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-----"I don't remember much of what happened last night, but I do remember someone disappearing just into nowhere." She says seriously. "I wish I could do that." She says with more than a touch of girlish envy. Then she continues seriously, "He couldn't have just wandered off."
-----She looks towards the corpses. "And who were they? Sacrifices? Did the priests of the Lady of Nightmares do this? Or was it the gem? Arrghhh....my dad could have answered all that by just looking around, why can't I do that either?" Sarah makes a frustrated noise and stamps her foot on the ground, not happy at all with what is going on.
-----"Some sort of huge explosion followed by awful evil demons at least I'd know how to deal with." She finishes, grumpily.
-----The big diamond lands where Raven wished to throw it a few feet away from the circle of protection. It lands again with a healthy thud and lays still among the dead grass. It certainly produces no ill effect.
-----Overhead a large crow lands on a gray branch and loudly caws. The dead bodies strewn about are unrecognizable, although at least four seem to not have been in an undead state for too long. Most of the bodies look as though they have moldered in a grave for quite a while.
-----Sol watches with disinterest as the diamond strikes the ground. He shrugs at Raven, then patiently listens to Sarah's ramblings. Upon their completion Sol speaks up, "Don't worry about it Sarah. It'll all work out. Even if we haven't finished our business here, we've done something at least in getting rid of the Darkness."
-----Sol breaks off and eyes the crow for a second before continuing, "See, there we go..." He gestures happily at the bird, "...Life returns to the forest."
-----Looking back at Sarah, Sol continues, "I'm sure you and the rest o' us will work this all out. Yer ol' man may be able to do it in the blink of an eye, but that takes out half the fun." Even Sol looks unconvinced by the last statement.
-----Raven nods, "Alright then, I guess our protection charm must have driven the evil from the gem." Raven goes over and picks up the gem again. Raven says to Sarah, "Hey, I'll take this over demons any day of the week." Raven gives Sarah a slight smile. Raven continues, "Maybe we should keep moving and see if we find that old bastard that killed..." Raven looks back at Sarah, "...Well, anyways let’s find 'em. Okay?" Raven puts away his sword and draws his bow. Raven starts to look for clues for what direction to go.
-----Sarah exhales in a frustrated manner, still not very happy with what’s going on. "Thanks." She mutters halfheartedly to Sol.
-----"Keep that thing with you, Raven." She cautions. "We should get Broactor or my dad to look at it."
-----Sarah keeps looking at the corpses. "If I'm not mistaken some of those things have been dead a long time. That probably means they were buried. That means there’s some grave robbery going on. Where’s the nearest graveyard? We may find the next clue there."
-----Suddenly a sound of hooves interrupts them. From the north, riders are seen approaching through the trees. A total of four horses move into the gray ashen clearing.
-----The first two horses each carry two riders. As they stop about thirty feet from the adventurers, two warriors wearing chain armor and carrying shields dismount leaving their fellow riders on their steeds. The warriors immediately draw long swords. The two people still on the horses are the wild-eyed priestess and the frizzy-haired spellcaster the adventurers had tied-up and left earlier.
-----As the last two horses stop, they each carry a single rider. One is the old man, who slew Gabe, now wearing black leather and carrying a shield. A smirk crosses his face as he recognizes the party.
-----On the other horse is a physically powerful looking woman likewise dressed in dark leather and carrying a black round shield. The hood of her dark cloak frames a face that provides a striking contrast to the clothing she wears. The face appears ancient and the skin, almost bone white. Her features appear imposing, the expression in her pale gray eyes vengeful.
-----Seeing the large gem in Raven’s hand, she points at him and, with a shrill voice, yells, "I am Devlin, High Dark Priestess of Noctura! There is no escape or hope from the Darkness, which I curse ye with! If you hand the Heart of the Dark over to me now and surrender, you will not be destroyed! Defy me and I shall see that your dead carcasses walk this world forever and ever in torment!"
-----"Sweet dreams," Sarah murmurs as she tosses some sand in the air. The sand floats down as Sarah completes her spell, but nothing seems to happen.
-----At the same time, the wild-eyed young priestess draws forth a black disk, holding it in Sarah’s direction. She begins to quickly intone a familiar dark chant. A look of confusion crosses her face as she finishes her chant and none of the adventurers have fallen to the Dark Fear.
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