I was lying inside a circle carved into the floor.
Runes etched deep into stone.
Some were cracked.Some were bleeding.
Five figures stood around me, cloaked in white and gold.
Priests.
Mages.
Ritualists.
Their chanting wavered when my eyes opened.
One of them stepped back.
Fear.
Good, I thought. They expected something else.
"—The summoning is complete," one of them said.His voice shook.
I didn't move.
I listened.
Their breathing. Their heartbeats.
The distance between each of them.
No armor.
No weapons.
Only arrogance and faith.