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Message: <blockquote data-quote="talien" data-source="post: 3875353" data-attributes="member: 3285">Hand of the Master - Part 2c: Shadows in the NightKham flipped the cork off of a vial and lifted it to his lips. “Can’t you save the drinking for later?” asked Sebastian.“Very funny,” said Kham.  “But this isn’t alcohol.”Vlad drew his sword.  “What is it then?”“Something way better,” said Kham.  “Just stay out of my way.”With a bellow of rage, Beldin barreled into the midst of the dwarves.  He batted one dwarf aside with the flat of his axe and shouldered into another.  Vlad ran behind him, following up on Beldin’s momentum with his own flurry of blows. Cal looked around, shrugged his shoulders, and waded in after them.“Beldin fights like a man possessed,” said Bijoux.Sebastian stepped forward, palms spread outwards. “If Elabac dies, it will be on his head.  Fuco aspergo!”A coruscating cone of colors sprang forth from his palm, encompassing the dwarves.  Two went down, clutching their eyes.“I take back everything bad I’ve ever said about you,” said Kham to Sebastian. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go get my life back.”  With a mighty leap, Kham launched himself into the air.  The potion’s magic did its job, landing him on the other side of the dwarves.Elabac was gone.“What the hell?” he shouted.  Alsef’s body lay shattered on the ground.  Jarel had collapsed, weeping.  Kham leaned down to stare him in the face. “Where did they go?”Jarel raised his voice in lament.  “What have I done? What have I done!” “You were releasing me from this damn sword.”  Kham took off his purple lenses, revealing pupiless white eyes. “I’m not going to ask you again.  Where did Elabac go?”Jarel pointed at the wall.  “I have brought doom upon us!”“Yeah, yeah.”  Kham put his lenses back on.  “Another secret door, great.” He began feeling all along the wet stone of the tunnel.  An Encali barreled up to him, axe raised…Only to bounce off an invisible field.  The dwarf blinked in surprise while Kham muttered to himself about dwarven engineering, completely oblivious to the failed attack.Beldin hacked the Encali dwarf down.  “We’re too late,” said Sebastian, leaning over the body of Alsef.  “Alsef’s dead.”“What of his soul shard?” asked Beldin.  Kham continued to run his fingers along the tunnel wall.“His what?” asked Vlad.“Soul shard,” repeated Beldin.  “Our souls are encased in them.  We can never truly die so long as our bodies are still intact.”“They took it,” said Sebastian grimly.  Beldin took a deep breath.  “This will mean war.  Solanos Mor will march on Encali.”“It was not the Encali who were responsible for the attack,” said Jarel.  “It was the Reavers.  Always the Reavers.”“Reavers, Encali, who gives a crap!” snarled Kham.  “If I could just figure out how to open this door…”Beldin reached out and pressed a slightly discolored rock on the cave face.  The wall slid away to reveal a dark passage.Kham glared at Beldin.  “Stupid dwarven construction,” he muttered.</blockquote>

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