The Ritual
Okay, so this one's a little more dark than my previous ones, but I like it. It was inspired, once again, by that awesome music of The Undertaker and his former Ministry of Darkness (which, might I add, I really think they should bring back!). But still, it's not all about occult whatnot and all that, despite the title...and the tag, lol.
So, I should just mention, it gets a bit freaky when somebody gets stabbed, but everything's fine. It's all good! So, thanks for reading (if you've gotten this far, lol). Comments, constructive criticism, and votes and faves and all that good stuff are all welcome! So...ENJOY!
The Ritual
(started 3/3/10 - ended 3/9/10)
I hear an almost unearthly chanting
such as that you would hear in church
But gods, this is no church, all dressed
in black with clawlike spires grasping the sky
And it is of stone - cold, unfeeling stone -
such as that to which I feel bound in my heart
I enter the grandest, most macabre, most bloody-
black hall I've ever seen, lined with flickering torches
That chanting continues, growing in strength as I
approach that hauntingly familiar symbol satanic
A demonic crucifix of spines and thorns, drenched in
what looks far too eerily like...blood...
Suddenly, lightning crashes from outside and for
but a moment I see naught but shadows...moving
I knew that they wanted to help me, to take me in,
but for the love of all the good gods, what had I done?
Inside my heart, my sense was telling me to run,
but the chanting had a certain allure to it...
It was almost calling out to me, promising
that my worries would subside...I just had to believe
Another flash, and this time I gasped as I
knew now, for absolutely sure, I was not alone
A black mass of figures, heads bowed, covered in
death-black from head-to-toe...chanting...
~ The Wolven
~ "Der Werewolfen, onvard heil!"
They stop before me, the chanting stops as well
and I look to their leader, no...their alpha...
"On bended knee, ye mortal man, with will of iron,
for you come with heart broken to join our clan"
I bent, unresisting, and felt better even as my knee
hit the floor, as I felt a warmth growing in my heart
"Fealty, human, will you swear, to The Wolven, to
join the loving, caring, strengthening brotherhood?
Will you draw strength from your wolf brothers,
and in turn will you give them your strength to hold?"
"Yes. I will swear absolute loyalty, draw strength from
my wolf brothers and give them mine in turn, master"
"So it shall be. Will you sacrifice blood and shift bone,
giving your voice to the wind and to the bright wolvan moon?
Defend this, your pack and family, with pride and faith,
putting forth your life in tribute to save your brothers?"
"I will, with all my once-broken heart, do all in my power.
I will let no harm come to these who will deem me family"
"So you shall..." he growled, and I felt him place a...
paw...on my shoulder. "Rise, young pup, and commence the ritual"
I stood and suddenly felt myself ensnared to the massive
crucifix, chains binding my arms and legs to the spines
"Relax, young one, for the pain is only temporary...while
the glory of the transformation is forever," he said
The weathered cloth covering my chest was torn from me
and the glint of a previously-bloodied sword widened my eyes
"With the blessings of our gods Fenris and Tor, and
with the blade I hold in my grasp, doth this human shift"
The blade was drawn across my chest, slicing smoothly,
then down the center, drawing in my flesh the cross, my bondage
"From broken human to brother lupine, I, alpha of
this pack, accept this new member, and show him the light!"
I howled a veritable howl as the blade pierced my chest,
the pain driving deep as the blood flowed down my chest
A chalice collected the blood and to it the alpha added a
silvery-amber substance that made it shimmer deeply
"Now drink, brother," said he, holding the blood to my lips,
"and let your once-broken soul heal itself in our wake."
I drank, expecting to taste the coppery tang
reminiscent of far too many fights in my life
But that taste was of pure ambrosia, the sweetest
drink of all my painful, unfulfilling existence
"I am glad that you enjoy the taste," he whispered
unto me, "but now here comes the true glory..."
The pain! Gods, that pain! Indescribable is it
that flowed like liquid fire through my veins
My bones, yes I felt them, flowed like water, formless,
and made new things of themselves and of my body
My skin felt as though stabbed by infinite knives,
then boiled off of my body in liquid magma, 23_rd degree_
My mind overflowed with images, vivid and stained,
tainted with that crimson shadow, that lunar shadow
My heart fueled everything, as if with every hellish
beat the beast I knew I was becoming drew itself out
Cracking of my sanity I was sure would follow, for
who could stand the sheer brutality of this pain?
"Let free the beast within, from bleeding heart and morphing skin,
to howl all the moonlit night, transcend the bleak and hopeless plight"
This they chanted in ever-increasing strength as my
form became what I had never dreamed possible, but ever feared
The alpha lifted his paws to the sky and howled out:
"From the hopeless human flood, come to us of Wolfen blood!"
Lightning struck the sword and everything went white...
for a second, I regretted doing what I had...too late...
As my last instant of humanity left me...I
_thought of my broken heart...and smiled..._No more
~ Then it just...
~ all went black...
Waking as I did in a soft bed with warm, soft covers,
I felt so new, so fresh, so ready to live life...
I grabbed a set of black robes and was shocked to find
my..._paw, reaching from an arm not unlike my former..._but furred
The fur was deathly black, running all over my body from
the tips of my ears (pointy and triangular!) to my footpaws clawed
Bloody-red streaks ran over the curves of my body, outlining
ripped muscles in an almost tribal pattern, savagely artistic
A tail hung down and I felt almost puppyish in
my new, luxurious, strong, almost titanic form...
And then that chanting...that unmistakable,
eerily-haunting, yet invigoratingly sweet vocalization
It filled my ears with those now-discernable words:
"Unto us, a new one comes, his heart e'er beating to the drums"
I smiled and walked back into the grand hallway,
and there stood my brothers, heads bowed in shadow from the light
"Brothers," said I, "I am one with you now!" And
from behind them again emerged their alpha...no, my alpha
"From the hellish humanity you came, and now you bear
the glory of The Wolven in body and in mind..."
I embraced him in pure joy and respect, feeling...
loved? Yes, yes, that's the word... Loved, I felt
As I embraced him, the others, they howled,
giving rise to a howl of my own, primal, bestial, feral
The primordial feeling coarsing through my veins
felt like absolute Paradise, almost ethereal in its glory
The lightning crashed again and again, but I didn't
mind it at all, neither it nor the rain, not one bit
For I could still see the moon, that heavenly orb
of glowing white peace, keeping watche over me
In my mind, all was calm, and my heart was steady,
and I felt just ever so at peace...so ate peace...
~ For now I had...
~ found my home.