I tried to nod but my throat was too tight.
Morana took the lighter and struck it. One by one, she lit the candles. The flames flickered unnaturally tall. Their glow was dark and eerie, casting long shadows on the walls. She sprinkled the ash in a wide circle around me, then poured a line of salt to seal it. The circle closed like a cage and I shivered.
Her voice rose in a tongue I didn’t recognize.
“By ash and shadow, by salt and flame,
Reveal the path, reveal the name.
Through blood remembered, through bonds undone.
Show us the place where it all begun.”
The sound of her chant echoed in the air like it wasn’t just her speaking but a hundred voices layered together. My skin prickled.
Suddenly, she stopped. Her eyes snapped open.
Her expression turned sharp. “Something is wrong.”
