Page 73 of Blood Sacrifice

“Angels.” I stared at her until she nodded once.

Demons were tricky and nasty, manipulating situations to benefit themselves. Angels were an entirely different species. Over time, they had become arrogant and judgemental, capable of great acts of compassion and empathy but too far removed from the living world to share those gifts.

“All the paths to the heavenly realms have been locked for centuries,” I said.

“That’s true, but the hunters possessed maps which allowed them to navigate all the realms as they had the blood of all the ancestors in them,” mother priestess replied. “And we happen to have a hunter among us who was killed in an attack on their village several centuries ago.”

She waved forward a young woman with long, curly red hair and pale complexion. She possessed huge green eyes that felt like they had the ability to see into your soul. “I am pleased to finally meet you. I feel as if I know you since I have heard talesof your adventures for many years. My name is Isla, and I would be honoured to become part of your journey.”

When I was lost and lonely, I hadn’t been as alone as I thought…

“Thank you. I seem to be a little out of the loop in all these matters,” I finally replied.

She waved off my comment. “My cousin Iona has been walking the world alone for centuries since our village was taken by a hellspawn prince. She is an elemental sorceress, but needed to find her own power and strength. Our coven has been trying to nudge her in the right direction as well. We lost our lives, but we gained a new perspective on life.”

“What do you need me to do?” I asked those gathered around me.

“Maia is maintaining your body, but that gets more difficult to do the longer you are separated from it, or the further you travel away from it,” Cybele said. “The karmic council rarely convenes, and even more rarely allows anyone to petition them. Like the other paths in your quest, only you can discern how to navigate this. All we can do is point you toward your goal.”

“You do realise that you all suck as spirit guides,” I demanded. “I hear psychics and mediums in the Earth realm talking about the great advice their spirit guides give them.” I left the rest unsaid because I was feeling grumpy.

“They are not guided by spirits like us,” Cybele replied. “Most of their advice is coming from their ego. No one is telling them what to do, they are merely indulging their wants and desires and attributing it to a higher power.”

I shot her a side-eyed glare as that sounded great right now. “Since we’re running out of time, I guess you need to show me the way,” I said to Isla.

“We created portals to certain places here in Purgatory, and a few years ago, we built one to a stairway to heaven sinceyou were approaching this point.” Isla held her hand out and I followed her to a room at the back of the building.

In it were elaborate mirrors that were big enough to be doors. Intricate metal sculpting was twisted into frames around the mirrors. When I stepped into the room, I saw shadows moving on the other side of the mirrors. I stopped to stare at one that looked suspiciously like the volcano Misti.

“I still keep watch over my homeland,” mother priestess said from behind me. “I stood here and held vigil as they found the bodies of those children who had their lives stolen to empower spells. I will continue to watch over it until it is liberated from the oppressors who seek to claim what does not belong to them.”

One question burned brightly in my head, something I had wanted to know for many years. “What happened to my village?” I asked. “I went back but everything was gone.”

Aisha and I had been the only ones who had been selected as priestesses, but we had siblings still in that village, as well as our parents.

Mother priestess turned away. “I could only try to save those in close proximity to me, and I suffered for my actions. Soldiers were sent out to harvest the villages where magic had manifested, the inhabitants taken into camps so Balor could breed his own magical army.”

Nausea crept up the back of my throat in burning sick. I had encountered camps like that across the globe over the years, never imagining my brothers and sisters could be in one.

I straightened my back and raised my head. There was nothing I could do to save them, as time only went in one direction. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me and the women who have found refuge here. I won’t let you down.”

Mother priestess smiled, walking forward to embrace me, squeezing me tightly. “You never once waivered from your truth.I couldn’t be more proud if you were my own daughter.” She released me, and stepped back. “Remember who you are, let your light shine in the darkness.”

I nodded once, and moved to the mirror where Isla stood waiting for me.

“Take my hand,” Isla said. “This portal is a big jump. We need to travel to the far side of Purgatory.”

“Wait!” Cybele ran into the room, a crystal in her hand. “I almost forgot. Take this with you.” She had always had an affinity to stones, using them in her craft. She pressed it into my hand, her fingers closing mine. Her gaze met mine, boring into me, and I knew there was a reason she needed me to have this crystal.

“You’re still the greatest friend I’ve ever had,” I said, my other hand covering hers. “My biggest regret was never getting the chance to say goodbye.”

“There is no goodbye, only a farewell until we find each other once again.” She stepped back beside mother priestess, and I felt the energy pulse in the crystal as I slipped it into my pocket.

Portals consisted of energy that allowed you to pass from one place to another by compressing the distance. Pressure pushed against me until it felt as if my head was going to explode. I staggered when we reached the other side, disorientated and weak.

“I can’t go any further,” Isla said, lowering her head. “They will not allow my soul to pass as I took a life in vengeance. May the great goddess protect and guide you.”

“And may she bring you peace.” The words from an old wiccan greeting uttered from my lips, although it felt like a lifetime since I had last said them.

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