A procession of cultists passed silently in front of the shack, candles in hand.
The candlelight illuminated coarse linen hoods and fanatical eyes. Their steps were in unison as they slowly made their way toward the outskirts of the Slums.
Renato held his breath, his back pressed against the shack's rotten wooden wall. Gorlag crouched beside him, the barbarian's heavy breathing unusually clear in the silence.
Renato hid in the shadows behind the door, watching the scene outside through a crack.
The procession was long, at least fifty or sixty people, each carrying a candle. Their flames formed a ribbon of light in the darkness.
Only after the last glimmer of candlelight vanished at the end of the alley did Renato cautiously push open the shack's broken wooden door and motion for Gorlag to follow.
"They're all heading out." Renato lowered his voice, his gaze sweeping into the distance. "Large numbers of cultists are gathering on the outskirts. That probably means someone has noticed something wrong and is trying to enter the Shantytown."
Renato could see flashes of magical light at the entrance to the Shantytown-Holy Light illuminated half the sky, then quickly faded.
He did not know which Temple's Clerics had been the first to notice something amiss.
With such a spectacle, even someone as stubborn as Albert should have realized something was wrong and sent troops to investigate.
Gorlag did not answer. He merely wiped the blood from his Battle Axe with his rough palm.
The barbarian was soaked in dark red liquid, some of it his enemies' blood, some seeping from his own wounds.
Boom!
Several muffled explosions came from the direction of the Inner City. Flames soared even higher than the city walls, accompanied by sounds similar to those of the explosion at the Reisingen family