**Author's note: This chapter was originally attached to the one directly after it. It has been split into two parts so it isn't unusually long.**

I was very pumped up. I was furious and ready to fight as energy exploded through my being. I watched Lian and Null both stand, and the Fallen brandished his sword. Everyone was looking at me.

"W-what is your command? The storm is still moving above. Most of us are not astartes, and will be at a disadvantage in an anoxic environment of scouring winds," Null asked, gripping his staff.

My ears began to ring and my heart jumped as I found myself taken away through another of Nabopolassar's memories. He was meeting a man in white robes and long hair at the front of the pyramid. I was having a difficult time integrating all this fearsome power.

A memory of children, their hands raised in praise as they gifted me a gold sculpture of an eagle. Another memory as I raised my staff in anger at the ineptitude of my fellow politicians in a round, windowless room. "You will damn the Empires!" I shouted to them.

My heart began to hurt, and began to beat both irregularly and rapidly. Time felt as if it was skipping along with my heartbeats.

"Hey, come back!" I heard Alberich distantly ask me as I jumped through memories. "...pulled away in reverie!"

I felt a pain on my side as I forced myself back to the present. My eyes forced open, and I saw Alberich as he pulled his hand away from pinching me. "Stay with us! We need you here!"

I took a deep breath, forcing myself to calm down. Maybe I wasn't ready to fight right this very second? Okay, just a minute. Calm down and focus here, Erika. Don't have a heart attack.

I now saw that Null was now quickly pulling each of the remaining few black crystals off the wall here. The body of Nabopolassar lay at my feet, his hot blood pooling on the floor and flowing down the depression on the floor, and into the Well itself. I was breathing heavily, filled with new energy and now the trauma of seeing another human being die messily by my own hand.

Where were the Chaos Marines? Were they here yet?

Flashes of impossible memories continued to involuntarily ignite behind my eyes. I gently nudged my vision out again, looking to get a better view on the movement of our adversaries, and to see just how bad the weather was. The sandstorm still raged, just as Null had said, and the Angels of Ecstasy were still meandering down the road toward the pyramid while laughing maniacally. At least they weren't running here. We were a good few hundred meters away, and I hoped that they would keep their leisurely pace until I could get my mind together after consuming a big willing psyker soul.

"Scion? Are you well again?" Null's voice brought me back to the present. Another snap of a wall crystal. "What do we do? Command us!"

"Only one thing left to do. We have to fight. But, give me a second. I guess I'm still a little messed up from eating this guy. The Chaos guys are on their way, but they aren't running here," I said, wrestling with disorientation. My shirt was soaked with blood, and I still held the Nemeses Argentum in my right hand, gripping it tightly like a dagger as blood oozed into the spaces between my fingers. Within my mind, snippets of foreign memories continued to race, and I saw what this world had once looked like before it had been cursed.

Rolling plains of long grasses swaying in wildflower-scented summer winds; cobalt skies over lush forests filled with alien wildlife; glittering picturesque cities filled with happy people wearing colorful clothes. This place had been a literal utopia, according to Nabopolassar's memories.

And Sebastian had accidentally killed it. I supposed that I now knew the real reason why this place was off limits for Imperial exploration, I thought bitterly.

That got me upset as I looked at the fresh corpse of the ancient king, and my gold Corona continued to shimmer around me as I processed the soul of a stranger. This hadn't happened before when I had absorbed souls. Usually, they just went into the Key and I absorbed them right before the Divine Retribution pulled them out of me, but maybe the fact that the king was a psyker that had willingly given his life meant something? I had no idea, but my intuition again told me that was true. The Key felt nearly uncomfortably hot against the skin on my chest, so I uncovered it to lay atop my bloody shirt. It glowed like a small lantern.

My eye was then drawn to the tall gold staff Nabopolassar had lain on the floor before he had died. It almost seemed to shine with its own light. I bent down, and picked it up. Immediately, I could tell that it was enchanted. My senses told me that it was some kind of psychic amplifier, and a memory from Nabopolassar revealed that he had used it to channel lightning from the sky during a religious ceremony. Alright, that's pretty awesome. I stood up, almost hypnotized by the beautiful artifact. It was topped with an intricately rendered eagle of gold, wings partially spread about a half meter in width, with three glittering eyes that almost seemed to look back at me as I observed it. It was almost like a miniature model of the Divine Retribution. Despite appearing very top heavy, it was very light, and only weighed about as much as a wooden broom.

