On the broad stone platform, five sacrifices stood solemnly around a collapsed statue at its center. Henry Fawley shot Yaxley a subtle glance, signaling something.
Yaxley immediately swept his wand across the sacrifices' exposed throats. Blood burst forth like flames and filled the air with red. It ran through the channels carved into the floor and pooled beneath the shattered statue, coating it in a strange, solemn crimson.
As the blood continued to flow, a low hum rose from the statue. Cracks in its surface slowly closed, and it began to glow with a mysterious light.
Hear my summons:
King of the Void!
Source of Nothing and All!
The One!
King of Terror! Destroyer! Victorious One of Glory! One Born of the Mist!
Dark Sovereign of the Outer Realm! Supreme Deity of the Multiverse! Silent Guardian of Secrets! Supreme Master of the Labyrinthine Path! God of the Nighthawk, Guide of the Path of Night! Fate's Final Destination!
Almighty Immortal Lord of Antiquity!
As Henry Fawley began chanting in his strange, grating voice, a deep, immense resonance suddenly filled everyone's ears, as though the entire space were trembling. Then a bloodred flash slashed across their vision like a demon's claw tearing through the dark.
The already dim sky grew darker still, as though draped in heavy black gauze. Even the faint sun looked warped and unnatural.
A haze with a strange iridescent sheen rose from the sea around the isolated island. The twisted things soaked in seawater seemed to be its source, ceaselessly exuding an unsettling presence. Threat and suspicion lurked like venomous snakes beyond the intricate angles of the carved stones, watching everyone with a malice that threatened to drive them mad.
Their sense of geometry had broken down completely.
They could no longer tell whether the sea and