50- Step Three: The Ritual; And Everything After

Cole tried to smile down at Quayleigh, but found it difficult to do. He knew what was about to happen, about what he was going to do. As masterful as he was, and as much as he enjoyed the magic he practiced, it was different when it was on someone he cared about. And Quayleigh, she was someone special to the old scoundrel, even if he never made it clear to her.

Kneeling down he straightened the two unsecured suture threads before dunking his fingers into the ritual bowl. Reaching forward he painted the sigil into the center of the circle on her pelvis with his fingers. "Whacorum básta rayhai," he said as he focused his energy into his work.

He watched as Quayleigh closed her eyes, her toes wiggling slightly. The sensation of his magic must have tingled; it usually did, from what he gathered of past experiences. Dipping his fingers back into the bowl, he flicked off the excess, stood up, and as he made his way around her, he placed sigil markings into each of the circles he had painted onto her body, imbuing each with a spark of his own energy. With all but the circles on her cheeks filled in, he dunked his fingers one last time into the bowl before moving behind her head and sitting down on his knees.

Leaning over her, he wanted to give her more than his standard speech, so he told her the first thing that popped into his mind as he gathered the ends of the threads together and began to adjust their lengths.

"Three seconds cher, and I be right here with you the whole time. You probably dream of fireflies on the bayou while you thinking of me and you and him on a steamer headed upriver. That big lazy moon just floating up in the sky, and the old bull frogs singing along with the cicadas. The scent of junipers hanging heavy in the thick summer night air."

He talked to fill the silence, and he talked when he was nervous. Even as everything had gone smoothly to that point, this was when he always felt nervous. He checked each line as he pulled them taut and tied a knot into the end of each one.

"Arms up," he instructed her, and he pulled the threads as she lifted her arms, folding them until the back of her hands touched her shoulders.

With the tensions set, he tied the ends of the threads on the right together, and then did the same on the left. Moving back from her a little, he painted her cheeks, and then placed a large dot of blood into the center of her forehead, while placing one on his own. Leaning down over her, he picked up the knots and whispered softly, just loud enough for her to hear.

"Or just dream of butterflies and rainbows my dear."

She nodded and he watched her smile.

"Okay. Here we go. Hands on my elbows and squeeze as hard as you want. I won't mind."

When he felt her grab a hold, he set the knots between his teeth and placed his forehead to hers, aligning the fresh blood dots, forming a link between them. Shifting his hands, he took a firm hold of her elbows and closed his eyes. Flexing his toes against the circle on the sheet, he breathed in and out, drawing up the world energy into his circle with each successive breath.

As his body began to warm, he took a deep breath in and then breathed out, "whacorum."

He filled his lungs and exhaled again, "básta."

Strengthening his grip, he breathed in, this time gathering a mass of energy in his core, before forcing it out through the palms of his hands, "rayhai."

He felt her clutch at his elbows, her nails digging in.

'One,' he counted in his head as his entire body began to radiate warmth due to the flow of magic, he was now syphoning from the world grid. He constricted and regulated it, before allowing it to pass into Quayleigh through the contact points between their skin, all while pulling it back through the threads he held between his teeth.

'Two.' Her body had stiffened her head arched back, a stifled groan strained against the bit, and he could feel her heart now pounding, her pulse, moving through the threads.

'Three.' He had expected to feel the snap of the threads, a release of the tension, signaling the success of the ritual, but there was nothing. There was no change. Only the steady rhythmic pounding of her heart and the circulation of magic between them. The pressure was perfect. He had constricted his output flawlessly. Pulling the knots further into his mouth, he ran his tongue over the individual threads, seeking to find the problem.

Opening his eyes, he lifted his head as far up as he dared, no more than an inch from her face. He watched as her eye opened within the span of a breath, revealing a dark, lime green iris, vibrant against the black void of its sclera, the undefinable pupil dancing and flexing, shot back, locking onto his. His chest cramped, beads of sweat dripped from his body and as every muscle tensed, he froze and began to quiver. He couldn't stop the flow of magic abruptly, the backlash could kill him, and would gravely injure her. Finding the strength to pry his eyes from hers he looked down the length of her body. He could see the blood lies burning away, but the process should have happened near instantly. It was as if he had been accelerated through time and was watching everything in slow motion.

He looked back at her eye, drawn to it, compelled to witness the vacuous pit that was its nature; devouring every drop of magic that dared to near it.

"Quayleigh!" He heard Tau call out.

