Chapter 25 - The Ritual

The moonlight poured through the old pines like liquid silver, lacerating the clearing and its soft designs with a ghastly glow. The wind rustled the trees and with it the smell of wet earth and pine resin, as if even the natural world was hiding something like a breath. In the middle of the clearing was the old stone circle—a circle of monoliths, weathered runes carved into them that faintly glowed under the watchful eye of the moon. It was the power nexus, the venue to the ancient rite that would hopefully purchase Kael time; the same time he needed to defeat the curse that was meant to take his life.