Noah's eyes widened as the message burned in his mind.
[ETA: 10 seconds.]
He barely had time to react. His instincts screamed at him to move, but before he could even take a step, a wave of cold washed over the cavern.
It wasn't the kind of cold that stung the skin, it was far worse.
It seeped through bone and thought, an impossible chill that sank into the soul.
For a moment, Noah's breath hitched, his body locking in place as something primal, fear, crept through him.
Beside him, Cecilia gasped, her fireball flickering erratically in her hand.
"What— what is that?" she stammered, her voice trembling.
Then they both turned and saw it.
Suspended in the center of the cavern, hovering in the air like an open wound in reality, was a spot of purple fire.
It burned silently, the flames dancing without heat or smoke.
The sight of it made Noah's heartbeat thunder in his ears. Every instinct screamed that this was wrong.
The fire pulsed once.
Then it expanded.
