{"sf1_id":752329,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Chapter 1: The Ceremony","author":"Lightningwolf-Nate","words":4436,"posted_at":"2014-09-03T18:09:00.000Z","tags":["Adventure","Angel","Canine","Cub","Demon","Drama","Human","M/M","M/solo","Magic","No-Yiff","Plot Development","Political","Sci-Fi","Story Progression","Story Series","Wolf","young"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/752329-chapter-1-the-ceremony","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/752329","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=752329\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"Well... This took me a rather long time to write up. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter of \"Between Heaven and Hell\".Auren looked around, observing the\nenvironment around him. He stood in the middle of a park with lush\ngreen laws, decorated by shade-casting oaks, maples, and yews. The\nexpanses of manicured turf were only separated by three marble\nsidewalks that led from the outer rim of the park to a large fountain\nin the center. Each sidewalk had several benches placed along their\nlengths with beds of various wild-flowers permeating the air with a\npleasing aroma. Auren continued to look around, his sensitive pointed\nears swiveling to pick up the faintest of sounds. The young wolf pup\nwas currently locked in a game of Hide-and-Seek with his human\nfriend, Amelia, who, much to his dismay, was incredibly skilled at\nhiding. Hearing nothing but the gentle breeze he decided to head\ntowards one of the old oak trees that crowned a small hill in the\npark.Sitting beneath the tree was Auren's\nclose friend Nate, another wolf pup who had solid silver fur, save\nfor the single black stripe that ran from head to tail. Auren himself\nhad darker gray fur with smooth cream colored fur across his chest\nand belly, and one ear covered in black fur. Nate looked up from the\npicture book he was reading, and smiled at his friend before silently\npointing to the leafy canopy overhead. Auren tilted his head, an ear\nflopping to the side in inquiry. He looked up, and saw a girl's face\nlooking down at him from one of the many tree branches.\"Hey, that's cheating,\" Auren\nyelled, scowling. Amelia merely giggled and stuck her tongue out at\nthe young wolf. Auren rolled his eyes, and turned to walk away while\nAmelia climbed down. However, the little girl stumbled as she dropped\nfrom the branch, earning a surprised yelp as she crashed into her\nfriend, sending them both sprawling over Nate, earning yet another\nyelp. Amelia giggled as she lied atop her two lupine companions. It\nwasn't long before all three of them were laughing, easily amused by\ntheir situation as all small children are.\"Auren,\" called a voice,\ninterrupting the childrens' merriment. \"It's time to go to the\nceremony! Bring your friends!\" That would be Auren's uncle calling\nfrom across the park. All three of them fell quiet as they stood,\nsuddenly sobered by the mention of the ceremony. The ceremony was\nprobably most nerve-racking part of any Venatorian child's life. All\nthat was known about the ceremony by the three children was that the\nceremony was meant to determine whether or not a child possessed the\ngift of magic. It could also determine their future. Those who could\nuse magic would be trained as warriors while those who couldn't would\nlead a more tame lifestyle as a scribe or civilian. In the mortal\nworld this would seem to be a cruel thing to force upon\neight-year-olds. However, Venatorians were made of sterner stuff, and\nwere accustomed to their harsh traditions that set them apart from\nmortal society.The three of them fell in line behind\nAuren's uncle as he led them towards the heart of the city. They had\nall been worrying about the upcoming ceremony, despite being told\nthat it was, to quote one of the council members, \"really quite\nsafe\". None of them were assured by that, especially since they\nwere told right before that only a few\npeople have died during the ceremony. Auren couldn't help but wonder\nwhat the ceremony would entail, or what would have caused anyone to\nexpire during its proceedings.Auren looked\naround, starting to notice groups of people treading in the same\ndirection as they were. They were all headed towards the center of\nthe city where a large crystalline spire rose above all other\nstructures. The Spire, as it was simply known, extended several dozen\nmeters straight up, and was about fifteen meters across at its base\nwhere a two-foot high platform wrapped around its perimeter.