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The scent of burning flesh and blood filled the air as the Sacrifices of the Moon were offered to Lady Annuay, Goddess of Eternal Life. The clan danced and howled to the moon like wild dogs, hungry for the promise of cleansed meat and elongated lives. The strangers had only been in the Temple for but 3 days, and had already lost themselves in the glory of Annuay's voice, going for each other's throats and clawing at the stones in madness. It was rather entertaining to watch.
"Ytipur, era uoy ydare rof eht ynoceremo?" Retmons growled in my ear. Looking up at him with a glare, I nodded and retorted, "Sey, eht ynoceremo llash won ecncomme. Tub, uoy lliw terreg ton gnilisten ot ym s'remoth sdrwo fo noicaut."
Retmons snorted and shoved past me eagerly, making a beeline for the upraised rock platform and jumping up on all fours. Cupping his large hands around his mouth, Retmons howled to the sky, shortly joined by the voices of the clan in a chorus of blood and malevolence.
"Nerbreth! Won si eht emit rof ruo tneass otni eht sneheav evoab dna otni eht suograci snilo fo ruo Ylnheave Ydal Annuay! Rehgat dnuaro eht secsacrifi dna dnel ruoy secvoi ot ruo Liaceles Knil!"
Retmons' speech got everyone riled up and excited, some more so then others. To build the energy needed to channel Our Lady, it was necessary for the newest mated couples to viciously make love while the other clan members howled, danced and spilled the blood of innocents. During all of this, I had to remain perfectly calm and tap into my internal Sense of Beyond, reaching out into the spirits of the past, present and future. As I slipped into this state of semi consciousness, I held a blade forged of bone and human leather up to my chest, hoping that my plan would work.
"If you can hear me, please. Stop this madness. End this horrible curse, the curse of Annuay!" With a scream, I plunged the blade into my heart, and a bright white light flashed before my eyes, obliterating my senses-
And effectively jarring her awake with a snort. "W-what? I'm sorry, Albert, what were you saying?" Annabelle said with a yawn as she sat up straight. Albert tsked at her and sighed, putting a hand to his head and the other on the desk. "Anna, you are supposed to be the lead on this expedition. How can we expect you to do so if you keep falling asleep during one of my briefings?"
With a sheepish smile and a flutter of her eyelashes, Anna responded with a cajoling, "Oh, c'mon Albert. This is nothing new! I don't see why we have to go over these details every 5 minutes, nothing has changed! Just save your breath for the trek. You'll need it, ya old geezer." Albert raised an eyebrow at Anna and puffed. "Old geezer, eh? I'll hold you to that when you start complaining about your feet hurting."
Laughing, Anna stood up and gave Albert a hug. He was the oldest and most reliable member of her team with about 30 different expeditions under his belt. Anna saw him as the father that she never had, having grown up in orphanage after orphanage, her parents having abandoned her. He was also the reason why she got into archeology in the first place, seeing as he was once her professor in college.
Her happy memories washed away the rest of her nightmarish visions, visions that had been occurring ever since she signed onto the Templo da Maldade expedition. She couldn't explain it, but for some reason, the images in those visions seemed rather...familiar to her...
"Anna? You can let me go now." Albert laughed, patting her back and leaning away from her. "Oh! Sorry, Albert. I got lost in thought for a moment there." Smiling, Anna let go and walked over to the table on the other side of the tent. She and her team had driven out to the local village of Lobos Den, a quiet hamlet that would be the starting point on our trek through the Amazon.
"Now, Albert, you said that we were the first ones, and the only ones, to sign up for this expedition, right?" Anna said as she organized papers, a curl of her long strawberry blonde hair escaping her ponytail and dangling in her face.
Albert nodded and rolled up his maps. "Why yes, there was no one else who would touch the case. The locals are still advising us to stay away from that, oh how did they put it, 'terra maldita do mal?'"