Another memory pulled me away. I was holding the staff as I presided over a ritual of Nubuan nobility. As I conjured a small orb of blue flames, lightning and wind rained down from the sky with a motion of the staff. A misty rainbow formed itself over the city of Byrblan. From this memory, I gleaned the name of this artifact.

Force Staff of Zuze, station of office of the high prophet-king of Nubua. Focus of will and power.

With great effort, I dragged myself back to the present by biting the inside of my cheek. I needed to stay focused here.

Near me, I saw the Silent Witnesses as they watched curiously from their kneeling positions. Could I communicate with these women now?

I plumbed the depths of my new memories, and then felt the knowledge of an additional language on my tongue. I turned toward Morai and Ennoia. Clearing my throat, I hoped that this would work. I had only ever heard Nabopolassar speak a few sentences of this mysterious language just a short time ago, but somehow, it felt completely natural for me to know.

When I spoke to them, it was in the priest-caste tongue of Nubua. The name of the language was "Ereni", and it reminded me of a musical blend of Hebrew and Persian. "Please stand. Can you understand me? You have been released from your vow of silence, Witnesses. You are now free to speak."

The two women stood, and began signing. I could now understand their somatic language. Knowing all these new things was both very exciting and very scary.

"Praise you, Omega. We are sworn to protect you with our lives. If it is permissible, we would prefer to be silent, as silence is all that we have ever known. I am Morai, and this is my twin sister, Ennoia. We are daughters of ancient Nubua as she existed before the Ruination."

While both women were identical twins,with long white hair wrapped in a topknot atop their heads, I was able to see that Morai had a slightly less muscular build than Ennoia, and a visible scar that resembled a half moon across the top of her right hand.

Another snap of a crystal being removed from the wall. I spoke to the Witnesses again. "We're going to leave soon. Our vessel is parked just outside, and evil warriors are making their way here. They wish to do us harm, so we're probably going to need to fight them," I informed them. They bowed in response as Alberich watched me. I was happy that these women didn't seem to be too upset by the unusual appearances of both the Tzaangor and Null. Only the giant armored Fallen seemed to frighten them.

"You can speak to them now?" the beastman asked me in wonder. Lian was also watching while close by as he guarded the entrance to the passageway. His short sword crackled with electricity as he held it before him. I wished that he had taken his big fancy longsword with him, but to be fair, we didn't know that we'd be fighting Chaos Marines here on a completely dead world.

"I can speak their language," I replied with a short grin. "I have Nabopolassar's soul, so I now know what he knew. I feel a lot stronger too. I think the way it works is that if someone gives their life to me freely, I get more energy than just being around a person when they die. Look!" I held up the staff, and willed a small orb of blue warpfire into existence in midair. It appeared with ease (and without any headaches this time).

"Incredible," Lian observed with a quick glance from nearby as he stood before the passageway. "We will soon have a test to your abilities, and I have faith that we will endure."

I willed the fireball to wink away, and it vanished. I noticed that I felt no worse for wear, and that I was not drained at all. I could get used to having this extra stamina.

Null continue to tear the black crystals off the wall as I anxiously dipped my awareness out once again to observe the Chaos Marines as they walked down the road. They were still walking at a slow pace. While I was stronger, was I strong enough to square off against a sorcerer Champion of Slaanesh who was one hiccup away from daemonic ascension?

"Hopefully we won't be so outmatched now," Null said, struggling with another difficult crystal as it broke off the wall. Did he need all those crystals? We needed to think about our priorities here. I guess being a tech-priest made you want to loot things from ancient civilizations compulsively. I was surprised that he wasn't asking us how to steal the whatever the Oversoul Engine was inside this planet.

I was pulled away by another unbidden memory. Or, was this a vision? A fine lattice of Warp-reactive crystal machinery pulsed like a beating heart deep under the surface of this world. This was the Oversoul Engine. Impossibly built by unknown alien hands, it enveloped the molten core of this world in a skin that resembled animate watery cellophane, processing and regulating the spiritual energy of the Independent Empires like a sleeping eldritch god. I realized that the Heart of Worlds was merely an interface to this incredible construct, and when touched by the right hands, the souls and dreams of all those in this region could be influenced. The pit in the center of this chamber led straight down to it.

I pulled myself back to the present, and looked at the Depthless Well, concerned. My emotions were beginning to cool, but my Corona still remained hot.

