6. INITIATION

MELIA POV

Nana reached her hand out to us and we each grabbed her arm. She snapped her fingers and all of our dresses were gone, replaced by a thin piece of black hand-sewn cloth that didn't leave much to the imagination.

If we had not practiced for the ceremony the whole last year, I would have been embarrassed to walk out in front of our coven in such a minuscule amount of clothing. 

Unfortunately, it's a tradition and it is something everyone in the coven had to do when they either turned eighteen or when they joined the coven. 

Nana started herding us towards the pavilion where the elders and the inner court members from both ours and other covens were gathered.

As we reached them, Nana cleared her throat.

"I apologize for the delay, it will only be a few more moments."

The elders nodded their heads.

Nana's eyes fluttered back to open her mindlink.

A couple of minutes after her eyes opened back up, mom shimmered herself and dad to the pavilion. 

Mom looked over at my sisters and me, "Are you girls ready?".

We shook our heads and smiled.

Mom wrapped us in a hug and then walked to the side of the circle that was positioned in the center of our coven's territory. It was made specifically for important ceremonies and events like initiations, commencements, and awakenings.

She cleared her throat, getting the attention of everyone gathered around the coven grounds.

"Good Evening, I apologize for the delay but with it being two minutes before midnight and the blood moon already making her descent, I would love to get started if I could have everyone's attention, please. "

All the outer court members squared their shoulders and gave a slight bow to their high priestess. 

Mom reached her hand out to our father. Walking towards her, he took her hand before she spoke.

"Your High Priestess and High Priest are here this evening to invite Maisie, Melia, and Margot Kingston to become official members and dedicants of the Crescent Moon Coven with the blessing of our elders and the acknowledgment of our inner and outer court members." 

Right on cue, the elders stood up and moved from under the pavilion to their positions around the circle. 

Nana wasn't the eldest but she was the most powerful elder, so she was at the top of the circle. The top of the circle is north-facing, directly below the blood moon.

Mom, being the high priestess of the coven, moved toward Nana and stood to the right of her, and dad, being the high priest, moved and stood to the left of her, along the circle.

Our coven's six inner court members made their way around the circle, finding their positions in between the elders.

At the same time, everyone around the circle opened up their arms wide, stretching them out toward one another.

Nana held her hands out in front of her and a white orb of her power manifested and was levitating above her palms. Dad held out his hands and a dark blue orb of his power levitated above his palms. Then, one by one, each elder and inner court member around the circle repeated Nana’s actions until they all held a unique colored orb of their own levitating above their palms. Mom was the last witch in the circle. She held out her hands and a gold orb appeared above her palms.

Mom then started to speak, "Maisie, Melia, and Margot Kingston please come and join me."

Hand and hand we walked toward the circle.

"Who approaches this sacred space?" Nana questioned.

"I bring thee ones who wish to know the mysteries of this coven, and who wish to honor the Moon Goddess." Mom replied.

Nana looked at Maisie, "By what name will you be known within this sacred circle?"

Maisie responded with her name.

"The goddess has deemed you worthy. Please enter the sacred circle, and kneel in her presence." Nana announced.

Maisie released my hand, walked to the center of the circle, and knelt.

Me and then Margot are invited into the circle and we kneel after we provide our names.

"Before you are initiated as dedicants, are you ready to be purified?" Nana asked.

"I am." We answered in unison.

We were then ritually purified with the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water by the elders washing their power orbs over us.

Nana spread her arms out wide and her whole body was engulfed by her white power orb. She nodded to our dad and one by one each witch around the circle was engulfed by their colored power orbs.

Nana clasped her palms together straight above her head and with that her white magic shot to the sky, and each witch repeated her actions.

“BEGIN!” Nana shouted.

Then Nana lowered her arms slowly, outstretching them to mom and dad on the left and right sides of her.

All the witches around the circle repeated this at the same time and their magic intertwined with one another's. Creating a protective shield in the shape of a dome, enclosing the circle. Once the circle was enclosed, the dome lost its color and faded until it was invisible to the rest of the coven so they could witness our initiation.

