The Witch's Sabbath ❲Full ✦❳

: A crowd of thousands—some say as many as 10,000—milled about in the firelight. Contorted faces, more possessed than human, expressed a terrifying joy.

: At the center sat a colossal figure with black fur and symmetrical, twisted horns—the Great Goat. Witches approached to offer personal sacrifices or perform the osculum infame (the shameful kiss) beneath his tail as a sign of loyalty. The Witch's Sabbath

Elspeth joined the dance, her feet barely touching the earth. In this "fell hour," time seemed to lose its meaning. But as the first hint of gray touched the eastern horizon, the ecstasy began to curdle into a nightmare. The Great Goat stood, his single eye glowing, and with a deafening screech that sounded like the tolling of a funeral bell, the gathering vanished into the mist. Witches' Sabbath - Nightmare Magazine : A crowd of thousands—some say as many