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Chapter 1 of The Wicked Solstice

The sun rose quietly over my small village of Nortadane. The streets were empty as the summer solstice began that morning. Although the sky reflected a normal day with its gray and greenish haze, we all knew it wasn't a usual day. It was June 21st, and that meant the elders would draw a name to sacrifice to the Monsters that ruled over us for almost one hundred years.

The elders never drew the name from a bucket or a hat, but they would draw the name from a spell. My village was heavily influenced by magic and the arts, and the elders were high magicians that practiced and taught the rest of us. Most people could do a simple spell, but they were never taught until they were twenty. I was only nineteen the morning they drew my name, so my fingertips and lips never practiced the arts or felt the spirits within me.

"Don't go too far, Ocean," my mother warned as she stood in the doorway of my cottage bedroom. She watched me lace up my boots after putting my blue dress on over my corset. "The world isn't safe out there today."

I looked up at my mother and tried to study her face. Her hair was no longer golden but silver and the skin on her face was no longer smooth but sunken in. Her cheeks were hollow, her eyes were a dull brown, and her hands were fragile when they used to be strong. The elders didn't care about the age of their victims, so nobody was safe. After fifty-three years of worrying, her body displayed her fear.

I used to ask my mother why we stayed in Nortadane. Why didn't we move to another town? Why didn't we escape before the elders took both my sister and my father? However, when the school failed to share the truth about my world, my mother gave me the details. There was no world outside of our town. The Monsters obliterated the entire world of Landria, and Nortadane was the last place humans lived. However, it wouldn't be the last place for long when we practiced an evil tradition every June.

My mother also shared how the Monsters came to Landria. Where our world was once beautiful with plenty of gardens, bountiful fruits and animals, clear skies, and various cities that boomed with technology and new age ideas—the Monsters destroyed all of that. However, they never invaded Landria. They were always here. Instead of the Monsters In folklore such as werewolves and three-headed dogs, these Monsters were once human. They were magicians that studied the arts and worshipped the dark side of magic. Allowing their desires and darkness to overcome their souls, they allowed magic to change them. They forgot who they were, and they were ruled by a higher power. They were almost like demons, but they were never angels to begin with. Instead, they were the highest magicians in Landria that aided the growth of technology until their own selfish desires became more important than their people.

The only question my mother couldn't answer is why did the Monsters leave Nortadane for last. Perhaps, it was a question that would never be answered.

"I'm not going far, nor am I going anywhere near the Path," I assured her.

The Path was just as it was called. It was a dirt path outside of our stone walls that was about a mile long and disappeared into the darkness. On either side of the path were trees spaced evenly next to one another shadowing the Path even on the brightest of days. However, our bright days were cloudy and overcast since the sun no longer shone directly on Landria.

The Monsters lived in the darkness at the end of the Path. To explain this better, imagine there was a circle, and in the middle of the circle was Nortadane. The radius of the circle was the Path, and the area of the circle was the mile distance from our walls to the darkness. This darkness was the entire circumference of the circle and beyond. Nobody knew what lurked in the eternal darkness around us, but my mother told me there was nothing beyond that darkness. Not anymore.

People used to go insane within the walls of Nortadane, and they tried to escape. However, all that was left of them once they ran into the darkness around us was their screams and a pile of mushy bones. People eventually stopped trying to leave unless they wanted their life to be over. Nevertheless, death by darkness was scarier than any other death imaginable, so most people stayed in Nortadane and awaited their fate. If their name wasn't picked, then they were safe for another year. If their name was picked, then they were to die either way.

Although the elders of Nortadane were powerful magicians, they were light magicians that never allowed the darkness to overcome them. They also weren't the highest magicians of Landria, so they never stood a chance against the Monsters. In fact, one elder tried it many years ago before my mother was even alive, and they found his remains at the end of the Path. Nothing but mushy insides and bones.