\nPresently, The Spire glowed with a gentle sapphire color, but it\nwould change later in the day as its color depended on the time of\nday and weather.Auren\nturned his attention to Amelia as she ran off to join a group of\npeople who he recognized as her family. Amelia was born into a\nwealthy family that was part of the higher echelons of the Venatorian\nupper-class. Amelia's father was Reginald Brenigan, an expert\napothecary who was renowned throughout Venatorian society. Her mother\nwas Lucietta Brenigan, one of the fourteen members of the Venatorian\nGifted Council; VGC for short. Amelia also had an older brother, whom\nshe idolized, named Freddrik.\nAuren couldn't help\nbut notice that the two eldest Brenigans were casting disdainful\nscowls in his direction. It was common knowledge that Reginald and\nLucietta detested anthros of any kind, and that they didn't approve\nof their only daughter being friends anthros. They even went as far\nas wearing attire consisting of genuine furs, which only served to\noffend those around them. Auren sighed, knowing that Amelia would get\na scolding later on.\"How can she even\nstand her parents,\" Auren asked, muttering the question. He\ncouldn't understand how Mia could tolerate her parents blatant hatred\nagainst anthros. As a rule, Amelia loved everyone, which was such a\nsharp contrast to her parents that some people thought she was\nadopted.\"Well... At least\nshe has parents.\" Auren flattened his ears against his head,\nfeeling guilty upon hearing Nate's dour tone. Nate was an orphan, and\nhad no family what-so-ever. Nobody knew who his parents were,\nalthough it could be assumed that they were alive. After all, he had\nbeen left on the city orphanage's doorstep as a month-old pup with a\nnote labeling when he was born. As such, he was a bit touchy whenever\nit came to the topic of parents. Auren knew that Nate was extremely\nenvious of Amelia and himself, even though the silver furred wolf\nwould never admit it. Auren didn't have parents either, both of them\nbelieved to have fallen in battle when Auren was young. However, he\ndid have an uncle that took him in and raised him as his own. Nate,\non the other paw, lived in a run down orphanage, and had no one. And\neverybody knows there's no such thing as a happy tale at an\norphanage.Auren cast those\nthoughts from his mind as they walked into the heart of the city.\nWhat must have been thousands of people were gathered in the city's\ncore. Venatorian citizens were crowding the roads surrounding the\nspire, creating a sea of furs and humans that Nate, Auren, and his\nuncle had to wade through. Once they got to the front of the crowd\nthe two young pups got their first look at where the ceremony would\ntake place. Seven large braziers sat atop a slab of stone that\nencircled The Spire, each brazier burning with a different colored\nfire representing each element.Auren looked up at\nhis uncle as a paw came to rest on his shoulder. The elder wolf\nlifted his other paw to point at a set of stairs where children\nAuren's age were lining up for the ceremony, and with a gentle push,\nsent his nephew on his way to join them. Nate followed after his\nfriend, falling into line with the other 40-something eight-year-olds\nthat would be taking part in this year's ceremony. Nate and Auren\nwaited, watching as one of the ceremony coordinators read over a\nlist, starting to line the younglings up in a specific order.\"Hey look, guys,\"\ncalled a voice that grated on Auren's nerves. \"It's the orphan!\"\nAuren turned around to see exactly who he expected. Walking towards\nhim were Ricky, Eric, and Alan; a young bull, and two humans\nrespectively. Auren had to hold back an irritated groan, already\nknowing what was going to happen. The trio had been picking on Nate\nfor almost a year now, and were probably going to use this public\ngathering to keep Nate from retaliating... Not that he ever did. Nate\nwas small for his age, being almost a full head shorter than the\nthree bullies. Nate may have hated putting up with their shit, but he\nwasn't by any means stupid. Nate knew that he wouldn't stand a chance\nin a fight against them, especially since he was small and lean\ncompared to the larger, bulkier brutes.