Rhyker’s POV
The ground trembled beneath my feet as the last remnants of the ritual dissolved into the darkening air. I could feel the pulse of ancient magic reverberating through the soil, like the beating heart of the earth itself. Tendrils of blackness began to claw their way upward from the cracks in the ground, slithering and twisting in impossible shapes. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
I stepped back, my heart pounding in my chest as the villagers screamed. The sound was a cacophony of terror, people scattering in every direction. The darkness surged, creeping toward them like a tidal wave, swallowing the light from the dying sun. And in the midst of the chaos, I realized with a sinking gut—the ritual had failed.
The amulet, the symbol of everything I believed could break Col