"I would rather have you stay home today. Once the ritual begins, you never know—you never know who'll get called," my mother paused to breathe as she let the doorway support her weight. I knew she was tired, especially after watching my father and sister get dragged down the path by the elders and offered to the darkness, but she would never stop being tired until we were both dead. She worried too much even though her worry was plausible, but there was nothing we could do. After all, the name would be picked no matter what, so there was no sense in wasting our last possible day in Landria worrying about something that we couldn't change.

"The elders are picking a name no matter what. I don't want to stay home and think about it all day," I told her as I brushed out my auburn hair before braiding it down my back. "I'm tired of being a prisoner every solstice."

"Solstice?" My mother sighed as she pushed herself onto her feet and reached out to place a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "We're prisoners every day."

I gazed up at her—her brown eyes meeting my own—and I saw my reflection in her face. Although my cheeks weren't hollow, and my face wasn't sunken in, I once looked just like her before sadness controlled her. Now we were practically strangers apart from similarities in our eye shape, pointed noses, and plump lips. It always amazed me how drastic emotions could change you once you allowed them to overcome who you were. Sadness didn't defy me, and I refused to let it.

I missed both my father and sister, but I couldn't think about them every day. If I wasted my life wishing they were still with me, I would waste the short time I had on this earth. Besides, I never knew when a solstice would be my last, and I didn't want to regret my life. There was nothing interesting that happened to me, but I'd rather have a boring life than one filled with danger.

"That's the exact reason why I don't want to stay in here and become a prisoner to this cottage too," I informed her. "Come with me? We can go for a walk through Nortadane before the elders make their decision."

"I don't know," she shook her head. "I don't really feel like going for a walk."

"This might be your last day with me, and you're going to spend it sitting in our cottage reminiscing about the times we were all together?" I whispered, and I could tell my words hit her directly in the chest. I wasn't trying to hurt her, I just wanted to pull her out of the constant sorrow she submerged herself into. "That's the past, Mom, and I know it's hard because I miss them too. But I still need you, can't you see that?" I practically begged her. She wasn't a bad mother, and she never neglected me during our time of loss, but I knew she hid beneath her layers of pain. It was as if she thought being happy would betray our family and what we've been through.

"I'm not trying to reminisce, I just don't feel like walking around town where I'm closer to the outside darkness than I am in here. There's something about these walls," she sighed as she turned around and walked toward our small wooden table. She sighed once again as she sat down in her worn chair which reflected how she felt. "I feel like these walls can protect us."

"They can't though," I promised as I sat in my chair across from hers and took her hand, "nothing can protect us anymore. We can only do so much. I won't be gone for long, okay? I'll be back soon." I didn't want to leave her, but I couldn't stay in our stuffy cottage any longer. Not during a solstice when it was only hours before the elders would announce who they chose. Besides, they chose at dawn, and the sun would rise soon.

The night before the solstice, my mother and I always stayed up the whole night until we knew we were safe for another year. Last night was the same as any other year, and I knew this contributed to why she looked so exhausted. However, I also knew that waiting in the cottage for the knock on the door that hadn't arrived in eight years was the key contributor to her weariness.

I still remember the day the elders took my sister away. She was the first to leave us, and my father was picked the year after. They came to our cottage and knocked on our door as if they were requesting to have tea with us. However, the large red envelope they handed my mother as they pulled my sister to her feet was enough to let us know that nobody wanted tea. They wanted blood for their own safety, and it sickened me. The pain and fear in my sister's eyes was something I would never forget. I also wouldn't forget the pain in my body as I followed them outside and tried to save her. Instead of having compassion for me, they beat me in the street and left me to bleed. My mother didn't have time to mourn for my sister until after she dressed my wounds and made sure her other daughter wasn't dying as well. That was a day that neither one of us would ever forget. After all, my body constantly reminded me of it every day when I bathed and saw the scars all over me.

"Please, Ocean, please don't go," she begged as she took my other hand. "I can't bear to face another solstice morning alone. I don't want to be here alone," she whispered as her eyes clouded with tears.

"I can't stay here, Mom, it drains me the same way that leaving drains you," I muttered as I pulled my hands from hers. "I won't be gone long, I promise."

