Ritual Passion

Day 7: Ritual Passion
As I walked further away from the migration of bubbles, I soon found myself in front of a giant torch, illuminating two giant iron-made demon masks that decorated a doorway behind them.

Thinking I had gone off an incorrect path, I turned around only to the hear the torch's flame explode with fury, a large gust of hot air blowing in my direction. As I turned around to face the flames, I feel something pull against my shirt and drag me towards the demon masks' doorway.

For some time, I stood in complete darkness. I had no idea what was going to happen, but I didn't have to think about it for much longer. After a little bit, I heard the sound of another fire being lit, as well as the sounds of people chanting and clapping. They started off quiet, then got louder and louder.

I blinked, and a group of people sat cross-legged around me, sitting there and chanting. I couldn't understand what they were saying, but I certainly didn't like the direction this was going in.

The number of people grew. More circles of people started appearing, with me being the center of attention. Soon enough, I couldn't count how many rings of people were sitting here.
The situation quickly evolved when I felt a burning sensation at my feet, only to learn that another fire was lit below me. What was going on? Am I being sacrificed or something?

The people sitting in their formations changed their motions from just sitting there to doing full-range bowing motions. As I turned all around, looking both left and right, not a single person was sitting still anymore; their bowing was fast and synchronized to perfection. It was almost like looking at a bunch of machines.

The fire under me grew taller, going up to my neck. Trying to escape it, I started running in one direction, trying not to trip over these ritual participants. This task would prove to be very difficult, as the last thing I remember before losing consciousness was bumping my leg into something and falling over.