Chương 40: 38. Ophelia's choice

We made our way towards the barn, where a small group of people was gathered. It included the chief and the oracle, along with a few warriors and priests. I stood to the side with Astrid as we waited. We spent another couple of minutes talking about symbolism related to gods as I taught her some of the techniques used by exorcists. However, it was more about filling in gaps in her knowledge than actual teaching. She had a solid basis, as apparently the oracle herself had overseen her education.

Finally, the chief's wife arrived. She carried two sets of clothes. One was a white gown without any markings or decorations. The second set was in red and bronze tones. They were also styled like a gown, but with a strangely wide opening for the head, ending where the collarbones meet the shoulders. Noticing Astrid and me, she gave us a nod and stood behind the chief. Once his wife joined the group, he pointed to two warriors and approached the barn, then spoke in a loud, commanding voice.

"Outsider! The time has come. You shall be prepared for the ritual alongside the chosen sacrifice. Come out to honor the will of the Gods." A small commotion could be heard from the barn as people started talking and scrambling inside. Finally, the chief gave a small nod to one of the warriors, and they approached the doors and opened them wide. Inside, all of the outsiders could be seen standing in a group with Ophelia at the front, a bit closer to the door.

They all had their eyes glued to her back as she swallowed hard and approached the door, her movements jittery and uncertain. She was pale and tired, but her eyes were focused. She stopped a bit from the chief and looked at the towering man.

"So, who shall it be?" he asked, his warriors ready to get her chosen person. The people behind her were much more relaxed than I thought they would be. The overarching emotion was sadness rather than stress, so it looks like they chose someone, or Ophelia, in the end, decided to sacrifice herself.

"I—" she started, but her voice broke. She took a deep breath and, briefly looking around, met my eyes. Her gaze was strange. There was hesitation, but not the hesitation of someone on a cliff's edge, but rather someone who's pointing a gun at an enemy without the guts to pull the trigger.

"Oh? Interesting," I murmured. And without thinking much, I nodded at her in confirmation. Whatever she was thinking about, it was a good idea if it meant someone else would be on the chopping block. She tightened her jaw muscles and prepared to speak as the older woman who was with them stepped from the group. Everyone looked at her with sadness in their eyes as she approached Ophelia.

"It's okay, don't worry," she said softly, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. She stood next to the girl and looked around at the people with a grim determination in her eyes. She then took a deep breath and started to speak.

"I will be—" she started, but Ophelia's loud proclamation stopped her.

"The sacrifice will be Tom," she said, pointing at a guy standing in the group. I smiled. She took my advice. She will make an excellent mage. The group of people in front of the barn didn't seem moved by the words, as the warriors lazily made their way toward the guy, but the group inside was shocked. The older woman looked at Ophelia with her mouth hanging open. She then grabbed her by the shoulders and started begging her to reconsider, saying she had made her choice. The guy, on the other hand, was screaming.

Each of his shouts was different. Pleading, threatening, begging for his life. The other people added to the cacophony. But it all fell on deaf ears. Ophelia stood there, her jaw clenched, fists tightened, but her head held high, her gaze fixed ahead. I could see she wanted to lower her head and look at the ground, but whatever she decided on, she was sticking with it even as the tears threatened to spill from her eyes.

Finally, after some struggle with the people behind Ophelia, the two warriors dragged the shouting man from the group.

"Fuck you! Let me go!" screamed the guy. But it just earned him a fist to the solar plexus.

"Ophelia," came the old and wise voice of the oracle.

"Child of the Gods. Although I can't give you a blessing in the name of any deity I know of, I still wish for you to be like an ancient tree. Tall as the mountains, unbreakable even in the strongest of storms," she said as she dipped two fingers in a small bottle with red liquid and used them to draw a line between Ophelia's eyes.

"Your foundation, as deep as the roots of the oldest of trees. May the silent song of the forests guide you forward." She finished and passed her the white gown, along with a necklace featuring a clearly hastily made wooden symbol. The same that was cut into her chest. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Follow me." Commanded the oracle. She turned, and she and the priests started to walk away. One of them approached Tom with the red-and-bronze robes, but it was obvious he would not be putting them on willingly, so they just dragged him behind them.

"Well, I also have to go," said Astrid once the show was over.

"Then I'll see you at the ceremony," I said and nodded at her. She waved to me and went after the oracle. After that, the procession left towards one of the houses, deeper in the village. I was escorted back to my hut and told not to leave it after midday as the whole village would be deep in prayer. I nodded at the guard and informed him I would not be leaving the hut before the ceremony. I entered and looked toward the cat, who was still deep asleep on a pillow.

