The vision vanished like smoke in a gale.
I stumbled back from the seal, my hand burning as though I had pressed it into molten iron. The crimson light inside the Gate flared violently, pulsing in time with the hammering of my own heart. The whispering stopped. The silence that followed was heavier than the noise.
Richard clapped his hands once. The sound echoed sharply off the cavern walls.
"Well?" he demanded. His voice was smooth, but his eyes were desperate. "You touched it. The mechanism acknowledged you. Now open it."
I looked down at my palm. The bandage was gone, burned away by the contact. The skin beneath wasn't blistered. It was marked. A silver crescent moon was branded into my flesh, glowing faintly.
"No," I said.
Richard's smile froze. "Excuse me?"
"I said no." I strai
