The rivers of blood, inside which children were being drowned in front of their parents, who were going mad with pain and horror, were drawn to this sacrificial altar, but instead of splashing against it, they seemed to be drawn into the stone.
“Dark practitioners,” Tash said. “They’re creating an array of dark energy.”
Dark energy… Hadjar had heard of it even back when he’d been a simple practitioner. Unlike the energy of the World River, which was a fundamental, natural part of the universe, dark energy was artificially made. It was created by negative emotions. But simple anger, envy, or fear weren’t enough. Only something deep and truly dark, like what these numerous torture victims, who were being driven mad as they begged for death and the salvation of their families, were feelin
