Chapter 77

  Mark of the Beast

  (Ravena)

  The ritual had been a success, at least that is what Prentip said.

  “The rest is up to the participants to travel the journey they wish to take,” Prentip said about the now four outsiders who were all undergoing different transformations.

  Overhead dark clouds gathered, as the nighttime finally began giving way to morning. Ravena saw all of this from inside Prentip’s manor.

  While it wasn’t exactly stated, it has been implied for quite a while that Prentip was ready for a change. The days and years of running the pack were slowly draining him.

  On more than one occasion Prentip had hinted that Ravena would finally find her mate and settle down. For the longest time Ravena had dismissed such comments and thoughts as being unproductive.

  At first, she found that none of those who took on the role of the essence of the wolf were deserving of its power. This sentiment of course seemed to be mirrored in the way that the great wolf spirit had abandoned many of the tribe. That or abandoned showing their mark of favor with newer members of the tribe.

  When she first realized this, Ravena thought that such a fate was a self-fulfilling prophecy. That is, the members of the tribe are weaker than the past generations, so rather than offering their favors and blessings to build up the generation of warriors that were clearly inferior, it seemed that the great wolf was ready to let their tribe rot away.

  Then to make matters worse, the Serpentine Queen was claimed by all. With that marking alone she began conquering and uniting future generations of hunters. Hunters that could have all been part of the greater wolf packs.

  For the longest time wise old Prentip would only chuckle to himself when he heard Ravena speak out about her views of no one in the pack being worthy of her, thus her resistance to settle for mediocrity one minute. Then to speak about how the tribe was failing due to not receiving the blessing of the wolf, and how the wolf should lower their standards enough to give others a chance.

  Only now, given time to think about what she was saying and finally able to see the similarities in her complaints, did she realize while Prentip would chuckle to himself.

  At the time, she failed to see why it was okay for her not to bend or change her opinions on a prospective mate, knowing that being bonded in such a way would be a lifetime commitment.

  Similarly, the bond between a greater spirit and a chosen vessel would also be a lifetime commitment from the greater spirit.

  The only reason why she even realized her own hypocrisy was due to the fact that she now understood why she waited, and more importantly what, or rather whom she had been waiting for all this time. Ironically enough, it was the same person that showed her why she should wait for an appropriate partner, that she now realized why the greater spirits were also hesitant to give out their blessings.

  This reason being the boy, one Frank Fotos, not yet a man, not fully. Which only made things worse as it was clear that he still had space to grow and improve himself. Seeing this Frank and what he was already capable of showing Ravena what it was she was looking for all along.

  Worse was the fact that Ravena wasn’t the only one who saw the value of Frank, for Drava almost clung to him the instant she laid eyes upon him.

  Seeing Drava’s affection for him, something deep within Ravena awakened and stirred to life, that possessive part of her nature that had remained dormant to this point.

  Now though, now it was fully awake and aware.

  Looking at the sleeping boy, Ravena could all but feel the power of other worldly spirits gathering around him.

  He had until dusk to choose, to make his pact with a greater spirit.

  If he didn’t choose between now and then, then his spirit would forever be lost. Normally, not choosing a spirit to bond with meant that the spirit in question was unworthy of even a basic pair bonding. That the spirits had all seen something dark and corrosive about the individual in question and would rather leave the subject to die.

  Similarly, there are the cases where the individual gets too cocky, and either fights with or otherwise draws the ire of a great spirit.

  In such cases, there are signs that things have gone wrong.

  “You should check on the old one,” Drava exclaimed, her eyes glowing with a faint purple hue as she scanned the open infirmary that housed all four bodies of those who were choosing to awaken.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  For her part Drava never left the right-hand side of Frank, a fact that unsettled Ravena to no end. Worse was the fact that she was the only one capable of telling what was happening right now.

  While Ravena would never admit that the great bird tribe had any real attributes, they did have one advantage that proved invaluable in cases like this. Their eyes could pierce the veil between worlds and more easily see the movements and actions of greater spirits.

  Most of the time the gift was minor, meaning that most had to focus their entire consciousness on the void and only then could they begin to feel the stirring of nearby spirits.

  The next step was apparently being able to pierce the veil with one or more of the senses.

  Drava though, Drava was different.

  Truth be told, Ravena always thought the girl was a bit spooky. The way her eyes were a bit too wide and insightful. She also had an odd way of cocking her head to the side at an angle, as if this let her see the world a bit more clearly.

  Ravena had seen the same head tilt mirrored in pigeons and other birds and thought it just an odd quirk of their tribe. Yet, the more she interacted with girl, the more Ravena thought she could understand what made the girl tick.

  Well, there was only one thing that she felt made Drava truly do anything and that was Frank.

  Not that Frank did or even asked anything of her, but rather Drava seemed to have been drawn to him almost from the start.

  Looking back, her actions made Ravena jealous.

  For the first few days, Ravena had created a distance to separate her from Frank, a mental barrier as she evaluated with herself to see if her feelings towards Frank were genuine, or just some passing fancy.

  It took Ravena days to come to the same conclusion that Drava had been able to understand almost instantly.

  Now with her casual gesture and words, Drava drew the attention of a few caretakers who had all come in to assist with this process.

  Drava had taken it as her role to be the sole watcher of Frank. Worse, while Ravena had wanted this position for herself, it fell upon her as a host of this area to be inviting towards her tribe’s guests. Worst, it was clear that Drava was clearly helpful here.

