Page 167 of The Cerulean Sister
"They are not here. There is nothing inside." Selene sits at the base, placing her hands on her face in defeat.
Without hesitation, I stalk toward the elder, grab her by the wrist and pull her to me.
"Where are the ritual books!" I drag her toward the altar.
"Hands off me, child!"
My light snakes around her wrist, a warning not to use any of her gifts against me. She is from the Temple of Divine Mothers. If she was not dismissed before the elders there attacked us, she would have most definitely done the same. She is as complicit as they are, so I feel no remorse for disrespecting her as an elder. She deserves nothing.
"Stop this!" Thea scolds me for my actions, ones she does not know are justified.
"Place the protection ward around the city." I grit my teeth inches from the elder’s creased face.
"What have you done?" She shakes her head. "There is only one reason the city’s ward has fallen. I will not help you . . . disgraced priestess."
I force her down into a pew. "You will."
"Ferren!" 99's cutting voice snaps me out of my rage. "Call out to Calliape."
The moment I think it, she appears, August rushing to the back of the temple to help the Viathans stack pews to seal the door. The sounds on the other side growing louder remind me how close the enemy is.
Calliape walks up the aisle, still holding her book and flipping through the pages. "I tried to come earlier, but it was so chaotic on this side, I knew I should wait." She glances up to address me.
I nod, still wanting to rip into the elder who now whisper-prays next to me.
"Did you find anything?" I ask.
"I think so."
"Do it," 99 says, staring at the temple doors.
"There needs to be three of us. Me and two others," Calliape says.
"Alright," I say, stepping forward. "Tell me what to do quickly."
I follow her as she flips another page and then goes back to the original.
"Here." She shuffles behind the altar where the stones lie peacefully on display.
I turn to the elder priestess. I will force her to participate as the third if I must.
"I will do it." Thea's voice is small, almost drowned out as she approaches Calliape. "I do not know you, but if you need a third and Ferren trusts you, then I do too."
I wish Selene would have volunteered. It should be her, not Thea. I am grateful for her bravery, for not crumbling into herself, for still trusting me after she has witnessed my questionable behavior so many times. But Calliape seems relieved Selene did not step up in time, maybe assuming she would.
"Join hands, do not break them," Calliape instructs and positions herself in front of us. "Place your other hands on my shoulders." She holds the book out in the circle our bodies make, so close it almost touches my chest.
All three of us jump as a loud banging sound jolts against the door, dislodging some of the stacked pews.
August stands against them with the other commanders, his back to the barricade, gun drawn and ready.
"Hurry, Calliape!" I urge.
"First Mother, hear us, cloak us in your embrace. Cast your protection across this land so that none shall pass!" Calliape reads the words in a shout.
I close my eyes and focus on each phrase, hoping if I truly hear it, know its meaning, it will somehow make the spell more potent.
"In days of great suffering, cloak us. In days of famine, cloak us. In days of great violence, cloak us. May your children know the mercy of their mother's protection against the cruelness of her other creations!" Calliape's voice creates a powerful energy in the temple, as deep and sacred as any ritual performed here, the only real difference being the wild urgency in her voice.
