章節 14: Chapter 14. The Sacrifice

The air outside was chill and thrill, yet refreshing. Darkness had set in, and the moon hung low in the sky.

Guards had come for me under the queen's orders. They had added shackles to my hands and neck, and then bind them together with chains, limiting my movement.

One look at me and you could tell that I had no chance at escaping. I was glad that they believed that. As it turned out, those exact shackles were once used to hold Hercules after his rampage in Themyscira, many many years ago. So was the cold cell I had been put in.

My body was warm despite the torn clothes, thanks to the meal Fatsis had brought to me. If it was my last meal, I had to acknowledge that it was good.

But what annoyed me the most was the chanting, as they walked me on a perilous journey to my execution. As if facing my last moments in life wasn't enough torture, they were chanting strange sacrificial songs in unusually deep voices for women. I couldn't make out the lyrics since they all sounded like gibberish.

I dared to protest once by chiming in with my own song, but that didn't go well for me. I got hit very hard in the buttocks that I never dared to speak again.

The walking was slow and choreographed, with guards surrounding me to ensure that I didn't escape. Behind me were more warriors, but not enough to cover the entire population of Themyscira. I guessed that there were more waiting for me ahead, since even the queen wasn't with us.

Up ahead was a group of women that dressed differently from all the others. Their clothes, still short though, were made from white linen reserved for those who commune with deities. In that group there was the High Priestess and her subordinates, and they were the ones guiding this procession to my sacrifice.

As the physical features before us materialized as we reached the outskirts, I couldn't see a cliff, lake, or, forest. That made me realize that we were probably on the opposite side of the island, different from the route I had taken while escaping.

Ahead was a river sloping down from a mountain with some forested areas. We took a path that guided to crossing the river and climbing the mountain.

[Paradise Islands: Images & GIFs]

All the while, they kept on chanting their song in their strange language. The higher we climbed the somewhat steep mountain, the worse it got.

What a hike it was going to be! Good thing I was feeling energetic. A little too energetic though. Turns out, mama was right all along. A good meal does more than keep your belly full. And the meal I had eaten had reaffirmed that fact.

They were experienced at climbing mountains and surviving the random rocks, but not me. I wasn't much of a hiker, and my shoes were already damaged from sinking in the ground. I had tried to lose them several times, but they kept on forcing me to put them back on, which didn't do me any favors while walking.

Seeing that we were a distance from the ground below, I took it as a chance to free myself. I jumped fast and kicked the air with both my legs as my shoes left my feet and soared downslope.

"Ooopsss..." I feigned clumsiness as I stared back at a guard who had turned to glare.

"Fetch." An order came from a woman in front, who didn't even bother to look behind.

One of the guards broke off from the procession and the chanting and followed the shoes downslope. These women were not good at letting go. I prayed that she wouldn't find them before I found a good opening to escape.

We walked for miles and miles, hour after hour as the night set in and the moon sailed through the dark, clear skies to reach its highest point, after which it would start it's journey to welcoming dawn.

A day had passed since my mysterious arrival in this island. The higher we went, the more I got a bird's eye view of the world I was in. The night was darkening, and the darkness thickening, but I could still make out the shapes and structures.

From the mountain, I could see the city of Themyscira with the towering structures and the smaller buildings. It stood elegantly on the raised earth with both pride and grace. On the downside, it didn't have as many shining lights in the night like my old city. Something about it felt - ancient.

The river from the mountain flowed to the outskirts of Themyscira and drained into what made my heart skip a beat in excitement - the ocean! I could finally make out the shores as I plotted my own personal journey to salvation.

Following the path of the river, I also made out a small structure that increased my heart rate. It looked like a small fisherman dock that had a few wooden structures afloat on the river. My mind sang a soothing melody of joy and hope as I saw my way out of the island.

But a sudden chill engulfed my conscious as we neared the top of the moment. My mind started to become uneasy with every step I took forward.

I could hear a distant shrivel and sneer in my mind, ringing from a far. It was so faint, but I understood the pleasure in it's tone. I could sense the happiness that was tainted in the very distant voice that I found to be troubling.

It was as if- It was as if it was celebrating the onset of my death. It was enjoying every step of my journey to the execution, and rooting for that time when all the lights would go out for me. I could taste the hope and anticipation held in that shrivel as my mind suddenly quietened. It felt as if me dying would set it free!

My mind clear of the taunting distraction, I raised my head to look before me. I hadn't even noticed that my head had been lowered, or that the procession had stopped.

Before me was the largest gathering I had seen my entire life, surrounding a stone structure that immediately disgusted me on sight. How could they not see it? All that yucky yuck purple energy leaking from the grotesque stone.

"Cursed energy!" I spout as a nauseating sensation filled my gut. I had had no problem with cursed energy to this point, but this looked different. It was just so dense and creepy, as if it was alive.

There was just so much of it, and it disgusted me to the point that I couldn't hold my vomit in any longer.

The contents of my stomach expelled violently, a cascade of half-digested fish splattering on the ground. The guards and priestesses recoiled in disgust, creating a momentary distraction.

I felt so sick, but still compelled to look at the alter. And what was with that woman on top of the stone. Was she mad, or was she possessed?

She looked Themysciran, but something about her just didn't feel right. She was both shady and creepy, even as she continued her rhythmic dance to the increased chant of the sacrificial songs. Her dance was as creepy as she looked.

At least, she should have been capable of seeing the limb-like energy crawling on the alter and on her body. Or was she cursed?

Dramatically, she stopped on her barefoot legs with a crooked pose just as the chanting stopped at her command.

She gazed at me with those dark eyes that sent shivers down my spine. My limbs became whimsy as she pointed a finger towards me, before screeching an ululation.

"Behold, another male sacrifice for the gods on this sacred ground!" She said with her finger still locked on me.

"Sacred ground?" I wondered as my nausea elevated. There was nothing sacred about what I was seeing.

"Another male sacrifice?" The words escaped my thoughts. Just how many males had been sacrificed on this alter. Was that the reason there was so much cursed energy leaking like a pool of dark mud? Only that it was purple.

I was hazed, and the peril masses of purple energy leaking around the stone alter took away my composure.

"This can't be right." I said to myself. "The Amazons might be warriors and backwards, but not this far back."

"May the gods be appeased and save us from the darkness that looms over us, sisters." She added as she looked around. "For the prophecy has been told about a curse that seeks to harm us."

"And so, the gods spoke to me, in the form of a vision." She continued. "HE, must be sacrificed! For HE is the curse of the man that holds vengeance."

She turned to face me again and beckoned the guards to bring me to the alter, with a whisk of her hand.

One push forward brought me back to the real world, and the memory of the curse leaking faded for a bit. I had held out long enough, and the Amazons were preoccupied with their misguided beliefs. It was time to escape!

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