"Uh, hey, Null?" I began to ask, realizing something important as I looked at the Well, which was now spewing cold air as the ancient king's blood drained into it, and found that he actually did not know for certain how long it would take the Heart of Worlds to fall through the center of the world. That wasn't comforting in the least, but he didn't seem too worried about us having enough time to escape, so it had to be fine, right? "Null, how long until the Heart of Worlds hits the Warp engine below us and everything gets unmade? The king actually didn't know how long. I think he just thought we'd have enough time to get out, but he didn't know precisely how much time we had."

Null paused. He only had two crystals left, and he turned around, his blue eyes filled with concern. "I had assumed that what he had said to us was truth. That he only made an assumption is quite upsetting. I cannot make an accurate estimation without a calculation on the object's mass and any sort of mystical parameters that would effect its descent." The tech-priest walked over to the Depthless Well, and looked within it, his scorched robe fluttering around him in the cold wind. "How heavy did you say it felt?"

"Uh," I thought back. "About maybe 20 pounds? 10 kilos? Maybe? I couldn't concentrate when I was attached to it, but it felt like it shifted in weight a lot."

"Variable weight, and the density of the air that issues from the well also seems to be changeable, which is why you have likely noticed a pressure shift. The wind issuing from below will also effect rate of descent," Null stated. "One moment, let me make an extremely rough estimation that utilizes mass and planetary gravity."

The tech-priest's eyes briefly flickered. I was not at all happy to see when they flashed to his alarmed yellow color. Null blinked, obviously upset. "72 minutes. If my calculations are correct, we only have 72 minutes until the orb reaches the center of this planet, assuming no Warp interference. Let us hope it falls more slowly, for I do not think 72 minutes is enough time for us to depart this stellar region."

I pushed my awareness out again. The Chaos Marines were still advancing along the road. The Champion angled his head up, apparently sensing that he was being watched again. I ducked out before he could find me.

Null bundled his sack of crystals up, and attached it to some kind of ring on the side of his chest where they jangled. "We need to leave, all of us. Chaos Marines or not, if we don't leave right now, we'll certainly die, or worse. We have little choice." He began walking to the entrance to the passageway out of the locus chamber, but did not enter it. Null probably didn't want to immediately be first in line to be hit with a sonic blaster. I heard a strange mechanical noise chittering from Null's robes as he passed, and I saw two metal mantis antennae slowing moving over a pocket on the tech-priest's side. From here, I could see that the poor little drone was scorched and discolored from my earlier recklessness involving the eagle gate. Oops, sorry Jiminy. I was also reminded then that I hadn't seen Wolfie in awhile, and I hoped that he would show up again soon. The astral hound loved action, so he'd probably be thrilled to fight space marines.

"I do not look forward to this," Alberich said, shaking his head.

Lian was already ready to go, and stood slightly ahead of Null, holding his short sword bravely before him as he watched the passageway. Alberich's feathers were ruffled as he gripped Valkyrie, which was now blazing in blue flame once again. He also began walking to the entrance of the tunnel.

"What do they say? They appear upset," Ennoia asked me in short gestures, watching my companions ready themselves for combat. I motioned for them to follow me as I walked to join them, which they did.

I cleared my throat and began speaking in a foreign language once again. "We're worried. First, the warriors in black and pink armor painted on the wall in the other room are walking down the road toward us right now. They are inhuman followers of dark powers, and one of them has strong psychic abilities. The second thing is that we only have a short time to escape this entire region by the calculations of Null, our tech-priest. The Heart of Worlds is currently falling down to that Well toward the center of this world, and I was told that once it hits a thing called the Oversoul Engine, that this world would be "unmade". We aren't in a good position." I pointed at Null, who stood shifting his weight nervously, probably wishing that he had brought his combat servitor bodyguard with him.

The two women nodded in understanding as they stood beside me, angling their bodies so I could see their gestures. Morai began to sign, "Our souls are shadow-souls, as you and your friends must have felt earlier. We are well equipped against fighting witches and other abusers of the mystic arts." In demonstration of her words, she brandished her two gold sai daggers threateningly. While I didn't think that sai daggers wielded by normal human women would be particularly effective against Chaos Space Marines, I knew for certain that Blanks were tremendously useful against any sorcerers. It would be interesting to see what these ladies could do. "We will escape here. Destiny has been scribed, and we follow the will of fate, as all Nubuans did before us. We are ready to follow you to victory."

