As Finn's blood dropped into an opening on top of the lantern, almost immediately, a spark flickered. But that was all the reaction that came forth.
"Is that all?"Juan whispered to her mother.
They both stood behind the king and his bishops who governed the vampire cave.
Agatha shook her head negating the thought that the reaction was all the ritual entailed. For the most part, though she hadn't witnessed it take place before, the wall of fate was an open place that they were all allowed to visit.
This room, its walls and the lantern appeared out of nowhere. It was said that the former king discovered it.
Centuries had passed and all their huge decision-making relied on the fate wall. Given it had the power to predict the future and prominent events that would occur, it had become a guide for the vampire society.
The fate wall although being a guide that the vampires followed as they believed it was the work of a god, had never passed a judgement that would be deemed as merciful before.
And Agatha was well aware of this fact. Which was why her full attention was on what the wall would decide concerning Finn. Juan stood very close to her as the effect of the king and the bishop was taking a toll on her. Coupled with the energy that flowed around in the room from the wall, it was a lot to withstand all at once.
"That has never happened before. The lantern should have come alive. The writing of your fate should have begun. What is this?!!!" one of the bishops complained in confusion.
The King remained quiet with his eyes fixed on the back of Finn. The tone of the room was as still as ever. No one dared take a step as not even the biggest authority in there had made one yet.
Finn looked at the palm he had slit and saw that it had closed up nicely as if nothing happened.
He looked at the lantern all while his mind wandered off to somewhere else.
-The gods need a material medium to make sure their will is done down here, I suppose. So this is the instrument they have devised. Blood magic c being used. Not only that, it appears there is a strong presence in this room. Not the king, not the bishops. Something bigger. Something provoking!!- Finn thought.
Again, he took his hand close to the lantern and with the other hand, he slit it open again. But this time, he kept his finger buried in his flesh. This way, the wounds wouldn't heal and he wouldn't need to tear himself open a third time should the ritual not work.
As the blood trickled from his palm, the expected reaction never came. Now the king and the bishops had a befuddled expressions on their faces. All their lives, not one single time since the inception of the fate wall had it been known to act the way it did.
King Shola remembered he was born to meet the fate wall already in existence. And all those times, it had never not once failed to respond.
"Perhaps the gods are deliberating on what to do with him. After all, his crime is quite a special case, "the king thought.
This made sense to him considering the nature of the crime Finn committed was unheard of. A vampire killing another wasn't totally out of the blue. This had happened over the course of history so many times. But one who fed on the killed victim was not something they had witnessed in their lifetime
King Shola was tempted to move from his spot and go see what the little one near the lantern was doing. Being the size of an eight-year-old, Finn had the smallest of bodies in the room.
*Boom!!!*
The lantern exploded with a red flame. The light from it was so bright they all had to cover their eyes except one. The walls were lit up red and the ground began to have patterns being drawn on them.
These patterns carved themselves into the ground and worked their way to the walls where they continued off. As the patterns were being drawn, light followed swiftly behind them and highlighted them.
The King and the Bishops together with Juan and her mother, Agatha, were forced to cover their eyes from this bright light.
But Finn's eyes were left open. Somehow, the light didn't seem to affect him in any way. He didn't flinch nor try to close his eyes as the rest of them did.
"An Epiphany..."Finn muttered.
But quickly as the lights appeared, slowly, it was starting to fade. The lantern began to flicker bit by bit until finally, the lights went off.
Not just the lantern, but the walls of the room as well. Every trace of light had gone off except one.
At the centre of the wall where the lantern was placed on a pedestal, Finn stood watching a pattern being drawn.
The others behind him could tell this was the case as well as they opened their eyes. After a while, the pattern had stopped and now it had covered the entire part of the wall Finn faced.
Finn stood face to face with his fate. His judgement was up for those in the room to see.
A straight line glowing red began at the left corner of the wall. As this line reached the middle, it branched out and turned into hash marks (tally marks).
When these tally marks were counted, it was discovered to represent the number sixty. Then the straight line continued until it got near the right corner of the wall.
There a large circle was drawn. Inside the circle were little marks inscribed in it that could not be correctly made out standing far away.
But Finn who was close by could see it. And the others may not have seen it, but a grin appeared on his face. The smile was so wide it looked like his mouth had stretched to his ear.
"Bishop Tinibu, Please interpret what you see, "King Shola requested.
On hearing this word, a single one of the six bishops present stepped forward. The figure walked with his back bent forward like he was going to tip over any moment.
Taking one step at a time, the figure climbed the steps that led to where the lantern was placed on a pedestal and stopped just by Finn.
Now both Finn and Bishop Tinibu stood side to side with the dead lantern at their front on the stone pedestal and their eyes raised to meet the glowing pattern on the wall.
The Bishop although wearing a veil over his face could see through as the case appeared.
He raised his hand and touched the wall and as Finn stared at the Bishop's hand, he was mortified.
-Immortality they claim to have. But this doesn't look like it. How can this be? Unless...they are not true immortals- Finn thought.
This thought was warranted due to the appearance of the Bishop's hand which was armed with black nails and a wrinkled skin
Most vampires he had seen didn't look past the age of forty. But with the appearance of the bishop's hand, he wondered what the face would look like.
As the bishop placed his hand on the wall, he began to let out sounds of groans as though he was in pain.
Finn looked at him with discomfort as every groan sounded so fragile. He wondered just what actions the other was carrying out.
After much anticipation, the bishop removed his hand from the wall, gingerly turned around and stood facing the king and the others below the steps.
"Sixty days... The Nether gates will be unlocked. Send the one who has committed the crime there, "Bishop Tinibu pronounced.