But the change did not end there.
From their drying skin seeped blood, not dripping, but lifting from their bodies as though gravity no longer claimed it. Ribbons of blood peeled away, rising into the air in writhing red streams. One by one, thousands of these crimson serpents snaked upward, converging above the town.
The sky filled with blood.
It drifted, pulsing, twisting like a storm of red mist. And then the blood began to flow, drawn rapidly toward the floating bowl. The runes along its rim flared as it drank the blood, its interior swirling faster and faster. The bowl swelled grotesquely, expanding as it consumed the life of the entire town…before shrinking back down as if nothing had happened, it's appearance unchanged.
The cloaked figure lowered their hand, looking down at the thousands of waiting thralls.
Another gesture.
