I soon realised the reason behind the sudden silence. The ceremony had begun. I could make out a small procession approaching the centre of the shrine, from the aisles to each side. They were all clad in flowing white robes. As they drew near the silence was broken by singing, singing that almost sounded like chanting. As soon as the singing started everyone in the building stood and I followed suit by instinct.

It took me a while to realise that the singing was coming from the procession that approached. As they drew closer, I could make out silver crowns on each of the members heads, they had to be the kings and queens of each of the races, as every type was represented there. As the procession reached the centre of the shrine the members all drew up behind one of the chairs in the circle, once they were all aligned the singing stopped. As it did everyone watching on sat back down again.

Once the noise from the audience returning to their seats had died down, the singing started up once again. This time a different song. I couldn’t make out the words, it was in a language I didn’t understand, but it sounded almost mournful. Under the soft light at the centre of the shrine the members looked almost ephemeral in their white robes as they each took their seats in turn.

Once all the members had taken their seats, four figures then approached the centre. Unlike the first procession, these were all wearing hooded black robes that covered their faces. They passed into the circle, each of them taking a standing position at one of the four corners of the large stone altar.

The far door at the end of the chamber directly in front of us opened and two more white robed figures stepped inside. The first wore a strange hat and walked with a white staff. From the looks of it they were a priest of some kind. Behind them walked a girl, as she drew closer, I could make out that she was one of the wolfkin. She had to be the new summoner that this ritual was being held for. The priest led the girl all the way up the aisle to the altar.

Once the pair reached the altar, the priest stopped in front of it and turning towards the wolfkin girl, held out his hand for her. The girl took his hand and with his help stepped up onto the altar. Bathed in the soft light she took to the middle of the stone and held her hands up in the air. As she did so the chanted singing grew louder. Members of the audience had begun to join in with the song, they all seemed to know the words to this strange song, and it echoed throughout the shrine.

After a few moments, the girl’s hands dropped to her side. She then faced each member of the circle in turn. As she faced them, she held out her hands, as if she was requesting something from them. The member she was facing in the chair then stood up, made a gesture of acceptance, before returning to their seat. This was repeated to each of them in turn until she reached the final member. Just like the others they made the gesture of acceptance, but once they had done so they walked to the priest and placed something in their hands. Then they returned to their seat.

The girl, still facing the final member dropped to her knees and placed her hands out in front of her, stretching to the corners of the altar as much as she could. As she did so the priest nodded to the black robed figures at the two corners, and they proceeded to grab the girl by her wrists. They stayed there, as if she were being restrained. Once she was held, the girl slowly laid on her chest and stretched out her legs. The priest nodded again, and the two other robed figures grabbed her by the legs. The girl was now laid out in a cross position over the altar. I was starting to get an uncomfortable feeling about what was about to happen next.

The priest seeing that all was in place held up the item that he had been given for all the onlookers in the shrine to see. It appeared to be jewel of some kind, it shone brightly under the light. The priest then proceeded to pull a large and very sharp looking blade out from under his robe and slowly begun to approach the wolfkin girl that was held down on the alter. I reflexively twitched a little, having more than a little bad feeling about where this was going.

The priest climbed up onto the altar alongside the girl. He then knelt next to her, while holding the blade over her back as if he were about to make a cut. My mind raced a little as I tried to understand what I was seeing. Thoughts like, “this just had to be part of the ceremony” and “there’s no way that he is actually going to cut her” ran through my mind. Then it happened, the priest pressed the blade into the girl’s back and sliced a deep incision. Blood ran down her sides as her screams rang out through the shrine, even as the chant singing continued.

“What the fu…” I gasped, until Lillia pressed her hand other my mouth.

She just shook her head at me, and I stopped. Luckily, it seemed to have drawn no attention, everyone’s focus was on the altar. The screams and singing had drowned out my voice. I was just so shocked from what I was seeing that I didn’t consider for a moment, the danger I could be putting myself in by disrupting the ceremony. Lillia stared at me until she saw that I had calmed down. The look on her face told me that what was going on was normal for the ritual. She had been through this herself.

The girl’s screams had died down now the priest had finished his cut. He stood up and once again held the shiny stone up in the air for all to see, before kneeling back down next to the girl. He then placed the stone inside the cut he had made. The girl screamed loudly again, trying to flail madly, but still being held down tightly by the four robed figures at each corner of the altar. All the while the singing continued. As the girl’s struggling ceased the priest leant over her back, it looked as he had begun healing the cut that he had made himself.

It looked as if the girl had lost consciousness at some point while the priest was healing her, as she now lay completely still. I couldn’t see clearly, but it looked as if the wound on her back had now completely healed. The priest satisfied climbed down off the altar, leaving the wolfkin girl there where she lay. He stepped forward towards the seated man that had given him the stone that he later implanted in the girl. Once stood in front of him he knelt down. The man got up and touched the priest on the shoulder and the song changed once again.

The man who appeared to be head of the procession then stepped out of the circle and slowly headed back down the aisle he had approached from. One by one the rest of the seated members got up and followed him out from the circle. It was only as they left, I guessed who the man at the head of the procession was. The appearance of an elf, wearing a crown, seemingly in charge of the ceremony, probably the high king of the alliance. In other words, he was most likely Lillia’s father.

As the procession left the singing died down, leaving an eery silence hanging over the shrine. Just the priest, the four robed men and the wolfkin girl were left at the centre of the shrine. The robed men had now released the girl and were just standing to attention at each corner of the altar. The girl was still laid there motionless. I was starting to wonder what was left to happen, now that the royalty had left the shrine. I leant over to Lillia and quietly whispered in her ear.

“Is it over?”

“Not yet… There’s more to come, just watch.” She said quietly.

“Okay.”

“Oh, and whatever happens, don’t make a scene. There’s nothing you can do here, please just observe.”

“What’s going to happen?”

“I’m not sure.”

Lillia’s words worried me somewhat. She hadn’t warned me before the ritual that the girl was going to be cut open, but now she felt it was necessary. I wondered what could happen next that she felt the need to tell me not to react or do anything.