Wysper - The Sacrifice

This was the morning, as it had been on so many mornings before this one, that I was to be sacrificed to the twin gods Yun-Kax.

We stood in a group on top of the pyramid dedicated to them, the matronly priestess Thalia on my right side, and the priestess Myra, the prettiest of us three, on my left. Surrounding us were priests from Tesiphon, the capitol city of the Sasnayam empire, while surrounding them were priests from the local temple in the city-state of Bukhara. All the priests wore robes the golden color of sun-ripened corn, while Myra and Thalia had on robes the color of blood.

I was dressed in robes of white, the color of death. A eunuch of the great temple in Tesiphon stood behind me while the High Priest, his dark yellow robes decorated with bands of orange-red designed to resemble flames, stood in front of the altar: a block of stone stained reddish-brown from the blood of old sacrifices.

The early morning sky, itself stained with narrow bands of crimson, heralded the dawn as the wind’s cold breath blew upon the crowds who came to watch, spilling out beyond the edges of the large plaza. Only the nobles and people of the higher castes were permitted to sit upon the stairs and ledges of the other three, smaller pyramids in the quadrangle, the temples of lesser deities. Their priests were sitting atop their own pyramids, watching with the rest.

The sun peeked its head above the mountains far to the east, and the High Priest put the golden horn he held to his lips. Then he began to blow. A blast of sound echoed among the pyramids, the sound began to fade, and the crowd chanted, 'Yun-Kax, Yun-Kax'. He blew a second time, and a second time the crowd chanted, 'Yun-Kax, Yun-Kax'. He blew a third time. The crowd was silent while the horn echoed across the city, as if the ghosts of priests long dead blew their own horns in answer. The sound faded and grew still.

The crowd remained silent as the High Priest handed the ancient instrument to his assistant for the day, the head-priest of the local temple in Bukhara. They bowed to each other before the head-priest carried the golden horn back inside the small, square structure at the center of the pyramid, with stairs leading down to the chambers below. The High Priest stepped in front of the altar and raised his hands to the crowd.

In his ear was fitted a holy Artifact, a black device inset with a glowing blue mana stone, that let his words project out as if he was speaking from only a few yard-lengths away. The crowd murmured in surprise as his voice echoed among them. "Good people of Bukhara, loyal satrapy of the Sasnayam empire, our god-king Yazdegar blesses you and your families with abundance on this most important of days."

With a sweeping gesture, he motioned towards the blood-stained stone block before him. "In years past, on this day several of your daughters would have been chosen to be sacrificed upon this altar, their hearts torn from their fragile breasts, hearts which your priests would then have given to the god as tribute. Sometimes Yun-Kax would be pleased with your offerings, and your prayers would be answered. Sometimes the twin gods would find fault with you and remain silent.

“However, on this most important of days, your humble servant will show you the wisdom of Bukhara remaining within the Sasnayam alliance, by having Yun-Kax come down from the heavens and enchant corn, before your very eyes, which the noble priests of this city-state will distribute to strengthen its people."

A murmur swept through the crowd as the High Priest motioned for Myra, Thalia, and me to move forward enough so the people could see us. "You wonder why three barbarian women, two with hair like spun gold, and one the color of dark blood, are standing with me upon this temple. They are here because they have magic in their hearts, fertility magic, magic which Yun-Kax now controls.

“Once, they were druid priestesses of the heathen god named Pan, in the Isle of Britannia, hundreds upon hundreds of leagues away from us in the north and west. Do you see the red haired girl in the center, with braids of golden hair at her temples? Her slave name is Blood-Wysper, and she will be sacrificed today so that your daughters may live to bear children and not die upon this altar, as so many have done before."

