The Sacrifice

“Calling his name, eh? Do you think he’ll save you? What if he sacrifices you, Vaelora?” Red whispered to me again.

His grip tightened around me and I grimaced in pain. “Argh, it hurts!”

Kael arrived in the blink of an eye, managing to pull me away from Red.

Red’s sharp claws had scratched my cheek; fresh blood was flowing from the wound. Kaelith examined my body, checking which parts were injured.

“Does it hurt a lot? Are you okay?” he asked me.

I touched the blood on my cheek; it hurt so much I couldn’t feel anything anymore. Tears just streamed down my cheeks.

Red stood there, staring at us with a sly look on his face. He deliberately licked the blood from his fingernails.

“Kaelith, do you want to break the contract?! The Haugen family and we are bound together; we must perform the ritual,” Red shouted.

“No, I won’t sacrifice Vaelora,” Kael replied.

I grabbed Kael’s shirt, “Do you want to kill me?”

Kaelith looked at me sadly; he even trembled as he wiped my face, which was covered in my own blood.

“Vaelora, your family’s curse is a pact with us. I can gain immortality, and the Haugen family can achieve complete success.”

No, Kael must be lying. The curse—sacrificing every woman from the Haugen family so they can live forever?

“The blood moon rises tomorrow. We have to take Vaelora now, Kaelith!”

I looked at Kael more intently; he continued to give me a sorrowful look. But he couldn’t deny what Red had explained.

The truth about Kael pierced my heart even deeper; just as we seemed to be starting to trust one another, it now felt as though I’d been betrayed.

The night sky was dark and starless tonight, and the wind blew fiercely against my body.

Kael drew closer; I could see tears streaming down his cheeks. What was this feeling? I didn’t want to see him crying like that.

I could feel his lips kiss my forehead and he whispered, “Forgive me, Vaelora.”

After that, I don’t remember what happened; everything went dark and I lost consciousness.

•••••

I woke up in a fairly spacious room. It was the old building from my previous dream, but this time it was real.

I tried to get up, but I realised one thing: my body was lying there with my hands bound. I couldn’t move; with a panicked expression, I looked to the right and left, searching for Kaelith.

I only just realised that on the ceiling of this room there was a large mirror showing that I was lying on top of a ritual circle.

Runes encircled my body, along with symbols I didn’t understand; the candles around me were lit.

Was I being sacrificed?

“Kael!” I shouted his name in desperation. “Kaelith Vaeltharion Morveth!”

“Vaelora,” I could hear his faint voice.

It turned out Kael was there, right in front of me. His body was covered in blood; he sat there, his body trembling as he endured the pain.

Unconsciously, tears streamed down my face; I felt sad because I was powerless. I was about to be sacrificed, and Kael was injured like that.

The sound of footsteps echoed into the room; it was Red, his dark cloak sweeping across the floor.

His eyes blazed, filled with ambition and a fierce desire to kill that sent shivers down my spine. How on earth could I escape from here?

He slowly approached me, untying the ropes binding my hands. He helped me to my feet and sat me facing Kaelith, who was, it turned out, inside another ritual circle.

Kael coughed, blood spurting from his mouth. Red grinned at me, touching my cheek with his terrifyingly cold hand.

“Kael… You’ve fallen in love with your own prey, haven’t you?” he said, turning to Kaelith.

“Don’t touch her!” Kael said softly, he worried about me.

Red gripped my cheek; I winced again. My cheek was still raw from his sharp nails, and now he was pressing down on it like this.

I glared at him. “Let me go!”

Red smiled again. “Do you think I want to? I won’t. Soon you’ll undergo a ritual that will change my life forever!”

I tried to get up, but I still couldn’t stand; my legs were bound with iron chains.

“This is your fate, Vaelora. And you, Kaelith, are merely a tool to bring it all to fruition.”

His voice echoed through the room; I looked at Kaelith, who seemed to be silently chanting a spell. His eyes were fixed on me; he was focused, despite the pain.

I tried to signal to him, so that we could escape this mad ritual. He signalled back to me, but I didn’t quite understand.

Red raised his ritual dagger; its blade gleamed coldly. He approached me again and slashed the palm of my hand until my blood flowed. I couldn’t bring myself to scream; it was excruciating.

Then he did the same to Kaelith; our blood made the ritual circle glow brightly.

But just as the energy began to gather, something changed. I sensed something strange happening—could this be Kaelith’s doing?

I looked at the man; he raised his head. His gaze was fixed on Red; he gritted his teeth, forcing himself to fight against the binding magic.

“Vaelora… now!” Kael whispered to me.

I was at a loss as to what to do; I tried with all my might to rise and break free from this ritual circle, but the iron chains felt scorching hot against my legs.

I watched as Kaelith unleashed the energy from within him. The invisible bonds radiating through our now-merged blood suddenly cracked, then snapped!

A moment later, Kaelith managed to push me out of the circle. The symbols of the ritual circle, which had been glowing, were now chaotic; there was no magic left there.

“No!” I heard Red shout.