Lucero knelt on the hard, electric surface of the Locus and watched the lightening sky. All hope gone. Sapped from her like body heat through a wet blanket.Leaving her shivering. Feeling desperate and alone, despite the bustle of activity all around her.Deep, resonant drums sounded in the hillside above the lake now. The musicians in the trees around the old amusement park tower were dressed like jungle natives. Body paints on bare chests, feathers and headdresses. Loin cloths and leather sandals.The drumbeat formed a musical tapestry to the ritual that Señor Oscuro and the Blood Mage Gestalt performed around her. The ritual drew the crowd of thousands closer, mesmerizing them with magical hypnosis.They came like sheep.In the aftermath of the cyberzombie’s attack, Oscuro had traveled back to the metaplanes. And he had gone alone this time, for with Thayla gone, he had no need of Lucero. He left her in the custody of Jaguar Guards and was gone for some time before standing again in his physical body, ordering the guards to bring her onto the Locus.Now she knelt in the center of the Gestalt, Oscuro standing next to her as the thousands pushed in closer and closer.
