“I brought you a few things.” He handed her the daggers. “You won’t have room for the sword in a tight spot, so I figured these would do nicely.”
Harley was speechless. Emery never ceased to surprise her with his generosity and thoughtfulness. She didn’t have the words, so she threw her arms around him and hugged him. She held on for a long time, tears of gratitude running down her face.”
“Harley, I love your boobs, but don’t smother me to death.”
She laughed out loud. “You are not that short.”
“No, but they are that big.”
She stepped back and playfully slapped him on the arm. “Dirty old man.”
“Yup, and don’t forget it. Now, let’s get to work.”
Harley laid the sword and daggers on the stone altar that was in the middle of the room. Ancient runes had been carved into the table’s surface.
The altar had been used when she first got her sword. She, Emery and a few friends had bespelled the sword. She had no idea who forged it. Emery kept secrets even from her.
Emery spread several large tomes across one of the work tables. These were special books that he always carried with him. When Harley touched their pages she could feel the thrum of energy and magic. It pricked along her skin and made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.
She washed her hands three times and then put on white linen gloves before opening any of the tomes. She didn’t want the oils from her skin to get on any of the ancient paper.
Harley wished these were her books. The information contained in the pages was hundreds of years old. Some of the spells were for eternal life, others were for removing warts. There seemed to be spells for everything in between.
They spent two days going over the books before they decided on a ritual. Emery said the first step was to magically etch my Goddess’ symbol onto the blade.
Harley chose to use a raven in flight, the cowslip and the eyes of a great cat. Emery had amber put into the hilt of each blade. The cowslips intertwined around the raven in flight and lead to the cat’s eyes which were closest to the hilt of each blade.
Freya was well known for her relationship with the great cats, but not as well known for the raven. Ravens were contributed to Odin and the Morrigan. The raven was Freya’s sacred bird and Freya was her goddess of choice.
The blades were laid out in the middle of the stone altar. Around the edge of the altar were primrose, cowslips, daisies and large pieces of amber.
The four elements were represented at the four corners of the altar. Sacred oils and incense lined the blades. Candles were lit around the room. Both she and Emery were nude. They had bathed and cleansed each other with salt and sage.
Emery stood at one end of the altar and she stood at the other. A salt circle surrounded it all. He began to call the four quarters.
We call on the element of the North, the element of earth. We ask that you bless us with your gifts of prosperity, endurance, patience, and stability.
We call on the element of the East, the element of air. We ask that you bless us with your gifts, perception, wisdom, inspiration and intellect.
We call on the element of the South, the element of fire. We ask that you bless us with your gifts, energy, will power, passion and strength.
We call on the element of the West, the element of water. We ask that you bless us with your gifts, healing, emotion, receptivity, and pleasure.
We ask for the Goddess Freya, our ancestors and the ancient ones to join us this evening. To bless us and to hear our pleas.
They both began to circle the altar going clockwise and chanting.
We circle round this place, creating a sacred space. Invoking the elements and the Goddess’ grace.
Imbue these blades with your power so that your champion will shine in their darkest hour. Bless these blades with your grace and might.
May they strike swift, strong and true. May the wielder be imbued with supernatural graces, Freya, fair Goddess of great might.
They repeated the spell three times while they walked inside the circle around the altar. Just after they finished the third chant of the spell a great wind blew through the enclosed room. The flames on the candle grew three feet off the table, the earth trembled and then everything in the room went dark.
Emery and Harley stayed inside the circle feeling the energy of the spell and the Goddess course through their body. It was like a mild form of electrocution. Harley was sure her hair was standing on end.
The darkness remained in the room for several minutes. Harley felt another presence in the room with them. She didn’t speak or move, neither did Emery. A shadow that was somehow darker than the darkness of an unlit room moved in and out of the circle.
The hum of energy around the altar grew. It literally began to hum. The vibrational energy was quiet at first, then rose to an almost ear-splitting pitch before going completely quiet.
Harley had never experienced anything like this before. She couldn’t hear Emery moving, and he hadn’t said anything. She stood her ground and simply waited.
The candles that had been extinguished earlier relit. The room was bathed in a soft glow. The energy that had been there earlier seemed to have diminished or perhaps disappeared altogether.
She didn’t see or sense the shadow or whatever had been circling them earlier. Looking over at Emery he didn’t seem to be upset, in fact, he had a huge smile on his face.
“Let’s give it a few minutes before we
