Bloodright of Leto

When I was 14, I found myself down there again, somewhere in the heart of Castle Nox. It's crazy to think that a whole cathedral was built down there, comparable to any of the churches in Rome. There are no giant windows though, just glowing crystals at the top of the vaulted obsidian ceilings.

In the center of this massive cavern was the giant metal casket containing Leto's body. It was almost completely sealed, welded shut, and covered with many hundreds of runes, paper talismans, and other things I couldn't recognize, using magic from other countries. Surrounding the Casket are also half a dozen Anagi commandos, dressed in full fatigues and armed with a rifle. They really don't want her waking up again! On one side of the casket was her exposed arm, laying on a pillow on top of a granite slab. She was imprisoned, but she is still revered as our goddess.

The reason I was down there, again, was because it was time for my sister Iris's ascension. Unlike my older brother William who refused the bloodright at the last minute, Iris was looking forward to it for years. Our mother wanted us all present for "when a new goddess arose". I didn't think an ascending werewolf was that big a deal. I've seen it before.

Our mother invited the Vampire Lord of Tenerife to attend. I mean, it is his castle... Lord Tenebris Agani agreed and was down here. His daughter, the vampire princess Tina was here too. The vampires were all unreasonably well dressed compared to us werewolves. Tina decided to stand next to me, even though she hated me. She probably wanted to say something stupid after Iris ascended, but I never got to figure out what she said.

Anyways, the ceremony... It started with a procession of Adult Werewolves, all wearing a cape made of wolf fur, and the head was draped across the left shoulder. At least I hope those were wolves and not transformed people... They were carrying bronze spears and shields. The shields had emblems on them representing Lycia's ancient city-states.

Mom was at the front of the procession, wearing bright white robes, trying her hardest to mimic the appearance of a Greek Goddess. She was holding a glass chalice, already filled with red wine. In the back of the procession was Iris. She was also dressed in white robes, but also had a veil covering her head. This was all way overacted compared to other ascension ceremonies I've seen.

After reaching the center of the Cathedral, the wolf warrior people spread out around the casket. My mother and Iris walked towards Leto's exposed arm. Iris lifted Leto's arm. Mom then pricked Leto's arm with a mistletoe needle. A single drop of blood slid onto the needle. She then placed the needle in the chalice and slowly mixed Leto's blood. My mother then held the chalice high for everyone to see.

"Behold! The blood of our Goddess!" she shouted, her voice echoing off the walls. She then turned and lowered the chalice to hand it to Iris.

Iris wasted no time. She flung the veil off her head and took the chalice, quickly drinking the wine. She tilted her head back, and her formerly black hair fell behind her shoulders. As she drank, her eyes rolled in the back of her head. When she was finished drinking, our mother took the chalice. It didn't take long for Iris to feel the effects of Leto's blood. She felt pain at first, holding her chest, then very quickly she started to laugh. I remember what she said after: "Yes Mother!"

Iris's gaze then snapped towards the nearest non-werewolf in the room. It was a vampire but I didn't know him. Iris lunged at him with her hands. It happened so fast I didn't see all of what happened. She tore into the vampire and a second later was holding his throat in her hands. Blood sprayed everywhere and the vampire fell to the ground. Iris then lunged at the vampire's wife next to him, very quickly doing the same thing to her. Then she jumped at another.

At this point multiple soldiers in the room were ready to shoot Iris, with their sights lined up. Mom quickly tackled several of them, even though she knew that the ascension ceremony failed. Some of them were able to fire at Iris, but she shrugged off the silver bullets like they were nothing. In an instant she even caught one and threw it back at the soldier that fired it, striking them in the eye and forcing them to the ground. Iris then locked eyes with the next vampire she saw, who was standing right next to me.

Before she got there, I jumped between Iris and Tina. Iris grabbed my arm and threw me across the room. My head slammed into Leto's casket and I fell to the ground. Everything happened so fast that when I stood up, ready to run towards Iris and Tina, it was already over.

William, despite being a depowered werewolf, was able to get the better of Iris. He had her pinned to the ground with her arms pulled behind her back. Iris was struggling hard to get out of William's grasp so she could tear Tina apart.

I ran to Tina to make sure she was alright. I've never seen a vampire frightened before... her red eyes were welling with tears and her entire body was very clearly shaking. Her dress was torn, and she had scratch marks on her face and chest. I pulled off my coat and put it around her. Tina raised her head and looked directly at me. I was expecting some snarky remark like she was always prone to saying, but she just put her head back down.

"Get chains, now!" William growled. Moments later an Anagi soldier approached with silver cuffs, binding Iris's wrists and ankles. William pulled Iris to her feet and helped the Anagi soldier drag her away. Iris didn't stop struggling in her chains, snapping and growling at the vampire like a wild animal.

After everything had calmed down a little, I saw my mother Ada and Lord Tenebris talking to each other. "One hundred thousand Euros for each deceased member of your clan, as we previously agreed," my mother said, she produced a paper and handed it to Tenebris. "There's extra in there for other damages. I hope this makes us even my Lord."

"Oh we have always been even Ada, You don't need to pay me, really." Tenebris laughed, as he tore the paper up, "That agreement was more of a joke anyways... Though I had hoped that you could keep your daughter under control."

"The experiment was partially successful, but the blood lust is still there it seems." Ada said. She and Lord Tenebris started to walk towards the exit which was in our direction.

"Really quite unfortunate that was still there" Tenebris sighed, "But it seems the will of your goddess is too much. Iris was one of the strongest werewolves I have ever seen."

"Strong physically. Mentally, she was weak and pathetic, a waste of our time." Ada coldly said, right as she walked past me. My mother locked eyes with me as she continued talking, "Hopefully the next one isn't a failure too. I'll make adjustments so it doesn't happen again."