A soft creak of movement drew their attention to where Aurelius lay bound. What should have been an unconscious form stirred, his head turning with an unnatural smoothness toward them. One eye, pitch black as the void itself, stared through them with predatory intensity.
The restraints that had held him—thick, enchanted bonds meant to contain him—snapped like thread. His charred upper body seemed to gleam in the dim light as he rose, each movement precise and controlled, like a puppet on invisible strings.
"Fascinating," Aurelius's voice emerged, but the cadence was wrong—too smooth, too amused. Kalin's words flowing from Aurelius's lips. "Such power contained in this vessel. Such... potential."
"Alas..."
