Night draped Memphis like ink.
The temple bells had long since fallen silent. The courtyard lay empty, with only the wind brushing past the stone pillars and producing a low, mournful wail. The solemnity and order of daytime had now been replaced by a hidden, almost decaying silence.
The Black-robed woman gave the pulsing embryo one last look before turning and leaving, her robes sweeping over the stone steps without a sound. Her hem dragged across the stone-brick floor with a soft rustle, and as she turned, the golden runes embroidered along it flickered beneath the torchlight like fireflies trapped in cloth.
She should be able to sense the malice of that embryo too, but not with the clarity I have... My Animagus form possesses a god's vision.
Ian perched on a beam roughly thirty feet above the ground. It was high enough for him to take in the entire inner hall without being noticed by the busy priests below.
Not long after she left, a middle-aged man in deep-blue priestly robes quietly entered the underground chamber. He held an obsidian slab covered in runes and murmured an ancient concealment spell. As the incantation ended, the slab released a ring of dim blue light that enveloped the entire magic array.
The pulsing embryo gradually blurred within the light, as though wrapped in an invisible veil.
Then—
The Scepter Priest hurried in with four young priests dressed in white linen robes. They carried bronze bowls filled with black powder. Ian's raven eyes narrowed slightly—the powder gave off a strange aura, like burnt bone ash mixed with the sharp quality of metal.
"Begin."
The Scepter Priest's voice was like sandpaper scraping against a stone wall. His withered fingers drew three interlocking circles over the embryo's surface. The translucent lump of flesh immediately