Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
The darkness swallowing the ceremonial chamber felt heavier than stone.
The broken altar continued glowing faintly from the massive crack running through its center.
Ancient runes flickered erratically across the floor.
The magic was unstable.
Wrong.
The elders knew it.
Rael knew it.
Dineski knew it.
And judging from the horrified expression spreading across the oldest vampire's face—
something impossible had just happened.
Sebastian stood at the center of it all.
Motionless.
Silent.
His hand remained pressed against the fractured altar.
His head slightly lowered.
Not speaking.
Not reacting.
Not moving.
And somehow—
that terrified everyone more.
Because Sebastian had many frightening forms.
Angry Sebastian.
Cold Sebastian.
Protective Sebastian.
Awakened Sebastian.
But this?
This silence?
This absolute stillness?
It felt unnatural.
Like the calm eye at the center of a hurricane.
