The cheering was almost deafening. A symphony of voices that lifted the spirits and the pride of an entire race filled Kaie. Their chants were in her head, their rush of excitement spurring her heart and releasing the high of adrenaline into her veins. The flame light flickered and sputtered its sparks as it received its strange fuel, crackling and shooting specks of its glow skyward into the thick darkness of the canopy in a plume of smoke. The Blind Rock itself seemed to come to life, animated by the blood dribbling from the oozing, empty sockets of a man impossibly breathing. His chest rose faintly in the shallowest of breaths. It did not matter that he lived. His fate would be sealed upon that sacrificial stone. He would die because they commanded it, and still he dared to live despite the hopeless circumstances. What was the point?
The bronze animals continued their religious howls, the blackened Myrians dancing some choreography silently in the glorification of their enemy's death. Still the fire burned hungrily, its fiery tongues lashing out impatiently. Like everything else there it was insatiable. The night was not over. There was still a captive left: the Chaon. A single (and possibly the most important) phase of the ceremony was yet to be honored. One final act of savagery. With crimson blood freckled across her front, Kaie turned to Annalisa with all the seriousness of her clan's respected traditions. Another woman's voice rose with as much authority as the night's chosen orchestrator, and with her spoken command a small horde of Myrians split from the crowd. They whooped to one another and tore their weapons free, splitting thrice more as they separated from the spectating audience. Within a tick one band of three could be observed cutting the hanged man down from the tree (much to the Myrian Tiger's annoyance), and collapsing upon him as he hit the earth.
Kaie's work certainly was not yet finished. Once her amber eyes spotted the flitting kin attending their duties, her gaze fell back upon the carnage at her feet. The eyeless man stared upward with a horror-filled, deadened expression. He merely gaped up at her blindly as he laid there dying, slipping through the waters of shock into a sea of numbness. And that's when the young woman crouched at his side and drove her primitive weapon deep into his chest. There was no cry, just an airy gasp and a sputtering of blood that ran down his lips and filled his mouth. The knife was drawn down crooked to split open the flesh, which was peeled back for easier access. A few more flecks of blood spurred along the fatal stone before it was finished. Then she rose with the dying heart in her hand, held high for all to see. And they rejoiced in it once more, sending their prayers to their ancestors and their Goddesses.
Two warriors rose up to the rock, each with a still heart in their hands. A third had brought a thick piece of vine, and each cardiac muscle was mutilated to allow the rope to pass. When it was done, Kaie took the rope in one hand and her obsidian blade in the other. Her advance was solemn and serious as she neared the Chaon.
"Your turn," She said in a voice so very vacant and empty from the world. Her eyes shone with some sort of emotion that could not quite be read. Then she jutted the knife out at the Chaon and ripped it upward with a growl. The vines binding her hands fell in two tattered piece to the ground, the Necklace of Hearts placed over her head. And just like that the black stone blade was wiped clean of its blood against Kaie's middle and sheathed. "This is a message," She said blankly to the woman in Common, repeating her own words from before. "You will go now. As long as you wear that necklace, you will not be hunted in your escape."
A female Myrian hissed angrily at Kaie, gesturing to the newly released captive. Their words were rushed and angry, both carrying the authority of every respected and ambitious female found in Taloba. Then the woman relented with a snarl of deep dissatisfaction, her lip curled in distaste. Her black, murderous gaze fell wavering upon Anna.
"You go back to where you came and you do not come back. You will tell the others what terrible things happened here, and they too will follow you home. And no matter what you hear behind you in the dark jungle, do not turn back."
The bronze animals continued their religious howls, the blackened Myrians dancing some choreography silently in the glorification of their enemy's death. Still the fire burned hungrily, its fiery tongues lashing out impatiently. Like everything else there it was insatiable. The night was not over. There was still a captive left: the Chaon. A single (and possibly the most important) phase of the ceremony was yet to be honored. One final act of savagery. With crimson blood freckled across her front, Kaie turned to Annalisa with all the seriousness of her clan's respected traditions. Another woman's voice rose with as much authority as the night's chosen orchestrator, and with her spoken command a small horde of Myrians split from the crowd. They whooped to one another and tore their weapons free, splitting thrice more as they separated from the spectating audience. Within a tick one band of three could be observed cutting the hanged man down from the tree (much to the Myrian Tiger's annoyance), and collapsing upon him as he hit the earth.
Kaie's work certainly was not yet finished. Once her amber eyes spotted the flitting kin attending their duties, her gaze fell back upon the carnage at her feet. The eyeless man stared upward with a horror-filled, deadened expression. He merely gaped up at her blindly as he laid there dying, slipping through the waters of shock into a sea of numbness. And that's when the young woman crouched at his side and drove her primitive weapon deep into his chest. There was no cry, just an airy gasp and a sputtering of blood that ran down his lips and filled his mouth. The knife was drawn down crooked to split open the flesh, which was peeled back for easier access. A few more flecks of blood spurred along the fatal stone before it was finished. Then she rose with the dying heart in her hand, held high for all to see. And they rejoiced in it once more, sending their prayers to their ancestors and their Goddesses.
Two warriors rose up to the rock, each with a still heart in their hands. A third had brought a thick piece of vine, and each cardiac muscle was mutilated to allow the rope to pass. When it was done, Kaie took the rope in one hand and her obsidian blade in the other. Her advance was solemn and serious as she neared the Chaon.
"Your turn," She said in a voice so very vacant and empty from the world. Her eyes shone with some sort of emotion that could not quite be read. Then she jutted the knife out at the Chaon and ripped it upward with a growl. The vines binding her hands fell in two tattered piece to the ground, the Necklace of Hearts placed over her head. And just like that the black stone blade was wiped clean of its blood against Kaie's middle and sheathed. "This is a message," She said blankly to the woman in Common, repeating her own words from before. "You will go now. As long as you wear that necklace, you will not be hunted in your escape."
A female Myrian hissed angrily at Kaie, gesturing to the newly released captive. Their words were rushed and angry, both carrying the authority of every respected and ambitious female found in Taloba. Then the woman relented with a snarl of deep dissatisfaction, her lip curled in distaste. Her black, murderous gaze fell wavering upon Anna.
"You go back to where you came and you do not come back. You will tell the others what terrible things happened here, and they too will follow you home. And no matter what you hear behind you in the dark jungle, do not turn back."
