It was time. Belle closed her eyes and inhaled, relaxing her body as the scent of lavender filled her senses. She had prepared for this moment for three years; ancient texts had been researched, the properties of various herbs and minerals had been studied, and recently, she had discovered the last piece to her puzzle.
Through thorough investigation and the help of a friend in the archaeological sector, she had obtained a work that was believed to be mindless drivel; she believed otherwise. It all tied in with her research and it had led her to this final moment. The Ritual. A doorway to another world; a better world. A product of long forgotten magic, dangerous magic, blood magic. A magic she was willing to risk her life for.
The shop attendants had been suspicious when she selected thirty-three imperfect obsidian fragments from their gem tables, and the suspicion grew tenfold when she ordered the crystal knife, exactly thirty-three centimetres in length. She doubted she would be allowed in their shop again, though that did not matter; they had done as they were paid to do and now those shards were placed in a perfect circle, her knife in the exact centre, and the distrustful glares were but an unimportant memory.
She bent down and retrieved the knife, allowing her white robe to fall from her body as she stepped into the circle and sat where the blade had been. Her eyes closed, she focused on that delightful scent and breathed it deep into her lungs. All that mattered was that smell. She clutched the knife tight within her grasp and continued her steady breaths, and it was not long before an exhilaration flooded her veins and she knew that her mind's eye would open.
She looked down upon herself and was delighted to witness the first stage of success. Her body still sat cross-legged in her circle of obsidian and she still held her knife, her physical eyes were closed. It was her first successful out of body experience and it took all of her willpower to keep her focus.
Her euphoria knew no bounds as she struggled to retain her control. It was wonderful! Tremendous exaltation flew through her being and overwhelmed all else. The lavender swirled about her as a visual scent, hues of green and yellow circulated about the pink glow of her body; the walls of her room fell away into nothingness, the area shone with all the colours of the rising sun; she felt herself rise higher in both spirit and joy, she wanted to laugh and she wanted to cry; she needed to keep control!
She fought through the ecstasy and forced herself to focus on her research, on her final puzzle piece, on the door. The door was the key. Calming her spirit as best as she could manage she imagined the door. An arched, wooden construct engraved with silver runes, she could see it in her mind’s eye, she could feel it with her soul’s touch, her calm faded away once more and the urge to swim deep within her sea of euphoria flooded all rational thought.
Calm yourself! The door was all that mattered. She pulled herself from her joy and towards the construct, and stared at the grains in the wood, the glint of gold woven within, and the silver runes shone brighter. It was time. The door was real. Cut the flesh.
Her senses screamed with fire, a thump echoed all about her, and the area darkened. No! She had to focus on the door; it was real. She felt the blood wet on her chest and her strength began to vanish. She ignored it as best she could and continued to stare at the door.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The thump grew louder, the area darker, and the door was fading. She felt her soul being pulled down as her physical body screamed for her mind to return.
“Please…”
Her voice had grown hoarse and sounded as though she were drowning. Her physical voice, though a whispered plea, shouted bright red flashes through her fading vision. Everything was black except for those vivid flashes. The tugging sensation grew stronger as it tried to return her to her dying body. She could not let it; she must succeed.
Her mind’s eye struggled to remain open, the door had become nothing but a brown blob with silver blurs amidst the blackness of her world, she could no longer make the shape of the runes, she could no longer smell the lavender… everything was gone.
Belle collapsed in the centre of her obsidian shard circle and her face landed on the flat of her crystal blade. The thumping slowed and she felt a tear trickle from her eye. The doorway to a new world, a new existence; of course it had not worked. Her vision faded to black as the tear drop landed on the bloodied crystal.
It had been worth trying.
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. :)
If you want to know a secret... it definitely had been worth trying. In my mind, she meets her success when she's capable of opening her eyes once more. ;) This was originally the beginning to one of the novels I'm working on, but decided it was too... I don't know. The direction it headed was too personal, and far too whimsical, and I started over.
The picture used is courtesy of vborodinova on Pixabay!