"Please," she begged once more before her eyes glanced over at the lock on the door. Immediately, I heard the bolt click letting me know she used her only magical trick—locking the door.

The elders once had a school for upcoming magicians, but that was long ago. My mother was a child when they demolished the school and decided to teach magic only when a person turned twenty. At this age, the elders assumed students would be more responsible and have more control over their emotions. Children were unpredictable, and the elders were afraid the children would turn into Monsters if provoked. However, that would be impossible because only the highest magicians had the power to turn themselves into Monsters, but the elders didn't want to take a chance.

Because the elders controlled magic so tightly, there were only a few who were willing to learn more than one magic spell at twenty. My mother was among the many who learned one trick, and that was moving very small things around when necessary. Such as locking her daughter in their cottage when she refused to stay inside.

"Don't use your magic on me," I huffed as I slumped back into the chair and covered my face with my hands. "This is not how I want to spend my last possible day here," I groaned.

"Don't say that," she pleaded, "I don't want to hear that."

"You don't want to hear that, but you want to lock me in here knowing that I don't want to be stuck in this cottage? You know that I hate being a prisoner during the solstice, and you know that I've always been okay whenever I've gone outside during a solstice. I've always returned before the elders chose a name, and this year wouldn't be any different. Why is that so hard to understand? Why do we have to have this conversation every year?" I was growing angry with her, but I tried to remain calm. I knew she just wanted to protect me, but protecting me was never having me, to begin with. I couldn't understand how a person could be so selfish to have children in such a dark world where they could get taken away and sacrificed to the Monsters. I would rather not exist than live in fear.

"I have a bad feeling today," she said, "something feels off."

"Just like every other year," I sighed as I stood up and walked back to my bedroom. I closed the door behind me without glancing into the dining room. I didn't want to look at her, and I knew she was looking at me. I could feel her stare just like I could feel her pain and sorrow every day. I didn't want that burden today, and I refused to pick it up.

I knew she wouldn't check on me, for she'd assume I was safe lying on my bed reading a book or sitting at my desk writing a new story. However, I wasn't going to stay in my room. I needed to go for a walk and clear my head before I found out who would be the peace offering for the next year.

There was one window in my room, and it was conveniently above my bed. It was a two-panel window that opened easily with a slight push and was just the right size for me to squeeze through comfortably. There weren't many times I sneaked out of my window, but I sneaked out enough times to perfect the craft. As long as my mother didn't hear me, I knew I would be okay. Unless she decided to lock my window also.

However, I was pleasantly surprised to step up on my bed and easily push open my window just as I had done many times before. After all, I always enjoyed a breeze when I read a book or wrote a new story. I would say fresh air, but there was nothing fresh about the air surrounding Notradane. It was a stale air that almost took your breath away every time you smelled it. I couldn't describe the exact smell, but it was as if nature knew what happened around our town and in our country. The Monsters might've altered the atmosphere since the sun never shone directly anymore because of them, and the earth was reflecting the effects of a sunless world. The sun helped with growth and health and happiness, and it was something we no longer had. We weren't the only ones dying, for the earth was dying also.

Pushing myself up onto my window's ledge, I wiggle my way through the window before losing my balance and falling straight to the ground.

"Ugh!" I groan as I rub the top of my head and roll over to catch my breath. Of all the times I crawled through my window, I never fell on my head before. However, it was the perfect day of all days for something to go wrong.

I brushed the dirt off my arms and tried to ignore the sudden headache pulsing through my head. I was slightly dizzy from my fall, but I didn't want to waste any time on the ground. I wanted to enjoy my walk the best that I could before the elders stalked through the village and delivered their death note.

Standing up, I leaned against the cottage wall until I could see clearly once again. Only a few seconds passed before I felt much better—apart from my headache—and I decided it was safe enough for me to walk around.

Nortadane was a small town. The current population was only a couple hundred people, but my mother used to tell me stories about Nortadane being a great city at one time. Before the Monsters defeated Landria, Nortadane stretched outside of our current stone walls for miles. However, now the stone wall was as far as the town stretched, and that wasn't very far at all.

