There, on a raised stone platform before it, Cedric's body struggled as several men restrained him.
Standing over him was Vance.
The man with the thick moustache held his hands hovering on either side of Cedric's head, his lips moving as he chanted in a language Aliana had never heard before.
Beside him, Gwen forced a dark, viscous liquid down Cedric's throat while he struggled helplessly against the men pinning him to the altar.
She watched as Cedric's body began to convulse the moment the dark liquid slid down his throat. A loud groan of agony escaped his lips, and Aliana felt her own throat tighten as she stared at the horrifying scene unfolding before her.
'What is happening to him? What are they doing to him?' her mind whispered.
Her eyes instinctively dropped to the floor, and that was when she noticed dozens of black candles arranged around an enormous crimson symbol painted directly onto the stone beneath the platform.
