{"sf1_id":130732,"sf2_id":"WelGEk01","title":"The Ritual","author":"Dark Alpha Wolf","words":1299,"posted_at":"2010-03-11T00:07:00.000Z","tags":["Ritual","Transformation","Werewolf","cult"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/130732-the-ritual","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/WelGEk01","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/d2/f9/d2f970fd-680e-4a8c-8c54-e64e246b530c","description":"","content":"Okay, so this one's a little more dark than my previous ones, but I like it. It was inspired, once again, by that awesome music of The Undertaker and his former Ministry of Darkness (which, might I add, I really think they should bring back!). But still, it's not all about occult whatnot and all that, despite the title...and the tag, lol.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nSo, I should just mention, it gets a bit freaky when somebody gets stabbed, but everything's fine. It's all good! So, thanks for reading (if you've gotten this far, lol). Comments, constructive criticism, and votes and faves and all that good stuff are all welcome! So...ENJOY!\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n_The Ritual_\n\n_(started 3/3/10 - ended 3/9/10)_\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n_I hear an almost unearthly chanting_\n\n_such as that you would hear in church_\n\n_But gods, this is no church, all dressed_\n\n_in black with clawlike spires grasping the sky_\n\n_And it is of stone - cold, unfeeling stone -_\n\n_such as that to which I feel bound in my heart_\n\n_I enter the grandest, most macabre, most bloody-_\n\n_black hall I've ever seen, lined with flickering torches_\n\n_That chanting continues, growing in strength as I_\n\n_approach that hauntingly familiar symbol satanic_\n\n_A demonic crucifix of spines and thorns, drenched in_\n\n_what looks far too eerily like...blood..._\n\n_Suddenly, lightning crashes from outside and for_\n\n_but a moment I see naught but shadows...moving_\n\n_I knew that they wanted to help me, to take me in,_\n\n_but for the love of all the good gods, what had I done?_\n\n_Inside my heart, my sense was telling me to run,_\n\n_but the chanting had a certain allure to it..._\n\n_It was almost calling out to me, promising_\n\n_that my worries would subside...I just had to believe_\n\n_Another flash, and this time I gasped as I_\n\n_knew now, for absolutely sure, I was not alone_\n\n_A black mass of figures, heads bowed, covered in_\n\n_death-black from head-to-toe...chanting..._\n\n_~ The Wolven_\n\n_~ \"Der Werewolfen, onvard heil!\"_\n\n_They stop before me, the chanting stops as well_\n\n_and I look to their leader, no...their alpha..._\n\n_\"On bended knee, ye mortal man, with will of iron,_\n\n_for you come with heart broken to join our clan\"_\n\n_I bent, unresisting, and felt better even as my knee_\n\n_hit the floor, as I felt a warmth growing in my heart_\n\n_\"Fealty, human, will you swear, to The Wolven, to_\n\n_join the loving, caring, strengthening brotherhood?_\n\n_Will you draw strength from your wolf brothers,_\n\n_and in turn will you give them your strength to hold?\"_\n\n_\"Yes. I will swear absolute loyalty, draw strength from_\n\n_my wolf brothers and give them mine in turn, master\"_\n\n_\"So it shall be. Will you sacrifice blood and shift bone,_\n\n_giving your voice to the wind and to the bright wolvan moon?_\n\n_Defend this, your pack and family, with pride and faith,_\n\n_putting forth your life in tribute to save your brothers?\"_\n\n_\"I will, with all my once-broken heart, do all in my power._\n\n_I will let no harm come to these who will deem me family\"_\n\n_\"So you shall...\" he growled, and I felt him place a..._\n\n_paw...on my shoulder. \"Rise, young pup, and commence the ritual\"_\n\n_I stood and suddenly felt myself ensnared to the massive_\n\n_crucifix, chains binding my arms and legs to the spines_\n\n_\"Relax, young one, for the pain is only temporary...while_\n\n_the glory of the transformation is forever,\" he said_\n\n_The weathered cloth covering my chest was torn from me_\n\n_and the glint of a previously-bloodied sword widened my eyes_\n\n_\"With the blessings of our gods Fenris and Tor, and_\n\n_with the blade I hold in my grasp, doth this human shift\"_\n\n_The blade was drawn across my chest, slicing smoothly,_\n\n_then down the center, drawing in my flesh the cross, my bondage_\n\n_\"From broken human to brother lupine, I, alpha of_\n\n_this pack, accept this new member, and show him the_ light!