Norax stood before what remained of the now vanquished Light Guard. No more than twenty of their original force remained. There were two archers trained on each member of the Guard, and all of the Guard had been thoroughly bound. Norax approached the soldier nearest him.
"You- where is your leader?" he demanded of the fallen soldier. The soldier looked up at Norax.
"He is dead. Your people slaughtered him. Happy?"
One of Norax's men stepped forward and slapped the soldier. "You do not speak to master Norax like that!"
Norax watched the interchange disinterestedly. Holding the same rod he had used earlier that day, he uttered something incomprehensible. Instantly, a shadowy form appeared next to Norax. The room grew suddenly colder, and everyone present, Norax's men included, winced away from this apparition. Norax regarded the bound soldier
"Seleath is very hungry. I will ask you once more. Where is your leader?"
"I told you, he's dead!" the soldier yelled determinedly. Norax nodded to the wraith beside him, who uttered an unearthly squeal. Before the soldier could respond, the apparition had lunged at him. The soldier screamed in agony as his body was torn to shreds. The wraith seemed to enjoy this, and began to move toward a second soldier.
The second soldier had nowhere near the courage of the first. He broke down, crying. "He escaped! He was going to the Nexus to warn the others! He's gone, gone, GONE!" he screamed, voice on the edge of panic. Norax, satisfied with the answer, uttered something else, and the shade vanished abruptly, leaving in a moan of disappointment that made everyone shiver. Norax nodded to two guards, who returned his nod and left the room. Turning back to the remaining soldiers, Norax drew his sword, an ebony blade that seemed to pull your very soul toward it. "Now, I shall deal with the rest of you." He intoned grimly.
Leo Eastman, leader of the Light Guard, fled for his life. After having been transported behind enemy lines, Leo had rushed toward the Nexus with one of his remaining summoners. Leo could see that his forces were losing, and had realized too late that he had been lead into a trap. Now, as he approached the Nexus, he heard a shout from behind him.
"There he is!" Shouted one of Norax's soldiers. That soldier, and another, ran directly toward him. Leo turned to Brel, the summoner who had come with him.
"Is there anything you can do to slow them down a bit?" Leo asked, keeping a wary eye on the soldiers. One of the soldiers had stopped to pull something out of his pack.
Brel laughed. "Don't worry about it!" Raising his simple oaken staff toward the oncoming soldiers, he began to intone something. Leo would never find out what, for in that moment, the soldier who had stopped for something shot Brel through the throat with an arrow. Brel gargled and slumped to the ground. Leo, seeing the archer prepare another bolt, fled toward the Nexus as fast as he could go. The archer, seeing his quarry quickly go out of range, took another arrow from his quiver and ran after him. The first soldier, who had never stopped running, was already halfway toward Leo, and was gaining. Knowing that he was about to be stabbed in the back, Leo turned to face his attackers.
"Stop where you are!" The closest soldier ordered, closing quickly. The archer had stopped behind the soldier and was taking aim toward Leo's forehead. "If you so much as move, Tzuk here will make sure you don't anymore, got it?"
Leo nodded silently, his right hand slowly pulling out a short dagger by a nearly invisible thread. Slipping the thread between his fingers, and letting the dagger dangle behind his hand, out of sight to the guards, he raised his hands slowly.
Tzuk's last words were: "Let's get him back to Mas-". Before he could finish his sentence, Leo had thrown the dagger into Tzuk's chest. Too shocked to do anything but stare open-mouthed at the handle protruding from his body, Tzuk dropped dead. The soldier snarled and drew his sword.
"You're going to pay for that one." he uttered, slashing viciously toward Leo.
Leo easily dodged the soldier's wild blow and drew his own sword. "This is for Brel!" he cried, thrusting the blade into the soldier's abdomen. The soldier gasped, dropping his sword and falling to his knees.
Leo removed his sword from the dying soldier's body. Turning, he saw the tall building that contained the Nexus. It surface was covered with soot and grime from ages past, but its presense was not diminished by it. It stood imposingly, streching up into the dark clouds above. Looking toward the archway grimly, Leo took a deep breath and entered.
Thalla stood on the stone balcony that overlooked the plains to the south of the Tyre mountains. Holding a rod that appeared like a double-sided trident, she looked Southward. Her sharp blue eyes contrasted her cold, pale face as she regarded the landscape beyond. The rod glowed a shimmering yellow.
"I know what you're doing." a voice behind her warned. "And I'm not going to allow it."
Thalla turned to face the person who had just made himself known. A hunched old man walked out of the cave that led back into the mountain. He looked up at her.
"What are you doing here?" Thalla asked, her voice as soft as her features. Except for her long white hair, she appeared relatively young, especially next to the old man.
"I have been keeping an eye on your progress, and I cannot allow what you are going to attempt." the old man shifted his weight off of his cane.
Thalla sighed, and seemed to draw herself up. She looked resigned to whatever was going to happen. "Very well, wizard, do what you must."
Leo stood in an upper chamber of the building that housed the Nexus. He stared grimly at the center of the room, where a thread of gossamer light shimmered. The Nexus... Leo had no idea how to open it, and if he was going to warn his allies, then he had to open it. Leo held Brel's rod, which radiated a soft red light. He had tried to make the Nexus react using it, but he didn't have the knowledge to do so. He was about to try again when he felt a presense behind him. He winced, feeling a sharp pain in his eye, and turned to find Norax standing in the stairwell.
Leo regarded Norax silently. At over six feet, Norax dwarfed Leo, and Norax's black armor did little to lessen the sudden claustrophobia Leo felt. Norax's face was hidden by an onyx helmet through which his voice somehow passed clearly. "You are Eastman." Norax said. It was not a question.
Leo nodded, drawing his sword. Here he was, face to face with Norax, his hated enemy. Norax's gaze went from him to the Nexus. "You are trying to escape, to warn your friends in the light plane. Well, it will not do them any good at all to know what I am doing, for they will find out soon enough." Norax's left hand came up, holding the rod he had used earlier. The thread of light in the center of the room brightened to nearly blinding proportions, and expanded to form a glowing white portal. Leo threw his shield arm in front of his eyes to prevent himself from being blinded. He didn't see Norax make his way behind him. Leo's first clue of Norax's plan was when he felt the push that sent him tumbling into the Nexus.
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