Everyone stood around the teleportation circle, quiet and tense. No one spoke, no one moved more than necessary. Each second, a new Grandmaster arrived in a blink of violet light, their presence adding more weight to the already thick air.
I kept my eyes on every new arrival. Most of them I didn't know well. A few I had only seen during the earlier war meetings. Only a handful, Dante, Arkas, Cilian, Edgar, were people I'd actually spoken to.
General Cassian showed up soon after, and then Gabriel, followed by the Emperor's personal bodyguard, Damian. By the time the flow of arrivals ended, twenty-five Grandmasters stood with us.
The sheer pressure they gave off made the Essence in the air feel sluggish, like it was resisting movement. Each breath was a little heavier.
The wind shifted as the rest of the Grandmasters arrived in flashes of light, their powerful auras pressing down on the forest like a storm front. Bark cracked on nearby trees. The leaves themselves shivered.
