Somehow the bullet had missed Ralph. It had to've; he wasn't dead or even in pain. The Wolves leapt at us.
I'm not entirely sure what happened in the middle of that scrap up. I was slicing wildly with my dagger at two large men. No matter how much skin and muscle I cut through, the two men kept beating down on me. I eventually lost conciousness to a lullaby of gunshots and bellows.
When I came to, the first thing I noticed was the pain. It was like my body was on fire. I groaned, trying to move an arm to no avail. I opened my eyes to darkness and shook my head, trying to clear it.
'This is the way all are first brought into the circle.' The voice was Ralph's. Then there was a scraping sound. Steel against concrete.
'Turn that damn racket off.' Graham made it out, too. He made a brave effort to sound confident, but with my sight gone, I could hear the strain in his voice. 'Zach, Mal, you boys okay?' I managed a grunt through a gag, echoed by an equally weak one from Malcolm. He sounded further away than Graham, but at least he was alive. The grating stopped.
'Perfect trust and perfect love, the two passwords.' Ralph again. 'Brethren, we are gathered here today to trace history in accordance with the book. It is written that on this day, the passwords will be entrusted to the holder of the book, bearing hope and despair in either hand. The word will be erased, quickening the beast.' What the hell was that arsehole on about? 'The world is narrow, the future is recorded, this blade is guided by the record. We now draw down the moon and sacrifice to the beast of the end.' I heard Graham yell out. It sounded painful, whatever happened to him, but I needed to focus on getting myself out. I thrashed, hearing the jingle of steel. Chains? 'Shh.' I felt Ralph's breath on my face, smelt it as swept over the cold sweat. It reeked to high heaven. Something was smeared across my face. A metallic smell invaded my nostrils, and the fire that had been running through every nerve stopped suddenly as I fell into a deeper darkness.