The entire clearing had filled with druids, all of them in white robes, and they stood in circles around the fire. They placed their bowls on the ground by their feet and stretched their arms out towards the fire, whispering and murmuring chants in the Celtic language. Lewellyn stood at the center, leading the chants with outstretched arms and closed eyes, face turned reverently towards the sky.

Horace and Will silently watched them pray for at least a half an hour, both of them tense with anticipation. Will squeezed the grip on his bow, his eyes glued to the fire as he waited for it to swell in size, jump out at him, burn everyone up, or anything in between. Horace was still as pale as a ghost, and his hand hadn't moved from the hilt of his sword.

After what felt like years of praying and chanting, humming songs and murmuring 'Esus' over and over, Lewellyn finally raised her hand, making everyone fall silent. They all stopped moving, swaying, and bowing, standing as still as statues. The firelight danced across their faces and motionless bodies, making the clearing look like the large stones that stood unnaturally upright in circles on the Solitary Plains. Will had seen them once before, in his early days as an apprentice. This was the humanoid version, with statues of people instead of rectangles of stone.

"He has spoken!" Lewellyn called in a loud voice. "He calls for a sacrifice!"

Horace stiffened, his breath hitching as he swayed heavily where he stood. Will had to grab his upper arm to keep him from falling over. "Will, I swear to god, if we get sacrificed tonight, I'm going to kill you!"

Will, who had just sucked in a huge nervous breath, let it out in a sigh and whispered, "I'm trying my best, Horace. Worse comes to worse, I'll go first and you'll have to save me if something goes wrong."

"Deal."

"Who will volunteer?" Lewellyn was turning slowly, looking every single druid in the eye. "He demands only the second degree of sacrifice tonight. Who is brave enough? Who is truly committed to Esus?"

Will noted that her eyes did not drift towards him or Horace. Hopefully that means she doesn't expect us to volunteer. We just might survive this after all.

A man off to one side raised his hand. He stepped out of the circle and walked slowly toward Lewellyn. "I have heard his call, and I will answer."

"Blessed one, you bring great honor upon yourself in your willingness to serve Esus. He shall reward you." She gestured to something large on the ground behind her legs. From their angle, Will realized he couldn't see it very well, and he tugged on Horace's sleeve as they crept along the edge of the clearing to get a better look.

Sure enough, a massive smooth blackened stone, about the size of a small desk and at least ten centimeters thick, lay on the dirt beside the fire at Lewellyn's feet. It had a disk-shaped indent on the surface of it, like something the size and thickness of a dinner plate needed to be placed there.

The man stood on the opposite side, facing Lewellyn. The glassy surface of the stone below them reflected the fire in a mirrored image. It was hypnotic, and with the light Will could see some odd splotches scattered across the face of the stone. They ruined the reflection, making it imperfect and warped. He couldn't tell what it was from this distance that coated the stone, but he sensed it was supposed to be smooth. So what was it?

"What have you chosen?" Lewellyn asked the man. He held out his left hand, palm up, fingers spread wide. "An excellent choice, most favored by Esus." His hand trembled as she spoke.

To Will's increasing horror, he withdrew a knife from his belt, a long slim silver one that gleamed red in the firelight. The entire scene was reflected on the stone below as he pressed the edge of the blade against the skin of his arm just below the wrist, the most narrow part of his forearm. He paused there, both hands trembling, his eyes leaking tears and his lips pressed together painfully. A few tears dripped down onto the stone, marring the reflection even further.

"Whenever you're ready." Lewellyn bent down and placed her bowl into the grooves on the face of the rock, ready to catch whatever would fall into it.

Will knew, he knew what was about to happen. But he couldn't imagine it, and he sat frozen, his eyes locked on the blade pressed into the man's arm. Is he strong enough, insane enough to do it? I don't think he is, who could possibly have enough willpower to do this to themselves, willingly? Any average person wouldn't, hell, even I wouldn't. I'd rather die than do that to myself.

"Will, is he about to do what I think he's going to do?" Horace whispered hoarsely into his ear.

