Human Sacrifice

"Now for the sacrifice," Yennefer muttered without further comment. "Let's begin."

She snapped her fingers, and six humans appeared. They were all bound in chains, and they were all gaunt looking men, with pallid skin and red-rimmed eyes. I also noticed they were barely dressed, and the only thing they wore was a yellow-tinted loincloth.

Suddenly, it took me by gruesome surprise when I realized we were not going to be taking the life-force of a plant … but of a human. Then I considered if I should be disgusted. I apparently wasn't human, right? If I was, the devil wouldn't have allowed me to be here or whatever.

Still, if I wasn't human, and I wasn't a witch, what was I?

I shook my head to rid myself of my questions. Now was not the time for moral, existentialists doubts. I needed to focus on passing my quiz, because if I didn't, I was dead, and this thought problem would be moot point anyway.

"Bitches," snarled one of the men as he wildly stared at us. "May the gods punish you for your sins, and may you burn for centuries in hellfire."

"One can only hope," Yennefer replied with a dream-like sigh. "Now, witches, who will be going first. How about you, Rin?"

I heard the dark-haired witch gulp before she nodded her head and slowly stood up. Then she approached the human on the far right of the room. He had a long, scruffy beard and hate-filled green eyes, and he spat at her as soon as she neared him.

Rin gasped in shock and anger before she brought up her hand and slapped him as hard as she possibly could.

"Don't let your temper get the better of you, Rin." Yennefer smiled.

"He is vermin … nothing more."

"Yes, you're right." Rin took a deep breath to compose herself.

"Apologies, Professor."

"That's quite alright," Yennefer replied. "Carry on."

Rin took in a deep breath and then yanked the man by his chains and dragged him over to Yennefer's desk, where the ingredients, plus a knife and cauldron, were all laid out.

The dark-haired witch measured out the correct ingredients, and when it was time to cut into her skin, she dug the blade so deep into her palm that I could hear the skin splitting apart from here. She flinched, and her black eyes watered as she let the thick, crimson blood drip into the cauldron.

"What in God's name are you going to do?" the man shrieked at her side. "You evil, callous, wicked whores!"

"Silence," Yennefer hissed, and she was clearly irritated. She flicked her wrist, and then the man's mouth dissolved into the skin. His eyes bulged, and he let out a muffled scream as if someone had just taped his mouth shut.

"Fuck," I whispered under my breath.

"Pretty awesome, huh?" Blair murmured from behind me.

I turned around and saw she had leaned forward in her seat. Now, her chest was low enough for me to glance at the curve of her lavender breasts peeking through the opening of her buttoned blouse.

"It's intense," I muttered. "I'll give it that."

Sweeny snorted, and I turned my attention back to Rin and her performance. I still wasn't sure how to feel right now. I had no idea that we'd be killing humans, but this was my life on the line. I couldn't be questioning the way the quizzes worked.

It was all about survival at this point.

I watched closely as Rin recited the incantation, and as she dipped her blade into the brew, I knew the final step was coming.

The dark-haired witch took the blade and sliced the man's throat with one quick, practiced stroke. She cut so deep that I heard the sound of bone and cartilage tearing. Rin's eyes turned from raven-black to snow-white as the man's body began to convulse, slowly turn into dust, and crumble into ash below her. Then she opened her mouth as a white mist emerged from where the man once stood, and it was like she was inhaling the smoke.

It only lasted for a moment, and then her eyes turned from white back to their natural color.

The class applauded, and I intensively joined them. I knew I should have wanted Rin to fail since that was probably what she wanted for me, but I had to admit, that had been an impressive display.

"Take whatever remains and save it for your weapon forging," Yennefer instructed.

Rin bent down, picked up a small black hair from the pile of dust, and returned to her seat.

The rest of the women took their turns with their human sacrifices, and each one succeeded and returned with a small piece of their sacrifice.

Once everyone was done, Yennefer turned her blue-eyed gaze to me.

"Neon," she cooed in a sweet faux voice. "You're up."

I nodded and headed up to the last and final human. His red-rimmed eyes were as large as saucers, and he was trembling.

"Mercy," he groaned. "Please have mercy on me!"

I nearly apologized and told him I wished it could be different, but I knew it would have been seen as a sign of weakness. So, I ignored him as I started to measure out the ingredients into the cauldron. Finally, I tossed the human heart into the brew, watched as smoke emerged from the potion, took the knife, and cut my hand open. I knew the more blood that I used, the more powerful the spell would be, so I cut as deeply as possible into my skin and watched as a steady stream of blood seeped from my hand and down to my wrists. Then I squeezed the blood into the potion and inhaled sharply.

It was nearly time for the last step, and I braced myself for what I had to do.

"Ego autem le dealaset cor eius pythonissam, advoca en sanguinem Echidna," I recited.

I then neared the man with the same bloody knife in my hand, and I raised it up in the air, ready to slit his throat open.

"You fucking cunts," he shouted as I stood in front of him. "I swear the elders will see that you all burn in--"

He never finished his vow, because with a quick slice, I cut his throat and watched as the life drained from his eyes. The man convulsed, and his body violently shook, as if he were having a deadly seizure, and the entire room felt like it was shaking as well.

The desks rattled, and suddenly, the man exploded into a cloud of dust. Then a white mist evaporated into the air and started to move toward me. My eyes felt like they were rolling into the back of my head, and my lips parted on their own as I inhaled his soul.

My entire being seemed like it was on fire. It was like I was taking a drug … one that made my whole body course with electrical energy.

When the room stopped shaking, my eyesight returned to normal, and I looked down to see a pile of bones where the man had once stood.

"Well done," Yennefer said after a long moment.

None of the witches clapped as I turned to face them. They all had their mouths parted open and stared down at the bones on the ground.

No one else had managed to leave actual bones behind, and I wondered what that meant.

"Why--" I started to ask, but Yennefer shook her head.

"Your blood was the most powerful," she explained, "that's why you have so many bones left. Now, take whichever one you want. You'll be needing it to forge your own weapon for the final exam."

The other witches groaned as I reached down to pick up his skull.

"Will this do?" I asked.

"Yes," Yennefer replied with a firm nod. "Now, unfortunately for the rest of you, you may have passed the quiz and retrieved the soul of your sacrifices successfully, but it also means you will not be entering the final exam with the most powerful of weapons. This will make it more difficult for you to proceed, but not impossible. I know plenty of witches who have succeeded without the help of a powerful weapon. Now, class dismissed."

Rin slammed her book shut and stormed out of the classroom. The rest of the witches followed, and I gently picked up the skull and my books before heading back to my own room. I decided not to head to the banquet hall like the others because I wanted to try and use my textbook to forge my own weapon.

The sooner I did, the better.

I don't really trust these witches.