The Peacock Dances

It was a beautiful autumn morning. The temperature near the shores of the great lake of Alison hasn't fallen very low, and the leaves on some trees still remain. Professor Agusthus was in his small balcony, sipping his morning tea. The expedition group led by the prof. was lodging in the historic ruins, The High Gardens, which were discovered a few years back by some loggers. He is an environmental historian and has been studying the old archives of the High Gardens for quite some time now, with his party members who are generally his students. Before coming to stay here in Alison, he has been a professor in the Royal Elven Academy for eight decades, which is, to say, is a short time for a high Elf like him.

He spends his morning and afternoons in his study in the living quarters of the ruins. As the sun sets in the beautiful lake of Alison, he comes down to the bustling city streets and drinks and sings in the famous bar of Alison, the 'Mountain Hide.' As a high Elf, his looks don't match the age, and the fair maidens of Alison are easily seduced by his sweet words.

But his peaceful daily life came to an abrupt end; as he saw a big bluish-white ball of light rising to the skies far off the shores of the great lake. The big ball of Energy slowly enlarged as it reached the clouds and disappeared after making a big soundless explosion. White waves of Astral Energy spread across the sky, the glow from which made the surroundings white. Prof. Agusthus immediately created the most substantial barrier he could make and protected himself with it until the waves passed. Most of the town people did the same after seeing the approaching waves. But some of the town people, who could not do so, came in direct contact with them and were severely affected. Some were paralyzed, some vomited out blood, and some were unconscious. Chaos and disturbance immediately spread throughout the city.

Even the professor was not completely unharmed. His hands and feet were numb, and his head was dizzy with a nauseating feeling. Then he felt a cold chill down his back. But it was not due to the cold winds which immediately started blowing after the initial big wave; it was because he realized that something even more significant was coming. Times were changing, and the future would never be the same.

----

It was the 20th day of the first month of the year. Though winter has not entirely passed here in the northern city of Soldanella, the snow was slowly receding to the high mountains. But the town was already heated up by the long lines of carts and troops entering and leaving the city. It was because an essential summit of influential people of the western continent was going to be held in the Tower of Wintergreen situated to the north end of the city. Due to which many dignitaries and their followers have gathered in this neutral northern city.

The summit was held because of the disastrous natural event which happened on that autumn day, which later came to be known as Dawnfall. Many of the renowned historians predicted that it was definitely going to happen sometime in the future, but it came sooner. Everybody knew that times were changing, and the future looked uncertain. The western continent of Wisteria mainly consisted of the humans and closely related races. They didn't have enough national power to stand still in the approaching storms. So, they decided to adopt some necessary countermeasures before it was too late.

They decided to use the summoning ritual again, using the ancient formation left behind by the great Beings of the past. Generally, they use this method to summon powerful, monstrous beings of unknown origins, in case of emergencies like war, etc. But this time, they decided to try to summon intelligent beings.

The summoning ritual is a crude taboo as it demands a soul for a soul. That means sacrifice is needed to summon something living. And in this case, intelligent sacrifices are required to summon intelligent beings. The rest of the body of the summoned creature is created by disintegrating the bodies of the sacrifices and then reconstructing them to suit the needs of the summoned souls.

Most of the people that were present in the summit were against the idea of using human sacrifices. But then, somebody raised his hand and presented the plan that they could use criminals who have been sentenced to death for their crimes. After some deliberation, that idea was accepted by majority votes and was planned accordingly.

----

Time passed quickly. Criminals were being rejudged all across the continent for their crimes. The summoning ritual had not been performed before by using people of the races as sacrifices, at least according to the knowledge of the current historians. So, nobody knew the best way to perform it and also the number of sacrifices required. Hence, they acquired as many of them in a five months duration. Finally, on a stormy summer night, the sacrifices were gathered in a secret place, where the formation and formulas of the summoning ritual were drawn on four big walls that enclose a large crystal. A substantial protective barrier protected the site from the damaging effects of the environment. The ceremony was also kept top secret.

The whole lot of sacrifices were blindfolded and brought into the open space around the crystal. Archmages were present behind those walls and were supplying mana to them. Their mana changed its form as it passed through those walls and slowly seeped into the crystal in the center. The crystal started emitting a faint glow that gradually began enveloping the sacrifices, and all of them began to drop to the ground, unconscious.

As time passed, the air started creaking inside, and strong winds began blowing atop the hall. And then, suddenly, a whirling swirl of red, blue, and violet, centered at the crystal, opened and enveloped everything. It receded, leaving a bright blinding glow of Astral Energy, which burst open the top of the hall and the barrier; and reached the dark clouds which were brewing a storm outside. After a few moments, the light faded, and with it, brought down the heavy rain. But the inside of the hall was kept dry by the thin invisible barrier, which quickly reformed itself after being destroyed by the white beam.

The crystal was still emitting a faint light, and in that light, seven naked bodies of children lying on the ground could be seen.