Chapter: The Shattered Circle
The memory trembled as chaos erupted within the temple.
Black flame poured like liquid shadow through the ornate windows, eating away at stone and wood alike. Where once the sacred Mistshroud chant echoed, now there was only the shrieking of wounded disciples and the roar of unnatural fire.
Adrian stood frozen—not physically, but as a presence within the vision. The moment was not his to alter, only witness. And yet he felt the heat of the flame, the despair that crashed through the temple like a tidal wave.
Aurelia didn't flinch.
Her robes whipped around her as the eruption tore into the rear sanctum. She turned, raising both hands high, and the Bound Star sigil flared above her, pulsing with radiant light.
"Form the circle!" she cried.