\"By the creator,\"\nAuren muttered under his breath. \"Can't you guys leave him alone\nfor one day?\" Auren glared at the trio, suppressing a growl that\nhad begun to rise in his throat. Auren hated them, not just for\npicking on his friend, but for being bullies in general. He knew they\nonly targeted Nate because he couldn't do anything about it. There\nhad been times when Auren was the only thing that stood between Nate\nand a physical beating. Auren was only a tad shorter than them, but\nhe was big enough that he would pose a significant obstacle if they\nwere to go after the smaller wolf. Ricky, the bull, had opened his\nmouth to say something callous, but another voice interrupted him.\"Hey!\"\nAuren turned to find the source of the voice, and saw Mia striding\ntowards them looking pissed. \"What do you think you're doing!?\"\nAmelia had fixed the three bullies with a death glare that no little\ngirl should be able to possess. Auren shivered, knowing from\nexperience what being on the receiving end of that glare. A few\nmonths before, the wolf had accidentally bumped into his human\nfriend, causing her to drop the ice cream she had just bought from a\nvendor. The stare she fixed him with made him feel like she was about\nto rip him in half, and he quickly handed his own ice cream over to\nplacate her. What Auren was witnessing now was the same sort of\nstare, only worse. After all, if anything vexed Mia more than dropped\nice cream, it was when someone picked on her friends.Ricky,\nEric, and Alan started backing away, looking nervous as they held up\ntheir hands as if they could ward away the furious female. Amelia\nquickly closed the remaining distance between them, and started\nhitting them. The three brutes backpedaled, stuttering as they tried\nto come up with excuses. Mia's smaller fists kept hammering away at\ntheir chests until the three of them ran off, leaving a huffing\nAmelia glaring after them. Mia puffed out a heavy sigh, and turned\ntowards Nate. \"You okay,\" she asked, her voice heavy with evident\nconcern.Nate\nnodded, his face set in a mask of practiced stoicism. Mia pursed her\nlips, unconvinced. She pulled her smaller lupine friend into a hug,\nand held him for a few seconds before returning to her place in line.\nAuren watched Mia walk away before turning back to look at Nate only\ndiscover that Nate was headed towards the back of the line. Nate knew\nthat's where he would be placed. The line order was alphabetical by\nlast name, and Nate, being the only person present without a last\nname, would automatically be put at the end. Auren sighed, seeing his\nfriend go off alone, and stepped into line as his name was called.It\nwasn't long before all the children were in their places. The city\ncircle went quiet as High Chancellor Burnholdt, the head of the\nVenatorian government, stepped onto the stage encircling The Spire.\nAndrei Burnholdt was a human in his late fifties with stern features,\nand dressed in a royal blue suit. Andrei had been elected to the\nposition of High Chancellor thirteen years ago, and Venetorian\nsociety had entered a sort of golden age under his administration.\nOverall, Burnholdt was a level-headed and charismatic governor who\nwas loved by almost everyone.\"Good\nEvening, Ladies and Gentlemen,\" Burnholdt opened, his deep baritone\nvoice modified with arcane magic to reach the furthest reaches of the\ncity circle. \"Today we are gathered here today witness and\nascertain who, out of these numerous children gathered, will be\neligible to undergo the training necessary to be a member of the\nVenatorian warrior class.\" Burnholdt paused, his eyes scanning over\nhis audience. \"In order to qualify for this training, a child must\npossess a gift; the gift to manipulate one, or more, of the\nfundamental forces of nature. This is the same gift utilized by our\nwarrior class: the gift of magic.\"Auren\ncouldn't help but smile, his tail starting to sway behind him as he\nknew that Burnholdt was about to get into the history of how the\nVenatorian race came to be. It was a story that most Venatorian\nchildren knew, as it was commonly told as a bedtime story. It could\nbe compared to a mortal fairytale that caused children to aspire to\nbe heroic knights, or princes and princess. However, the Venatorian\norigin story contained more blood and violence than the average\nmortal would ever see in their lifetime, and caused Venatorian youth\nto aspire to a matching profession... At times it made people wonder\nhow they were comparable in the first place.