Wysper

  (Late Fall, 5th year of the Eastern Empire).

  (226th year of the Sasnayam Empire).

  This was the morning Wysper would be sacrificed to the god of the harvest.

  Wysper stood on top of the pyramid dedicated to the twin gods, Yun-Kax, with the matronly priestess Thalia on her right side and the priestess Myra, the one all thought the prettiest of the three, on her left. Surrounding them were priests from Tesiphon, the capital city of the Sasnayam Empire, while priests from the local temple of the city-state named Bukhara, stood behind. All the priests wore robes the golden color of sun-ripened corn, while Myra and Thalia had on robes the color of blood.

  Wysper was dressed in robes of white, the color of death. Her skin, kept corpse pale by an alchemical potion she drank every full moon, brought out the blueness of her eyes, shining sapphires in a hollow face. Her crimson colored hair was kept short as a boy’s, with two bangs at her temples the color of molten gold. A eunuch of the great temple in Tesiphon stood behind her 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 morning sky, streaked with narrow bands of crimson, heralded the dawn as it cast the sun god's light upon the crowds who came to watch, spilling out beyond the edges of the large plaza. Only the nobles and people of higher caste 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 sat 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, and as the sound began to fade, 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. Silence. The blast of the horn echoed across the city, as if the ghosts of ancient priests long dead were blowing in answer. The sound faded until only the mournful cry of a rock kite flying overhead could be heard.

  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. Then the head-priest carried the golden horn back inside the small square structure at the center of the pyramid, with stairs leading down into the chambers below, while the High Priest stepped in front of the altar. He raised his hands to the crowd.

  A holy Artifact had been inserted into his ear, a black device inset with a glowing blue mana stone, and the crowd murmured in surprise as his voice echoed among them as if he was speaking from only a few yard-lengths away. "Good people of Bukhara, loyal satrapy of the Sasnayam Empire, our god-king Hormuz 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 give 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 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 the three to move forward enough so the people could see them. "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, on 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, while the rest of it was a twin figured, man-like creation made out of corn husks.

  Following the head-priest were acolytes in light yellow robes carrying sack after sack of Steppe 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 semicircle behind the corn husk statue. The statue's raised arms were together with the hands forming a cup at its waist.

  The High Priest waited until the acolytes 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 kernels, transforming them 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 become stronger."

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  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, but if they decide not to restore her, there will be no more blood corn. Ever." Startled gasps rippled among the people 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, they 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 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 Wysper’s white robes, pulling them off and casting them aside. She stood nude in the light of the rising sun. Thalia beckoned, and Wysper laid herself down upon the stone altar, shivering at the touch of cold stone against her bare flesh, the bulge just above her navel pushing out against her skin. Four priests of the High Temple in Tesiphon grasped her wrists and ankles, holding her down.

  As the priests arranged Wysper to their satisfaction, Thalia and Myra approached the effigy. From beneath their robes they each brought out a small disc shaped like a dragon's scale, Thalia's disc as golden as the hair on her head, while Myra's disc was the same deep red as Wysper’s hair. 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 singing a chant that was ancient when the once mighty Etruscan Empire was just a league of tribes fighting the kingdom of the Roma for mastery of the peninsula.

  Flat on her back, Wysper 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. Thalia and Myra circled the altar and the effigy once, then a second time, and then a third, all three singing together the words of the ancient chant.

  They moved to circle a fourth... and the discs inside the effigy's eyes began to glow. At once, her priestess-sisters took their accustomed positions, Thalia on the corn husk statue's right side while Myra moved to stand upon its left. Their chant changed to one of welcome, one of acceptance. As always, Wysper 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.

  Wysper screamed as the knife pierced the skin below her ribcage where the bulge pressed out, her arms straining against the strong hands of the priests as the High Priest quickly cut open her flesh around the bulge, severed the connections, and lifted her glowing heart into the air for all to see. The crowd gasped.

  Wysper’s normal heart beneath her ribcage continued to beat. The four priests released her as Thalia and Myra rushed over, putting their hands on the wound as the priests covered Wysper’s body with a red shroud. She lay with her arms and legs dangling over the sides of the stone block as the familiar feeling of warmth spread across her belly, wanting to be strong yet unable to stop the tears rolling down her cheeks.

  Their magic stopped the bleeding as her body began slowly healing itself once again. Wysper’s eyes were closed almost to slits as the High Priest carried the uplifted heart to the effigy and placed it within the cupped hands before stepping back. For a moment, nothing happened.

  It trembles... there, the effigy is coming to life. The corn husk statue moved with a stiff, awkward gait to the first sack of seed corn as it bent slightly with its cupped hands over the opening, the heart within its hands glowing reddish-gold.

  The statue remained in place a few moments. Then it straightened, turning and moving towards the next large sack as the familiar rustling sound began inside the first, as if a hundred serpents had just woken from sleep and sought to escape. The sound subsided as the effigy finished with the second sack and moved on to the third, the second sack beginning to rustle as the first had done.

  The effigy reached the last sack and Wysper knew its magic was almost spent, for the corn husk statue was making jerking movements. It swayed, then stopped moving altogether, and the High Priest turned and motioned towards the head-priest. He 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 Wysper up so the crowd could see her limp form. "Blood-Wysper is dead!"

  Too spent to do anything but lay limp in the eunuch's arms, Wysper let her arms and legs dangle as he carried her past the priests towards the square building, Thalia and Myra chanting an ancient dirge of the Celtic people which the High Priest's device projected to the crowd for a few moments.

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

  Still naked as the day of her birth, Wysper walked out of the square building, Thalia and Myra close to her 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 her, they begin screaming again. 'Wysper', they began to chant, and the rest of the crowd took it up as the three of them moved to the edge of the pyramid so she could be seen. Men and women alike dropped to their knees with their hands raised to the heavens, their upturned faces frightening in their intensity as they cried out, 'Wysper, Wysper, Wysper!'

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

  Wysper knew the part she had to play, falling to her knees in front of the effigy and bowing to it, even though the god within was now gone. She rose to her feet and everything started to spin as she swayed. I think the blood loss I have endured over the last several months is finally catching up with me.

  The High Priest frowned, rising to his feet as he tapped 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 Wysper on her arm, Myra doing the same on the other side a few moments later, and they helped her walk towards the square building as the priests collected the sacks of blood corn. All the while, the crowd continued chanting ‘Wysper, Wysper, Wysper…’