There was only one shop in the whole town, and that was where we got our material for clothes, our flour, our tools, and our food for the most part. Mother insisted we raise chickens when I was little, but that was before chickens became extinct. Now, it was almost impossible to find eggs anymore unless we bought quail eggs. The shop had them occasionally, but they sold out so quickly that we barely ever got a chance to buy them. Because it was almost impossible to buy eggs, I hadn't tasted cake in years. The last time we had a cake was when my father was still alive, and that was so long ago that I can no longer remember the taste.

We didn't eat many large meals, but we were able to grow potatoes in our small garden by the cottage. We also had carrots and beans. We tried to grow cabbage, but we were never successful. Mother blamed the soil, and I never disagreed. We were lucky we could grow what we did. Vegetables came by easily, it was meat that was scarce.

The shop had dried meat, but fresh meat was a delicacy. Because the shop only sold what we could produce in town, it was hard to stay stocked. Vegetables were easy to keep in the store, but meat was difficult. There was one farmer in town that had cows but breeding had been unsuccessful these last few years. The calves continued to die, and soon some of the older cows followed. They were butchered, but their meat was bitter. People still bought it in the shop, of course, because bitter or not it was still fresh meat. Unfortunately, we weren't able to buy any. We heard it was bitter from our neighbors.

We mostly ate vegetable soups with milk from the farmer. He was a friend of my mother's when they were younger, and once my father died, he promised to supply us with milk until the elders picked his name. Luckily, he had yet to be sacrificed, and we were stocked up in milk. Occasionally the farmer would give us too much milk, so we would sell a few gallons to earn money. That was one way we kept a few coins in the house.

Another way we collected money was by selling wool. We had one sheep—Turner—and his wool was the best in town. We weren't sure why he had the softest and thickest wool, but we never complained. His coat sold for so much that it held us over for months, and we were thankful Father convinced Mother to buy him all those years ago. However, he was growing old and gray in the face, but I couldn't bear to think about what would happen if we lost Turner.

The streets of Nortadane were empty just as I suspected. I knew that nobody would be out today because they didn't want the elders to catch them in the street. It was always better to face your fate with a door between you than to face it on the street with no protection. That was why my mother stayed home, and I understood her. I just didn't want to stay home.

Dawn was coming soon, and I knew that my time outside was ending. I would have to return home eventually, but I didn't want to. I didn't want to return to the cottage and face my mother. Especially not today. I knew that the burdens she carried during the solstice were burdens that I carried also, but hers were multiplied. After all, April was her daughter, and Father was her husband. She saw them through different eyes than I did, and that was why she couldn't leave her protective walls today. Tomorrow, yes, but not today.

The sky was cloudy as usual, and the air was cool with the breeze blowing around me as if it was welcoming me outside. The sun wasn't rising yet because the clouds were a dark gray, and I knew I had about another hour before I would have to return. I wasn't sure if I would last an hour with the growing pain in my head. Of all the days to fall, it would be the day of the solstice. Another reason upon many others to hate June 21st.

I walked the whole way around town and suddenly stopped when I felt the breeze grow stronger. It was then I realized where I was. I glanced to my right and saw the arch that was cut through the stone wall surrounding Nortadane. The elders never built a door for the arch because there was no reason to have a door. If the Monsters wanted to raid the village, a door wouldn't stop them. Besides, directly under the arch began the Path that led outside of town and into the darkness where they lived. There was something about the Path that was eerie, and I knew it was more than just the Monsters that lived beyond it. The trees on both sides were tall and dead with their scraggly white branches that resembled gnarled fingers reaching toward the sky. These trees seemed to symbolize the death beyond them—for, on a clearer day when the clouds weren't so thick, one could almost see the end of the Path where the darkness swallowed up the rest of the world. This wall of darkness scared me more than anything else, and I couldn't fathom how my sister and father felt getting dragged down the Path and thrown into the darkness.

