The closer I got to the base of the mountains, the hotter the air grew. It wasn’t just from the fire—I could feel the oppressive energy thickening, weighing down on my chest like a boulder. Every breath felt heavier, the chanting now a deafening roar that seemed to seep into my very bones.

  Pushing through the last stretch of forest, I stopped abruptly as the trees thinned, revealing an open area at the foot of the mountains. My stomach churned at the sight.

  A massive pyre blazed in the center of the clearing, its flames unnaturally red, casting a hellish glow over the surrounding ground. The light illuminated an intricate web of crimson runes and circles etched into the dirt, the symbols glowing faintly as though feeding off the fire itself.

  The hypnotized animals and goblins from earlier were marching straight into the clearing, their movements as mechanical and lifeless as ever. I stayed crouched in the shadows, my hand tightening around the hilt of my sword as I scanned the area for threats.

  “Alright,” I whispered under my breath. “ what in the fucking fuck level of insanity I’m dealing with here…”

  Finding a sturdy tree near the edge of the clearing, I crouched low and pulled out my spyglass. Raising it to my eye, I focused on the center of the ritual, my jaw tightening as the details came into view.

  Two massive goblins stood near the pyre, their frames bulky and muscular, with skin the color of dark, rotted moss. They were taller than the goblin I’d seen before, their grotesque faces twisted into permanent snarls as they barked guttural commands.

  Their weapons weren’t crude like the others I’d encountered—one wielded a massive axe, its blade dark and jagged, while the other held a long, cruelly curved blade that gleamed in the firelight.

  These are properly forged weapons…fuu This could go wrong very fast.

  My grip tightened on the spyglass as I shifted my focus lower. A moat-like trench circled the pyre, its surface slick with a dark, viscous liquid. Blood along with the massive pulsing sphere of what I think is blood as well.

  “Shit,” I muttered, lowering the spyglass briefly to take a steadying breath before focusing again.

  The hypnotized animals and outcast goblins were being herded into the clearing by the two larger goblins, their lifeless movements pitiful as they shuffled toward the edge of the moat. One by one, they were forced to their knees, their heads pushed forward over the trench.

  My stomach twisted as I watched the larger goblins move with brutal efficiency, their weapons rising and falling with horrifying precision. Each swing severed a head cleanly, the lifeless bodies slumping forward as their blood spilled into the trench.

  The crimson liquid flowed like a river, snaking through the ritual circle and igniting the runes in a brilliant, hellish glow.

  "Ritual, they are performing a ritual" I muttered under my breath, the word bitter on my tongue. “And the blood is the catalyst… that’s a horrifying way to collect…efficient and ruthless”

  The chanting grew louder as more and more blood filled the trenches, the ritual circle pulsating with a dangerous energy that made my skin crawl.

  The sheer scale of the sacrifice was sickening—dozens of creatures had already been slaughtered, their bodies discarded like trash at the edge of the clearing and looking at the mountain of corpses the sacrificed must have numbered in hundreds or even thousands.

  I clenched my fists, my teeth grinding together as I struggled to keep my emotions in check.

  “Focus,” I whispered, my voice low but firm. “You can’t rush in. Not yet.”

  fuuu….

  Looking at the two larger goblins…they appeared strong—too strong to take head-on, especially with the added danger of the ritual circle. I would need to dispatch them fast and move on to the main enemy.

  I’d need to think this through, figure out the best way to disrupt whatever the hell was happening here.

  Leaning back against the tree, I closed my eyes briefly and took a deep breath, letting the rhythmic hum of Exira steady my nerves. The energy flowed through me, sharpening my senses and clearing my mind as I opened my eyes again.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  As I continued to watch, I noticed something strange about the ritual. The blood flowing through the runes wasn’t just pooling in the trenches—it was moving.

  The liquid seemed to defy gravity, rising slowly from the moat in thin, twisting streams that coiled upward like serpents. The streams converged above the pyre, forming a swirling mass of crimson blood that pulsed with a disturbing rhythm…. Just looking at that made my own heart pulse in a weird way. I felt my chest tighten as I struggled to even breathe.

