The last total solar eclipse visible from Merantis had occurred seventy-three years ago, and the next one wasn't expected for another thirty years. Xander knew whoever or whatever had caused this strange phenomenon wasn't a force of nature, but something else.
While most solar eclipses would proceed in phases, this one obscured everything within a minute, reducing the sun to a faint glowing ring.
As darkness crept across the field, smothering the thatched huts and distant trees, the shadows lengthened to unnatural proportions before blending seamlessly into the lightless ground.
The boatman dropped his tools and stood up, his peeled eyes staring at the dark starless sky.
A group of sturdy young men carrying wooden torches rushed out of the village accompanied by an elderly figure whose flowing white beard reached all the way to his bare navel. He walked with the help of a crooked stick fashioned into a makeshift cane and had his free hand fixed on his waist.
