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I looked down upon the altar, its dark surface reflecting the sunlight. Occult symbols traced in white chalk covered the whole of its surface, each and every one planned and drawn with the utmost care. With a flick of my wrist green fire lit the candles surrounding me, creating a circle of otherworldly fire. A glance at the odd movements from the suns told me I didn’t have much time left. I picked up the heavy canister of red water, a constant thin stream falling on the ground as I traced a circle seven times around the altar. Then it was the turn of the incense; twin sticks of cinnamon traced smoky patterns on the air while my feet carried me in a dance around the altar. Round and round I went; each round gathered more energy for the ritual. I could almost taste the sweet wine of victory on my tongue. One last swerve saw the sticks purpose over, greenish flames eating their remains and adding it to the ashes that coated the ground.

Shadows extended across the ground, approaching like ravens to a battlefield. Another look at sky revealed the sight I had been waiting for 20 years. Red, blue and yellow orbs, coming all together at a single spot, the edge of a shadow sneaking into the midst of the congregating suns. Laughter echoed in the empty forest, anticipation and joy running through my veins. My mind rushed through all those endless nights pouring through books; all the mockeries I’ve suffered from the academics in their castles of glass; all the loss I suffered to get to this place. But now, it was all going according to plan. Soon, I’d be redeemed and they would know my wrath. With a final laugh, I approached the altar once more; my hands grasped the leather pouch resting at the center of it all and opened it with careful fingers for the world to see.

“Origen. Fin. Instante. Eternidad.” I chanted in the ancient language, my hands swimming through the air bringing harmony to the ethereal energies like a director to an orchestra. “One brings two, three follows them. Six brings them the balance necessary for the sacred seven. 9 is the key for the singularities of the eleven, twenty two and thirty three. Así, de la nada surge todo y a la nada regresará.”

Silver flames erupted from the chalk; cold air spread around the altar, my breath condensing in front of me while sudden winds sent my purples robes into a frenzy of cloth. I raised my hands high into the air; currents of power ran through me from foot to fingertips before a silver mist coalesced at my fingertip, soon joining the ashes in the ground to form a thick white miasma. A smirk on my face, my fingers picked out the first object from the pouch. A ruby of a deep scarlet, raw but clean of any traces of dirt, sharp edges catching the greenish light of the candles. Cradling it in both hands, I lifted the ruby up to the sky. I looked up at the celestial bodies, the three suns had almost become one while the dark figure of the moon had already eaten through quarter of one of the sun’s surface.

“Despierta.” I shouted in the ancient tongue, my ragged voice echoing with pride.

A blue flame appeared inside the gem, radiating with a warm that threatened to burn my fingers. I set the gem down on the table, facing to the east; symbols sprouted from the gem in a burst of blue flames until the whole east quadrant of the circle was covered. The next object to come out of the pouch was a sapphire; its blue surface reflecting the sunlight. I brought the gem to my lips; a murmured word was enough to start a red maelstrom inside the stone, the scarlet liquid twisting and turning with relentless violence. The moment I set down the gem on the table, the western quadrant exploded in red flames that gathered into the proper symbols of power.

Another gem came out of the pouch, an emerald with a rough cut that almost looked like a heart. I brought the stone to my chest and spoke the command. The emerald’s weight tripled in a second, the stone almost slipping through my fingers. I brought the stone up to my eyes, examining the change in the dying light of the suns. An amber twister raged inside the gem, moving back and forth like a trapped animal. The emerald soon joined the others at the table, yellow fire coming forth as soon as it was set on the south quadrant.

“Almost there. I will show them, I will show them all the truth.” I thought with glee, my hands shaking slightly with excitement. “And then, all of them will finally acknowledge that I was right all along. That they shunned me out of envy.”

With this thoughts in my head I took out the last gem, an amber with a yellow ragged surface, just a big bigger than a mandarin. I enveloped the stones with my hands, raising it to my forehead. Energy coursed through me like lighting once I spoke the command and green light filled my vision for an instant. When my hands parted, the center of the gem had a shining spike of green that pulsed with power. Setting the stone on the northern quadrant, green flames danced across the altar, tracing the last of the symbols on it. No sooner had the last symbol been traced that the flames raised high into the air forming a wall of fire. Colors mingled and clashed as the fire rose until it settled on a golden color. The wall of flame then diminish in size but increasing in strength bit by bit, soon becoming becoming as tall as a fist.

I glanced at the sky one last time, overjoyed to see that the moon had almost eclipsed the sky. I was still on time and only a final step remained. I took the leather pouch, upending its contents on my other hand before I threw it away without a care. A clear diamond rested in my naked hand, its polished shape reflecting the golden light.

“Despierta.” I told the diamond as I rose it high, pointing it at the eclipsed suns. “Despierta. Despierta!”

