His teeth ground together as he raised his staff, the crude wood trembling under the strain of the power he summoned.
Mana surged violently, drawn into the jade talisman against his chest until the gem pulsed like a second heart, the air humming with unstable pressure.
At the staff's tip, a sphere of darkness began to coalesce, swirling with sluggish weight as though the world itself resisted its birth. Black lightning forked across its surface, snapping hungrily with a promise of devastation.
The ground at his feet shivered beneath the weight of the energy gathering there, stones rattling loose as dirt cracked in tiny rivulets.
Narg felt it first.
The hairs along his arms rose as instinct screamed at him. A ripple of dread slid through the air, heavy enough that even the least experienced could feel it.
Every goblin in Eli's clan had [Danger Sense], and the skill hammered warnings into their minds like a drumbeat of doom.
