Scavenger Girl: Season of Atchem by Jennifer Arntson

Author:Jennifer Arntson [Arntson, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sleepy Adam Publishing
Published: 2017-10-19T16:00:00+00:00

* * *

Everyone sat in chairs arranged in the parlor as Blue’s grandfather blew out all the lanterns. After the last light had left, we sat waiting for what would happen next. The only light was whatever the moons provided through the windows, yet it was sufficient to see when Blue entered the room and took his place in the parlor. He seemed strangely confident standing next to the pedestal, refastening his cloak under his chin. His grandparents took a seat in the two upholstered chairs nearest him, and the dark room fell silent.

An ominous hooded figure floated in from behind us, carrying a wide, stone bowl. The woman chanted in an ancient language as she put it securely on top of the grand pedestal. I didn’t understand the language, but the voice was vaguely familiar. Still chanting, she held her arms out wide. In the darkness, she took on the silhouette of a falcon. She cast something into the bowl with her right hand, and I heard a slight hissing sound. She then added something into it from the left, and a fearsome flame ignited from the bowl. I jumped back in my seat and peered over at my father for an explanation. He sat there comfortably, his hands folded in his lap. I sat up a little straighter, determined not to be startled again. The fire lit the room, revealing Kali’s face within the hood of the darkened red robe.

She’s a Priestess!

She threw two more handfuls of something into the fire that made it spark and roar. The tips of the flame rose above her head. Her foreign chanting stopped. “To Somoreallan, the great god of life.” She brought her hands together, palms flat against one another. “I ask for your presence to reside within me. I ask you to accept me to be a worthy vessel to channel your power and dominion.” Her hands flew up above her head, and she leaned back so that her hood fell behind her. “We greet you and become moved by your power!” She swayed in a circular motion, chanting low in that same foreign language.

She slowed and lowered her arms, then removed a feather from between her breasts. “We surrender our freedoms and offer this feather of flight as a symbol of our commitment to your rule.” She tossed it into the fire, and I smelled it burning. “We offer you, my Lord, the heart of the innocent, the lamb you have sent, harvested by this boy. Hear him as he asks your permission to become a man.”

Blue handed her a smaller bowl with a bloody round muscle in it. She lifted it high, as an offering. “He is pleased.” She smiled at Blue while passing it back to him. “The gods have asked you to share in the devouring of the youth. Do you accept?”

“Yes,” he said, and he took the bowl from her and held it in front of himself. His grandmother, taken by the moment, dabbed the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief.

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