What did I say? Why was she so worried? Second borns aren’t that odd, are they?

Even though we were separated by at least a few walls, I could still hear her muttering to herself, “Shit. Shit. Shit.”

I started to get worried. She seemed really shaken by whatever it was that spooked her. Me? I debated going up to her and trying to help her find whatever she needed but she returned, carrying a box filled with random supplies in her arms. There was a look in her eyes, one that screamed danger.

“Come to the basement, now.”

I followed her. She walked to the kitchen, set down the box, and lifted open a trapdoor. She didn’t seem like she was going to murder. No, she seemed scared for herself.

“What’s going on?” I asked, hesitantly.

“I’ll explain but let me focus first.” She grabbed the box and descended down the stairs into a very creepy basement. I heard her set the box down again and then lit a candle. I descended myself.

The basement was made of stone and looked just like any old basement, surprisingly. There were some wooden boxes along the wall, storing various things, most just normal household items. A few things were more odd, like a helmet with some rune inscription on it and a glowing rock. Kelia was in the center of the basement, which was clear of anything, maybe a thousand square feet of space open. She was on the ground drawing something with chalk.

I took a few steps toward her but was scolded.

“No. Don’t come near.”

“Okay,” I near-whispered, feeling utterly creeped out.

She stood up suddenly and ran up the stairs, shoulder brushing past me. I heard her storm into the living room and then she returned, this time a book in hand. She was flipping through it as she walked, finding the page she apparently needed. She set it beside the circle and continued drawing with the chalk, adding smaller circles with triangles trapped within them.

“You said you wanted to learn magic? Well, guess what, now's your lucky chance.”

“What? Is how you learn magic? Through like a magic circle?”

“Magic is a contract,” she explained as she worked, not even looking up at me. “You give an offering to Giaos, some part of you. Maybe it’s a relationship, maybe it's a feeling, maybe it's motivation but something human. She’s a lonely goddess, the newest addition and excluded from everything else because of her allegiance to humans. Because of that, she feeds on that stuff. But I don't think you’ll have to give anything. Maybe.”

My mind was reeling. What kind of goddess was lonely? Kelia had just acted like me learning magic was a joke, something I couldn’t handle.

It seemed like the ritual circle was almost complete, an intricate series of shapes pieced together. Four quadrants, each with their own theme and runes.

“Normally, there is a lot more preparation involved but Giaos had warned me that you would come eventually and I can’t keep her waiting.”

“Wait, this Giaos knew about me? She knew I would be coming? For how long?”

“She’ll explain it all to you.”

“I’m gonna talk with her?” My voice rose involuntarily, filled with incredulity. This was too much. I wasn’t a religious person back on Earth. I wasn’t even spiritual. Ghosts, spirits, angels, demons, none of it. I mean, I thought concluding that there existed some sort of creator or other religious icons was entirely reasonable. It's just that when I personally analyzed the evidence, I would always come to the conclusion that we were alone in this vast universe.

Now here I was, potentially minutes away from meeting a literal goddess. My mind twisted and bent at the thought. What would she look like? Would she be nice? Would we, like, talk or something?

“Sit in the center,” Kelia ordered.

I was slow to move, now unsure of my desire to learn magic.

“Shouldn’t I like practice or rehearse what I’m gonna say?” I was hoping she would say yes, put down the book, move us back upstairs, sit down in the comfort of the living room and wade through awkward silences together. What I would give now to feel the social anxiety of the morning.

“No. She told me it was fine. Now sit.” This time it was an order and I knew I couldn’t escape, couldn’t turn this around and wiggle out.

I walked slowly, a trance settling over me, heart beating so hard that Kelia probably heard. I placed my feet down gingerly, avoiding the lines of chalk.

The center of the circle. I seated myself and as soon as my butt hit the floor, Kelia started a chant. It was in a language that my amulet couldn’t translate.

