Offerings Of Flesh

As the line of people slowly dwindled, the pile of meat in the bowl grew. Even after so many people have willingly givien up a piece of themselves to their god, I still could not stomach the sight of it. Even the sound of wet flesh piling atop each other made me feel sick. Elderly and children alike were lined up, ready to give to their god. Eventually, one of the kids that greeted me this morning made his way to the front of the line, pulling up his sleeve to give a piece of himself up for offering. I walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulders. Tenebris didn't seem to mind, but he gave me a look that told me not to interrupt the ceremony.

"Hey kid, you sure you want to do this?" I asked, trying not to show my wariness.

"Worry not mister, we have always given back to our god like this. It may seemeth gruesome, but I assure thou I will be fine." He said genuinely.

"How come I don't see any other scars on your arm then?" I asked.

The kid smiled. "Thou shall see soon enough."

I looked down and sighed. He seemed truly devoted to his god just as everyone else in line was. Not a single scream of pain was ever made for the entirety of communion, so perhaps I was not use to this culture, especially being from a different world. I stepped back and the kid smiled. Though his devotion was genuine and great, I still couldn't bare to watch. Eventually, the line had finally dissipated and everyone had gone back to their seats. I looked over at Tenebris, who had signaled me to also go back to my seat. I planted myself onto the edge of the bench and sat their silently. The last word's of Tenebris's sermon were blurry. At some point, I noticed everyone getting up to leave so I followed. Before I left, I decided to go back toward the stage to ask Tenebris something.

"Hey, how will you give those offerings to your god?" I asked in a weary tone.

"Need not worry, our god shall recieveth our thanks." He said.

I was getting annoyed. "That doesn't answer my question."

He smirked as he turned back at me. "I'm afraid that is only for me, as the father of this church, to see and do." He said coldly. Though he had a blindfold on, I knew that if I could see his eyes, they would shake me to my core.

I turned my back to him, realizing I wasn't going to get anything of use out of him. I made my way back to the house Fesha and I were borrowing. The chatter of the happy citizens around me was once I sight that filled me with ease, but after witnessing their ritual, I only felt cautious. Despite warm morning light peeking through the vines, I could not feel its comfort. I opened the door to the old house to see that Fesha had started making breakfast.

She turned to face me. "What has thou been up to? I thought thou was still in slumber."

I looked at her with puffy eyes. "I'm sorry." I said.

"Well no needeth to apologize, let us eat and thou can telleth me everything." She reassured me.

We sat at the dining table slowly making it through our breakfast. I told her everything that has happened since I woke up. She only seemed weirded out by it at first, until I mentioned their communion. Once I mentioned that her look became serious.

"They were offering flesh?" She confirmed with me.

"Yeah, it was gross." I told her bluntly.

"No no, Tenebris may be worshipping something that shouldn't have been uncovered." She said with worry. She looked at me and sighed, preparing herself to explain her trouble. "Upon the many gods that exist, there have been few who's deed could've destroyed the world. They thriveth on temptation and trickery. Their sins so great that their origins and doings have been removed from history. There is but one detail that was not erased, a detail that has always remained constant between these forgotten deities. They only accepteth offerings of flesh and blood."

I got sudden chills from the statement. Just thinking that I was in the presence of a man who idolized something this dangerous sent shivers down my spine. I looked up from my food into Fesha's golden eyes.

"What are we going to do? There are children worshiping here too, we can't just leave them here!" I nearly shouted.

"Quiet down. Though I had wished to leave quickly and quietly, I simply cannot ignore my duties as one who is devoted to a god who has contained a deity such as this before." She said with confidence.

We came to an agreement to stop Tenebris and his communion. Fesha and I talked over the dining table and the burnt out stove on our plan to approach Tenebris. We hoped to leave here with no harm caused to anyone. Tenebris still seemed of a sound mind, so perhaps we could convince him to stop. After some time, we had decided on our plan. Fesha and I both confirmed we were both willing to take part in what we came up with. With that, we headed out to meet Tenebris.

As we walked together toward some townfolk, they greet us kindly.

"Excuse me, does thou happen to knoweth where Tenebris went off to." Fesha asked.

"Ah, he's giving up our offerings in the church hall as we speak. It would be unwise to disturb him right now though, it is a sacred ritual, not fit for us common folk to see." An old lady told us.

"No matter, we will wait outside." Fesha told her.

Fesha thanked her quickly and we headed for the old church's closed doors. From her face, I knew she wouldn't wait for Tenebris to finish his business. I looked back at the old lady who was waving and smiling at us. It was then that I had noticed that her arm had not a single scar on it. In fact, not a single citizen had any marks resembling the cuts they gave themselves this morning.