Chapter 2: Sky - The birthday Ceremony

I struggled to fall asleep, too excited about what tomorrow would bring. Eventually I must have drifted off as I woke up as my mother knocked on my door.

“Sky, time to get up. We need to be at the temple in an hour.”

I got out of bed and went to have a shower. I thought about dressing up for the occasion, but they give you a robe to wear, so where wasn’t any point..

The affinity ceremony was open to the public, but most of the time it’s only the family and friends that attend. In my case it’s only me, my brother and my mother. My father had to work and Dawn had her studies. She said she would attempt to stop by, as she would already be at the temple. I didn’t have high hopes, but it didn’t really bother me. I had already come to terms that my family wouldn’t make the time. After all, I wasn’t their favourite daughter.

Dawn studied to be part of the inner circle, which meant that she worked closely with the high priestess to learn all about the magical ceremonies being conducted. It’s an important job as the high priestess dealt with everything; sabbaths, esbats, funerals, handfasting, affinity ceremonies. They even had a hand in the dark moon rituals, however Hecate would turn up and led them.

Life seemed easy for my sister, she got handed everything. I didn’t know what I wanted to do after school, but spell casting had always fascinated me. Understanding the reason behind how and why a spell works. Maybe I could become a scholar. I wonder what my parents would say about that.

When me, Night and my mother arrived at the temple, a woman in a white robe greeted me and told me to go head. Before every ceremony, the people that were taking part in them must go thought the waterfall pool that was next to the stairs that lead to the temple.

It was there for cleansing, as a ceremony could not be conducted without cleansing. It meant that in order to enter the temple, I had to wash away all my negative energy that may affect the outcome of the ceremony. When I was clean, or at least spiritually clean, I made my way up the stairs and entered the temple. The High priestess greeted me and showed me to the changing room, where I changed into a white robe.

I walked up to the altar that was placed at the far end of the temple. The altar contained several symbolic tokens, flowers, herbs, candles, all representing the different elements. Thought of Dawns affinity ceremony entered my head. Thee had been flowers, fire, and mists, meaning she had an affinity for Earth, Fire and Water. I hoped that I would have an affinity for three elements as well. That way I would be safe. We hadn’t talked about the chances of me being chosen for the sacrifice, but it had been on my mind a lot lately.

I created the circle and sat down inside. I called earth to me and felt as the elemental energy washed over me. Next was water. I could almost feel like I became one with the element. After, I turned to the south and asked for Fire to come and join me and wake up my senses. I could feel a fiery flame burn inside me. Lastly, I turned to the west, and Air, feeling how I grew lighter as the energy of air washed over me. A moment later it was all over, and it was time to thank the elements and close the circle. 

When I finished, I approached the high priestess.

“Congratulations, you have an affinity for air and water.” The high priestess looked into my eyes. “Blessed be.”

I bow my head “blessed be.”

As I left the temple, I couldn’t help to feel disappointed. I should be happy. I could have only had one affinity, but at least I had two. It still wasn’t good enough. I wanted to be special, like my sister. But now I risked being part of the sacrifices. It may not seem like it’s a high chance, as they drew names at random, but any family who only has one child, has the right to defer.

The dark moon that lines up with Samhain was when Hecate would take the magic of three witches in order to protect the village. There used to be more sacrifices being done. I don’t know the specifics, but they made a deal with Hecate and nowadays she will only sacrifice 3 teenagers a year. She announces the names on Samhain, and they carried out the ritual on the dark moon that followed. Samhain was just around the corner, meaning that so what the sacrifices.

When I got home, I spent some time outside, practicing my magic. I stared into a bucket of water, willing it to move. At first nothing happened. I must have stared at it for at least an hour.

“Sky, please come in and set the table.” My mother’s voice sounded from the house.

Why was it always me that needed to do everything? Anger filled me and the water in the bucket exploded all over and got me drenched. Well, I guess my magic was working, just not the way I wanted it too.

Luckily the school taught us how to control it and now that I had learned where my strength lied, I would gain two new classes, one for water magic and one for air. I couldn’t wait to get back to school and start learning.

For the next couple of weeks, I learned some basic control over my magic. I had expected the classes to teach me how to harness my special elements and how to use them to my advantage, but most of the lessons revolve around control and keeping the magic in check. I know it was important, but I couldn’t wait to learn how to create water and get it to move by my will.