A great murmur went up, shock and relief clear in the mostly female voices, which died down as the High Priest raised his arms. "And even Blood-Wysper may be spared if Yun-Kax sees fit to do so." Turning towards the small, square building as he lowered his arms, he motioned with a hand at the ones inside. The head-priest walked out holding an eight-foot tall effigy of the twin gods, its face a human mask with empty eyes and mouth. The rest of it was a hollow creation made of light wood covered in flowing script, the left side being a man with his outer arm holding a carved rock corn plant, the right side of a woman whose outer arm held a carved flaming torch.

Their inner arms were fused together, forming a single hand cupped to hold a human heart.

Following the head-priest were acolytes in light yellow robes carrying sack after sack of rock corn. The High Priest moved out of the way so the head-priest could set the effigy down at the foot of the altar, while the acolytes arranged the enormous sacks of corn in a semi-circle behind the statue.

The High Priest waited until the acolytes had returned to the building, and the head-priest to his place with the other priests of the local temple, before he addressed the crowd once more. "The golden-haired priestesses will invoke Yun-Kax, and when he is with us, Blood-Wysper will be sacrificed. Her life-magic will then be given to the twin gods, who will transfer it to the rock corn, transforming it into blood corn before your very eyes."

Now the murmurs were male and female both, their voices excited, but the High Priest's echoing voice quieted the crowd. "The rumors you have heard about blood corn are true. Its seed yields three times the crop as normal corn, and often far more. Give a few seeds to your livestock, and they will strengthen and become more fertile. Give a few seeds to your children, and they will thrive. Give a few seeds to yourselves, and your women will have more healthy children, while your men will become stronger."

The High Priest raised his hand above his head and made a fist. "But there is a price. Yun-Kax will take this girl's life in exchange for this gift, and if they decide not to restore her, there will be no more blood corn. Ever." Startled gasps came from the crowd as the High Priest raised his other hand with his palm open. "Everything depends upon you. Yun-Kax will be among us, and if you implore them, then they might, just might, return the life that Blood-Wysper will shed for you, and for your children."

For a few moments he stopped speaking as he lowered his hands, surveying the crowd that had gone silent. "Remember my words after you watch the miracles performed atop this holy pyramid, on this most important of days."

The High Priest turned towards Thalia and brusquely nodded. Thalia inclined her head, then untied the white robes I wore, pulling them off me and casting them aside. I stood nude in the light of the rising sun. Thalia beckoned, and I laid myself down upon the stone altar, shivering at the touch of cold stone against my bare flesh. Four priests of the High Temple in Tesiphon grasped my wrists and my ankles, holding me down.

As the priests arranged me to their satisfaction, Thalia and Myra approached the effigy. From beneath their robes they each brought out a small disc, both shaped like a dragon's scale, Thalia's disc as golden as the hair on their heads, while Myra's disc was deeply red as the short hair barely covering my ears. Thalia reached up and placed the golden disc in the effigy's right eye as Myra placed the red one in the effigy's left. Stepping back, both began to sing a chant that was ancient when the mighty Etruscan empire was just a league of tribes, fighting the kingdom of the Romans for mastery of Italia.

Flat on my back, I sang the descant by rote. Please, any god who can hear me, let my life end, let me shed this abused body and be set free. Please, I beg you, just let me die. The pair of them circled the altar and the effigy once, then a second time, and then a third, as we sang together the words of the ancient chant.

They moved to circle a fourth... there, the discs inside the effigy's eyes have begun to glow. At once, my sisters took their accustomed positions, Thalia on the statue's right side while Myra moved to stand upon its left. Our chant changed to one of welcome, one of acceptance. I dreaded what was to come as the High Priest moved beside the altar with the black, Artifact knife in his hand. He raised it high above his head. Then plunged it down to make the first cut.

I screamed as the knife pierced the skin below my ribcage, my arms straining against the strong hands of the priests as the High Priest cut open my flesh, severing the connections and lifting my glowing heart into the air for all to see. The crowd gasped as one.

