GAME

You three move out of the lamplit room, into the darkness of the temple. There are no lights in the direction of the chanting. You move quietly toward the voices — until Jewel trips, making a loud scuffing sound.

The chanting continues, steady and quietly echoing, several voices harmonizing on a minor chord. You guess about eight or ten voices.

Groping in the darkness, Tobias leads the way through the entry foyer to the great doorway that leads into the main hall of the temple. The roof of the main hall is broken and starlight dimly falls on the chanting figures. There are in fact nine of them. They each hold a bare knife, raised toward the stars.

The chanting continues.

You think there is a tenth shape in the middle of the circle of nine dark figures. It is a shape that is hard to see, even harder than the others. As if it is not ... quite ... there.

The chanting stops. The people holding knives turn toward Golden. The weird inchoate thing in their midst begins to swirl and move toward Golden.

"No," says a man with a deep and resonant voice. "We were not expecting you, or anyone else. And you have disturbed the sacred incantation. This is not good."

As you exit swiftly through the window, you hear commotion and a shriek of pain from behind you.

The desert night is cold. It is a long way back to town, there is not a well-defined track to follow, and your horses seem to have gone.

It's dark. You don't have eyes like Sabiha. You have no luck discerning tracks in the starlight.

More screams, and more anguished, come from the ruined temple you've just left.