  I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand on end as the energy began to take shape, its shifting form resembling the outline of… something.

  Fuu…fuuu…huu

  Averting my eyes as I took some deep breaths and tried to enter a meditative state…channeling Exira helped as I soon felt my bearings getting normal.

  “What the fuck are they summoning?” I muttered, my voice barely audible over the deafening chants.

  My fingers tightened around the hilt of my sword as I weighed my options. Even with a surprise attack, there was no guarantee I’d be able to take them both out before they could counter.

  And then there was the ritual itself.

  I didn’t know what would happen if I disrupted it—whether it would fizzle out or explode in my face—but leaving it to reach completion wasn’t an option.

  “Alright,” I whispered, my voice steady despite the storm brewing in my chest.

  “Think, Lexi. You’ve got this.”

  I scanned the clearing again, my mind racing as I tried to piece together a plan. The pyre was the focal point, its flames feeding off the energy of the ritual. If I could extinguish it or disrupt the flow of blood to the runes, it might be enough to stop the summoning.

  Stop and breathe Lexi…need to observe more

  The scene grew even more grotesque the longer I observed it. Through the spyglass, I saw more movement beyond the blood-soaked moat.

  Two large goblins were entirely focused on the sacrifices, their crude yet brutal efficiency driving the slaughter. But there were others—three more goblins, smaller but still burly, were dragging the bloodless, lifeless bodies toward the center of the ritual.

  There are more than 2 elite goblins….

  The corpses left smears of red along the ground as they were dumped into a haphazard pile, the growing mound of flesh and bone illuminated by the hellish glow of the pyre.

  But that wasn’t the worst of it.

  At the heart of the ritual stood a figure that made my skin crawl.

  It was tall but hunched, its twisted frame draped in a tattered, dark cloak that swayed slightly with each deliberate movement. In its hands, it held a gnarled staff topped with what looked like the bleached skull of some unrecognizable creature. The figure tapped the staff against the ground in a rhythmic pattern, each sharp thunk syncing perfectly with the rising chants that spilled from its hooded form.

  Even from this distance, the sound was unbearable, an unholy melody that dug into my mind like claws. It wasn’t just noise—it carried a weight, a feeling of wrongness that sent a shiver down my spine.

  I gritted my teeth, lowering the spyglass briefly to steady my breathing. My grip on it had tightened to the point where my knuckles ached, and I forced myself to relax, even as disgust roiled in my chest.

  It wasn’t just the slaughter—it was the sheer scale of it. The glowing runes, the pulsing blood, the growing pyre… all of it fed into a ritual that was too large, too deliberate to be anything but catastrophic.

  fuuu…

  I raised the spyglass again, scanning the ritual for more details. My eyes fell on something new, something that made my stomach churn even harder.

  A cage.

  It sat near the hunched figure at the center of the ritual, its metal bars bent and rusted, as though it had been dragged here from some ancient ruin. At first, I couldn’t make out what was inside—it was partially obscured by the firelight and the hunched figure’s movement—but when I focused harder, I felt it.

  Two faint pulses of life, weak and flickering, barely clinging to existence.

  I couldn’t see them clearly, but I knew they were there.

  “Prisoners or some more valuable sacrifice” I murmured, a cold edge creeping into my voice.

  The hunched figure raised its staff, the chants reaching a deafening crescendo as the pyre flared brighter, its flames twisting and writhing like something alive.

  I exhaled slowly, the weight of what I was witnessing sinking deeper into my chest.

  "Yeah," I whispered, my voice cold and steady, "there’s no way I’m letting this shit finish."

  I tightened my grip on the spyglass, my other hand brushing against the hilt of my sword as I began to formulate a plan.

  It was a race against time, and every second I waited brought the ritual closer to completion.

  Whatever they were summoning, I wasn’t going to let it come through.

  Not while I was still breathing or else I wouldn't be breathing….

  Hopefully… shit wrong word Lexi…

  HOUSE OF END DISCORD

  Dailies