Page 256 of Sigils & Spells

“Come, I think we need to get to the main building.” She grabbed a coat out of the closet and I threw on my sweater.

We slipped out the door and hurried toward the center of the complex, making good time for a woman as old as the High Priestess must be. Once out in the open on the path, a bolt of lightning struck the ground right in behind us, sizzling along the ground and rushing us along.

“What can I do to help? Should I try to do anything?”

She shook her head as we ran. “No. For now, let's just get under cover and then we can decide the best course of action.”

As another round of thunder rippled through the air, I could hear the horses whinnying from the barn. What if they needed help?

“Should I go check on the animals?”

“No, stay with me. Toby will take care of them.”

Seconds later, we reached our destination and slipped through the doors, turning to watch the growing storm from behind the glass. Above us, the clouds roiled like boiling oil, thick and impervious to the sun that hovered above them. No light was getting through that barrier.

Giant rain drops began to fall, plopping into the dirt and exploding into smaller droplets. They pounded against the path we'd just taken and roared down onto the roof above. It sounded like a freight train bearing down on us.

Priestess Francesca came walking down the hall and joined us, the rain so loud we didn't hear her approaching until she spoke.

“Is this it, High Priestess?”

Both of us jumped at the sound of her voice, the High Priestess only slightly less dramatic than myself. My hands clenched, digging my nails into my palms to keep myself grounded as I tried not to yelp.

“I believe so.”

They both wore identical grim expressions. For a minute, it seemed like neither one of them remembered I stood there next to them. In tandem, they stared through the windows, watching the torrents of rain drown everything in sight.

Weird energy floated on the on the air, almost as if it searched for something none of us could see. The outside temperature dropped by at least fifteen degrees since the cloud cover appeared and I felt the cold creeping through the glass on the doors. I shivered, but not due to the cold. Whatever was out there scared the shit out of me.

During the lessons of magic, the High Priestess also spent hours teaching me about the goddess herself, and the history of her. She spoke of wars for power and plots to wipe the goddess from our very existence in order to steal her magic.

One sign that the next battle was imminent was said to be that the skies would open up and rain down on the followers of the goddess, drowning out everything in their path. From the looks of this storm, it covered our complex only, and something told me that when the High Priestess reached out to other temples across the globe, they would report having the same storms.

As we stood together, huddled in the hallway, I heard a voice in my ear.

“Annarah. Come to the temple right away.”

Jumping, I looked around. “Did you hear that?” I asked the other two ladies.

Both of them shook their heads.

“Hear what?”

“I heard a voice telling me to go to the temple.”

The two of them looked at each other, then back at me. “Well, I think you should go then.”

Turning on my heel, I headed down the hallway. The main building was like a long corridor that had double doors at each end. The doors at the far end were far closer to the temple and would somewhat limit the time I spent getting soaked, although either way I would arrive dripping.

With a deep breath, I took one last look at the sky above before shoving the door open and taking off at a dead run toward the doors to the temple, directly across the large courtyard from the main building. A bolt of lightning shot down in my direction, slamming into the ground just feet from where I'd been a second before.

This time I couldn't control my reaction, and a high-pitched shriek escaped. With a burst of speed, I reached the covered entrance to the temple before another one found its way down from the sky.

Water puddled around me as I pushed against the door in an attempt to gain entry. There were no locks on the temple doors, so my inability to open them stymied me. Using my shoulder, I put my weight into it and slipped on the smooth, wet marble.

“I'm here! You asked me to come, so if you want me to be here, then let me in!”

The door didn't budge for another ten seconds, then swung open as if there hadn't been no issue. I slipped inside and they slid closed behind me, blocking out most of the noise from the unnatural storm outside.

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