Elien;
Something changed. I don't know what it is at first, but I feel it.
The Black Sect had been watching me and moving around me with the same cold certainty that I would soon burn myself out for what felt like an eternity.
They never looked hurried, never looked uncertain, and never once behaved as though they believed I could actually escape what they planned for me.
Even when the blue flame pushed against their magic, even when I blocked out their chants and Balinar's taunts, even when whatever they were trying to do to put out the fire didn't work, they simply adjusted and continued.
They spoke to one another in those quiet voices, watching me as though my fate had already been decided and I was merely waiting for them to finish whatever they had planned.
But now…something is different.
One of them suddenly turns toward the entrance at the same time Balinar does, and in the blink of an eye they are all staring at the door.