The eye shot to his right, and he regretted following its gaze. Claws, bone, flesh, and fur crept into his peripheral view. He couldn't stop himself from looking, he couldn't stop from turning his eyes as far as they would go. Every hair on his body stood erect, a cold sweat seeping from every pore of his skin, as he fought with all his strength to maintain his position despite his ragged breathing and uncontrollable quake. For it was not the sight of the creature's legs that pressed upon him with such fear, but the mass of darkness stretching out towards him. Slender fingers, like giant spider's legs, stretched out against the floor, hints of a deep chestnut brown showed along the fringes of its elongated, slender limbs, where the light penetrated through its translucent, gelatinous skin. It's pointed face drifted near enough for him to see the faintest of texture, an unpolished marble like complexion to its' skin. A faint ticking emanating from the creature caused him to hold his breath as dread and fear swelled within him. He watched in horror as it loomed over Quayleigh, its lips curling back, saliva coated teeth, silver spikes, needle thin, and pinpoint sharp, glinted in the light. The ticking became a chatter, ceasing as it opened its mouth, its long, pointed tongue slipped out over its multitude of teeth, the tip tapping its way up the center of her chest as it turned and drifted closer, shifting like a snake against sand. Sucking in its tongue the creature smacked its lips and seemed to laugh with a high-pitched giggle that cut through the air as a chainsaw, its head bobbing and shaking in what could only be described as glee.

It jolted forward, Cole choked back a scream. He could feel its breath on his face, a warm and vile breeze as its lips peeled back. Its eyes, abyssal orbs webbed in red became thin lines as the points of its teeth tilted out towards him, and the long damp tongue stretched forth, and tapped against his chin. It boiled with the heat of something living, as it was pressed flat to the edge of his jaw, and slowly, with the texture of soggy, soft leather, was dragged up the length of his cheek, lapping up his sweat and tears, all the way to the top of his brow.

Slipping back into the razored maw, lips smacked, tip protruded, before vanishing again. A guttural shrill filled its mouth, cheeks puffed, eyes widened as it sank back, a series of excited ticks erupted as its lips pulled back once again and the grizzly maw gaped wide enough to swallow Cole's entire head.

"Don't!"

And the threads snapped. Cole fell back, scurrying away until his back collided with the wall. His heart racing, his body violently shaking uncontrollably as he clutched his chest and frantically looked around the room.

Dylan was at Quayleigh's side, his hands pressed to her cheeks, the creature, so prominent, terrifying and real, was gone.

Cole began to deepen his breaths bit by bit and with each, his heart began to slow, and his shaking began to wane.

"Quayleigh, Quayleigh, come on, wake up. It's over now." He heard Tau say and watched as he caressed her with a soft and gentle manner. "Why isn't she awake?"

Cole rolled his tongue through his mouth, the knots were gone, save for the end of a single thread caught between his teeth. Grabbing it from his mouth, barely a few inches of it remained.

Shaking himself back to the situation at hand, he scrambled towards Quayleigh and pulled his monocle from his pocket. Looking her over, he could see the faint glow of the sigils beneath her skin.

"It worked," he muttered, unable to conceal the shock in his voice.

"Three seconds. You said it would take three seconds, but it took longer. Why?"

"Her eye," he replied as he turned and looked up at Tau. "What the hell was that thing in here with us?"

Tau tilted his head.

"Don't you play stupid with me Reaper! What the hell was it?!"

"Uroxuz. He was curious. But how could you see him?"

"The same way I saw you." Cole was seething, his fear had turned to anger, and he was struggling to get a grip on it. "Where is it now?"

Tau looked over at the bed and back to Cole. "He won't hurt you."

"Show yourself to me! I want to see you!" Cole hollered out as he looked towards the bed, up into the shadows of the corner and all around.

Uroxuz slipped from the bed, revealing itself as it shifted across the room, its body twisting and elongating, its teeth melting together and stretching into a crescent blade, spikes growing along its spine, bending and arching into Tau's outstretched hand.

"It's your scythe?" Cole barely found the strength to speak as he stared haplessly as its razors edge dangling above him, shinning in the artificial light of the apartment's lamps.

"Yes. A gift to me from Death. Every reaper and shepherd have one in his care. Each as unique as any being. Now please, help Quayleigh."

As calm as Tau had sounded there was a frightful threat underlying the situation given the nature of the creature he held in his hand, and the hint of desperation masked in pleasantries.

"Just you keep that thing away from her," Cole stated as he leaned protectively over Quayleigh. He didn't want Tau to see the way his hands wouldn't stop shaking and hoped that he spoke forcefully enough, he wouldn't hear the cracking of his voice, or pick up on how dry his throat had become in the wake of the lump that had lodged itself firmly within it.

Setting his hands against her neck, Cole felt the slow and steady pace of her pulse beneath his fingers and looked back at Tau. "She'll be fine. I suspect the strain of the prolonged ritual has worn her out. That eye of hers. I've never seen the likes of it before. I had no way of knowing it would affect the ritual as it did."

"But it worked? She is protected?"

"Yes. Yes, it worked. The sigil is active, except for the area around that eye. Nothing of our magic will affect it though. It ate every fragment of energy that touched it. I should have realized what it was capable of," he said as he turned and looked down at Quayleigh. Cautiously reaching out, he slowly opened her eye forcing apart her lids with the tips of his fingers. "I knew that her eye was different. She had told me that Death had fixed it for her. That he'd done it when he saved her life. It's how I knew that she'd be capable of seeing things others can't. But I was wrong. That eye may belong to her now, but it's from something or someone else. Isn't it?"

