"You're positive that this will work?"
"Almost certainly, sire."
He held the golden ring in the palm of his hand and observed its casual glow, almost unnoticeable except in dim light. This was once a living, breathing being. It was alive, and it shall be once again. The man set the ring in the center of a carefully drawn symbol on a raised dais and stepped back, outside of the circle of men surrounding the mark.
"Shall we begin?" the other asked, glancing at the man for confirmation. He nodded, and the other joined hands with the two men beside him and began speaking in a lilting, smooth tongue that the man assumed was Latin. The chant was indecipherable to an outsider, but the others in the circle soon joined in.
A dark, whispering shadow began descending on the barely-lit room, wrapping its silken tendrils around the dais and slowly shrinking to form a sheer, writhing film over the ring. Then, suddenly, a blinding amber light flashed from inside the small sphere, and the men began to speak faster. A pulsing beat rang in the man's eardrums and shook the small adornments on the walls as if an earthquake was tearing through. The ring began to seemingly melt and spread its way across the dais until it formed a rather human-like outline and expanded, rising and forming the distinct appearance of a young boy.
The man watched as the boy's skin melded together and settled into a radiant, porcelain hue. His hair, platinum blonde and shining, was swept to the side as though the boy's cheek had been caressed gently moments before his soul had become trapped inside of the ring. The chanting ended as the men completed the ritual and filed out under the man's previous instructions. He then watched in poorly-disguised awe as the boy, before as still as a statue, took his first deep breath as a living being.
His eyes slowly opened, revealing alarmingly light aqua irises. The boy, completely exposed, blinked and sat up in confusion. "W-what, I…" His eyes fastened on the man standing there and widened.
The man stepped forward and offered the young boy a folded t-shirt and jeans. "Welcome back, Alois Trancy."