"We await your command, Scion," the Cowardly Lion also announced as my Tin Man and Scarecrow stood anxiously waiting to leave. Ready or not, time to fight adversaries that were overwhelmingly powerful and also escape a doomed planet. Again. I sighed as I realized that I had already fought terrible things and fled ruined planets twice already. I hoped this didn't become a habit.

"Okay. Lian, you're in front. Have you fought sonic weaponry before? If you have, please tell us what to expect. Null, you probably know all about this, but Alberich, listen up. This is important!" I translated for the Silent Witnesses beside me.

"I am familiar with the sonic weapons of the Noise Marines through confrontations with the Emperor's Children. These weapons wielded by the Angels of Ecstasy are not the same, but likely similar. If the winds still rush outside, their potency will be muffled, but still, they are likely to be incredibly dangerous. Sonic-based weaponry utilizes overwhelming noise in order to damage and madden opponents. The sound is so potent that it has the capability to rend and disintegrate flesh at a close enough range. Disarming any sonic weapons should be your first priority, as you all likely do not have the strength to immediately injure any Chaos Space Marine. Do not attempt to pick up and use these weapons, as they are filled with Warp-taint, and are also too powerful for non-astartes. These weapons have the capability to deafen you even with an indirect hit, and even in the wind. While it probably won't aid mortal ears, I would suggest all of you block your ears with anything you can find for at least some measure of protection. It would be better than nothing, in the least."

I translated for Morai and Ennoia, who stood perfectly still in stalwart bravery, clutching their sai daggers. Alberich began to tear off a length of his sleeve, and began wrapping his goat ears up. I have to do that too, I thought, snipping away one of my sleeves with my scissors to wrap around my head. Lian continued:

"We have information that there is a Champion of Chaos outside, a powerful sorcerer of dark strength. He is devoted to Slaanesh, the god of excess and sensation. He will likely be larger and considerably more deformed than his two companions. While I do not know what powers his flesh god has gifted him, it is highly likely that he can call upon the powers of the Warp and summon daemons to aid him. Disarming and killing him should be our priority, through whatever means you can establish. Show no mercy or hesitation. Champions of Chaos are ruin incarnate, and I would believe that we would be walking to our doom if not for the Scion, and now, these two Pariah women. My suggestion to you both is to find a way close to them, and unleash your Null-auras upon the Champion. Your black souls can cripple his connection to the Warp, and may be able to turn the tide for us," Lian informed us as he pointed at Silent Witnesses. When I was done translating, they both nodded.

Once again, I pulled my awareness outward, watching our opponents as they walked in the storm. The Chaos Champion Grikk'ahn was a terrible sight, with wide reptilian eyes, pebbled white leathery skin, and long sharp teeth in a terrible mouth that extended ear to ear, almost like an eel. He was bald, and at least a full half meter taller than his companions, and six short horns rose from the cracked skin on his forehead. I could now see a glowing Mark of Slaanesh etched across his cheek. His tortured and desiccated appearance very much resembled a fleshy mummy without any wrappings. It was remarkable that he was still alive in that state.

This time, the Champion noticed me spying on him, and faced me with a cackle. He licked the air with his long bleeding snake tongue, and sang in singsong mockery, "Pretty bird, oh pretty bird, bound in a snare! Wings we'll pluck with eyes aware! Flight to sunder, flesh to tear! Soon she'll be quite worse for wear!" I pulled my awareness back with a shudder.

"His name is Grikk'ahn, the Defiler of Purity," I now spoke. "The Champion. That's his name. There's something wrong with him too, even more wrong than being a Chaos Marine. Well, there's something wrong with all three of them. From what I saw when attached to the Heart, they're all dried out and extra crazy from being here for a week. They look like what the painting in the room looked like. They were hoping more Aeldari would come and retrieve the corpse and its spirit stone we saw earlier, and were leaving it untouched as bait. The leader started having visions that..." I trailed off, and braced myself. "...Grikk'ahn started having visions that someone like me would show up here, and Slaanesh told him that he wanted to taste as much suffering from me as he could. That's why they're laughing and happy out there, even when they look like corpses. They can't wait to go after me."

A feeling of dread washed through the room. Lian was the one who spoke again. "Then we must fight well. A weakened Champion is still a Champion, but I have faith we will prevail. Divinity is on our side this day," the Fallen briefly bowed his head. Through the reflection in his eyes above me, I could see that my halo was still bright.