Will couldn't answer. He only shook his head in further disbelief as the man pressed the knife into his arm even harder, drawing a thin line of blood, and the whole forest around them hushed. The owls stopped hooting, the cicadas stopped buzzing, and the wind blowing through the trees went silent.

The man was shouting now, fear creeping into his voice with every word. "Esus, god of fire and rebirth, I offer this to you to satiate you, to be obedient and faithful. I offer this piece of myself as a way to restore balance. I give it willingly, and gladly." His voice cracked with the last word, and he whimpered a bit as he brought the knife across his arm.

Will turned away immediately, his hands covering his face as the man screamed. Horace was already turned away, his head in his hands, gripping Will's arm tight enough that Will was losing feeling in his fingers. Not that Will noticed or cared. Both of them hunched their shoulders up over their ears to block out his cries.

The screaming went on for a full minute. Horace was shaking hard enough now that Will looked over at him and saw how pale and horrified he was. He met Will's eyes, panic and fear swallowing them both whole. Will felt him start to move, to turn around, and Will was forced to follow because of his unrelenting grip on his forearm. He let Will go once they had both taken a few steps toward the fire, where he pulled his sword from its sheath and ran headlong into the circle of druids, shoving them out of this way. "Stop! Stop it now!" he shouted in agony.

Will was right on Horace's heels, his saxe drawn and at the ready. "Horace, no! We can't inter-"

He stopped as his eyes glanced down at the stone. Even as they focused on the bloody mess, he wrenched his eyes away, not wanting to see it. But even the split second that he had seen burned itself into his mind.

Blood had filled the bowl, several inches deep, black in the firelight, perfectly shiny and glistening atop the stone. A pool of it had covered the entire face of the stone, smoothing all the blemishes and making the reflection perfect. Will blinked hard as he tried to erase the memory of the severed hand, with no success. That, he wouldn't linger on. It might make him vomit, and now was definitely not the time to lose his nerve.

Horace had his sword leveled at Lewellyn's chest, his eyes wild, his head held high, purposefully not looking down at the stone. "Why did you let him do that? Why didn't you stop him?"

She held out a hand, trying to placate him. "It is our way. He chose to do it, he gave the sacrifice himself. We did not hurt him, Esus did not hurt him. There is nothing you, or we, can do. Please, sir, lower your sword."

"Put it down, Horace. She's right," Will said tiredly. He glanced down beside the stone, not letting his eyes stray to the blood, and saw the poor man now lying on the ground in silence, whatever was left of his wrist pressed into his stomach as he tried to stop the bleeding. Will knelt and took the side of his own white cloak, wrapping it around the wound and pressing down firmly. "Can someone help me? We need to stop this bleeding or he'll die!"

Another druid was immediately at his side, helping Will press down on the man's wrist. Several others helped lift him up, and then gently pushed Will's hands away as they carried him across the clearing and into the darkness beyond.

"They are our healers. They will help him," Lewellyn said softly, watching them leave with fondness. Then she turned back to Will and Horace, who had both sheathed their weapons and had turned away from the stone. "I must finish the ritual."

The rest of the druids in the clearing had gathered around the fire in a tight group so that they all could see the stone and its contents. Lewellyn lifted her bowl, filled to the brim, out of the grooves on the flat stone and held it up. Each druid came up and allowed her to tip some of the blood into their own bowl. Then, they walked to the edge of the fire and let the syrupy black substance drip languidly into the flames. Each time another did this, the fire would hiss and shrink, only to grow bigger in the next second.

When the last druid had poured their share of blood into the fire, Lewellyn and a few other druids lifted the entire stone, blood dripping down onto their clothing, faces, and hair, and unceremoniously lobbed it into the fire with all their strength. The fire spat sparks and smoke as it dwindled down, from a massive blaze to a much smaller campfire, and then down even further until it was only a small flame or two. Atop the hot coals sat the stone, burned completely clean. The blood, the flesh, all of it was gone. It sat in the fire, entirely black, smooth, and shiny, just like it was when they had started. Blood had marred it, and now blood had cleansed it.

"He accepted the offering. Our ceremony is complete."

