chapter nine—children of niastone.

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—Roland awoke in a small, dark room with cold, stone walls.

"Huh...where..where am—" His body was chained to the floor by enchanted iron shackles, making it impossible to move.

"Help! Someone, anyone!" Roland's attempts to shout for help were in vain as he remained bound to the floor. A lone figure shrouded in a dark cloak approached him from the shadows. With a wave of her hand, the chains that held him in place released their grip and dropped to the ground. A feeling of shock and relief washed over him.

"Finally awake, I see," she said in a calm, but threatening voice.

"Who are you? And why have you abducted me?" pleaded Roland. He was surrounded by his several cloaked captors lined up behind the walls of the room. All of them had expressionless white masks whilst under their dark hooded cloaks. Every single one of them gave off an ominous and sinister energy that posed them as a cult.