Chapter Eleven
Friday arrived, and the final changes were put on the hall. It was circular in shape and was large enough to hold several hundred people. There were torch holders and wall sconces for candles around the walls. There were four candles that stood for earth, air, water, and fire placed at different ends of the platform. There was one candle holder in the middle of the podium. Aldain took one more cursory look before he left for home. The clans from all over were going to be arriving all day Saturday.
Supper was a somber affair. They all talked about the next day and last minute details. Stavros wanted to speak with Malcolm and Carrie. They sat on the couch, Carrie leaning against Malcolm with Stavros sitting close by.
“My dear, it has been such an honor to meet you. You are lovely. You will make a beautiful Chosen One, even if it is all for show,” Stavros said as he picked up her hand and kissed it.
Malcolm didn’t like another man touching his mate and growled a warning. Stavros heard it and backed away. “Forgive me, I meant no harm. It is such an honor to meet a Chosen One after all this time. I remember the one we had, such a lovely woman. She was such a help to our clan. We never needed a doctor. She was such an excellent healer. We relied heavily on her. Then one day she was gone, like she never existed. I could never figure out what happened to her. She was the last one that I know of. The others had disappeared years before she did.”
Malcolm and Carrie were speechless for a moment. After a few minutes Malcolm said, “I don’t mean to sound rude, but how old are you? I was under the impression that Chosen Ones disappeared several hundred years ago.”
Stavros smiled. “Indeed they did. I am over two thousand years old. I can thank my slow aging to my wife and her witch abilities.”
Malcolm had never met a dragon shifter that old. “You look much younger than you are if you don’t mind me saying so.”
Stavros laughed, “I am always on the go. It helps me stay young. I don’t sit still long enough for my age to catch up with me.”
They all laughed.
As Stavros and Malcolm talked, Aldain and Dimitra went over the tome. “Aldain, I have brought the white toga Carrie is to wear at the ceremony. This is an ancient ceremony, so we must do everything we can to replicate the first one. The toga I brought is exactly like what the first Chosen One would have worn. The words are simple enough. I will go over them with Carrie in the morning. Do you have any questions I can answer for you?”
“Do you think this ruse will draw out the rest of the Cailleaches? It sounds like a good plan, and I have tried to think of anything that could go wrong. I just want to make sure everyone is going to be safe.”
Dimitra smiled. “I can’t think of a better reason for the Cailleaches to show up than to stop the last Chosen One. I am sure this will draw them out.”
It was getting late, and it was going to be a busy morning. Aldain walked Stavros and Dimitra to the guest cottage, while Malcolm and Carrie wished everyone a good night and went to their room. Tori had gone to bed earlier than the rest; she was still getting extremely tired. Carrie was worried about her. Her friend just didn’t have the energy she used to have. Tori hoped that her energy would come back after the ceremony was over. She suspected it might be the stress from everything happening that might be affecting her.
It seemed Carrie had just closed her eyes when Malcolm was waking her up again. Dimitra was downstairs waiting for her. She wanted to go through the ceremony with her. Carrie moaned as she got out of bed.
“I can’t wait for all this to be over so my life can get back to normal.”
With a concerned look on his face, Malcolm replied, “What about any of these last few days has been normal?”
Carrie smiled, “You forget, I have healed before. I must admit it never involved giant poisonous snakes or dragons, but the rest of it isn’t much different. I will still be me and be allowed to live like I normally would. I heal already, so that isn’t going to change much. It’s this ceremony that has me on edge. I’ll be glad when I can just be myself again.”
Malcolm took her in his arms and held her close to him. He loved this woman so much, he couldn’t think of the words to tell her how much. None seemed adequate to describe it. He just let the deep love he felt for her flow out of him and into her so she would know how deeply it went.
Carrie could feel his love encompassing her, making her feel safe. She snuggled closer into him as his arms tightened around her.
Malcolm knew that Dimitra was waiting, but was spending some important alone time with his mate—he didn’t care who was waiting.
