For years now the harvest has been less than it should be. Last year the people of Oisin's village sacrificed a goat, but their god did not come. Now, in desperation, a human sacrifice has been suggested, and Oisin, recently orphaned and feeling life is not worth living, volunteers. But the god Belinos is not quite what he seems, and Oisin's sacrifice will not be what he expects, for Belinos first came out of the darkness to drink the sacrificial blood not because he was a god, but because he was a vampire. This is just the beginning of the changes to Oisin's life, as he is drawn further and further into a world of gods and magic, where the most unexpected thing is not even his own blossoming talent, but the blossoming feelings he has for Belinos. Love between mortal and immortal is not without its difficulties, though. As outright war among the gods threatens, Oisin will end up making a far greater difference in the conflict than he could ever have dreamed possible.

The Sacrifice

He remembered the sound of Bel’s short chant of door-opening.


He looked at the standing stones looming over them and saw the power that they held, and his face set in an expression of grim determination. All the pieces of the door’s spell were within his reach, he just had to put them together. He closed his eyes, letting words flow through his mind. Repetition, rhyme…perhaps the power of three. Yes. It was crude, but he would make it work if he had to shatter his mind doing it.


Chapter 38