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"Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum."
The heart of the Blood Oak Forest beat like a never ending monotonous drum. Each pulse filled every crevice of the underground cavern, its inescapable rhythm demanding the attention of everyone and everything within the vicinity.
"Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum."
Jonathan Marlot found himself struggling to drown out the heartbeat from his inner thoughts. His sky-blue eyes wandered back to the ceiling, studying the faces jutting out of the bloody organ hanging high above him.
"Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum," the ball of flesh droned on.
Adonia Thenayu and Amraphael Zinvi looked as if they had been carved into the heart like statues of saints looking down from their perches within a cathedral. Unlike white marble which stayed frozen in place, their features vibrated with the drumming.
Jonathan noticed when Adonia's sharp blood-red gaze had settled upon Soraya, following the teen's every movement while her lips and eyebrows stayed motionless. Zinvi's eyes remained closed.
Gods...And here I thought I was scary.
He finally tore his attention away from the monstrosity hanging high above him to glare at Vega. Usually Jonathan was good at hiding his emotions from strangers, but every fiber of his being wanted to take out the old man.
He has black eyes...
Those strange features alone tempted Jonathan to rip the frail figure apart.
Red, orange, gold, green, blue, purple, pink, brown, and silver eyes exist in our world. Anything apart of those seems unnatural and otherworldly. I probably shouldn't absorb him just in case.
"Stand here, child," Vega said to Soraya, pointing a long boney finger at the portal drawn into the floor with chalk. "Just purify this land and the door will open. I know you can do it."
Jonathan watched his only remaining family member step forward until she stood in the center of the circle.
"Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum," the heartbeat hummed, filling the silence with foreboding.
Don't do it kid, he wanted to say, but he knew his dear friend had already made up her mind.
Soraya closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Jonathan glanced at Valor, whose focus was solely on the elderly man. The Casmerahn lad looked calm, but his hand was inching towards the sword on his belt.
I know this is a trap, Jonathan thought, unease slowly creeping up his spine. But we need answers.
Soraya's sweet voice floated gracefully into the air, the words of her hymn joining with the sickening thumps above.
