I stopped just outside the roaring inferno of black flames.
For the grandmasters to enter, I would have to open a path. That part was simple, I could split the flames for a while, make a safe corridor for them to walk through.
I even considered a crueler plan: letting them step inside halfway, only to seal the flames shut and watch as the fire devoured them, leaving nothing behind. The thought was tempting, a brutal end that would rid me of them quickly.
But that would be too easy… and it wouldn't serve my purpose. I didn't just want them gone, I wanted them lured. If they died too soon, word of this place would never spread to the ones I needed to hear it.
That was why the first batch had to endure. They needed to fight, to struggle against my summons in a grueling battle. They had to feel the weight of this place and crawl away alive, carrying stories of it back to their masters. Only then would the bait be set properly.
