Chapter 9: The Slave Crest
My eyes widened at the instruction. "W-what?"
"Strip," Revera impatiently. "We must prepare you for the ritual."
Nervously, I grabbed the hem of my dress and pulled it over my shoulders. Her eyes glanced over my naked body, narrowing as they fell on my horns and tail. I shivered at her gaze, but after the harrowing torture of the warehouse, I lacked the will to so much as cover myself.
"Why did he have to choose you?" She muttered to herself. "Now, raise your arms."
After a brief moment of hesitation, I obeyed and raised them above my head. She withdrew a long, fluted wand from her robes. It was bone white and covered in gold writing, about the length of my forearm. She placed the tip of it between my breasts, flat as they were, and chanted a few words.
Cold light seeped from the runes on the wand and filled the room with a crimson tinge. Revera traced a circle on my chest with the wand, which left a thin line of red light on my skin. It burned, growing hotter with each passing second, until I bit my lip, barely holding back a cry.
Once the circle was complete, she lifted the wand before placing it back down again, where she'd started, beginning to draw strange symbols within the circle. They looked like some sort of hieroglyph or rune and glowed with the same fiery light. There must have been over a hundred of them, taking several minutes, leaving me panting, my tail lashing with pain, the lines blazing across my skin. When the last rune went down, she withdrew the wand and returned it to the pouch.
"Done. Now, clothe yourself again. We must be going."
I took a shaky breath and looked down at the marks. The light had disappeared, leaving behind what looked like a crimson tattoo. The skin around the lines was puffy and red, and I touched it tentatively, wincing as it ached like a bruise. When I pulled my dress back on, about a third of the circle and runes remained visible above the neckline.
"What did you do?" I asked, gingerly touching my chest.
"Simply applied the slave crest. It'll be binding once the Hero completes the ritual with his blood."
"Slave crest?"