^{Designed in Canva}

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Deep in the gnarly, twisted guts of Blackwood Forest, this weird cult had been hanging around for centuries doing creepy stuff. They called themselves "The Coven of the Ravenskulls" and were totally obsessed with ravens, treating them like holy messenger birds between the living world and the afterlife.

For like, a thousand years, these psychos had been waiting for this "Caller" creature to show up that was prophesied to rip open the veil separating the living and the dead. And on this one really eerie night when the moon turned blood-red, the cult elders were all "oh shit, it's happening!"

Garith was the high priestess of these nutjobs. She put on these ornate black robes and this super creepy raven skull mask made of actual bone with these thick black raven feathers coming out of it. Looking like death itself, she crept out of their hideout deep in the gnarly woods, quieter than a ghost.

"Hey, look at High Priestess Garith go," one of the younger female cultists whispered in awe, jabbing her friend as they watched Garith's silent procession through the trees. The branches literally moved out of her way, like the whole forest knew she was not to be messed with.

Finally, Garith arrived at this clearing where the cult did all their messed-up rituals and sacrifices over the years. And there was this cloaked figure waiting for her, bathed in the bloody light of that swollen red moon.

^{Original image taken from the announcement post of the contest}

"I have heeded the call of your ancestors, oh Ravenskull," a slithering voice emerged. Its face...if you could even call it that...kept shapeshifting and contorting unnaturally, like it was having trouble maintaining a physical form.

Garith dropped to her knees before the entity, head bowed like a good little cult slave. "What is thy bidding, oh great and powerful Messenger of doom?"

"A sacrificial offering..." the thing gurgled, its outline warping sickeningly, "A life untainted by this world's corruption...to restore the natural order."

"It shall be done," Garith affirmed. Her voice steady, despite the storm of terror and ecstasy swirling within her chest.

She knew the cult would not hesitate to offer up one of their own. From birth, they'd all been promised to this cause.

Garith rose and beckoned two hulking male cult members forward, their faces obscured by raven skull masks. In their clutches was a young girl, no older than eight, with eyes blown wide in terror.

The entity's contorting form seemed to convulse with glee at the sight of the innocent child. Garith snatched the girl and dragged her towards the center of the clearing, ignoring her bloodcurdling screams. With a ceremonial dagger clutched in a pale, bony hand, the high priestess began an ancient invocation.

The girl's wails were drowned out by Garith's unearthly chanting as she raised the wicked blade high. The rest of the cloaked cult members formed a circle around them, swaying and moaning in their own trancelike ritual.

Just as the dagger began its fatal descent towards the child's trembling form, a burst of blinding light flooded the clearing. The entity screeched in agony, its shapeshifting outline burning away in the brilliant glare.

^{Image by kjpargeter on Freepik}

Garith shielded her eyes as the comforting rustle of feathers surrounded her. When she looked up, she found herself and the cult encircled by the largest flock of ravens the forest had ever seen. Their obsidian forms blotted out the moon as their cawing became deafening.

In the midst of the swirling vortex of raven shadows, a shimmering figure materialized - a woman of indescribable beauty and power. She reached out a luminous hand, and the dagger clattered from Garith's grasp.

"Enough!" the woman's voice rang out like a thunderclap. "You have been deceived, Ravenskulls. The entity you naively invited to this realm was no messenger, but an evil seeking to destroy you."

The raven flock fell eerily silent as the woman continued. "The true messengers of the afterlife have been here all along, watching over this forest in which you dwell. We will no longer turn a blind eye to your transgressions."

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^{I would like to invite @dove11, @patjewell, @soulfuldreamer, @senehasa, @bambuka, @cruzamilcar63, @weisser-rabe, @enrisanti and @o1eh to join this contest through this link, if they have not already taken part in it.}

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^{Author: @waqarahmadshah | Date: 28-Mar-2024 | Achievement 1}