But it didn't work...

I waited, read the words again, but nothing happened.

I had done everything right, I was sure about it, I was certain that I'd followed the ritual down to every last detail. I felt a panic rise in my chest. Hadn't I said everything with the right inflection? Hadn't I collected every herb, burned the right wood, mined the right stone?

Hadn't I done enough? My motives were for a greater good. Why wasn't it working?

I bent over the ancient book and read every letter again, slowly, like I was trying to digest it after consumption. Everything seemed right. Everything seemed perfect. The only part that I could have gotten wrong was the line that said I needed to get life force from the source to make it happen. It was a riddle, and I loved riddles. I had guessed it's meaning right away.

But maybe I had gotten its meaning wrong? I had been so sure. It had to be right. Instead, maybe the words themselves hadn't been right when I'd read them aloud. It was possible, I considered, that there was some sort of trick to the words, something that gave them the magic I needed which I didn't fully understand yet. A missing ingredient, yes, but one that was missing from my own voice. Without it, my words were powerless.

I made the decision then to go speak with her. She was the most powerful in the land, and perhaps she would be sympathetic to my cause given the circumstances. She would know what I had done wrong, she would help me, surely.

I wiped the blood off of my forehead, and went back to where I had collected my most important ingredient. This time, I could definitely feel them looking at me. They were so disappointed in me. I had let them down.

"I'm sorry," I told the two motionless bodies splayed open across my table. I felt my emotions spilling over into tears that streaked down my face.

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Forgive me.

I will make sure that their sacrifices were not in vain.