Bang! Bang! Bang.
The bronze alarm bell of Kamar-Taj rang out, its clear chimes echoing throughout the temple. The startled sorcerers hurried to gather in the square outside the main hall. Some had even donned their Boots of Valtorr, racing through the air atop one Mystic Arts platform after another.
The last time the alarm bell had rung in the past several centuries was half a century ago, when James Howlett had discovered the Sanctum hidden among the snowy peaks of the Himalayas and, after a misunderstanding, fought his way through the place.
Sorcerer Mordo ran at the front, gripping the Staff of the Living Tribunal. In the center of the reddish-brown training grounds stood the Sorcerer Supreme, wearing plain robes and gazing down at Kaecilius, who was slumped on the ground.
The visiting Mr. Howlett stood beside her, holding a child in each arm and gently rocking them.
"Sorcerer Kaecilius! What happened to you? Who did this?"
More and more sorcerers gathered behind Mordo. He stared in horror at Kaecilius's legs, which had stopped bleeding but were now nothing but bare bones, and shouted.
"Kaecilius, why did you do this?"
The Ancient One had sealed Kaecilius's injured legs with a spell. With a flick of her fingers, she drew the heavy old book from him. Her voice was cool and detached, as she tried to suppress the slightest trace of emotion.
The elderly Sorcerer Wong, who was in charge of Kamar-Taj's library, stepped forward with his stout grandson and explained gravely to the assembled sorcerers:
"Sorcerer Kaecilius broke through the wards and stole a forbidden book. The apprentice Wanda Lehnsherr caught him. By the time I arrived, he had already..."
With his long, graying hair hanging in disarray and so much blood lost that he was deathly pale, Kaecilius