“Man’s enemies are not demons, but human beings like himself.” Lao-Tsu
A
full moon shone on broken walls, highlighting the ancient stonework on one side but creating a gloomy contrast on the other. The heat of the day still lingered in the ruins of the twelfth-century abbey as a car pulled up on the road outside.
A slim figure got out of the driver’s seat. She pulled a black leather coat, lined and trimmed with purple lambs’ wool, around her shoulders, and gazed into the night sky; at an alignment of five planets, unseen for half a millennia.
She withdrew a thick book from her bag and laid it on the bonnet of the car. Her fingers traced ancient words, glowing unnaturally in the moonlight. Inside the custodian’s hut, the security cameras locked, and the data stream to the internet froze.
The Summoning had begun.