49- Step Two: Threading

While not the most complicated part of this particular form of magic, threading is still the most intricate and integral part of any ritual that requires it. As the name implies, there is an artistry behind the hooking and weaving of delicate silken threads that are wound and stretched around the participants' body. Acting as a highway for the flow of magical energy, each thread is soaked in the blood of the sacrifice and then attached to the skin via flesh penetrating hooks with either open eyes or rings, depending on the function they need to serve.

Quayleigh had been relaxing to the sensation of Coles' brushes, taking the time to catch her breath and prepare for what was certain to be a painful and exhausting next step. The insertions of the hooks into the muscle was a horrifying necessity when training a sigil, such as the whacorum básta rayhai, what to do.

Innately magic is not sentient. It does not understand its surroundings nor is it capable of telling the difference between flesh and air. Thus, sigils must be calibrated to the individual they are to serve. In most cases, this is where threading comes into play, and practitioners can spend years learning the process, refining their own unique take on it, and understanding the variations across the spectrum of rituals that require this technique in order to function at their maximum protentional.

Lucky for Quayleigh, Cole was the best in the business when it came to threading, amongst other things. But regardless of skill or knowledge, the pain of being pierced, in some areas, wasn't something that could be overcome.

Having set the brush aside, and placed the bowl into its final position, Quayleigh became aware that the threading was about to begin.

"All this work for a ritual that will take less than a minute," she grumbled as she looked between the men who were looming over her. "Tau, you're going to do a great job. No worries, okay?"

Tau nodded.

"Go wash your hands and then put these on," Cole said as he handed him a pair of gloves. "While he does that, I need you to start preparing yourself. With Tau's help this shouldn't take too long, but after, you know what's coming. Those three seconds are going to feel like hours."

"I'm ready for it. I knew what I signed up for. You were the one to train me after all. Mind you I never thought I was ever going to be in this position, but if anyone is going to thread me, I'm glad it's the two of you."

"That's good to know, but start repeating, it's only three seconds, now. Get that into your head like a broken record."

"It's only three seconds," she repeated back to him as Tau returned washed and gloves, sitting down on her left side as Cole had previously instructed.

"I'm ready," Tau said as he looked over at Quayleigh, "are you?"

"Yeah, I'm ready whenever the two of you are."

"Alright then, here," Cole remarked as he handed her a fresh bit. "You chose this over losing a tooth, best not break them over it."

"Agreed," she replied as she took the bit and set it into her mouth before stretching out her legs and cracking her toes before pulling them up into position, knees out, bottoms of her feet together, heels grazing the edge of the ritual bowl between them.

"That's perfect cher," Cole commented as he knelt down and carefully picked up the sutures, using their remaining length to determine their positions, before handing one over to Tau. "Pull it taut and directly across from mine but do it gently. We don't want to be tearing them out and injuring our dear Quayleigh now."

Tau gave him a nod and she felt the pull on her insides as they aligned the suture threads under the necessary pressure to keep them straight and tight. Her heart began to pound as she was already sore, but even this slight tension was causing the stitches to burn and ache.

"That's good, right where you have it. Angle the point down and when she breaths in, press it in. It needs to go into the muscles so don't be shy. Alright cher, deep breath for us now."

Taking in a quick deep breath she felt the sudden bite of the needles as they penetrated the flesh of her inner thighs, driven in at the place where the trail of goat blood turned and made its way down her leg. The sharp sting left her clawing at the sheet and screaming against the bit as the men held her legs down to prevent her from moving and tearing anything out of its place.

"Two down," Cole said as he rubbed at her thigh, squeezing against the muscle to help alleviate the shock. "Keep reminding yourself what you're doing this for."

Quayleigh nodded and relaxed her legs, as Cole repositioned himself between them before picking up the next two sutures.

"Hold her legs down." She heard him instruct Tau, who did as he was told, leaning over her and placing his hands against her inner thighs as she felt the prick of needle points over her pelvic bone. "Deep breath cher."