The longer I looked down the Path, the more it seemed to shrink as if the trees were pulsing and coming toward me. I knew it had to be from hitting my head, but it didn't make me feel any better. After all, just because the darkness overcame the Monsters didn't mean that they still couldn't use magic. In fact, their magic was more powerful now than ever, and I knew they had the power to distort the world.

Instead of staying to watch the trees move toward me, I began walking home. Dawn would be here any minute, and I didn't want to be outside when the elders picked. I wanted to be with my mother just in case. The chances that the magic would choose us were slim, but we both knew it wasn't impossible. After all, both members of our families were chosen consecutively in a row. The elders once said that was impossible, but it wasn't impossible after it happened to us. Now, nothing was impossible.

The wind was growing thicker, and I knew that the elders were choosing. I could feel it in their air. Their magic was strong, and the bitter scent in the air grew stronger with every step. I hadn't realized how late it was getting, and I began to wonder how long I stared down the Path. It was as if I was mesmerized by the trees. I had a feeling that they did hypnotize me, and I began to grow frightened. If I were gone as long as I thought, my mother would've knocked on my door. If I didn't respond, she would've opened the door to check on me. I never wanted her to know that I sneaked out of my window because that was the only freedom I controlled, and now she would control it too.

I started running even though my boots slammed against the hard dirt beneath me and intensified my headache. With every step, the pain increased, but I couldn't stop running. I needed to get home. I knew that on the far side of town the elders were standing around using their magic to connect with the Monsters. This connection would tell them who they were to pick, for the elders never actually chose the sacrifice. The Monsters controlled the sacrifice just like they controlled everything else in Nortadane, Landria, and the world. Of course, the elders never disclosed this type of information to the people, but we all knew it. How else would they use magic to choose? Although their magic was light, all magic began the same at one time before the Monsters destroyed their own. All magic was connected, and that was why I made the decision when I was younger that I would never learn magic when I turned twenty. I never wanted to have anything in common with the creatures that controlled us. I didn't care if magic could be used for the good, I didn't want any part of it.

I slowed down to a brisk walk once I saw our cottage. My head was blazing, and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to make it back home. However, I was going to push myself no matter what. I couldn't leave my mother alone right now, especially when I was so close to being with her.

By the time I reached the cottage, I didn't have enough energy to climb back through my window. The pain in my head was affecting my stomach, and I felt like I was going to throw up if I put any more energy into coming home. I knew my mother would be angry, but I'd accept her anger over the possibility of falling onto my head again.

Sighing, I leaned my head against the cool wood of the door and took a deep breath. I closed my eyes as tight as I could before I lifted my head and knocked on the door. "It's me, Mother!" I yelled so she wouldn't assume it was the elders. "I hit my head," I complained before I heard her unlock the door and let me in.

"I thought you were the elders," she cried as she pulled me into a hug. The force of her pulling me hurt my head even more, but I didn't complain. I knew she needed a hug after scaring her like that. It was a bad day to knock on the door.

"I'm sorry," I breathed, "I need medicine. I hit my head," I informed her as she let me go and led me to the dining table. I was expecting her to ask me why I was outside, but she didn't.

"Was it before or after climbing out of your window?" She asked as she crushed up some pills in her mortar and sprinkled it in my favorite tea—earl gray.

"W-what?" I stuttered. My head wasn't on tight enough to be having this conversation with her.

"You heard me," she stated as she wiped away the tears from answering the door and set the tea on the table before me.

"After," I admitted. I expected her to say more about it, but she didn't. It was then I knew that I had never truly sneaked out of the house before. She knew about every escape I made, and I suddenly felt small.

"They've chosen," she spoke up after a moment. "I can feel it."

"I felt it when I was outside too," I admitted as I gulped the rest of the tea. "That's why I came back. It was too eerie out there, and I knew nature was warning me."

"Nature warns us all every day. Those clouds out there," she spoke as she walked over to the window above the sink, "they remind us every day of why there's no sun, and why there never will be."

"You don't think the sun will ever—" my question was cut off by a sudden knock on the door. As a reflection, I dropped my teacup onto the ground. The pieces shattered across the floor, but a broken cup was the least of our worries.

