Chapter 70

• When the final initiation arrived, the priests, leaders, and robe men gathered, tension thick in the air. They had expected the seven deadly princes of hell to descend, to claim the boys’ bodies, to complete the ultimate transformation. But nothing happened. No possession. No flicker of infernal power. Silence answered them.
• Confusion rippled through the crowd, quickly turning to disbelief, then to fury. The priests and leaders, certain the ritual would succeed, could hardly comprehend the failure. And then the truth struck like a blade: the ancient tome they had followed so blindly had one critical stipulation—they should have waited until the boys turned twenty. Seventeen was far too early.
• Frustration ignited. Frustration gave way to rage.