The normal heart beneath my ribcage continued to beat. The four priests released me as Thalia and Myra rushed over, putting their hands on the wound as the priests covered my body with a red shroud. I laid with my arms and legs dangling over the sides of the stone block as the familiar feeling of warmth spread across my belly. I was Brittani, the daughter of a queen, and I wanted to be strong. Yet I could not stop the tears rolling down my cheeks.

Their magic stopped the bleeding as the blood magic in my body caused it to begin the slow healing of itself once again. My eyes were closed almost to slits as the High Priest carried the uplifted heart to the hollow statue and placed it within the cupped hand before stepping back. For a moment nothing happened.

It trembles... there, the effigy is coming to life. The articulated statue moved with a stiff, awkward gait to the first sack, bending slightly with its cupped hand over the opening as it let the reddish-gold light from the heart it held wash over the rock corn held within.

The statue remained in place for a few moments before it straightened, then turned and moved towards the next large sack. Meanwhile, the familiar rustling sound began inside the first, as if a hundred serpents had just woken from sleep and seek to escape. The sound subsided as the effigy finished with the second sack and moved on to the third, the second sack rustling as the first had done.

The effigy reached the last sack and I knew its magic was almost spent, for the statue had begun making jerking movements. It swayed, then stopped moving altogether. The High Priest turned and motioned towards the head-priest, who rushed over at once and opened one of the sacks. "Blood corn," he yelled, his voice carrying across the quadrangle without benefit of the High Priest's magical device. "We have blood corn."

"At what cost?" The High Priest's voice roared as it echoed off the pyramids, his massive eunuch pushing through the priests and picking me up so the crowd could see my limp form. "Blood-Wysper is dead!"

I was too spent to do anything but lay limp in the eunuch's arms as he carried me past the priests towards the square building. Thalia and Myra began chanting an ancient dirge of our people, which the High Priest's device projected to the crowd for a few moments as the two priestesses followed the eunuch.

As their voices faded, the High Priest raised his arms above his head. "Pray for her, people of Bukhara. Pray for the return of Blood-Wysper's life, or you will never have blood corn again, never have the blessing of Yun-Kax upon this fertile land. How many of your children will be sacrificed upon this altar to regain their favor? Pray for her, people of Bukhara, pray to Yun-Kax for the return of Blood-Wysper!"

As the eunuch carried me inside the building, people began screaming, crying, men and women both calling out to Yun-Kax to restore me as Thalia and Myra placed their hands upon me once more. They drew deep upon their power, their hair shining like polished gold as they softly sang. Pain stopped, their magic strengthening mine to restore my torn flesh as my second heart began the slow, slow process of growing back, as it had time and time again. Their magic could not restore my blood loss, though, and Thalia gave me a worried look. "Can you stand?" I nodded, and the eunuch set me on my feet.

Still naked as the day of my birth, I walked out of the square building, Thalia and Myra close to me on either side. The crowd was still praying, though the screaming had stopped, but the moment those sitting on top of the closest pyramid caught sight of me, they began screaming again, this time in joy. 'Wysper', they began to chant, and the rest of the crowd took it up as the three of us moved to the edge of the pyramid so I could be seen. 'Wysper, Wysper, Wysper!'

"A miracle," the High Priest shouted, dropping to his knees at the edge of the pyramid as he raised his hands to the sky. "Yun-Kax has blessed this city. Yun-Kax has blessed Bukhara."

Doing as I had been told, I fell to my knees in front of the statue, bowing to it even though the god within was now gone. I rose to my feet and everything started spinning while I began to sway, the blood loss I had endured over the last several months finally catching up with me.

The High Priest frowned as he rose to his feet, tapping the device in his ear so his voice could no longer be heard. "Take her down to your chambers and feed her breakfast," he said to Thalia, "then let her sleep herself out."

Thalia bowed to him. "By your will." Turning away, she supported me on her arm, Myra doing the same on my other side a few moments later, and they helped me walk towards the square building as the priests collected the sacks of blood corn.

All the while, the crowd continued chanting my name.