At that, the GUILD master leaned forward. "So, you're going to extract it?"
Tobias took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Yeah. Just give me a moment. I need to chant the incantation."
Zayn blinked. "Wait, you're chanting something? That's new."
"Shut up," Tobias said, rolling his shoulders and raising a hand over the brand.
His other hand came to rest lightly on the woman's shoulder. "Here it goes."
He exhaled, and his voice dropped into a calm, commanding rhythm:
"By the light of the soul, through the weave of unseen thread,
I call the roots that bind and bled,
Through darkened sign and cursed design,
Unravel now — release what's mine.
Release."
As he spoke the final word, a shockwave of mana pulsed out from his palm.
Purple lightning arced into the mark — controlled and focused.
The half-moon brand pulsed once, twice… and then jumped.
With a hideous squelching sound, the mark peeled away from the girl's back and landed on the floor in a squirming, pulsating mass.