  Her pointing out the old man all but proved her insight into what was happening, for just as she spoke, the body of the oldest, the Major, cried out in pain.

  “GAH!” Major’s body wheezed out as two dark black circular puncture wounds appeared on his exposed chest. As they appeared, purple streaks began to seep out from the primary wound.

  “What happened?” Prentip cried out as he went over to check on the patient. A patient that had been left to his care.

  Drava for her part just shook her head.

  “I don’t know what he said, but he somehow offended the great serpent,” Drava provided.

  At that comment, Ravena paused and stared in horror. Now that she had a moment to see what was happening, she saw the two circular puncture wounds for what they were. Those were the markings of two giant fangs that pierced the soul of this Major and ended up manifesting in actual bodily damage.

  To be slaughtered by a spirit in such a way, spoke volumes to Ravena.

  Ravena went over to help, along with a few nurses from the serpentine tribe.

  “Is there anything you can do?” Prentip asked the healer from the serpentine tribe.

  As Ravena looked on, the lines from the bite marks began to spread, as purple poison began to flow out over the body. With each movement of purple venom, the Major’s unconscious body began to rock and spasm violently.

  The process looked painful, even in an unconscious state, it was clear that the Major’s body and spirit both were being forced to endure pain.

  “No, I cannot. Even if I could, I would not dare go against the wishes of deity,” the healer stated.

  While the words might normally have been considered cold, they were spoken with a form of regret. Their want to perform their task as a doctor being overshadowed by their want to appease their tribe’s greater spirit.

  Hearing his words, Prentip could only nod in understanding.

  “Very well, then please move so that we might be able to help this candidate,” Prentip told the serpentine healer, shewing him away with a gesture.

  This left only a regretful Prentip who just stared at the slowly dying body.

  “What can we do?” Ravena found herself asking.

  Prentip just shook his head, “there’s nothing we can do, the spirits have spoken. They have deemed this one unworthy of receiving any future blessings.”

  With that, Prentip went and found a mortar and pestle that had a ground up white powder on it, then grabbing a brush he dipped the bristles into the pestle. Then after a few quick swipes, pulled out the brush and began applying a thin coat to the patient’s forehead.

  Instantly, the pained look that had been on the unconscious man’s face disappeared as he suddenly seemed to relax.

  “What is that?” Ravena asked, pointing towards the white powder that was on the dying man’s forehead.

  “Don’t touch it, it is a powerful pain reliever. It’s side effects are crippling, but in this case the side-effects are the last thing this patient has to worry about.” Prentip declared.

  Then Ravena watched on in horror as the man’s body began to pulse, as each heartbeat made bright purple veins appear. Until finally every vein and artery was filled with a still purple color that slowly bled to the rest of the body. Then finally the body stopped moving entirely.

  Seeing the body, it was clear what had happened, but she was at a loss for words. This was not supposed to happen, not during an awakening ceremony. At least, it shouldn’t happen.

  Fortunately, Prentip was there to help guide the process further.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll get others to remove the body. For now, we still have three applicants who need our help, go tend to them.” Prentip declared as he then began putting up wooden boundaries that would separate others from being able to see the Major in the open floor layout of their hospital room.

  Just as one crisis was over, Ravena turned to see that an odd dark liquid seemed to seep out of Frank’s body and surround him.

  In shocked horror, Ravena cried out, “what’s happening?”

  Seeing the dark spiritual liquid, Ravena knew that this was again another way for the spirits to show their interactions with Frank.

  But why Frank? What did this mean? Did he somehow anger the spirits?

  Fortunately, Drava was there, her glowing purple eyes seeing everything.

  “Peace sister,” Drava exclaimed, holding up a hand to help calm the otherwise excited Ravena. “Many spirits were fighting over him, which was when an elder water spirit came to protect Frank. What you saw was his protection.”

  “Protection?” Ravena asked, her tone incredulous as she saw the strange dark liquid pour out around Frank. Then she watched on in shock as the liquid seemed to go away.

  Drava as if expecting the question that would come next, answered before anything could be asked.

  “The great spirit has retreated for now, but he watches, ready to step in again if needed.” Drava stated, her eyes still staring off into the distance. As if she is seeing an event playing out from far away.

  Seeing the dark and eerie liquid vanish caused Ravena to relax slightly. With so much going on, Ravena felt comforted by the fact that Drava herself was not frightened. If anything, Drava looked relaxed from this whole process.

  With her calming nature nearby, this was the only time that Ravena could ever remember where she was truly grateful for Drava being there.

  Silence.

  There was a long pause, and before Ravena could speak, to ask about what would happen next, Drava spoke first.

  “He has chosen; he should be awakening right now.”

  Then before Ravena had any chance to ask for more clarifying comments, Frank’s body first twitched. It twitched in the same way one would expect it to react from being sat forcefully on its stomach. The body twitched up, thighs up, chest up. Then dropped flat.

  Twitching.

  Frank’s whole body began to twitch.

  As it twitched, Ravena found herself walking over to the side of Frank. Drava too stood, her left-hand clasping Frank’s now nervously twitching right hand. Twitching as a sign that the body was once again reconnecting with the spirit, and these were part of the normal muscle checks that were expected to be performed.

  Then before Ravena could even say or do anything, Frank opened his eyes and locked gazes with Ravena.

  In that moment, her breath caught, for all she could see were a set of the most powerful open purple-lavender eyes staring back at her.

  May 11th, 2025 at 10:30 AM.