As she breathed in once again, the pain she felt was far more intense than previous as razor sharp metal scrapped against bone. She clawed the rug, arched her back, and tears streamed from her eyes as she bit down against the swatch of leather between her teeth, groaning against it. Even with her training, knowing what was to happen, and Cole's warnings, the shallow nature and location of the skin, lead to its sensitive nature, and sadly it was impossible to avoid.

She could feel Tau shaking, the warmth of his hands, and the strength of his grip, when Cole set his hand over her fresh piercings using the heat of his palm to sooth the lingering discomfort.

"Easy cher, easy. Breath. I know this hurt, but it'll pass. These two were the worst of this lot, I promise," Cole said as he removed his hands.

She barely even noticed the tug of the last two suture threads as they were pulled straight up, and with a deep breath at Cole's request, were set into place at the top of the initial circle, barely an inch between them. As the cold metal dug into the sensitive flesh, another wave of pain seared its way through her. Clenching her teeth, she screamed and clawed the floor, while the men did their best to hold her in place even though she was trying her best not to move. But every wave had caused her muscles to tense as her nerves fired and surges of adrenaline flooded into her system, washing out the last of the teas effects leaving only the fiery stings and lingering throbs.

Every twitch slid the heavy nylon threads against her opening, the delicate flesh of her lips being crushed and pinched beneath the filaments as they continued to tug against her inner wall. Even Cole's soothing tone and demands for her to breath began to fall against deaf ears, as she began to lose against her desire to run and flee, static filtering away everything aside from the hastened, heavy pounding of her pulse through her ears.

"Quayleigh!" Tau's voice cut through the static. Shifting her eyes to him, his hands now pressed against her neck. "Breath, for me."

She could hear him, but her eyes refused to open.

"Come on cher, your reaper tells you to breath, you know it a good idea."

She groaned with her exhale.

"There you be, just got lost for a moment cher? You back with us now?" Cole questioned as she blinked her eyes and pulled the bit from her mouth.

Taking several deep breaths, she replied, "I'm here. I'm with you. Keep going."

"Take a moment, we've plenty of time."

"No, really. The pain is passing. That was the last of the sutures, right?"

"Yeah, that was the last of them, but really, take your time, and slow your breathing, while I prepare the threads. You sit with her Tau and help relax her."

"Is this even worth it?" Tau asked as he sat back and held her hand.

"Normally, no," she replied, her breathing labored as Cole returned carrying a large metal bowl. "But this is a rare exception. Extenuating circumstances."

"Tell me, Tau, would you go walking into a den of thieves without first locking away your treasures?" Cole asked as he set down the bowl and returned to the kitchen.

"No, I suppose I wouldn't."

"Then you have your answer. Think of this as building a safe around your treasure. A safe that only I can open and only with your treasure's permission. Is not all this worth that level of security?" he asked as he returned with another bowl and sat down on his knees at her side.

"Magic is rarely worth the cost or effort," she explained as her breathing slowed into a more normal range. "In a way this would be no different if not for the reasons behind it. I'm going to be in a place where anything can happen. The MET has the ability to strip me of my magic without me even knowing until it's been done. This will ensure that won't happen," she added giving Tau's hand a light squeeze.

"I understand, but I don't have to like it. Seeing you like this, it's more difficult than I thought it would be," he replied as Cole gave a knowing nod.

"Fair enough, faucheuse. It always be hard to watch those we care about suffer, especially when it appears to be needless. But magic hurt for a reason. It hurts to remind us not to use it blindly. No one in their right mind would use a spell that requires threading unless they had a genuine purpose behind it. A purpose that makes the pain worth it. Enough of this talk though, time to focus, because this be the important part," Cole said as he motioned towards the large metal bowl. "These silk threads have been soaking in a mix of blood and oil; helps to prevent them from drying out. We should have about twenty minutes of working time with each thread, but after you've strung the hooks, dunk the thread back in the bowl. I usually do this by myself, but with you here we should be able to move twice as fast, and that means less chance of the threads drying out and snapping."

"Where do we begin?"

"We're going to start with her legs. We need ten hooks, five on each string. I find if you wind the string around your hand first, like this," he explained as he demonstrated, "it's easier to string the hooks and make certain they're all facing the same way."

"What is this one with the ring on it for?"