I caught my mother's gaze, and I saw the life drain even more from her eyes. We both knew who was knocking, we just didn't know who they were coming for.

"M-mom," I stuttered as I slowly stood to my feet.

"Sit down," she ordered as she held out her hand and waved me back into the chair. "I'll get it."

I forgot how to breathe, and in those short seconds my mother walked toward the door, I didn't allow any oxygen to enter my lungs. I didn't have the strength to breathe, nor did I have the desire to. One of us was going to die by the end of the day, and the other one would be left alone. They wouldn't have anything except the memories of Monsters taking away their whole family. As much as I didn't want to die, I couldn't imagine my mother healing if it were me. She would suffer forever, and I wouldn't want to put her through that.

"Good morning, Mrs. Howl," the four elders bowed as their red robes blew around them from the breeze. "We hope you were having a lovely day," they smiled, but I couldn't focus on them. My mind was empty and hurting more than it had earlier. I couldn't think, breathe, or even process what was going on. It was impossible. This couldn't be happening to us again. Why was this happening?

The four elders looked exactly the same apart from their skin tone. They were hundreds of years old and full of magic, so they were well preserved. However, you could tell they were very old. Their skin was tight, their eyes were empty, and they covered all of their bodies in robes apart from their faces. They even wore gloves on their hands. I always felt they hid their appearance from us because they were too cowardly to show the people who they truly were—the Monsters' minions.

"We congratulate you on this exciting morning," one of the elders beamed as he stepped into the house past my mother. "After all, your family has been chosen three times now. Isn't that lovely?" He asked as he stepped toward me until he was directly in front of me. I glanced up at him and finally took a deep breath. His smile was large, fake, and overdone. He resembled a puppet, and I wasn't too convinced that they all weren't puppets.

"We request the presence of Oceana Howl," the same elder stated as he gazed down at me and held out his hand. Once again, I forgot how to breathe.

I always knew that I would eventually become a sacrifice. If it wasn't old age that killed the people of Nortadane, it was the Monsters. Nothing was definitive, but I always had a feeling. I had hoped that I was wrong, that I would live a long and happy life, but happiness was always a lie. Nobody could be happy in Landria after the highest elders turned. Happiness didn't exist when life was a game of Russian roulette, and our souls were in the custody of flesh-eating Monsters. We were all damned, no matter what happened. However, I still wasn't ready to accept my fate. To be dragged down the Path and thrown into the darkness to be devoured by the Monsters, I couldn't imagine a worse fate. In fact, I was beginning to glance around for any nearby knives. Anything would be better than being the sacrifice—anything.

"No," I breathed out finally when I regained my breath and remembered how to think. "No."

"You have no choice," an elder spoke up from the doorway. "You must come with us."

"No!" I shouted, "you've already taken my sister and father!"

The elder in front of me tried to grab me, but I pushed him off. He tripped over his robe and fell onto the ground. I knew this wouldn't make my situation any better, but I ran toward my bedroom in hopes that I could make it to the window. I'd fall on my head a thousand times before I'd let the elders take me down the Path. There was nothing I wouldn't do to—

Just as I thought I would reach my window, I felt the wind knock out of my lungs. Something slammed into my back and was dragging me toward the dining room.

"You forget that we are stronger, Miss Howl," the third elder spoke up, and I knew exactly what was dragging me across the cottage. It wasn't arms, it wasn't a person, it was the elders' magic. Another example of how I would never use magic. No matter who decided to use it for good, there were at least three other people deciding to use it for evil. "And we will do whatever it takes to keep this town safe."

"Liars!" I cried as I thrashed around until the magic pulled my limbs tight against my body. "You do whatever it takes to keep you safe." Hot tears poured down my cheeks, but I wasn't ashamed. If there was ever a good time to cry, this was the time. Besides, I didn't care what the elders thought of me. I hated them as much as I hated the Monsters, and I hoped they knew that—I wanted them to know that.

