2014
The magnificent old grandfather clock seemed to tick in anticipation on this 13th night of June, a Friday, and also the night of the full moon. The spectacle from the balcony was wondrous; the golden orb could be seen rising between the boughs of the ancient oak tree, and it seemed to fill the horizon. Stars were starting to sparkle in the sky and the whispy clouds clinging to the moon's rim added an extra dimension to the scene..
In a clearing in the local woods a Coven of 12 Lunar witches gathered as their moon rose, preparing for the ceremony to come on this most sacred of nights. Each one had marked out their Pentagram with iridescent purple silk thread, and set their altars on the outermost point. Then 5 who had been chosen because of their great spirituality and wisdom ceremoniously marked out the central Pentagram, which by midnight would be directly below the mid-heaven. Their moon would fill the space between the tops of the surrounding circle of trees, flooding the clearing with silver moonlight.. Bats fluttered and shrieked in the trees and glow-worms added their glimmer to the proceedings.
While the 5 performed the marking ceremony, the rest of the Coven took their places and began dancing and chanting building slowly. As they finished their task, the 5 also returned to their Pentagrams and joined in the chant.. Just as the moon reached the height of it's orbit and shone a path of silver light onto the clearing, the witches dropped their robes, reached their hands in the air and turned their joyous faces to the heavens..
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If anyone had been watching as the grandfather clock struck midnight, they may have noticed a slithering silvery stream slip down the pendulum chain from deep inside the clock where it had lain dormant for what seemed like eternity. It slowly slid through the space between the glass door and its frame, and out to the balcony.
It had been just 5 years short of a century since the being trapped within this silvery stream had last tasted freedom or breathed fresh air, and it was exciting and exhilarating to know it was about to happen once again.
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On Friday June 13th 1919, the closest full moon to the summer solstice, the Lunar witches had performed their sacred summer ritual. But at the height of the ceremony, a bolt of lightning had appeared from the totally clear sky and struck the centre Pentagram. The High Priestess of the Coven was caught by the edge of the lightning bolt and in her place was a silvery stream of energy which set as stone as it dropped to the ground.
Witches the world over had for centuries heard of the prophecy which told a tale of a witch being removed from the Earth for a special purpose, and that lightning would be the device by which she would be taken. But for how long she would be gone, why, and how she would return, was known only to the Universe.
The 12 left in the circle now knew their High Priestess was the Chosen One, and that they must keep this sacred stone safe until her purpose was finalised and she could return. And so they carried the stone to their gathering hall and placed it ceremoniously on a small shelf deep inside their grandfather clock.
Each Friday 13th full moon since, they had carried out their ritual, sensing that one of these special nights could be the one on which their Priestess would return. They had continued to practise their witchcraft as they had done in the past, and cast spells for the safe return of their leader. But for almost a century it had been to no avail. They had tried also to discover the rest of the Prophecy, but not even the wisest witch or warlock they had questioned could give them any further information.
When they had discovered that in the year 2014 Friday June 13th would once again herald a full moon, they knew without any doubt that this night would be the one on which their High Priestess would return and they would discover why she had been taken from them. And so their preparations had begun early, and they were almost delirious in their eagerness and anticipation.
As the vibrations from their eagerness reached the stone still deep inside the grandfather clock, the being inside began to hum with the same excitement and anticipation. And as the vibrations increased, the stone softened into the silvery stream, which as the clock began to strike midnight, escaped from its prison.
As the preparations continued, and the chanting built to a crescendo of vibration, the silvery stream slithered through the air as it was drawn to the Coven. At the last stroke of midnight, as the witches raised their faces to the full moon now completely obscuring the sky between the trees in the clearing, a lightning bolt once again struck the centre Pentagram.
The flash spiked an even brighter glow around the altars and Pentagrams, the being inside the silver stream was released and the Source of all Evil, Belthazor, who had destroyed the High Priestess 95 years previously, and in doing so, almost destroyed himself, satanically accepted his Awakening..