crowd echoed: "Merry meet and merry part and merry meet again!"
And just like Gabe knew, knew, that his life was beginning... and that no mattered what happened, he would survive the change, one way... or another. For magic was real, and life... was filled with possibiltiies.
Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.
This was a blast to write.
Love, your Ninja Overlord,
Mika.