I chanted again and again; each time one more drop of black liquid appeared inside the diamond, until there was nothing but black in the gem; the substance seeming to absorb all light.

“Almost done. Just one more step.” I thought while I set the diamond at the center of altar and watched the flames consume it.

I took deep breaths, steeling my heart for what was to come. The oppresive weight of failure hanging on my shoulders.

“Tierra y Agua serán la base. Fuego y Aire lo unirán todo.” I started chanting, my hands trembling at my side. “Y el etér lo cubrirá todo con su luz cuando los Eternos extiendan su sombra sobre este mundo.”

The wind howled in protest; the fire licked at my sleeves; the air became thick and heavy. All signs that my words had been heard by Them. With the knowledge that it was too late too back out, I extended my arms wide and invited Them into my domain.

“Hear me, oh you who reside above the heavens and you who dwelt beneath the air.” I said with a confident voice, stilling the nerves eating at my heart. “On this sacred night where life and death lose there meaning. Where the divine and mortal become one and the same. I beseech you.”

“Come to me, oh you 108 stars that dot the sky and you 81 plates that make the earth. Appear as is demanded by the first magics that bind us all.”

As one, all the candles went out; the circle of fire that surrounded turned into a deep black and silver dust fell all over me. I lifted my head to glance at the moon, but instead of the perfect black that I expected a sick vermilion met my eyes. The silver dust fell from it, the small particles prickling my skin. A loud crack came from the altar; the gems showing lines spreading across their surface; puffs of black smoke coming from the fissures.

“This is not what should happen.” I thought while dread settled into my heart. There had been nothing like this described in the books.

More cracks formed across the gems’ surfaces, smoke pouring out faster and falling onto the altar. The golden flames were snuffed the moment they made contact with the ebony smoke. The smoke moved like a spiral towards the center of the altar, slowly taking the shape of a phantasmal hand. Another one soon joined the first, both phantasmal limbs reaching towards the eclipse.

With one final cracking sound, the gems exploded; blackened shards flew in every direction, a few cutting my skin. Blood flowed freely to the ground, the chilly air biting my skin. The smoke became thicker and darker moments before a new set of arms burst from the place where the diamond once was. At once, all four arms stood still, turning in my direction. Cold sweat ran down my back; my legs struggled to keep me standing; fear coursing through my body like blood.

Blood red eyes opened on the hands’ finger; triangle black pupils focusing on me. At that moment, I knew I didn’t have much time left. It was now or never. Shaking fingers scrapped a bit of blood from my wounds, tracing the warding shapes on my hands. The scarlet eyes blinked once, twice. Then the arms shot at me like a panther that’s hunting for prey.

“Detente!” I shouted, the ancient language feeling both rough and ominous in my tongue. “Te lo ordeno por el manto de los mundos.”

I pushed my hands forwards, blood drawn symbols dissipating the black smoke scant millimeters from touching my skin. An otherworldly screech came from the shadows, freezing winds pushing me back towards the edge of the flaming circle.

“Blue, Red, Green. Protect your King.” I spoke the incantation, summoning a pillar of earth to support my back.

More eyes sprouted from the arms, on their palms, on their skin, all red as blood and staring at me.

“Black Dog, howling shadow. White Serpent, life bringer. By my right as the summoner, I command your presence. Tie the knot, break the sword and under the stars’ gaze bring forth the chalice.”

Purple tendrils pierced the ground in front of me; their writhing bodies wrapped around the charcoal colored hands and forced them far apart. A burning pain came from my hand as a dozen of thin lines of red appeared over my skin, forcing a grunt out of me. Blood poured out of the wounds in thin lines that moved across my skin with a will of their own. In no time, red gloves of blood covered my hands; the warmth of my limbs replaced with a creeping invasive coldness. A strong pull turned my eyes towards the ominous arms, their countless eyes watching me with glee; their pupils now an electric blue. Another pull had the tips of the fingers become smoke once more, the black fluid dancing across the air until it touched my red gloves. Like a worm, the fluid pushed into my hands, flooding my brain with pain. Relentless in their purpose, it continue worming into me; it felt like fire had replaced my blood, burning me from the inside. A foreign presence hit my mind like a bucket of cold water, its assault pulling apart all that I was. Like icy snakes the presence sneaked around my mental defenses, pushing deeper and deeper into me until I could no longer tell where they ended and I began.

The assault continued for what felt like hours, pushing my body and my mind well past their limits. The atrocious torture came to an end as abrupt as its beginning, the presence vanishing from my mind without any explanations. My muscles screamed in pain, my mind was reeling from the whole experience but, deep in my soul behind the great fear I now held for the occult there was a spark of something new and primal. The subdued energy that came from told me all I needed to know. The ritual had been a success.