Ancient words flowed out, a certain lullabylike rhythm established in her odd cadence. The circle started to glow, flickering like a candle in those wintry nights. Kelia’s voice found its way inside my head, my thoughts starting to flow in the tempo of her chant and I could feel my body start to twitch along with it. Even my heartbeat had slowed to keep in pace.

The glowing increased in intensity, moving between a blinding white and a deep red, shifting seamlessly, moving in time, flowing with ease, swirling with vigor.

And then everything had been cut to black.

♠

I opened my eyes, not realizing I had closed them. Blackness abounded, a void of nightfall. A woman stood before me, dressed in a cloak, face obscured, blonde hair falling out of the hood and shadows. The cloak was a moving red and white, two colors fighting for space. Red and white. White and red.

She spoke, her soft voice carrying. Everywhere it came and everywhere it went. .

“I’ve been waiting a long time, Griffin.” So sweet that I could hear the smile in her voice.

I didn’t know what to say, words not coming to my brain, lost in an endlessly vast expanse. Perhaps scattered over there.

Time passed and didn’t. There was no sense in saying she paused. Did and didn’t. Was time multileveled? Multiplicitous? Multilinear?

“It’s okay, you can speak.”

“Who are you?” For some reason, that was the only question I could draw from my blank mind.

“Some call me Giaos, others the Lady of the Western Wind, still others The Great Mother. I am the goddess of the domain of the elements, the path of the Devaint.”

Words now started to flow on their own accord, me unable to stop them. “How did you know I was coming?”

Her cloak flowed and danced in an airless wind, giving me the sense we were moving. Suddenly, a dim light crept onto my right, illuminating a stone wall. On this wall was a series of words in an ancient language, one that had to be the same that Kelia was using to incite the ritual. Old, etched, powerful.

“Everytime a new god or goddess takes up the burden of the path of the domains, secures their place as ruler, the domains provide a set of prophecies. These prophecies have existed since the dawn of time, older than language itself.” She drew a hand from out of her cloak and extended it towards the stone wall. “This is your prophecy.”

My mind reeled. ‘Chosen ones’ were for movies and shit. Not me. Not this. I was a nobody, too shy to ask for breakfast.

Her voice shifted, suddenly uniting several, male, female, human, inhuman, nonhuman, ancient, new, forgotten, remembered.

“A monster crawls from a pit

Seeking to destroy all that remembers it.

A secondborn brought from another place

The monster he will erase

At the cost of his own life

A sacrifice destined to save all the rest.”

Her hand lowered, finding a resting place within the secrecy of her cloak.

I… was going to die?

“You must become strong, Griffin. Your power is needed now more than ever. You must vanquish this growing evil.” Her words carried such a heavy weight.

“I… you… this can’t be serious. I’m weak.” It was almost a whimper, shock and fear mixed together.

“Dearest Griffin,” her head tilted, a presence of warmth and tenderness emanating. “You are already far stronger than you realize. I will lend you my strength, aid you, help you grow. But this battle will not only be one of power. Strategy, discovery, exploration, mystery, knowledge. You will need to be prepared for all.

“Can’t you do anything to stop the monster?”

A sadness grew in the air. “Prophecies are not a matter our kind can manipulate. Only indirectly, through our influence, can we hope to help and that is what I plan to do with you, Griffin. You are this humanity’s hope.”

I crumpled at the sound of that, not understanding what she was saying, what was going on, who I was, who I needed to be, what I would become.

“Why me?” was the only thing I could say now.

An air of confusion.

“I can’t say. Perhaps it was random but nothing so far informs me of why.”

A goddess mystified?

“Normally I require something of great value in return for the use of my body, my many paths. But for you I offer a deal. I will take care of your soul after death if you choose to use my power.”

My soul? A deal? The brink of death. Staring into the abyss. A life tossed to the wind. Secured in death? A paltry reward. Fear, like ice, gripping me.

“Do you accept?”

Could I? Was I ready to go through? A boy. A small kid. Lost. Alone. Scared.

“Yes.” Words. Not my own, pushing past. A slip. A mistake. Take it back!

“A deal it is.”

Glowing bright white. Blinding.