Anna raised an eyebrow. "'Accursed land of evil?' Nice touch. Say, Al, what time should we-"
Anna was cut off by the sounds of car engines and loud exhausts growling through the quiet air. "What the devil? I thought we were the only explorers?" Anna and Albert ran out of the tent in time to come face-to-truck with a rather large army truck grill and a smug driver.
"Ytipur, era uoy ydare rof eht ynoceremo?" Retmons growled in my ear. Looking up at him with a glare, I nodded and retorted, "Sey, eht ynoceremo llash won ecncomme. Tub, uoy lliw terreg ton gnilisten ot ym s'remoth sdrwo fo noicaut."
Retmons snorted and shoved past me eagerly, making a beeline for the upraised rock platform and jumping up on all fours. Cupping his large hands around his mouth, Retmons howled to the sky, shortly joined by the voices of the clan in a chorus of blood and malevolence.
"Nerbreth! Won si eht emit rof ruo tneass otni eht sneheav evoab dna otni eht suograci snilo fo ruo Ylnheave Ydal Annuay! Rehgat dnuaro eht secsacrifi dna dnel ruoy secvoi ot ruo Liaceles Knil!"
Retmons' speech got everyone riled up and excited, some more so then others. To build the energy needed to channel Our Lady, it was necessary for the newest mated couples to viciously make love while the other clan members howled, danced and spilled the blood of innocents. During all of this, I had to remain perfectly calm and tap into my internal Sense of Beyond, reaching out into the spirits of the past, present and future. As I slipped into this state of semi consciousness, I held a blade forged of bone and human leather up to my chest, hoping that my plan would work.
"If you can hear me, please. Stop this madness. End this horrible curse, the curse of Annuay!" With a scream, I plunged the blade into my heart, and a bright white light flashed before my eyes, obliterating my senses-
And effectively jarring her awake with a snort. "W-what? I'm sorry, Albert, what were you saying?" Annabelle said with a yawn as she sat up straight. Albert tsked at her and sighed, putting a hand to his head and the other on the desk. "Anna, you are supposed to be the lead on this expedition. How can we expect you to do so if you keep falling asleep during one of my briefings?"
With a sheepish smile and a flutter of her eyelashes, Anna responded with a cajoling, "Oh, c'mon Albert. This is nothing new! I don't see why we have to go over these details every 5 minutes, nothing has changed! Just save your breath for the trek. You'll need it, ya old geezer." Albert raised an eyebrow at Anna and puffed. "Old geezer, eh? I'll hold you to that when you start complaining about your feet hurting."
Laughing, Anna stood up and gave Albert a hug. He was the oldest and most reliable member of her team with about 30 different expeditions under his belt. Anna saw him as the father that she never had, having grown up in orphanage after orphanage, her parents having abandoned her. He was also the reason why she got into archeology in the first place, seeing as he was once her professor in college.
Her happy memories washed away the rest of her nightmarish visions, visions that had been occurring ever since she signed onto the Templo da Maldade expedition. She couldn't explain it, but for some reason, the images in those visions seemed rather...familiar to her...
"Anna? You can let me go now." Albert laughed, patting her back and leaning away from her. "Oh! Sorry, Albert. I got lost in thought for a moment there." Smiling, Anna let go and walked over to the table on the other side of the tent. She and her team had driven out to the local village of Lobos Den, a quiet hamlet that would be the starting point on our trek through the Amazon.
"Now, Albert, you said that we were the first ones, and the only ones, to sign up for this expedition, right?" Anna said as she organized papers, a curl of her long strawberry blonde hair escaping her ponytail and dangling in her face.
Albert nodded and rolled up his maps. "Why yes, there was no one else who would touch the case. The locals are still advising us to stay away from that, oh how did they put it, 'terra maldita do mal?'"
Anna raised an eyebrow. "'Accursed land of evil?' Nice touch. Say, Al, what time should we-"
Anna was cut off by the sounds of car engines and loud exhausts growling through the quiet air. "What the devil? I thought we were the only explorers?" Anna and Albert ran out of the tent in time to come face-to-truck with a rather large army truck grill and a smug driver.