Solstice

“You think they ever…you know…here?” Marcus made a stabbing motion from atop the viewing platform.

”Probably,” Joe laughed, walking below along the ridges of the Great Serpent Mound. It really was spectacular, way more impressive in person than his new friends told him it was.

Joe hovered briefly over a sign detailing the complexity of the soil arrangement that allowed the mound’s preservation before following along the slinking trail running beside the Snake’s body. Climbing slowly, he stopped beside Marcus who looked out over the Snake’s head from the viewing platform. Despite the day, most of the park stood empty.

Joe had known Marcus since childhood. They worked Marcus’s dad’s farm together, and Joe remembered devouring his dad’s ribs, always freshly butchered, each summer for Marcus’s birthday. Joe was a good man.

The sun was setting in perfect Solstice alignment with the spiral of circles constituting the Great Serpent’s head.

“I’m surprised there’s not more people here for this,” Marcus said, watching the sun lower towards the horizon. Joe looked around, confirming that the rest of the crowd had been faithfully dispersed by agents of his new friends. The sun sank down, down, ever closer to the Snake’s mouth.

Joe fumbled with his waistband, hands trembling. His mouth was dry, and he struggled to swallow down the lump in his throat. He stood besides Marcus, fumbling with what lay hidden and strapped to the small of his back.

His palms were slick on the handle of the emerald dagger. He kept it hidden, just like they learned on the farm.

Joe saw the faintest flash of fear in Marcus’s eyes. “Hey, you alright, man?” Marcus said.

The Great Serpent demanded blood—innocent blood.

The world needed to be reborn. Joe held his breath.

He just wished they had chosen anyone else.

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A/N:

Alright Lamar, I lied when I said 2016 CAVALIERS would be my only work ever set in Ohio....

The Serpent Mound, along with places like Poverty Point and Cahokia (amongst many, many others often overlooked) represent some of the best examples of North American Prehistoric civilization that are woefully undertaught and overshadowed by their Mesoamerican and European counterparts.

For the following challenge:

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