[ WP ] “ We need to do a head count . I think we ’ re missing someone . ”

It was dark in the forest. Darker than I ever recalled from the years spent living and training under the tutelage of Master Kravos. Tonight though, I thought from upon my horse, tonight is the night I usurp that old fool and take my rightful place on the throne of the Black Council. 
 
 Just a few strides ahead of me on foot, Talia came to an abrupt halt. `` We need to do a head count, Stanos. I think we're missing someone,'' she said as she turned toward me. 
 
 Unfortunately, as I dreamt of my future glory, I did n't notice she had stopped until I was nearly on top of her. As I was almost about to trample her, I jerked the reins hard to the right. Jerking the reins quickly, as I learned previously, is a fast way to get yourself tossed from a horse. However, jerking the reins quickly while in a dense, dark forest could get you killed. 
 
 Through sheer luck or natural horse instinct, the horse and I avoided any catastrophe and came to a stop thirty feet or so from Talia. `` What the hell are you doing?'' I shouted in the direction of her torch light having lost sight of her amongst the trees. 
 
 `` I said we should do a head count!'' she shouted back. 
 
 Marking her position, I turned to face Ivis. He was farther back, slowed by the heavy chain linking together the hooded sacrifices. `` Hey,'' I shouted to him, `` stand still. Talia wants to do a head count.'' 
 
 Ivis' torch moved slightly up and then down, mimicking his shrug as he brought the group to a stop amongst the trees. I heard Talia begin counting and decided to do the same. `` One, two, three, four,'' I started going from one hooded figure to the next. The trees and darkness made it a little hard to see all of them. However, I was sure I counted at least enough body parts, a leg sticking out from behind a tree, an arm from behind another, that all twelve sacrifices were there. 
 
 `` Ok, I got twelve,'' said Talia, her feet crunching the dead leaves on the forest floor as she turned. `` Let's keep going.'' 
 
 Finally, we got to the clearing, a natural 30 foot circle within the forest. Nothing grew there, nor had anything ever grown there. Just dirt and gravel. Not even birds were willing to fly overhead. 
 
 I pointed at the large circle of stones in the middle of the clearing. `` Okay,'' I said, as I looked toward Ivis, `` set them up over there. And make it quick. We do n't have a lot of time left.'' 
 
 Ivis tugged on the chain and the group moved. He and Talia began unhooking each sacrifice from the long chain one by one, and forced them to their knees at a spot along the circle according to the ritual. I gathered the rest of the materials off my horse and rushed to the center to set it all up. I finished just as Ivis and Talia, together, moved the last sacrifice in place. 
 
 I moved to my position along the circle. Talia stood behind the sacrifice on my left. Ivis behind the one on my right. Both carried identical obsidian knives. I nodded to each of them. It was time. I struck a match and tossed it into the pile I made in the center of the circle. A minute later, the flames erupted, a green inferno blazing hotter than I believed possible. A demonic figure formed in the smoke above. 
 
 Immediately, both Talia and Ivis cut into the throats of the sacrifices in front of them. In perfect rhythm, they moved onto the next one. Then they cut again. Move over one. Cut again. The timing needed to be perfect. We'd practiced for days. If we were even slightly out of sync, the spirit would kill us all. Or worse. 
 
 As they moved down the line, though, I noticed something was wrong. It appeared that they were moving in sync, but it looked like they would n't meet in the middle as planned. Had one of them fallen behind? I looked left and right, matching up their victims. One of the left. One on the right. Two. Two. Three. Three. No, they were in sync, which meant there was an extra sacrifice waiting at the opposite end of the circle. A thirteenth. 
 
 I looked to Talia and Ivis and saw both had come to the same conclusion. There was someone else in the circle. The ritual still needed to be completed though. So, they continued on, cutting into their fourth sacrifice each. 
 
 As I stared at the extra one, Talia and Ivis cut into their fifth sacrifice each. Then the man stood and threw off his hood. Kravos! Dammit, he found me, I thought. A look of fear filled the faces of both Talia and Ivis as they moved to their final sacrifice, just an arms length from the Dark Master. 
 
 `` You really should have counted again,'' Kravos said just as Talia and Ivis cut into their final sacrifice. With a wave of his hand, both of them plunged their knives deep into their own necks. 
 
 Kravos turned his attention to the figure in the smoke. He spoke words I could n't understand, harsh words that made my ears bleed. Suddenly, the demon vanished along with the fire leaving just the two of us in the darkest of nights. I heard the crunch of boots on gravel as he crept closer and closer. `` Now, boy,'' Kravos said, `` what should I do with you?''
