The earth didn't just shake; it shivered. The soil turned to iron under the flash-freeze.
Guards on patrol and believers tending the grounds froze mid-motion, their lives snuffed out before they hit the ground. They stood as statues of ice, monuments to the sudden apocalypse.
Inside the Great Hall, Maelric and the high priests watched the horror unfold on the scrying mirror.
"An Evil Deity," one priest gasped.
"Move! Teleport to Headquarters immediately. We need to initiate the Summoning Rite. Now!"
Maelric shot up from his throne. With a sweep of his crimson robes, he stormed toward the Holy Order's sanctum, dragging the Lord Commander of the Inquisition and the High Judges with him.
Around them, the holographic projections of priests from other Dioceses flickered and vanished.