Mom started the ritual.

"By joining this coven, you become part of a greater spiritual family. As such, you are part of an endless circle of kinship and hospitality. Hail ye, the Moon Goddesses! Hail to kinsmen and clan, to the ancestors who watch over us, and to those who may follow." 

"Here before you kneel, Maisie, Milena, and Margot Kingston, soon to be sworn parts of this coven."

"The mysteries of the Moon Goddess are many. We can never hope to learn them all, but we can indeed follow them on our journey through this life and the next. As a dedicant, you will learn and grow and evolve every day. You will seek new knowledge, and attain it in direct proportion to your efforts. Let the Moon Goddess and the Ancient Ones guide you on your travels."

"Are you willing and able to uphold the values and principles of this coven?"

"I am." We answered in unison.

"Are you prepared, to be born anew, to begin this day on a brand new journey, as part of your new spiritual family, and as a child of the Moon Goddess?"

"I am." We answered again in unison.

"Then rise, Maisie, Melia, Margot, and emerge from the womb of darkness, and be welcomed into the light and love of the Moon Goddess. You are now a dedicant of the Crescent Moon coven.

The elders snapped their fingers and the black cloth we were wearing disappeared and was replaced by our white consecrated ritual robes.

"These white robes represent your role as a dedicant within this coven. It marks you before the Moon Goddess as ones who wish to follow her path."

"We give you these robes, and bid you use them wisely, and always in accordance with the mandates and guidelines of our traditions."

"Welcome, Maisie, Melia, and Margot, to the Crescent Moon Coven. May you be blessed by the Moon Goddess".

Mom finished the ritual.

"Blessed be." Everyone around the circle spoke at the same time.

Nana started to speak but she was speaking in Latin, so I wasn't entirely sure what she was saying, but from what I knew, she was calling our ancestors and asking for their guidance.

As she spoke, twinkling sparks of all different colored lights suddenly appeared and started swirling all around us. 

After every initiation, the ancestor's essence provides insight into what each dedicant’s future might hold within the coven.

Maisie's lights were the first to change, like a light switch. All the lights circling Maisie stop flashing and brightly shine a sparkly gold.

The outer court members from outside the circle started cheering. 

Gold means that Maisie will be the coven's next High Priestess when mom retires. 

Next, Margot's lights stopped flashing and started to change.

Gold? What in the Goddess’s name?

Everyone gasped.

Then my lights stopped flashing.

Oh, my Goddess, my lights were gold.

The outer court members all started speaking at the same time.

"What could this mean?" 

"There can't be three high priestesses, can there?"

People were starting to panic.

"Quiet!" Mom ordered.

Everyone fell silent.

All at once, the elders lowered their hands to their sides, and then the inner court members followed, breaking the circle. 

The dome disappeared along with the lights that surrounded my sisters and me. 

All of a sudden, a deep pain in my temporal lobe started to throb, my heartbeat speeded up erratically, a harsh buzzing sound was in my ears and my palms were sweating. 

I can't breathe!

I was terrified so I tried to reach out to Maisie but she wasn't paying attention to me.

It felt like time was standing still, my whole body was on fire and my lungs wouldn't work.

I started gasping for air. 

Then everything stopped, my breath caught in my chest, my headache was lessening, my heartbeat returned to normal and my mind cleared itself like it was waking up from a very long and deep slumber. 

Then the craziest thing happened. 

Something started howling. I looked around to see if anyone else was hearing what I was hearing.

But no one seemed to be hearing it. 

They were all listening intently to my mom as she spoke, but I couldn't hear what she was saying.

"Hello, Beautiful!" 

Something deep inside my mind spoke to me.

I jumped back, tripping over my own feet, and fell to the ground.

Both Maisie and Margot dropped to their knees and were both talking as me but I couldn't make out their words.

"Don't be afraid, lovely, my name is Ember. I'm your other half. We are one and the same, I'm your wolf."

"My what?"

Before I could get an answer, I looked up into Maisie's shocked eyes, and then everything went dark.