Incantation:
Shortie by Lone Wolf


~Murmer, Chant, Invoke, Pray~

The dark alter sizzled as fresh blood was poured onto it's smooth surface. The eyes of the skull that were etched into it's front began to glow eerily. It's power seemed to ooze around the small room and over the disciples that were praying there. The head priest fell to his knees, holding the body of a child in the air, and started to murmer a simple incantation.

The doors to the "sanctuary" burst open. A hail of arrows fell on the occupants, piercing some of them, missing others completely. The head priest ignored this and continued his crude, barbaric ceremony.
"To action!" a powerful voice called. A single wolf, garbed in heavy chain main, a steel helmet, and brandishing an iron broadsword, charged into the occult ceremony, his sword tearing into the first black robed figure he came upon. The robe fell to the ground as if nobody was in it.
A fox came in next, garbed in an archer's uniform. She pulled a bunch of arrows from her quiver and started firing, piercing more black robes, which also fell to the ground without bodies. "Damn." She took another arrow, aimed at the head priest, and fired, only to see her shot get deflected by the dark energies.
"Amature," a third voice said. A dagger went flying though the air, bouncing off the headdress of the praying priest. For a brief moment, his concentration and spell were broken, but he was able to recover.
"And you could do any better?"
"I hit him," the ferret snapped back. He pulled a second dagger from within his leather armor. "Better than what you did." He stabbed wildly at a black robe.
"He's protected by magic," a withered voice warned them. The old border collie approached them, garbed in his gray wizard robes. "To hit him, you must dispel the field." He slid something into his old, wood staff, held it all up, and chanted a small spell. They all watched as the area around the priest became lighter.
The wolf watched this. "I've got him!" He charged with a howl.
"Wait!"
The wolf swung his sword down wildly. It didn't get a chance to hit, instead meeting with a piece of magic that had suddenly appeared. It send a few shocks into his body and sent him flying.
"Only I can stop the ceremony," their cleric, a dove, told them. He stepped past them and approached the alter.

The child's body suddenly rose from the high priest's hands, floating in the air. "It is done," the priest rattled in a half deranged voice. "You shall all feel the wrath of the great Syg-"
His sentence was abruptly ended by an arrow.
"He was bothersome," the fox said. "He needed to be silenced."
"Quickly," the collie said. "Perform the ceremony."
The dove nodded and fell to his knees. He shut his eyes, folded his hands, and started to pray. The others watched in awe as his body began to glow a white, contrasting the dark atmosphere around them. His body grew waves of light, which started upwards and wrapped up the child's body. "Return to where you belong," he murmered. "Return to-"
There was an ear piercing howl. He covered his ears for only a moment. But it was enough to break his concentration, and the spell. The child's body immediately turned black and disappeared.
"No!" the collie shouted.
"Damn it!" the dove added. He folded his hands and began to pray again. His body sent forth cleansing beams, striking everything and anything, seeking out the evil surrounding this place. There was a sudden burst of energy. Everyone was sent to their backs.

"Fuck!" the wolf said, hoisting himself up to his feet. "We failed."
"You're telling me," the collie said. "It's been unleashed." He steadied himself on his staff.
"So what happens now?" the fox asked. "What will this thing do to us? And when?"
"Who knows," the dove said, brushing himself off. "It could attack our villages tomorrow. It could attack them three years down the road. It might not attack at all, and just spend it's time contemplating it's next move. But whatever the case is, it's out, and it's not going to go back into containment so easily."
"Our future generations are in jeopardy," the wolf said. "What do we do now?"
"We can't do anything. Whatever it is, it's long gone. The best we can do right now is sanctify this area so it can't come back and draw power from the evil here."
The collie nodded. "Let's pray that this thing isn't going to attack us soon. We're in no shape to fight and we'll lose for sure."
"Indeed. Now, pass the incense. I've got a lot of work to do."

Seven years have passed since then. The time is right.....

End?

This material is © Lone Wolf and <([ Lone Wolf Studios ])>