Getting up, he was about to go down to the kitchens when an almighty crash below – the force of which was powerful enough to make the entire edifice shake – stopped him in his tracks. He hurried to the window again and, with a mixture of horror and fascination, stared down at the creature he and the lich had summoned to do the work they were incapable of doing themselves.

The Earth Elemental, a colossal, man-shaped thing made out of rock and stone, lumbered towards the vast block it had dropped. The creature was capable of moving the huge things, each of which were taller than Kelewulf, without tiring. And yet it was clumsy to the point of being downright dangerous. Only yesterday Kelewulf had almost been crushed to death beneath one of the blocks when the creature had dropped it.

The Elemental was hauling the cube-shaped blocks into place. There were nineteen so far and they would eventually form a great arch that would dominate a large section of land out there.

These blocks – objects created from powerful majik – were strange to look at up close: formed from black, glass-like material known as shadowglas, sinister-looking things moved around inside them, things that were there one moment, gone the next. Each took almost half a day to produce and the effort of doing so had exhausted Kelewulf’s reserves of majik and willpower.

He needed to create eleven more, or so the lich said. The mere thought of the energy the task would take filled him with dread.

When it was finished, the arch would become a portal between this world and the Void. But it would only be open for a matter of minutes due to the vast effort required. Any longer might kill him. And yet, in those short moments, the terrifying panoply of monstrous creatures that would enter this world would make it quake.

Without warning Kelewulf’s knees buckled beneath him and he only just managed to stop himself from falling to the hard stone floor by clutching the heavy curtain hanging beside the window.

The reminder of his weakness was a timely one. He needed to restore his body’s strength, and quickly, because unleashing the monsters here at Vissergott was only the start of their plan – an audition of their combined powers. Afterwards, he would have a long and difficult journey ahead of him. A journey that would enable him to achieve his ultimate goal: the return of the dark god Lorgukk to this realm.

But that was not possible without the heart. The heart was the key to everything, and it was thousands of miles away in the lands of Hasz.