He looked like a normal house cat, almost prompting me to wake him up by scratching him, though I'd probably lose that hand in the process. Tempting, though. But I had better ways of waking him up. I opened the doors back again and whispered loudly enough for it to be heard inside, "So, Astrid, you sure you can get me the artifact if I kill the chief's son?"

The effect was instantaneous, as the cat jumped to his paws, his face not even going through confusion, just straight to fury, as he shouted, "What the fuck are you doing?! Are you out of—" He paused, noticing that there was no one at the doors but me, then stared at me flatly.

"God of the sands, you are annoying. It's the last time I get the same room as you."

"It's not like we had many options for lodging." I chuckled and closed the doors back up.

"Oh, and if you want anything from the village, now's the time. We're not allowed to leave the hut after noon. They will be deep in prayer." The cat nodded and went for some breakfast as I lay on my bed, thinking about the many strange things that had recently happened. Like that, a couple of hours passed with some small conversations between us and mostly silence. Throughout the day, we could hear some songs performed by the entire village coming from the direction of the church.

Sometimes they were accompanied by horns, drums, and other more unusual instruments whose names I didn't know. Finally, as the night approached, we too began on our preparations. We needed to show respect to our hosts in such a ceremony, so we put on our best clothes and decorations. I was wearing a decorated mage's robe.

It was made from black and purple cloth with gold details, and my family's crest etched on the shoulder, depicting an eye with a pentagram in its pupil, a tear falling from it, and an abyssal rune etched into the drop. The robe had wide sleeves, typical for wizards when not dressed for combat. I also put on two rings and a necklace with a mana crystal. It was typical ceremonial wizard's apparel.

The cat had three rings on its tail, a gold net-like headwear with a sizable diamond on its forehead, and three earrings in each ear. We waited in the hut for someone to get us for the ceremony. The silence was broken by the cat.

"So what did you ponder so much today? You barely spoke the whole day." He was right. I had an important decision to make.

"Is there not enough to ponder?" I chuckled.

"What do you think about Ophelia?"

"Who?" The cat tilted his head.

"The foreign god's chosen one."

"Ahhhh, her. Nothing much, she seems quite talented, but I'm not sure she has it in her to serve a god. Even if she goes through with the sacrifice, you know what your father used to say about deities."" Every sacred being's hunger is a blight upon creation. Our Gods just don't hide it behind a veil of reason," I cited the man.

"Serving a god is not easy, but she has potential."

"Don't care," the cat shrugged.

"Solve your mystery, and we can be out of here. There's a lot of work, and the vacation can't last forever. And the pillow is bad for my back." I rolled my eyes at the spoiled creature.

"Speaking of work, did you get contracts for the material for the mansion?"

"Yes, we will almost clear out that storage of yours, but everything is in place. All that's left is commissioning the workers," the cat said proudly.

"About the workers—" I was about to make his mood worse, but we were interrupted by a knock on the door. Moments later, the door opened, and a priest of Taipo in ceremonial green robes was standing in the doorway.

"The ceremony is about to begin. I will lead you to your seats," he said in a calm voice.

"Also, the fire giant's blood fell upon the altar as the god rejoiced. I'm to pass on thanks to you for the gift. Our priests will surely receive greater powers." I smiled and nodded. I entirely forgot about the guy in the turmoil. We both followed the man as he led us through the village towards the place where the feast had previously taken place. The village was a strange, haunting sight. First of all, it was completely silent. Nothing made a sound, as if everyone in it had completely evaporated.

But there was something else. It was like an aura, similar to the one produced by people, but it was ever-present. The air smelled of wet moss, pine, and smoke. The aura felt like that of a gloomy forest. It was thick, a bit overbearing, making it harder to breathe. But there was something more to it, a tiny, barely perceptible element of vastness. The buildings themselves were clean, and each was adorned with an elk skull hanging over its doorway. All doors were opened with moss decorating the doorstep.

The priest noticed me looking at the village and spoke.

"It's to invite Stjarnmosa and Taipo to our homes. Tonight, a part of the god himself will descend, so the whole village invites him in." I nodded, interested in the whole ceremony. I then felt pressure on my shoulders as the cat jumped onto me.

"Should we go back and decorate our own hut?" he whispered into my ear, the atmosphere getting to him.

"No. If they didn't tell us to, then I doubt we should. Astrid would have warned me. I doubt inviting the god to a non-believer's house is a good idea," I answered, calming him a bit. Then the thick silence was cut by a singular beat of a drum. Next, a low hum of some sort of ancient-sounding horn vibrated the air, soon joined by throat singing and a few more beats of the drum. As we arrived at the place, a woman's singing joined the music, a voice I recognized as Astrid's.

We finally emerged from behind a building, and I witnessed the place of the ritual. And it was quite a sight to behold.