"That's the sternum hook. I'll set it before we move on to the next part," Cole answered as he reached into the smaller bowl and picked out five silver hooks with small eyelets, handing them to Tau. They looked like small fishing hooks but without the barb near the tip. "When you go to set these, make sure you push them deep enough," he said as he went back to the bowl grabbing out five more hooks for himself. "Get good into the muscle where you can, and then put pressure over it with your hand until she calms down. Regardless of how prepared she is, she will squirm, because some of these are going to hurt. We're going to do our best to work together though, make it go quicker for you."

"I'd appreciate that," Quayleigh replied as she watched them finish stringing the hooks, sliding them to the back of their hands before dunking them back into the bowl of blood and oil.

"That should be good, just let the excess drip off for a moment. Then you're going to take the tail that you're holding in your fingers and you're going to fish it around the lowest suture needle and tie it off with a slip knot. Then just follow along, and Quays, deep breaths."

"Got it," she replied as she set the bit back into her mouth, adjusted the pillow behind her head and then gave them a nod, muttering, 'ready', as audibly as possible.

"Okay, we're going to get started now, and remember Tau, watch me and follow along. We don't want to do this more than once, so if you have a question or aren't certain of something, speak up. Once the end of the thread is tied off, first hook will be at her knee. And keep the thread taut, but don't pull."

"I understand," Tau replied as he sifted back having been leaning over Quayleigh the entire time so he could keep his hand over the bowl to let the excess liquid drip away.

"Good. Then let's start," Cole said as he shifted the bowl out of the way and maneuvered into position.

Quayleigh couldn't see exactly what they were doing from how she was laying, but she could feel the burn of the embedded needles as they were pulled and tugged against, while the men tied the threads around them before moving towards her knees.

With careful, yet expedient instruction to Tau on the correct placement of the first hook, she took a deep breath in at Cole's request, and held it as the first set were pressed into place at the side of her knee at the point where the two blood paths intersected. She groaned as she gripped the sheet beneath her hands as the men held her legs in place until they felt her breath through the initial pain before moving down to her ankles. Of all the incoming placements, this was the one she dreaded the most, fearing the pain it would cause. With quick instruction to Tau and a request for a deep breath, she breathed in, felt a sharp sting, followed by a searing pain so intense that it caused her toes to curl under and her legs to vibrate uncontrollably. With rapid deep breaths and the forced extension of her toes by the men, followed by constant pressure against the arches of her feet, the cramping soon eased up enough to end the prolonged feeling of her muscles tearing themselves apart. She had managed to stifle her screams and the slew of veritable curses she was now chanting inside her head, and once her breathing settled, the men moved on, aware of the impending time limit.

The third set of hooks were then embedded at the side of her foot, just passed her arch and before the big toe. Whatever nerve had been previously struck, just behind her ankle bone, had kindly rendered the area numb. Even as the insertion of the hook was at such an angle as to strike bone, it barely registered more than an annoyance; a pressure that couldn't be explained.

The fourth set were then embedded into her abdomen at the base of the small circles Cole had painted just to the inside of her hip bones, after he had instructed Tau to swap hooks with him. This was immediately followed up by the fifth set, that were placed into the tops of her shoulders.

While incredibly uncomfortable, and highly unpleasant, Quayleigh had managed to breathe through the initial shots of pain, and fared better than she had with suture needles, not yet shedding tears from the intensity of it all.

"Place the rest of thread in a pile above her shoulder and start winding a new one. You'll need three hooks this time," Cole instructed as he pulled the hook with the large ring out of the bowl. "How you holding up, cher?"

Quayleigh rolled her eyes and glared at him. He should know exactly how she was doing. She was breathing, coherent, and not quaking uncontrollably, all of which were good signs that she was handling the process rather well, even though there was a lingering burning sensation at each of the insertion sights. And the blood he had painted on her was starting to dry and grow increasingly itchy against her skin, along with the small amounts of oil that were like cold raindrops falling from the threads. She wanted to scream at him and tell him to hurry up, but she knew it would accomplish nothing. Such practices took time and expedition could mean mistakes that could render the entire ritual, unsuccessful.