"That eye once belonged to Death. I was there when he gave it to her. The strength of her life claimed it as her own, but it seems this ritual was capable of pushing back her claim on it, revealing it for the beautiful thing it has become, because of her."

"That explains why it normally looks as it does," Cole muttered as he took a deep breath and turned to look at Tau. "Shit!" he shouted as he fell back against the floor, Uroxuz, having shifted his form once again, was now sprawled out about floor, grinning and watching him with a horrendously disconcerting amount of focus. "Shit," he repeated several times as he tried to calm his breathing, "you really going to take some time to get used to."

"Fear not, soulless one." Uroxuz voice screeched with a tone of metal scrapping against metal, its lips rising and falling in an exaggerated manner as it spoke. "You taste of hollow nothings. Salt and leathers. Spoiled meat. Carrion, maggot riddled flesh fit for oblivions table." It clacked its teeth in a manner that could only be read as disgust.

"Ah…, thank you?" Cole stuttered uncertain of how to respond to such a thing given that he had never been described in such a horrifying fashion, but feeling oddly grateful, as he was certain it also meant that he was no longer at risk of being on that creature's menu.

"Be nice Uru. This man is Cole LeKing; he is a guest here as we are. And he is helping Quayleigh," Tau explained to his living weapon.

"Apologies. It was a compliment, spoiled fruit," Uroxuz said as he laid his head down, as one would expect of a dog that was about to take a nap.

"Oh, my head," Quayleigh groaned as she reached up and groggily rubbed at her face.

"Woah, easy cher," Cole remarked as he reacted to her movements, grabbing her arm and setting his hand to her cheek. "Don't move around just yet. I still need to take care of those sutures. Just keep your eyes closed and relax. We'll speak after we get you all comfy in your bed, okay?"

Quayleigh moaned but gave no other reply as he lowered her arm to her chest.

"If you could hold her head steady, I'll take care of those sutures before she wakes up again," Cole said to Tau as he stood up and hurried himself to the kitchen.

Turning on the tap he gazed down into the sink desperately trying to regain himself, knowing that there was going to be no easy way to explain any of this to Quayleigh or ask her about how much she already knew. He didn't even know if she was aware of the giant demonic looking snake-like creature currently sleeping in her living room, let alone how to introduce her to something before trying to convince her to flee with him.

Grabbing the bar of soap, he began to furiously scrub at his hands desperate to rid them of their uncontrollable tremors.

"Breath old boy," he told himself as he rinsed off his hands. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and steadied himself. "Take care of her before worrying about the rest." Grabbing the scissors, a pair of forceps, and the speculum, he washed and rinsed them, setting them onto a clean towel and grabbing a pair of gloves before carrying everything back over to Quayleigh.

Kneeling down, he placed the towel to the side and moved the now empty ritual bowl out of the way before putting on the gloves. Leaning over her legs, he carefully cut the suture threads from the hooks immediately relieving the tension. Cole was doing his best to stay focused as he picked up the speculum. He had one final unpleasant task to complete for the night and slid the speculum into position, forcing her open to him once more. Using the forceps, he reached in and carefully checked the edge of the flesh for which he had placed the sigil, to ensure that it had fused to her inner wall. Satisfied with the results, he picked up the scissors, and while using the forceps to grab the threads, he cut through the stitches and pulled them out of her.

"Despite the complication, everything looks as it should. I'd still like to test that the sigil preforms correctly, but tonight isn't the time to do it. She needs her rest and so do I," Cole remarked as he removed the speculum. "You can start removing the hooks now. She has no more use for them."

Cole watched as Tau, carefully removed the hooks along her hairline with due care. He was slow, methodical, and precise with his motions. He found it odd as he thought back to the glimpse he had gotten of Tau's true form and wondered how a creature such as he could be so loving and tender towards another. All he could see was the necrosed, decaying body of a creature that should not exist in the world of the living. Catching his eye, Tau gave him a big smile, causing Cole to look away, refocusing on what he was supposed to be doing.

One by one, Cole removed the needles and hooks, stretching out her legs into a more comfortable position as he went, while Tau worked from her head down, removing the sternum ring last.

"Oh, that's nice," Quayleigh muttered as Tau set his hand against the small holes in her chest.

"We've removed all the hooks," Tau said as she slowly opened her eyes and gazed up at him.

Cole had just finished gathering everything into the towel and watched as she gasped out his name, "Tauluthet," while clutching his hand, and sitting up with his assistance.

"Oh shit," she muttered as she turned and looked at Cole.

Sadly smiling, a tear dripped from the corner of his eye, as he said, "It's okay, cher. Your secret, it be safe with me."