"We are here for the people, Miss Howl, and we will do whatever it takes. Even if that means binding you as we have. After all, we don't want an incident like before," the first elder chuckled. As if beating a child in the street because she tried to save her sister was remotely amusing.

"Oceana," my mother whispered as she stepped between my body and the first elder. "Oceana," she repeater as she reached out and wiped my tears away. Although my tears fell quickly, hers were falling faster. The loss my mother endured, the heartache that would never heal, and the pain she would never forget—it was all too much for her, and I could see her crumbling away before my eyes.

"Mother," I cried as all four of the elders stepped into the cottage and seized me.

"It will be okay," the fourth elder promised her as if they were just taking me away to school. "We thank you for your sacrifice."

I knew my mother would've fought them if she could, but there was no strength left in her body. She was weary, and she needed rest that would never be available. This was the third time she watched this happen to those that she loved, and there was nothing she could do. I wanted her to fight for me, but I couldn't ask that much from her. She didn't need to do more than she already did. I just wished this wasn't our end. This wasn't how I wanted to say goodbye.

"Let me say goodbye," I cried, "let me hug her."

"I'm sorry. Knowing your past record, we can't take any chances. Besides, they're waiting for you," the second elder informed me, but I knew he wasn't sorry. None of them were apologetic for what they were doing. As long as it kept them alive, they were willing to sacrifice us all.

As they dragged me outside, my body ascended in the air from the magic wrapped around me, I held my mother's gaze until they closed the cottage door behind them. I knew she was still standing in the same spot she was before, clutching the red envelope they handed her. Inside was money for her sacrifice along with the name of the victim. This year, it was my name in that envelope, and it was my life that gave my mother a few months of wealth.

Although I could barely see through the tears that fell down my cheeks and dropped onto the ground, I watched the town pass before me. We passed cottage after cottage that belonged to people who lost loved ones to this wicked tradition, and I knew everyone who was alive was watching me through their window and praying through their happy tears. They were safe for another year, everyone was safe for another year except for me.

"What are you going to do," I sobbed as I tried to pull my arms free of the magic. However, the more I struggled against it, the more tightened around me. "Are you going to drag me down the Path too?"

"Of course," they sneered in unison as we continued through the town.

"We can't have you escaping," the second elder spoke.

"And we want to keep them happy and our town safe," the first elder finished as they glanced at me through their aged and empty eyes. "They want you, Oceana Howl, and you should feel blessed."

"How?" I gasped, but my voice was muffled by my tears. It was useless to even try talking to them, for all they cared about was another year where they survived. However, I knew that they weren't safe. After all the humans were sacrificed on the solstice to the Monsters, the elders would be the only ones left. Eventually, they would be sacrificed too. It was only a matter of time.

The idea that these wicked men who claimed to protect Nortadane would soon face their fate made me want to smile. In this dark time when I couldn't form words or even think straight, the elders dying gave me hope. It wasn't a hope that would last, but it was a hope that I held onto and needed as we walked through the town that would no longer be my home. Soon, I wouldn't have any memories of this place or of my life. Soon, I would be dead. At least I'd get to see my father and sister again.

"Ah, there it is," the second elder announced as we stopped at the cut-out arch in the wall. The very spot the Path began its mile stretch before us. "She's ready for another year," he sighed as if he was breathing in sea salt air scented with joy and sunshine. Instead, he was breathing in the dark air around us from the Monsters that took away the light Landria once knew. Now, it was always cloudy and dim. No matter what time of the year it was, the darkness always won.

I stopped crying as I faced the Path and imagined what awaited me at the end of my journey. I knew I would die, I knew the Monsters would crawl out of their eternal darkness and capture me with their long fingers and scales, but what I also knew was how unready I was to die. I barely reached adulthood, but what did that matter anyway? It wasn't as if I could leave Nortadane and travel far above and below Landria to gaze at the sea. I've always wanted to see the sea whenever I read about it in books. To imagine a body of water surrounding Landria entirely was unreal. But I knew the sea didn't matter anymore because the Monsters invaded us, divided us, pillaged us, ate us, and left nothing but Nortadane. To think there was once an entire world out there, but now it was just our small town left. Our small town with only a couple hundred people. Soon, there would be nobody with the sacrifices continuing yearly. A tradition that would soon bleed the humans dry. And there was nothing the elders could do to stop themselves from getting picked as well.