"Come now, you shouldn't be looking at me like that. Your beau might get jealous. Now deep breath. This be the worst of the ones that are left."

With a nod, she took a deep breath, and felt the hook scrap against the bone as he pushed it in against the lower part of her sternum. She clenched her teeth against the leather bit and groaned, a single tear managing to drip from her human eye, despite the initial pain not being worse than what she had experienced with her ankles.

As the threading continued, Tau listened and followed each of Cole's instructions with a frightening precision. After a quick re-soaking, the next set of threads, equipped with three hooks each, were fished through the existing hooks at her hips, opposite to where the men were positioned, before being tied off to the middle set of embedded suture needles. Then the first set of hooks were set beneath her breasts, where the painted lines turned and arced towards her sternum, where after a bit of instruction, and a demonstration by Cole, the threads and remaining two hooks were fished through the large ring of the sternum piercing with no difficulty. Cole then took the opportunity to explain the next piercing as Tau copied Cole's technique with his own bundle of thread and hooks.

"This one is a bit different from the rest. You need to pinch her skin and pull up slightly. These ones go in the reverse, horizontal to the thread, and you don't want to be catching anything beneath the skin."

"Like this?" Tau asked as she leaned her head further back and shut her eyes to the sensation of him pulling up against her skin just above her collar bone where her neck curved into her shoulder.

"That's perfect. When she breath in, push it through all the way."

Taking a deep breath, she felt the pinch of the hooks pass all the way through her skin and the gentle pressure they placed over the fresh piercings until she opened her eyes and nodded at them to move on.

"Start getting the next thread ready," Cole told Tau as he took the remainder of his thread from him and shifted around behind her head. Carefully adjusting the positions of the last of the hooks on the threads, he aligned them with the edge of her hairline, just above her ear. "Only three sets left after this. Deep breath."

A breath in, a sharp pinch, and the soothing warmth of bloody, oily, gloved hands pressed against her head, followed by the question of what to do next from Tau.

While more instructions were given to Tau, the preparations on the last two threads were completed. Fished through the shoulder hooks and then the sternum ring, the ends of the threads were taken down to the last of the embedded hooks and tied into place just as the previous threads had been, and then the first of the last three sets were embedded to the inside of her elbow, the second at the side of her wrist just below her thumb, and the last set into the center of the circles painted on the back of her hands. Unlike the bulk of the other piercings though, the final one was kept shallow, to prevent any damage to the delicate structures of her hands beneath the skin.

"All done Quays. You be all threaded up and ready to go. As for you Tau, while I thank you for your help, it be best if you sit this part out," Cole said as he picked up the metal bowls and carried them back to the kitchen.

"I don't understand. Is there nothing else I can do to help?"

"Aside from helping me straighten out the sheet, I'm afraid not. What's left to be done is between me and her. And there be no way of telling what you being in the circle would do to this type of spell, given your less than human status," Cole replied as he made another trip to and from the sheet, removing everything except the pillow under her head and the ritual bowl of blood between her legs.

Quayleigh knew better than to move and forced the bit from her mouth with her tongue. "Tau," she drew his attention, "it's going to be okay. Help him straighten the sheet and then you can watch from the couch. You can't be a part of the ritual, but you don't have to leave the apartment either."

"Okay. I'll watch from the couch. It's just, I don't want to leave you like this."

"I understand, and as far as I am concerned, you are right by my side. Now do me a favor and rinse off that scrap of leather before sticking it back my mouth." She smiled at him as he picked up the piece of leather and walked into the kitchen.

Glancing to Cole, being careful not to move her head, he gave her a reassuring nod as Tau rinsed the bit under the tap.

Kneeling down next to her, Tau gently swept the lingering tear from under her eye, "here, freshly washed."

"Thanks," she replied as she looked up at him, "as soon as the rituals complete, you can come back and help us remove the hooks."

He nodded as she held open her mouth to him, and he set the bit back between her teeth before moving off the sheet and straightening it out.

"Alright, everything looks good," Cole said as he removed his gloves and made his way to the ritual bowl while Tau headed towards the couch. As he rolled his sleeves up passed his elbows, he looked down at her, saying, "Brace yourself Quayleigh, we about to begin."