Then spoke Saronia:
'Ye wandering spirits, ye starving, lonely shades destined to require the sustenance ye seldom receive, take this oblation, drink ye in the nurture as it arises, take it from the great queen goddess through the hands of her priestess;' and the spirits chanted:
'Hail, Saronia!
Hail, Saronia!
Princess born
And mighty priestess!
Hail, thou minister of Tartarus!
Feeder of the gods-forsaken ones!
Blessings ever be upon thee,
Blessings such as we can give,
Thin and faint as misty vapour,
Tinged with hell and cold damnation;
Yet we bless thee as we may,
For love a spark remains within us,
And we wait for our redemption,
Working out our fearful destiny,
Till those we injured grant release,
And the Mighty All Creative
Pass us to the fields Elysian.'
They disappeared, and Saronia, the fearful priestess, was alone. Shielding her eyes that she might not look again upon the sacrifice, she turned to move away.
She had passed but a few steps from the altar when Chios came forth from his hiding-place and followed her. She heard his steps, and fearing to look around lest her sacrifice should be incomplete, kept on her way to the Temple of Hecate.
Chios was soon by her side. She gazed for a moment on his face, and fell to the ground as dead.
He raised her carefully, bore her to the foot of a great laurel-tree, and taking his cloak, placed her on it, and bent over her in agony.
'O fool, what hast thou done? Thou hast slain her! O cursed hour! Shades of night, seize me, take me to your Hades, torture me, but, holy heavens, restore Saronia! O cruel fate! Most cruel destiny! What cause is there for this?'
The talisman! the shrine he wore! the gift! He had heard of its wondrous power. He tore it from his neck, and placed it on her chilly brow.