I have a trick up my sleeve. I am forbidden to speak of what it is. The Great Architect himself has said to me that it is to be a surprise, Alberich whispered to me in mind.

I sure hope you do, I quickly replied, not taking the time to get mad that Alberich was trusting what Tzeentch had said again.

"Alright, everyone. Null, you get behind Lian. You are both very heavy and strong against the wind. If you have any weapons, get them ready. Alberich, stay behind me and guard the back. If you have any secret plans to help us, now would be a good time to use them." I instructed everyone as they filed in.

I turned around and spoke to the two Blanks. "Stand behind Alberich, the beastman with the bird head, and guard the rear for now. You two should do what the armored giant, named Lian, said. The Champion is a sorcerer, and a big one. As soon as you can, see if you can get close to him, and remove your masks or do something that gets him in your aura, but don't get yourselves killed. These guys are extremely dangerous."

"We obey," Ennoia signed with a short incline of her head.

"Alright everyone, let's go. They're on their way here and this region of space is about to not exist anymore, so we don't have too much to lose by giving this fight our all," I said, willing the gold in my Corona to brighten. Just as when we fought the Screamer on Kolch, I felt the fear of my companions lessen, offering a morale boost. We'd need all the help we can get. I pointed my force staff ahead, and said, "Go!"

"Wait, Scion, you lack a mask and goggles. They fell down the Well. You will not be able to tolerate the lowered air pressure of the storm outside! It will be like fighting atop a high mountain during a storm," Null spoke up as we began walking. I held up my hand, indicating that we should stop. Oh, that's right. I dropped my equipment. Great job being a heroic space Empress leader, me.

"No worries," Alberich said, removing his goggles and offering them to me. "I will be capable. I have a keen environmental fortitude in this body. I will be alright."

"No, wait," I said, not taking the Tzaangor's equipment. A foreign memory was surfacing. Nabopolassar had not enjoyed wearing any sort of mask or breathing aid since it would touch his sacred headdress, so he had frequently utilized an enchantment when visiting some of the more environmentally hostile worlds in the Independent Empires. It created a globe around the head of the caster which supplied clean breathable air, and protected against any harmful airborne particles! "Hold on, let me see if I can do this. I think the king knew how to cast some kind of air creation spell," I said waving Alberich away.

I closed my eyes, and willed an orb of air surround my head. When I felt a slight electric breeze around my cheeks, I knew that it had worked! I didn't need a mask or goggles now! "There, it worked!" I explained. "The king knew a spell to create a protective area of air around his head, and now it works, so keep your goggles."

"What about the women?" the Tzaangor asked as he donned his eye protection again. Uh...

"Hey, Null. Didn't you have some extra oxygen canisters?" I asked, remembering what he had said when we were first suiting up to explore the pyramid. I also had my own cannister on my back, and I reached behind to unhook it from the brace it had been fastened to on my back. Unfortunately, its indicator showed that the tank was now empty.

"Two!" he said, producing two small cannisters about the size of my hand from a deep pocket in his robe. Each was fitted with a small brace that attached to the back like a shoulder holster. "But I lack extra goggles. Do the masks offer protection?"

The women stood near me, bewildered and waiting for me to translate, which I did. "Outside, the atmosphere is inhospitable. The air pressure is too thin for normal humans to breathe. There is a sandstorm. Do your masks protect you at all?"

Ennoia nodded as Null handed her an oxygen cannister. A long flexible tube was coiled around it, and it terminated in two nose holes. It wasn't a full mask, but it would help. She handed the mask to her sister, and began to sign, "Our masks offer our faces protection, but we need air. Thank you for this, cyborg Null. We will remove our masks only for a moment to attach our air supplies. Please keep your distances from us so you do not feel discomfort, kind folk."

"They're unhooking their masks for a little bit. They have to do that to hook up their air. Give 'em some space," I said, backing up to stand at the opposite edge of the domed room. Morai and Ennoia walked a few paces into the passageway, putting further distance between us. Everyone else immediately followed me, with Alberich looking especially urgent in getting out of the way. Our little group was at the far side of the chamber again when the now familiar awful wave of loathing passed through the area. The Tzaangor leaned over and wretched on the floor, clearly greatly effected by their pariah auras.

