Hearken (Daughters of the Sea Series) (44 page)

             
The cloaked figure to my left set down an immense sparkling stone that had to measure at least three feet high and two feet wide. As the moonlight shone down upon it, the stone pulsed to life; violet light running along its exterior and a soft glow coming from within. Luna’s crystal.

             
The two figures remained on either side of the circle; standing just outside my drawn lines. My head swiveled back and forth while I inspected each stone. I felt the vibrations they caused in the sand as the power of each filled the air and penetrated the ground, but never mixed together. Sitting equal distances from both, I felt the two opposite energy forces fighting for space; pushing on the other but never making any ground, since they were so equally matched. A constant dance of equals, always pushing - always trying to force their will on the other - but never coming together as one. It reminded me of something, but
what
exactly continued to elude me.

             
Maddening frustration sent my pulse into overdrive and I fought to push my own essence outward to drown out the two stones, but once again the splitting pain in my forehead stopped me. That’s when I noticed the line of cloaked figures slowly descending upon the circle. They walked in two single file lines, side by side, and flanked outward into their appropriate sides of the circle. All totaled, there appeared to be twelve of them.

             
They stood absolutely still, facing inward. I felt their judgmental, silver eyes on me and I tried not to make eye contact. After several minutes of awkward silence, four more figures in red cloaks came into view. When I noticed what they carried in their arms, a memory scratched at the back of my mind. It was a rectangular silver tray that glinted in the moonlight, with a dark form resting on top. They entered the circle soundlessly and strode straight towards me. 

             
I watched as they lowered the tray lengthwise beside of me and melted into the circle of identical figures surrounding me. I twisted my head ever so slightly to see what looked to be a person wrapped in black fabric from head to toe next to me. The urge to fight my way out of the circle was so overwhelming it burned deep in my soul, but as soon as I was able to muster up enough energy to move, the sharp pain shot through my skull and I was paralyzed once more.

             
Instead I waited motionless on my knees, next to the still form on the tray, and followed the lines of the pentagram over and over with my eyes. The long shadows seemed to have a more powerful presence than the people they belonged to. They haunted me; reaching out to strangle me with their long arms and envelope me in their empty chasms of darkness.

             
My eyes flitted upward with dread and examined Selene and Menoetius as they walked to the circle, arm in arm, and I struggled to find my center in order to somehow break the paralysis that had taken over my body. Menoetius stopped to give Selene a soft kiss before she entered the circle, and I felt my anger bubble up once more. She seemed to float towards me before kneeling in front of me in the sand. 

             
Out of nowhere, a frigid wave of energy crashed over me and sent spikes of ice through my heart. I pushed at it with my essence, my energy and my thoughts with whatever I could, but it just wasn’t enough. I was too depleted; too fragile. My frantic thoughts were instantly replaced with a smooth sense of calm as it wrapped around my mind and suffocated my soul. A powerful surge of power blossomed from my essence and shot outward in a wide arc that appeared as a bright halo of violet above the entire circle. 

             
Selene smiled at me and I felt my heart soar with love. Then I realized with jubilation that I could move again! I clasped my hands together with anticipation, and wanted to embrace her in a hug. She was radiant and strong; encompassing all of the things I aspired to be. When she glanced up at the moon, I obediently followed suit. After a moment of reflection, I looked back down at her patiently. She met my gaze and her eyes flashed.

             
“The moonstone represents the
dark
energy of the moon, while the crystal represents the
light
energy of the moon. Your essence will fuel the infusion of the two while I reap the magnificent benefits; making me the only moon Goddess this world will ever need. You will obey my every command. You will offer your essence up to the moon. Once the pieces are set, you will seal the shift with a sacrifice.”

             
I glanced at the body lying beside me and then back at her with question marks in my eyes, but waited patiently. I felt the energy beginning to build around us, so I took a deep breath and smiled at Selene as she continued.

             
“She will sacrifice her life.” She leaned towards me and I watched her mouth turn up in a sneer as she laughed in my face. “And in killing her, you will be sacrificing your soul…to me. You will be mine to control. Forever.”

             
Forever. Hers? That didn’t sound so bad. With the moon filling my essence and a mentor to teach me, what else could I possibly need? She closed her eyes, and I noticed how she seemed to personify the light drifting down from the moon above. She began to chant quietly.

             
“The blood moon will rise. The blood moon will rise. The blood moon will rise.”

              It was only when I found my own mouth chanting with her that I realized she was speaking Greek. And more amazingly – I understood every word. As even more endless vitality surged through me, I chanted louder and felt the beat echo in my bones. While I continued chanting, Selene stood without opening her eyes and began to sing the song I’d heard in my mind countless times. I swayed to the beautiful melody in a hazy euphoria filled with sound and light.

             
Then she began to dance. She lifted her arms to the sky and gently careened around the circle, leaving silver energy flowing in her wake. The dress she wore only enhanced the beauty of the moment; swirling and shifting with her every movement.

             
As her body danced in rhythm to the sweet melody soaring out of her lips, I felt my essence lift and float along a cloud of light as my mind entered a beatific trance. Suddenly, the cloaked figures dotting the outer circle clasped hands and began to walk in a counterclockwise motion. Selene circled me faster and faster in a clockwise motion; creating an illusion that made me dizzy with energy. It felt like I was spinning so fast I might shatter. Selene chanted once more, and I closed my eyes and listened to the whisper of her voice caressing not only my ears, but my soul.

