Chapter 750: The Morning of the Ritual
Chapter 749: The Morning of the Ritual
Orion held Eldric’s gaze, his expression thoughtful. "That is a good question," he said slowly. "One I don’t know the answer to. And one Noctis will likely tell me so I can tell you."
He paused, his attention shifting inward as Noctis stirred.
*That’s also a question I expected you to ask, Orion,* Noctis told him.
’And it’s one I didn’t care about, because I thought it was a way to take the burden off Sophia. If I could help her, then I planned to do so without questions,’ Orion replied.
Noctis was quiet for a while. Then he spoke, and Orion relayed it aloud.
"Shorty cannot do it herself," he said, his voice steady. "One, because Noctis is the one with the knowledge and the experience. Shorty may have experience with black magic being used on her — but honestly, that does not translate to experience. It is more like familiarity."
He paused, letting the words settle.
"She has something like a detection for how the black magic feels. Because it has been used on her numerous times — that is the exact reason why she must not do the ritual. Because like attracts like."
Ronan frowned, leaning forward. "What does that even mean?"
Madam Tyler stepped forward before Orion could answer. "I can explain that part," she said. "Sophia has remnants of black magic in her. Josiah does too. When Noctis says ’like attracts like,’ it means the two may attract each other if Sophia is the one doing the purging. It would likely result in something else entirely. It is too dangerous."
Orion nodded in agreement. "Exactly," he said. "Shorty can detect it, though. She can trace it. So she is going to act as a navigator. That is why she must be present."
Ronan sighed, running a hand through his hair. "For some reason, this sounds dangerous."
Madam Tyler’s expression was grim. "It is. Normal purging rituals are not even common anymore. And now we have to do one — but worse, this is linked to black magic. One mistake, and it will blow up in our faces."
She looked around the room, her gaze settling on each face in turn.
"Noctis has the idea, though. And honestly, if we want to live, we must start from this. This is one thing that still ties Victoria to all of us. It must be rid of."
Orion nodded slowly.
No one spoke for a moment. Someone sneezed from another spot in the library and Eldric shifted his weight like a man trying to find a more comfortable way to stand inside bad news.
Tobias spoke up then. "Be careful, brother."
Orion only nodded. Tobias spoke like he was trying to kill himself when it was just a purging ritual.
---
The next morning arrived bright.
The sun rose, casting long shadows across the compound. Frost clung to the eaves of the buildings, and the compound was quiet.
There were thirteen days left for them to finish preparing for what was to come.
Orion and Sophia walked together through the quiet compound, their footsteps crunching against the snow. The guards they passed nodded respectfully, their expressions somber, as though they already understood what the day required of the two people walking past them.
Very few people were awake at this hour. But the shrine was filled with activity — workers moving about, carrying braziers and bundles of dried herbs, their breath fogging in front of them.
Madam Tyler was already present, her hair pulled back and her staff in her hand. She directed the workers on what to do, her voice clipped as she did so snd it was obvious she had done this numerous times.
When she sensed Orion and Sophia, she turned to them.
"Everything is ready," she said.
Orion nodded, then removed his cloak. A worker stepped forward and took it from him without a word.
He rolled his shoulders, feeling the tension coiled in his muscles. His heart beat steadily in his chest, but there was a quiet hum of anticipation beneath his skin — the kind that came before something irreversible.
*It is time,* Noctis said.
Orion’s jaw tightened. ’I know.’
Josiah arrived soon after, flanked by two guards. His wrists were bound in front of him, but there was no fight left in his posture. His eyes were dull, his face pale, and he looked like a man who had already given up on everything — until he saw Sophia. Then his eyes widened, and he shook his head frantically, the closest thing to protest he had left in him.
Sophia ignored him.
The guards led him further into the shrine, and Madam Tyler directed them to a spot near the center of the room. A circle had been drawn on the stone floor in pale chalk. Herbs were arranged at specific points around its edge, their scents mingling in the air.
Madam Tyler ground a paste between her palms, then turned to the guards.
"Take off his tunic," she told them.
The guards obeyed and moved at once to strip Josiah’s tunic from his shoulders. He tried to protest, but his attempts fell through — there was no strength left in him to back the words.
"Perhaps we should have given him wolfsbane before this?" Orion wondered.
"Then what we are doing now would lose its purpose. It’s good he’s as he is," Madam Tyler told him, without looking up from her work.
She moved forward, then drew a triangle across Josiah’s back, each of its three points marked with a small circle. After that, she moved to Sophia and painted a dash across her forehead, then did the same for Orion.
"This will link all of you," she told them.
Orion nodded.
Madam Tyler moved again, directing Orion to sit at one point in the circle and Sophia at another. Then she placed the bloodroot bloom at a distance between Orion and Josiah.
"It’s done, you may begin," she told Orion.
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