"Our
power will be restored dear sister, save your voice and your strength,"
Lady Windermere plucked something out of her pocket between her fingertips.
"And please call me Lady Windermere for now, I do not wish to be overheard
to be Ember,"
"You
should be proud of your heritage and bond to flame and fire my sister," Aqualisha
urged her.
"As
should you my dear witch of water," Ember replied; "but we should
remain vigilant until all of our strength and our sisters return here to
us."
Ember opened
her hand up like the petals of a flower to reveal a tiny peasant woman
inside.
The tiny
woman was naked and terrified, she looked upwards towards the two giant faces
that peered down at her.
"Your
sacrifice," Ember offered the tiny woman to Aqualisha; whose eyes burned
with hunger, lust and greed.
"My
dear sister, you are so generous, you remain weak and yet you gift me one of
your two first offerings," she kissed Ember on her lips. "I adore
you."
Ember
nodded. They were not true sisters of blood; but their bond and witch’s coven
were strong.
"Now,
my dear Aqualisha, you must summon our sisters Aine, Ariel and Danu, also the all-mother
Sovereign, but you must not let Badb or Morrigan hear or our success or they
will attempt to plunder it again,"
"Sister,"
Aqualisha cooked her head in disappointment, "I was there, I know it was
nearly eighty years ago but I recall the battle here…" she shivered.
"They betrayed us and took giant form, they feasted on the people here and
the battle was bloody and sacrifices were made aplenty," she looked down
at the floor.
"Then
you agree that we must rebuild as quietly as possible. Once we have our
strength and our sisters, we can rebuild the illusion spell and dispel their
own wicked spells of monsters and storms which have kept people at bay for so
long," Ember growled.
The tiny
woman looked so confused. She could hear very clearly what they were saying.
Were they gods? They were mentioning some godly names.
She knew
Aqualisha was the legendary sorceress of water, Ember of fire, Ariel was the
goddess of the air, and Danu of the earth and fertility. Aine was the goddess
of love. Sovereign was the all-mother.
Then Badb
and Morrigan she had heard of as well but they were surely mythical. They had
been said to be able to transform into crows and fly to anywhere. They could
grow to the size of giantesses and would raid towns and villages.
She looked
up at them in a new light now. She was no longer scared.
Aqualisha
looked down at her hungrily.
"Now,
my little thing, are you ready for your sacrifice?" She smiled widely.
The peasant
kneeled on the giant hand, locked her hands together in prayer and bowed her
head.
"I
would be honoured to be your sacrifice goddess!" She called out.
Both of the
giantesses recoiled. It had been quite some time since they had been in the
presence of a willing sacrifice.
Aqualisha's
shoulders hung in disappointment.
"Great,
we wait for thirty years and my first sacrifice… actually wants to be
sacrificed," she glanced at Ember who pursed her lips
sympathetically.
"Only
Aine can absorb the Life Force of emotions like love, adoration and so
on," Aqualisha explained to the tiny naked woman in her hand. "If you
truly want to serve me, I need you to be terrified, I need you to scream,
squeal, wiggle, squirm and to feel your terror. That is the source of our power
my little thing," she looked solemn. "I'm afraid it is so, I wish it
were otherwise,"
The tiny
woman looked confused as she looked at Ember's sombre face and back to
Aqualisha's.
"But…"
she started. "I'm happy to please you,"
"I can
tell my tiny little dear," Aqualisha spoke softly. "That's why I'm so
sorry to do this,"