"Oceana Howl, your fate awaits," the first elder bowed to me before he swirled his index finger in the air. I felt their constricting magic release me as my feet touched the ground directly before they seized me—each one placing both of their arms on my body.

The first elder grasped my left arm, the second elder grasped my neck, the third elder grasped my waist, and the fourth elder grasped my right arm. They held me tightly to where I couldn't move any part of my body besides my eyes, mouth, and legs. I was stuck in their hands the same way I was stuck in their magic, and that was exactly what they wanted. They didn't want me to escape because who would be their sacrifice then? Besides, nobody escaped even if they could. The Monsters would emerge from their darkness if they weren't fed, and the hell Nortadane would pay in a situation like that would be far worse than one human losing their life. If the Monsters were unleashed, tens of us would die—if not all—and nobody would risk the death of their family for their own selfish gain. After all, wasn't this sacrifice to preserve our family for another year?

"We shall walk to your destiny, Oceana, and there you shall meet your fate," the third elder spoke as he gave my waist a slight push, and we began walking down the Path.

I had never stepped foot onto the Path before. Not because we weren't allowed, but because I never wanted to imagine walking toward my death. However, I no longer had to worry about imagining it. I was living through it now surrounded by the elders.

The dirt was silent, and I couldn't hear anything except for our breaths. There were no birds, there were no crickets, there were no frogs—it was as if the entire world was sleeping. It made everything eerie knowing that the reason everything was silent was due to the Monsters having control outside of our walls. Even before we reached their dark perimeter, they proved they controlled us by controlling nature.

Although it was morning, the trees surrounding the Path created such a dark shadow that I had to squint to see where we were going. I didn't want to see where I was headed, but I knew it was always better to know where you were going instead of being surprised. Besides, I didn't want to face my death without seeing it first. I wanted to remember what the Monster looked like that killed me. I wanted to study its face, remember its color, memorize its claws, imagine its fangs, and never forget who it was that would kill me. I would only get a few seconds to absorb this information—or so I assumed, but I could see the Monsters eating their sacrifices slowly just to remind us of their control—and I wanted to keep my eyes open for when they grabbed me and pulled me into their world.

The farther we walked down the path, the closer the trees seemed to be on either side of us. It was as if the trees were enclosing us and swallowing us whole.

"This is as far as we take you, Oceana Howl, but you will find the rest of the journey easy. Be at peace, and thank you for your sacrifice," the first elder said as they released me.

Although their hands weren't holding me, I felt their magic as my body elevated into the air once again and began floating down the Path. I was alone now, void of human contact and company, but I wasn't lonely. I knew the Monsters were nearby waiting for me, and I felt a lonely tear slip past my eyelids just thinking about the fate before me.

The elders' magic made me travel down the Path much faster than when they were walking down with me, and I knew it was due to them wanting to get this over with. They wanted this sacrifice over so they could seal their safety for another year. The elders were selfish, heartless old men who only worried about their immortality. They never cared about the people they were made to protect. Magic was always supposed to benefit us, not tear us apart. This was another reason why I refused to learn magic when I would be of age. Magic seemed to overtake the elders, and I didn't want anything to control me. No matter what it was.

Tears cascaded down my cheeks as the black wall came closer and closer to me. I would be devoured in mere seconds, and there was nothing left for me to do. I was hopeless, weak, and bound by superior magic.

I could hear static volts of electricity as I neared the wall, and I closed my eyes as I imagined a different world where I could be by the sea. I just wanted to visit the sea, I wanted to live a meaningful life, I wanted to be anywhere but Nortadane.

With my last breath and my head full of dreams, I whispered a curse to the elders behind me:

"Mors omnibus."

Death to all, I spoke, before the electric wall enveloped me in oblivion, and my body felt as if it was on fire from electricity.

Death to all, but especially, death to me.