Suddenly, I received a flash of a vision from outside. The Angels of Ecstasy were no longer laughing, and had halted about halfway down the road. The storm was finally beginning to abate around them, but was still buffeting their skin with entropy-cursed sand. Their leader was facing this way, his tongue tasting the thin air as it blew relentlessly around him. He didn't notice that I was watching him this time. I could tell that he now knew that there was something unexpectedly dangerous in the pyramid beyond myself, something he had not anticipated. He began to speak with his companions, and I caught him beginning to chant in some kind of guttural infernal tongue before I was brought back to the present.

That can't be good, I thought.

Ennoia had appeared in the threshold of the passageway, and she now had an oxygen cannister attached to her back, as well as a tube that extended under her mask. She waved us on to follow her now.

"You ready?" I asked.

"Certainly. Tell the cyborg a kind thanks once again."

"They say thank you," I translated to Null, who had started to busy himself with the same sort of glowing bundle of long whips I had seen him with before. Was that an electrified scourge? I could smell the electricity in the air as he was also flipping some switches on his gear staff. I had always read that archmagi were absolute monsters in combat, but it appeared that Null shied away from any fighting. He was probably someone who just preferred to have a bunch of other servitors and skitarii fight for him instead, knowing his ego.

The tech-priest waited a little before responding. "Oh," Null finally replied, clearly absorbed in what he was doing. "Just getting ready here. It has been some time since I have needed to fight personally." His electric scourge crackled to life before dimming again. One of his mechadendrites briefly telescoped a long thin blade before retracting again, and another snapped at the air with three sharp pinchers that buzzed with electricity.

"Alright, lets go. Everyone back in position," I said, motioning with the eagle staff, which softly glowed in my right hand. I placed the Nemeses Argentum in my shirt pocket for now, since I was not confident in my ability to use a pair of long scissors in melee combat with Chaos Marines, even if they were blessed with holy energy. "So, let's get to the outer gallery of the pyramid and guard the passageway outside. If they get in here, they don't have the disadvantage of being trapped in a sandstorm, so we need to stop that from happening."

"Agreed," Lian said, and immediately began walking forward down the long tunnel. "Keep behind me, and inform me of any movements on the traitors."

"Will do," I replied, filing in behind Null, whose gear staff now seemed to have a slight electric glow.

Do you know what you're doing? Alberich asked behind me as he followed. Despite the earlier morale boost, I could still sense that the Tzaangor was worried.

No, I replied. We don't have a choice. We're all going to die unless we get out of here in a little over an hour anyway, so we have to fight, and we have to fight now. We need fate on our side here. We are extremely out of our depth. In the games in my universe, facing Chaos Marines usually means instant death or eternal torture if you're just a normal human, but I guess none of us here are normal humans so maybe we won't die?

I can't even remote view the Champion warrior, Alberich said with a long sigh as we walked along. I tried. He shields his mind from me. If you can see him, maybe he is weak against your ability? Your psychic voice is louder now as well. I am truly privileged to be by your side, my leader.

I wondered again why the Tzaangor frequently used the title of "My Leader" to address me instead of my name. With my improved sensitivity, I could tell that it even felt like a feminine leader, somehow. It was too bad I didn't know German, and now was not the time for a psychic linguistics lesson. Oh well. Couldn't be bad, right?

Lian continued leading the way down the hallway, and we crossed the atmospheric energy barrier. My ears popped again, and my stomach sank, but I was grateful that I could still breathe. Feeling a dull ache begin to cross my temple, I decided to see how the Sunday stroll in the entropy sandstorm was going for our homicidal adversaries.

They had not yet resumed walking, and now stood in the middle of the stone road, exposed to the wind. Grikk'ahn still chanted in a dark speech, the volume in his voice reaching a fearsome crescendo.

I soon had my answer on what these marines were doing, and it wasn't good at all. Before my sight, the Champion raised his unarmored clawed hands (which were now bleeding) and made a series of quick gestures. Grikk'ahn clapped his bloody hands, and a line of pink and purple energy began to writhe in the air before him. With a sickening tearing noise like a ripping bedsheet, it began to broaden until it resembled a large flat oval that glowed with an unnatural light that hurt to perceive.

I knew enough to know what that was. Oh no.

"Stop, stop," I said, just as we reached the end of the tunnel. We were now in the main gallery again. "They're doing something," I said, fending off a wave of sickness at witnessing such an event.

My companions turned to me, their faces expectant.

"Daemons," I announced. "They're summoning daemons."