_\"_\n\n_I howled a veritable howl as the blade pierced my chest,_\n\n_the pain driving deep as the blood flowed down my chest_\n\n_A chalice collected the blood and to it the alpha added a_\n\n_silvery-amber substance that made it shimmer deeply_\n\n_\"Now drink, brother,\" said he, holding the blood to my lips,_\n\n_\"and let your once-broken soul heal itself in our wake.\"_\n\n_I drank, expecting to taste the coppery tang_\n\n_reminiscent of far too many fights in my life_\n\n_But that taste was of pure ambrosia, the sweetest_\n\n_drink of all my painful, unfulfilling existence_\n\n_\"I am glad that you enjoy the taste,\" he whispered_\n\n_unto me, \"but now here comes the true glory...\"_\n\n_The pain! Gods, that pain! Indescribable is it_\n\n_that flowed like liquid fire through my veins_\n\n_My bones, yes I felt them, flowed like water, formless,_\n\n_and made new things of themselves and of my body_\n\n_My skin felt as though stabbed by infinite knives,_\n\n_then boiled off of my body in liquid magma,_ 23_rd degree_\n\n_My mind overflowed with images, vivid and stained,_\n\n_tainted with that crimson shadow, that lunar shadow_\n\n_My heart fueled everything, as if with every hellish_\n\n_beat the beast I knew I was becoming drew itself out_\n\n_Cracking of my sanity I was sure would follow, for_\n\n_who could stand the sheer brutality of this pain?_\n\n_\"Let free the beast within, from bleeding heart and morphing skin,_\n\n_to howl all the moonlit night, transcend the bleak and hopeless plight\"_\n\n_This they chanted in ever-increasing strength as my_\n\n_form became what I had never dreamed possible, but ever feared_\n\n_The alpha lifted his paws to the sky and howled out:_\n\n_\"From the hopeless human flood, come to us of Wolfen blood!\"_\n\n_Lightning struck the sword and everything went white..._\n\n_for a second, I regretted doing what I had...too late..._\n\n_As my last instant of humanity left me...I_\n\n_thought of my broken heart...and smiled..._No more\n\n_~ Then it just..._\n\n_~ all went black..._\n\n_Waking as I did in a soft bed with warm, soft covers,_\n\n_I felt so new, so fresh, so ready to live life..._\n\n_I grabbed a set of black robes and was shocked to find_\n\n_my..._paw_, reaching from an arm not unlike my former..._but furred\n\n_The fur was deathly black, running all over my body from_\n\n_the tips of my ears (pointy and triangular!) to my footpaws clawed_\n\n_Bloody-red streaks ran over the curves of my body, outlining_\n\n_ripped muscles in an almost tribal pattern, savagely artistic_\n\n_A tail hung down and I felt almost puppyish in_\n\n_my new, luxurious, strong, almost titanic form..._\n\n_And then that chanting...that unmistakable,_\n\n_eerily-haunting, yet invigoratingly sweet vocalization_\n\n_It filled my ears with those now-discernable words:_\n\n_\"Unto us, a new one comes, his heart e'er beating to the drums\"_\n\n_I smiled and walked back into the grand hallway,_\n\n_and there stood my brothers, heads bowed in shadow from the light_\n\n_\"Brothers,\" said I, \"I am one with you now!\" And_\n\n_from behind them again emerged their alpha...no,_ my _alpha_\n\n_\"From the hellish humanity you came, and now you bear_\n\n_the glory of The Wolven in body_ and _in mind...\"_\n\n_I embraced him in pure joy and respect, feeling..._\n\n_loved? Yes, yes, that's the word... Loved, I felt_\n\n_As I embraced him, the others, they howled,_\n\n_giving rise to a howl of my own, primal, bestial, feral_\n\n_The primordial feeling coarsing through my veins_\n\n_felt like absolute Paradise, almost ethereal in its glory_\n\n_The lightning crashed again and again, but I didn't_\n\n_mind it at all, neither it nor the rain, not one bit_\n\n_For I could still see the moon, that heavenly orb_\n\n_of glowing white peace, keeping watche over me_\n\n_In my mind, all was calm, and my heart was steady,_\n\n_and I felt just ever so at peace...so ate peace..._\n\n_~ For now I had..._\n\n_~ found my home._\n\n  \n  \n\n"}