He heard Aldain calling his name. Malcolm sighed and reluctantly turned Carrie loose. They went downstairs hand in hand to meet the day, as a united front, each determined to get through the day unscathed so they could have their lives back.
Once downstairs, Carrie noticed the tome sitting on the kitchen table. Aldain and Dimitra sat waiting patiently for her and Malcolm to appear. After they sat, Dimitra immediately opened the tome to the words that were supposed to be spoken at the ceremony and how she was changing them. She gave everyone the translated version. They seemed straight forward to Carrie. The entire ceremony shouldn’t take more than five minutes. Carrie was all for that—the less time she spent on that platform, the better. Dimitra decided the ceremony would take place when the moon was at its zenith because the energy would be the highest when the moon was at its zenith. Carrie’s heart sank. She was hoping to have it early in the day to get it over with, but she understood.
“I know when the best time to have a moon ritual is because I have done many full moon cleansings,” Carrie said.
Dimitra blinked. “You do full moon cleansings? What else do you know about the moon and the energy it wields?”
Carrie was quick to answer. “I know you get the purest form of energy from the full moon. You must be careful how much of it you pull in because pulling in too much can make you physically ill. The human body can’t handle it. I use it to recharge my energy every month. I’m able to heal by drawing in the energy around me. I have it course through my body, and after I take it in, I have it leave through my fingers, head and toes. I know what I take I must return to keep the balance in check.”
Dimitra asked her in earnest, “Where did you learn to do this? Did you read a book on it or did someone teach it to you?”
Carrie shrugged, “I didn’t read it from a book or have someone teach it to me—it’s just something I knew.”
Dimitra looked astonished. “You are very gifted indeed. To be born with the knowledge of something so complex and understand how to use it and how it works isn’t something the average human can do.”
Finally, everyone ate a light supper and started getting ready to go to the hall. It was getting dark and the moon was starting to rise higher in the sky. Their group was able to enter the hall without being seen because Aldain had instructed the builders to make a door that opened into a small room, cut off from the rest of the hall. Malcolm followed Carrie into the very small dressing room where she donned the white toga.
Malcolm told her she looked sexy in it and privately hoped Dimitra would let them keep it when the ceremony was over. Malcolm looked out into the hall. There seemed to be hundreds of people in it. He was glad Carrie was going to be blindfolded before she was brought out. The number of people that had shown up was more than he was expecting. Soon the crowd became quiet, which was Malcolm’s cue to take Carrie to the platform. He kissed her quickly then put the blindfold over her eyes.
Malcolm led Carrie onto the platform. He felt Carrie’s body shudder. He knew she had reached out and could tell how many people were there. He squeezed her hand to reassure her. As he looked at the sea of faces, his body stiffened. He could see every Cailleach from every clan at the far end of the building. They were wearing hoods so it would be harder to recognize them for what they were. It seemed the fake ceremony had worked—all the Cailleaches were there, waiting. He would have to warn Dimitra and Aldain they were there.
As Carrie stood facing the podium, blindfolded, she felt an overwhelming sense of evil. It was the same kind of evil she felt right before the Cailleach tried to attack her. She knew she wasn’t supposed to move once she was facing the podium, but she had to know where this evil was. She attentively reached out with her energy. When it encountered the evil, she could feel the energy recoil.
Carrie whispered for Dimitra. She knew she was a female dragon shifter and would be able to hear her. Even though the females couldn’t shift, they had all the attributes of the males, including a heightened sense of smell, hearing, and eyesight.
Dimitra walked over to the blindfolded Carrie. “What is it my child?” she asked. “What is so important that you would have me walk on the platform now?” Dimitra had warned Carrie before the ceremony that she should be the only living thing on the platform.
Carrie leaned toward Dimitra’s ear and whispered, “There is evil here, Dimitra. I can sense it. It comes from the back near the changing room. Please tell Malcolm and Aldain to keep a close eye on them. I feel they are extremely dangerous.”
“I know,” Dimitra said. “Malcolm has already warned us. Never fear, we are ready.”