The other druids around the fire bowed once, and then began dispersing naturally. It was as if they had done something quite ordinary, like eating lunch or going to work, and now they were heading home for the night. They didn't act like seeing someone cut off their own hand was unnatural in any way.

Lewellyn heaved the stone out of the ashes of the fire, and dropped it down into the dirt once again. "I know that was difficult to see, and I apologize. I will give you a few moments to recover while I send for someone to bring you food." She spoke calmly, warmly, like a mother speaking to a child. Will watched her mutely as she started to walk away, but then she turned back hesitantly. "Please, do not think badly of us. We are peaceful, we do what we are told and we are rewarded because of it. We do not enjoy pain or bloodshed. Do not misinterpret this sacred act because you do not understand."

Will only stared back, his face as still, and as pale, as stone. Her back, covered in splatters of blood, moved farther and farther away until she too disappeared into the darkness beyond the clearing.

His eyes moved back to the ashes of the fire. His breath caught as he realized what lay underneath the coals.

Round black stones, the size of his palm. Unblemished, matte, perfect in every way.

With the strange symbol engraved on every single one.

Will's eyes widened as he stepped back, and a perfect circle of the black stones traced all the way around the fire pit. Every single stone lining the pit was the same as the one found in all the fires, except here, there was nearly a hundred of them.

Will felt the stone in his pocket grow heavy and hot.

The wicker man.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alyss crumpled the piece of paper in her hand. It had read "Throne room today. We need to speak with the King." Another note from Athol. She was meeting Halt at the doors to the throne room for him to join in the meeting. After the previous night's mysterious talk with him, she was curious to hear more about this supposed rebellion and what it had to do with the Esus worshipping druids. From what she had head from Will about his meeting with the King, she could only imagine how strange this was going to be.

She hurried down the hall, feeling the hilt of her saber brush against her leg beneath her gown. It was comforting for her to wear it, especially when she didn't know what she was heading into.

Halt was standing there, at the end of the hall just like he'd promised. He must have seen the wild, worried look in her eyes as she approached because once she had reached his side he wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders and gave her a fatherly kiss on the cheek.

"Don't worry, Alyss. It's going to be alright. We can handle whatever crazy things the King has in store for us. And Athol seems harmless enough." He took her hand and squeezed it knowingly. "Will will be back tomorrow, very soon. Now let's just get this over with, I'm hoping it's all an easy fix."

"Me, too, " she sighed, smiling, and she squeezed his hand in response to the rest of his words, too anxious to bother with a real answer.

The doors boomed as they swung open, courtesy of the two Celtic guardsman standing watch.

"Lady Alyss, welcome. It is an honor to meet you."

The King was exactly as Will had said he was--short, round, and squeaky. He hobbled down the aisle on his uneven legs, and his eyes had the strange glow she remembered from the courtyard a day earlier.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I'm here because of Athol, he told me--"

"Yes, yes, I know what he told you. I'm not sure why he thinks you can help me, but we'll just have to see." He paused mid-step, only a few meters away from her and Halt now. She felt Halt stiffen almost imperceptibly as the King's head tilted to one side, his eyes burning into Alyss's.

"Interesting..." he murmured, his unnerving gaze going a bit cross-eyed.

"I'm Ranger Halt, Your Majesty, pleased to meet you. What's interesting?" Halt cut into the conversation bluntly, his tone a bit defensive. He had been ignored by the King after all, and Alyss didn't blame him for his somewhat rude introduction. But again, Halt had never had any serious troubles with any kings ignoring him. They always listened in the end, Halt made sure of that.

King Carr was still staring at her. But now his gaze had shifted from her eyes to her stomach.

His eyes flashed knowingly, and Alyss resisted the sudden urge to turn on her heel and sprint out of the throne room. Something about this King made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on edge. His very presence was like fingernails on a chalkboard.

Panic gripped her heart when he said his next words.

"Congratulations on your pregnancy, Lady Alyss."

*******************

A/N I'm switching to updates every other day! 3000 words plus editing is a lot of work to do every single day, and I can guarantee better writing quality if you just give me a little bit more time. 

This was an exciting chapter, a bit of a double whammy! More Alyss POV coming soon.