Another Step // Another Breath

Pulura took a single, careful step, placed her hands in just the right way, and breathed. A mist of ice left her lips, and fed its way into the circle. Her next step followed it, as had all the previous on this day, walking from dawn into dusk. Her attendants shifted nervously as another explosion shook the stones of the castle. Pulura pointedly ignored it, and kept her head high. They would follow her example.

Another step, and another breath. This ritual was a slow one, but what it lacked in brevity it gained in power. It would take this much, and everything else she had gathered, to attempt the summons.

Valentina was like her surrogate mother in many ways, but she did not truly understand the scope of her powers. She had selected no vassals, and much had been lost in the final days of Golarion. Unari had retired to the jungles of Castrovel, and Gonjo was indisposed. Even Karma refused to come up from the Garden, although Pulura heard that the invaders were avoiding it. The Infernal Maw wasn't the only monster roaming those woods, and the City was relatively easy pickings.

It left Pulura with very few options. She needed a Dark Midnight, that paladin from the shadows.

She needed Flint Penumbra.

Another step, and another breath. Another shaking in the stones. The door to the ritual chamber swung wide, and a soot-stained ranger stumbled inside. He was bleeding in several places, but none of the wounds looked fatal. Judging by the splatters on his armor, the Starborn were giving as good as they got. For now, anyway.

Soldier: "He's here! The one dressed like a jester."

Pulura felt her stomach slip about three times over, but kept her face cool. She felt the eyes of her attendants snap to her. Another step, and another breath.

---

Dusk fell. The ritual was complete.

The Black Rider never came.