It was a room where four people were sitting on the floor along the walls. In the center of the room, about six feet above the floor, a black substance was swirling.
"What exactly it is—an ancient entity or a super-technological interface—we have never been able to determine with certainty," the Cursed girl explained. "But the Black Visions dwell within it. We look at them and find ourselves in a mysterious black castle. The castle is immensely tall, and below, at its very base, armies of monsters are laying siege to it. They cannot enter the castle because there are no doors, and they cannot climb its black, grim walls because they are too sheer and too smooth for their long black claws."
At that moment, the dim light in the room flickered.
"The Black Visions are taking hold of us!" the girl with white hair and dark strands cried. "It's beginning!"
The Cursed stepped back from the black substance, but was stopped by the outstretched legs of one of those sitting against the wall. His legs were extremely long, thin, and black. They ended in feet with black claws.
The Cursed tried to step over them, and at that moment an incomprehensible magic seized him.
The power of the black substance drew his gaze to itself.
He was sitting on a high seat in a vast hall. Six more strangers were sitting on identical high seats opposite him. One of them was the girl with white hair and dark strands. The others were those who had been sitting against the walls of the Chamber of Black Visions.
In the center of the hall stood a pedestal. At its top was a crystal.
Twilight hung in the hall. Three archways—ahead, behind, and to the right—led into the depths of the castle. Beyond the tall windows on the left came the distant cries of monsters.
"Each of us touched the crystal in the center," the girl said. "And each of us saw the image of a medallion similar to the one hanging around your neck. Now touch it yourself and tell us what you see."
The Cursed approached the crystal and touched it. The crystal filled with light.
He saw the rooms and corridors of the castle. Not all of them. Only those that were accessible at that moment in time. In one distant room, black curved plates lay on tables, and the walls contained special recesses for them.
He headed toward that room. The group of six stood up and followed him.
As he approached the black plates, the medallion on his chest flared with a white glow. Unknown symbols on the plates also lit up. An ancient medallion. An ancient castle. Ancient technologies. He felt them entering his life once again and changing it.
He picked up the plates and placed them into the recesses in the wall. A deep rumble passed through the castle.
And they saw the spatial doors of the city of monsters slam shut, trapping the Magister of the Cult inside. Above them, the marks of the power granting the right to kill the Cult and its Elder flared up and vanished. They were now also free to leave the city without hindrance.
They found themselves once again in the room with the black substance suspended in the air. The six figures were regaining consciousness and rising to their feet.
The Cursed girl opened the door that had appeared in the wall. The seven of them stepped out onto a city street at night and walked along it. The cobblestones and the houses were damp. It had rained not long ago. A few raindrops were still falling, running down the group's hair and equipment.
The Flayers, the cultists, and the other monsters stood motionless between the houses, surrounding the street. They remained frozen, as though waiting for a signal. But they made no move. It was as if an invisible, commanding force was holding them back.
Above the rooftops, a huge red eye with a narrow black pupil rose. A beam of red light descended from it. It swept across the rooftops and came to rest on the group as they walked. It followed them for some time.
Without stopping, the Cursed raised his hand and clenched it into a fist. The huge red eye was torn apart.
"The Magister knows that installing the control elements in the Black Castle has given us the power to destroy him completely," the girl with white hair and dark strands said. "He wants us to spare his life and leave. As a sign of that, he is holding back all his creatures."
They stopped on a grim city street. The monsters stood among the houses.
"By right, you are the leader now. Tell us, what are we going to do next?"
The Cursed looked around. His six companions stood before him, looking into his eyes. They were waiting for an answer. All power and authority were now in his hands. He was walking the path of his destiny.
"We kill the Magister."