             
The vibrations in the sand abruptly settled back down and I opened my eyes. The figures around the circle had stopped spinning, and now Selene stood before me with her arms raised to the moon above. My jaw dropped at the mystifying and magnificent Goddess standing before me. The storm of energy continued to undulate around her, even though she’d stopped moving. Her eyes shone a brilliant silver and her skin shimmered. She addressed the cloaked figures of the circle with a regality I found myself envying.

             
“The dark side of the moon is at its strongest when the moon begins to bleed,” she proclaimed in a booming voice strengthened by authority. “
I
am at my strongest when the moon begins to bleed. But tonight! Tonight dark will meet light! They will converge in an eternal cadence that will make me more powerful than Zeus himself! The moon will answer to
my
call! The light will bend at
my
command! Stand with me now! Raise your arms and deliver unto me the bleeding moon!”

             
I watched with wide eyes as the cloaked figures raised their arms to the moon as well and leaned their heads back. The hoods fell back, revealing dark hair, pale faces and silver eyes. The violet energy floating above the circle began to spin, sucking up the beautiful swirls of energy from Selene’s dance. As it spun with more and more ferocity, the moonstone to my right and the crystal to my left both began to shake violently.

             
They pulsed in unison, beating to a drum I couldn’t hear or sense. As they continued shaking, the ground also began to rumble and shift. A thunderous roar assaulted my ears, and I felt as if my entire being was being pulled tight; stretched to capacity. I glanced upward at the moon and tumbled backwards onto my back in the sand. The wrapped body remained perfectly still at my side.

             
My eyes searched the halo of energy swirling above our heads and then landed on the brilliant moon centered perfectly within. My body shook with the ground as the roar in my ears became impossibly louder. And then…everything stopped.

             
The circle of essence and energy – light and dark – fell silently to the ground. It seemed to fall in slow motion; a mute free-fall of power and destiny. As it landed on the sand around Selene, myself and the wrapped body, a brilliant flash of light lit up the night and the moonstone and crystal both exploded into a million tiny shards of their formal selves. Something I could only explain as a sonic boom echoed across the ocean, and the pieces of crystal and moonstone showered down on us in a beautiful waterfall of glittering light.

             
I looked up at the moon once more and gasped. Its golden hue and shining light had been bathed in a deep crimson, and the reds and oranges melted together perfectly to create the color of blood. It gazed back at me with the promise of rapture and deliverance, and I allowed it to cocoon me within its burning light.

             
It cascaded down into my eyes; burning with white hot power and heat that coiled down my spine and into my soul. I lay in agony as my eyes sizzled in pain and my body pulsed with a heat I didn’t know if I could withstand. As I writhed in pain, drenched in agony, I felt the world silence around me and I prayed for a reprieve. And finally it came.

             
A refreshing wave of arctic energy crashed over me; soothing the pain in my eyes and putting out the inferno raging in my bones. I slowly opened my eyes to see Selene standing over me with a smile. I climbed to my knees and reveled in the approval I saw beaming back at me. When I looked down beside me, I saw that the body had been unwrapped. Fallon lay perfectly still under the warm light of the blood moon, but still glowed with her own violet energy. Her pale hair was splayed out beneath her, with her still-pale face giving away no secrets.

             
I peered up at Selene for direction, and my pulse quickened with anticipation when she pulled out a dagger and handed it to me. Its magnificent handle was encrusted with moonstones and deep red stones that glimmered at my touch. I grasped it in my hands; the sharp blade pointed downward. I glanced back up at Selene and waited until she nodded her head in approval.

             
“Welcome Granddaughter, to your destiny.”

Chapter 47

Olivia

             
I secured Amphitrite’s dagger around my waist with some kind of old fashioned belt she’d said went with it. It resembled something from the Wild Wild West, and I felt like I was preparing for a shootout in Dodge City at sundown. I retrieved and replaced the dagger over and over like it was a pistol and smiled to myself. The excitement and gratification of actually getting to
do
something was exhilarating. I was incredibly worried about Stasia and wanted nothing more than to find her…and I didn’t care how many people I had to stab to get to her. That was what I was born to do. 

             
What I was
not
born to do was wear skirts every day. Apparently women on Atlantis didn’t believe in shorts, because of all the clothes in my closet, there was nothing remotely resembling a pair of them. I’d found a shorter skirt, but was still having trouble getting the belt to stay fastened around my waist. With no belt loops, it twisted with my every movement. 

             
I glanced up at Finn’s tree house as he and Natasha disappeared inside. We would leave any minute now. Sebastian had won the argument to come with us. It was decided that Finn, Amphitrite, me and Sebastian would be going with Natasha to find Stasia and Fallon.

             
The trace on my palm was still pale and calm, which I found to be comforting; however I knew that could change at any moment. The embarrassment I felt at being made to look like a lovesick fool simmered within me, but I repressed it so I could revisit it later.
Later
when I had time to tear apart a punching bag or demolish a small house, whichever I found first. But right now, I had to concentrate on Stasia. Unfortunately for me, Sebastian decided he couldn’t wait until later.

              “Aren’t you mad?” his deep voice sounded behind me. I swiveled around and fought to keep my face void of the emotions coursing through me.

             
“Mad?” I questioned him casually. I focused again on fastening the holster around my waist instead of looking at him. “Why would I be mad?”

             
“Because I didn’t-” he started. I kept talking like I hadn’t heard him.