It was a beautiful cloudless night, the dark sky dotted with stars, and a gorgeous shining full moon. However, the natural night lights were not the attention of the two that were standing by the back door to a large warehouse in the industrial section of the city. They wore long red hooded robes, but their hoods were down right now, revealing them to be a male with long black hair, and a female with short crimson hair. The male held a cigarette between his fingers, taking a drag and letting the smoke curl out of his mouth and into the air.

"Wanna puff?" he asked the woman, before sighing.

"And where ARE they?" he then growled, looking around. "Those two were supposed to be here 10 minutes ago." he commented, looking at the watch on his other wrist. "I know we have an hour and a half until we need to start, but we've been planning this for a LONG time now." he said further, shaking his head.

"The others are NOT going to be happy if this goes south." he then said.

"...I mean, I, myself, feel like if we need to, we can wait another lunar cycle for this, but... well, that's the sort of talk that keeps me on the lower rungs of this group." he went on, shaking his head.

"I'm fully committed to this, don't get me wrong, but... geez, some of the people the boss got into this thing... they creep me out." he admitted to her.

"I'm just thankful they haven't branded me a 'traitor' or a 'heretic'. Things would get bad for me, then." he added with a small laugh, though she could tell there was nervousness under it.

"Don't remind me." he responded, taking another drag and exhaling the smoke. "This gets screwed up, and we're out. Permanently." he continued, narrowing his eyes.

"...if they don't show up in the next 10 minutes, I'm bailing." he suddenly told her. "I'm serious. If this gets fucked up, whether we stay or run, we'll be labeled. And once we're labeled, we're better off on the run than trying to change their minds." he reasoned.

However, before she could answer, her phone actually rang. It was the one that she had called.

"Where ARE you fuckers!?" she exclaimed immediately.

"Sorry, sorry!" the one on the other end apologised. "Mister expert navigator took a wrong turn." he growled.

"Hey! I swear that sign said 'Walnut' and not 'Waldorf'!" she then faintly heard, obviously the driver trying to defend himself.

"Shut up." the one she called snapped. "Anyway, we've just entered the industrial sector, and we'll be taking a bit of a winding road to get there. We'll be there in 5 minutes, tops. I promise." he assured her.

"The sacrifice is fine." the one on the other end assured her. "Not hurt at all. Other than some minor roughing up when we went after it. She's spunky." he said further.

"She kicked me in my junk!" the driver hissed.

"And man, that was funny." the other one laughed.

"Regardless, we'll be there in a few minutes, with the sacrifice in tact." he assured her.

"Look, we'll see you guys when we get there." he then finished. "I'm gonna devote my full attention to being a navigator, as we seem to need one." he added snippishly.

The male just groaned.

"Lovely." he said.

"Well, all we can do is-" he started to say, before the door opened slowly and a hooded figure poked their head out.

"...where IS it?' they hissed, which was when the three of them saw a familiar van in the distance of the dim lights that dotted the small roads between the warehouses.

"Right there." the man answered.

"...very well." the hooded figure responded, closing the door again.

"Geez that was frightening." the man whispered as the van got closer and slowly pulled up towards them.

"I SAID I was sorry!" a man with mussed brown hair responded, as he and his cohort got out of the van, dressed in the same robes. Once they were out, the two of them, as well as the man that had been standing guard, flipped their own hoods up and made their way to the back of the vehicle. Once there, they opened it up, and saw a young girl with her wrists and ankles wrapped in duct tape, with a few strips over her mouth.

"...ugh, I hate that it's a kid." the man that had been standing guard said.

"Whatever, just get her and bring her inside." he told them, as the one that the female had been talking to climbed in and lifted her up in his arms.

"You think anyone's going to come looking for her?" he asked.

"Naw." the driver responded. "From the sounds of what we saw while scouting her out, her mother left her here while on vacation... on purpose. So she's little more than a street urchin." he told them.

"...people are disgusting." the man spat in response, ire MORE than apparent in his tone.

The one that had been standing guard with her was the one that opened the door, and when she stepped inside, she saw 6 other hooded figures standing in the distance, waiting for her. They were standing around a large long metal table, and there was one that was standing behind them, dressed in the same robe, but also bore an ornate pendant around his neck, a strange symbol carved into it.

"...so she is here." he said, as the woman approached them, the other 3 following her. She laid the girl down on the table, and the one that appeared to be the leader shook his head.

"She deserves the right to speak." he told them.

One of the others that had been standing there took the hint, and removed the tape from her mouth, allowing her to speak if she desired.

"Prepare for the ritual." the leader then ordered, causing the other figures to scatter a bit, gathering various items from disheveled crates that they had been using as stands and tables.

Because of the heaviness that she was feeling, the tape was also removed from her wrists and ankles... and she just laid there. She couldn't move from the strange effect of the torches.

"...you poor creature." the leader said as he looked at her.

"Your life was but misery and sadness. One as young as yourself does not deserve such treatment." he went on. "But do not worry, the harshness of your life will not be in vain." he then assured her.

"When the great and powerful Roth'gut is summoned by your misery and sadness, he will ravage this world, and destroy all the miserable humans that inhabit this place." he told her. "Including that dreadful mother of yours." he promised.

He then sighed heavily, and shook his head.

"I loathe that your life must end early, but be honoured it is for such a grand purpose." he continued, as one of the others started to pour a ring of black sediment around the table.

"Don't worry, I know exactly what I'm doing." the one pouring the ring responded.

"You said that the last time, too." another one growled.

"Hey, I was the only one willing to do it, you all want to take your chances with this stuff, be my guest." the first one snapped back.

"Silence!" the leader commanded.

"Get the dagger!" he commented the red-haired woman.

"..." the one pouring the sediment was silent as he heard that, as he continued to slowly form the ring, taking his time.

The leader accepted the dagger, and started to chant something. It was in a language that they didn't understand, but as he spoke the words, the flames on the torches grew brighter and brighter, and their effect grew more and more potent.

"Oh Great Lord... descend unto this realm, and raze it of humans. Purify it, for the good of ALL!" he finished.

"We offer this sacrifice of pain and agony..." he then said further, raising the knife in his hands, just as the one spreading the sediment was about to close the ring around the table.

However, it then appeared that he tripped, and the sediment went flying landing on the leader... and one of the torches.

The leader screamed out in agony, and the torch flame grew to an enormous and unreal size, catching one of the cultist's robes, and looking like it was ready to burn the girl's leg... if the one that had dropped the sediment hadn't tackled her off the table, wrapping his arms around her to cushion the blow.

"You all right!?" he asked her.

The one that had tackled the girl to the floor, used of his legs and kicked the table as hard as he could, causing the torches to fall onto the ring of sediment... and then caused the entire thing to be set ablaze.

It engulfed almost all of the cultists, as he quickly rose to his feet and started to run towards the door, shielding the child from harm.

"Damn it!" the leader cussed, as he looked through the flames.

"TRAITOR!" he yelled.

"That implies I was ever on your side to begin with!" the man called back.