"Okay, settle down now," Guildmaster Thorne said firmly, clapping his hands once. The sound echoed off the stone walls and snapped everyone's attention back to him. "Let's discuss the rift."
From a leather satchel slung across his shoulder, Thorne pulled out a thick scroll sealed with the crimson insignia of the Central Guild Authority. He unrolled it over the long wooden table near the breakfast spread, where several maps and sketches of magical readings were already laid out.
At the center of the table was a drawn depiction of the rift's location.
"Before anything else," Thorne began, "let me be clear. This mission is dangerous. If any of you came here expecting an ordinary subjugation quest, walk out now."
No one moved.
Even Reina, normally full of words, had gone still. The flicker of anticipation in her eyes dulled to something more serious.