\"Our\nrace came into existence nearly seven thousand years ago when the\nangel Xytherian appeared before our progenitors.\" The Head\nChancellor cleared his throat before going on to explain further.\n\"Xytherian told them that they were chosen by the Creator to\nreceive great power, and that they, and their descendants, were to\nuse this power to banish evil from the world. The chosen seven then\ndrank of the angel's blood, and were granted the power of magic. With\nthis new-found power, they went on to become the first Demon Slayers,\nand founded the seven disciplines of magic.\"\"Today,\nthese children will undergo a test to see if they possess the gift of\nmagic. If they do not, they will return to a normal civilian life.\nHowever, if they do possess the gift they will be thrust into a life\nof studying. In their studies, the gifted will learn more about our\nhistory, our purpose, the nature of magic, and how to kill demons.\"The\nspeaker paused once more before continuing. \"The younglings will be\ntested in a way similar to how the original seven were granted their\npowers; by consuming angel's blood. Each child will be given a large\ndose of the otherwise elicit drug we all know as Mind-Fire, which is\nmade from diluted angel blood. The children who don't have the gift\nwill simply pass out. However, when administered to a gifted child,\nthe drug will force their powers to manifest, indicating which type\nof elemental magic they possess.\"\"There\nare seven disciplines of elemental magic, one for each element. The\ndiscipline of Fire is Pyromancy, The discipline of Water and Ice is\nHydromancy, The discipline for Earth is Geomancy, Lightning follows\nthe discipline of Fulmemancy, The Wind discipline is Aeromancy, The\nLight discipline is Auramancy, and the Darkness discipline is\nUmbramancy. Each child with the gift will possess one of these,\nperhaps two, and maybe even three of these types of magic.\"Burnholdt\ncleared his throat as he extracted what appeared to be a list of\nnames from his coat. \"First up is Amelia Brenigan.\" A few seconds\nlater Mia stepped onto the stage, and was approached by a stage-hand\nwho handed her a vial containing a shimmering gold liquid. Without a\nword, Amelia uncapped the vial, and swallowed its contents. It wasn't\nlong before Amelia visibly started shiver, wrapping her arms around\nherself. She slowly sank to her knees, a pool of ice and water\nforming around her from out of nowhere. Wind started to whip her hair\naround as large icicles started sprouting from the ice around Amelia.\nThe pool of wind continued to pick up as the pool of water and ice\nspread, growing stronger and larger. Amelia eventually collapsed with\na groan, the ice and water evaporating instantly as the wind\ndissipated.\"Hydromancy\nand Aeromancy,\" Burnholdt nodded, scribbling it down next to\nAmelia's name. A stagehand strode over, and help Amelia from the\nstage. From the look of exhaustion on her face, Auren had to assume\nthat going through this ceremony would be a tiring ordeal. Two more\nchildren were called up before Auren was called; a Geomancer, and a\npowerless child doomed to be an ordinary citizen.\"Auren\nDrakeson,\" called Burnholdt's voice. Auren sighed, trying to\nrelieve some of his nervousness as he obediently stepped onto the\nstage. One of the stagehands handed him a vial identical to the ones\nhanded to the participants before him. Ignoring everyone's stares, he\npulled the cork from the vial, and with only a little hesitation,\ndowned its contents. The fluid itself tasted sweet, like melted\nchocolate, but Auren's enjoyment of it was cut short as the mixture\nhit his stomach. A sudden surge of energy welled up inside him; an\nenergy that felt, for a lack of a better word, magical in its nature.\nAuren couldn't help but shift in discomfort, the energy building up\nuntil it felt like he might explode. Suddenly it felt like the energy\nwas starting to drain away. For a moment, Auren was afraid that he\nmight be powerless, but that fear was wiped away as Auren felt as if\nhe was suddenly thrown into a sauna set for its highest setting.Flames\nhad sprung up around his feet, blazing in the rosy hues of elemental\nfire. The flames danced around him, growing brighter and hotter. Soon\nthe fires began to die away, allowing shadows that had been hidden by\ntheir light to appear. The shadows formed themselves into exact\ncopies of Auren, standing around him in a circle. Auren was amazed as\nhe was surrounded by four shadow wolves. The feeling of awe was\nshort-lived as the young wolf was overcome with a sudden wave of\nexhaustion. The shadow creatures began to boil away in wisps of\ninsubstantial smoke as Auren realized he had burned completely\nthrough the energy that had filled him only moments before. A\nstagehand ran up, and grasped Auren by the arm to steady him as he\nwas led from the stage.Auren\nhad never experienced such a profound form of tiredness. It felt like\nhe had been up for weeks without anything to eat or drink. It was\nsuch a complete form of fatigue that he didn't even notice Burnholdt\ncalling out that he was a Pyromancer and Umbramancer. He hardly\nnoticed the bottle of water being pushed into his paws. The young\nwolf quickly uncapped the bottle, and started draining its contents.\nHe quickly emptied it, and dropped it with a gasp. The wolf was\ngrateful that the stagehand was waiting with another bottle of water,\nwhich Auren also drained rather quickly. Auren tried to turn his\nattention back to the ceremony, but ended up slumping over onto his\nside as exhaustion finally overcame him.He\nfaded in and out of consciousness again and again as the ceremony\nwent by. He caught bits and pieces of it when he was 'awake'. It\nwasn't until he felt someone's hand on his shoulder that he really\nregained awareness of his surroundings.\"Auren,\"\ncalled Mia's familiar voice. \"Auren, wake up.\"\nThe\nyoung lupine groaned, but obeyed his friend's commands. \"Ugh...\nWhat's going on?\" Auren sat up, rubbing the sleepiness from his\neyes.\"It's\nNate's turn,\" Mia replied, shaking her friend to get him to pay\nattention. Auren huffed in playful irritation, and shook his head,\ncausing his ears to flop against his head. Mia giggled, and stroked\nher bigger friend's ears, petting him. The young wolf let out a\npleased murr, and finally turned his attention to the stage to see\nhis smaller lupine companion. Nate stood on the stage with the last\nof the gold vials in his paws, looking just as nervous as any of the\nother children who underwent the ceremony. The young wolf carefully\nremoved the stopper on the vial, and knocked back its contents. Auren\nleaned forwards, curious as to what powers his friend will have, if\nany.Suddenly\nNate pitched forwards, covering his muzzle with a paw as he started\nto gag and cough. The young pup sank down to his knees, his other arm\nwrapping around his torso. It didn't take a genius to know that\nsomething was wrong, especially when blood started to seep out from\nbetween Nate's fingers. Ignoring his own fatigue, Auren jumped to his\nfeet, and started running towards his clearly agonized friend. Nate\nfell forwards, his bloodstained paw dropping from his muzzle to\nsupport him as more blood flowed from his mouth.Auren\nand Amelia had nearly reached the fallen wolf when a pair of\nstagehands grabbed them, pulling them away from their bleeding and\npained companion. Nate fell into another coughing fit, causing more\nblood to spatter against the ground. Auren tried to struggle against\nthe hands holding him only to have his arms wrenched behind him.\nHowever, Auren's struggles ceased once he saw his friend's powers\nbegin to manifest. Spires of ice began to shoot up out of the stage\naround Nate, only this wasn't normal ice. Each frosty rod wasn't a\nclear, or even bluish color, they were instead tinted a deep red, a\nhue similar to the blood pouring from Nate's maw. Bolts of black\nlightning started to arc through the air around the wolf, leaving\nscorches where they struck the stage. Nate didn't seem to take notice\nof what was going on around him, continuing to hack and cough as more\nof his blood flowed onto the stage, making a small puddle beneath\nhim.Auren\nstood there, awestruck by the sight before him. He had heard of the\nvarious things that Demon Slayers could do with their powers, but\nhe'd never heard of something like this. Something like this, the\nblack lightning and red ice, was completely unheard of. Auren looked\naround to see others wearing the same mystified look that he had\nplastered to his face. No one seemed to know what to think of this.\nHowever, the air seemed to suddenly take on a vile feel, something\nthat caused Auren's hackles to stand on end. It was hard to describe\nthe essence that seemed to permeate the atmosphere. The only way to\ndescribe it was... That it was evil. It made Auren feel like he was\ngoing to panic, like something was chasing after him. The evil aura\nonly continued to grow in intensity... Until Nate appeared to pass\nout, the lightning vanishing as the ice around him shattered into\nnothingness.A\npall of silence had come to blanket the crowd as if everyone had been\ntaken by the angel of death. Auren turned to look at the crowd behind\nhim, only to see the faces of the adults molded into masks of shock\nand horror. The young wolf barely had time to process this when a\nwoman, probably an elderly one by the sound of her voice, screamed\nout from deep in the crowd.\"Demon,\" the old lady\nshrieked. \"The boy's a demon!\" The crowd instantly broke out in a\ncacophony of shouts, yells, and jeers. It was mere moments before a\nsort of mob mentality formed, and members of the crowd started to\nsurge forwards towards the stage, trying to get at Nate. Auren\nconsidered himself lucky that he was already on the stage, or else\nhe'd have been trampled. The stagehands holding Auren and Amelia let\ngo of them to join the dozens of others in barely managing to hold\nback the suddenly-angry mob. The two children immediately ran over to\ntheir vulnerable friend, wanting to make sure he was okay. Nate was\nlying on his back with his eyes barely open, laying only a couple of\nfeet from the considerably large pool of his blood. Auren and Amelia\nkneeled down at Nate's side, and paused, not sure what they could do.\nAuren looked over his smaller friend, and quickly noticed that the\nyoung pup's eyes weren't their normal shade of chocolate brown.\nInstead, they had turned to a dark, bloody red color that unsettled\nhim. Thankfully, that feeling didn't last long as the red shade\nalmost immediately started to fade back to the usual brown. In the\nbackground the noise caused by the crowd continued to grow to an\near-piercing intensity as people called for the \"death of the\ndemon.\"\"Silence,\"\nshouted Burnholdt's voice, seeming very similar to a certain\ngrey-bearded wizard. The crowd quickly fell to a hush, barely a\nwhisper being heard as the respected politician placed himself\nbetween Nate, and the gathered crowd. \"Why is it that you wish for\nthis child's demise? Has he ever done anything to wrong you?\"\nBurnholdt waited for an answer, but none came. \"I will not allow\nthis child to be put to death for something that he never had a\nchoice in.\" Burnholdt cleared his throat before going any further.\n\"The child has manifested a twin set of powers, and will be taught\nto use them-\" Burnholdt was immediately cut off by a voice from the\ncrowd.\"You\ncan't possibly be serious,\" shrieked Amelia's mother as she marched\ntowards the stage, the crowd parting ahead of her. \"You can't allow\nthat demon mutt to live! He's a danger to everyone around him!\"Burnholdt\nimmediately fixed the outspoken woman with a furious glare. \"And\nwho are you to decide who should live and who should die, Lucietta?\"\nThe female politician immediately froze in place as her first name\nwas uttered, as such a thing was a direct challenge among\npoliticians, and from her political superior no-less. \"As the High\nChancellor it is by my order, and my order alone, for someone to be\nput to death. With your purist, elitist views, it is a miracle that\nyou have no say in such matters, else you'd put most of those\ngathered here to death. Be sure to learn your place.\" Auren could\nsee the older woman hold back a physical flinch from the political\nbitch-slap. He couldn't help but smile, knowing that Amelia's bitch\nof a mother was being put in her place.Lucietta\nnearly shrieked in frustration, but ultimately remained quiet as she\nreturned to her husband's side, barely holding back a queen-sized\ntantrum. \"Now,\" continued Burnholdt, \"It is my decision that\nthis young wolf be educated in the arts of magic, just as all the\nother gifted children will be. Anyone who tries to harm him will be\nmet with a dire punishment.\" With that being said, Burnholdt\ndeparted, bringing an official end to the ceremony. However, despite\nthe strained resolution, Auren couldn't help but feel that this was\njust the beginning of a long line of problems for Nate."}