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Message: <blockquote data-quote="spyscribe" data-source="post: 2584944" data-attributes="member: 5808">Part the One-Hundred Fifty-SeventhApproximately 26 hours earlier...Captain Zenobia surveys her troops.  It has been a long trek through the desert, but all is ready at last.  Her soldiers are in position, the handlers are prepared, and the sun casting long shadows from the horizon.  The time is now.The Captain is quite conscious of the number of officers who have failed at this task before her.  As she was informed when she was given this assignment, attempts to capture, kill, or force the surrender of the rogue witch have claimed the lives of a great many loyal soldiers of Ebis.  However, none of them possessed the weapon she has at her disposal.And, she tells herself with no small amount of satisfaction, none of them ever attained the distinction that will be hers when she succeeds.  The Captain banishes such thoughts of the future from her mind.  Now is the time to focus on the present.  Complete the mission first.  Reap the rewards later.“Manaal al Amani!” she calls out to the single window in the absurd tower before her.  “The Empire of Ebis wishes a parlay!”There is no response from the tower.“We do not come with malicious intent,” the Captain lies.  “We come to reach an accord.  We wish to find an accommodation that will be acceptable both to you and to the Empire, an agreement of peaceful co-existence.”A voice comes back from the tower.  “I have always co-existed peacefully with the Empire.  It is the Empire that has always been the aggressor against me.”“And I can put an end to that.  I can promise that the Empire will never again come to your tower.  But my superiors demand certain assurances before they will agree to that.  Will you parlay?”There is silence from the tower.  For a moment, the Captain knows doubt.  If the witch cannot even be coaxed forth……but there is a sudden disturbance at the base of the tower, and an opening appears.  A figure emerges, one that matches the description Captain Zenobia has been given.  The witch, Manaal.The entrance to the tower disappears behind her.  Ah well, the Captain thinks.  It would be easier if they could simply walk into the tower once its owner is dead.  But no matter.  They have both the tools and the mandate to enter the tower, whether an entrance is present or not.Manaal approaches confidently, though her face is etched with suspicion.  A strange nimbus of glowing blue flame surrounds her.  Captain Zenobia inwardly sneers.  Confidence may be deserved, given the fate of previous expeditions.  But this time…“Speak then, soldier of Ebis,” Manaal says.  “I will hear your terms.”“I’m sure you will,” Captain Zenobia says, and she nods to the handlers.In an instant, the four creatures melt out of the shadows surrounding the witch and, snarling hideously, leap at her. Null shadows, Zenobia was told they were called.  Their name matters little to her.  The only thing that matters is the effect they have on Manaal.She is fast, the Captain will grant her that.  Before the creatures even reach her, the witch casts a spell.  There is a great explosion of fire… one which has absolutely no effect on the null shadows.She screams as their claws rake her flesh.  Whatever magical protections the blue flames grant her are useless.Where is your confidence now? Zenobia thinks.  Manaal scrambles out of reach of the creatures.  Zenobia drops her arm, signaling the archers to fire.  She does not necessarily expect them to be effective, but they may distract the witch until the null shadows get their claws back into her.She has time to get off only a single spell before they do.  A great gout of flame erupts from her hand and flies forward towards Zenobia’s men, striking one and suddenly arcing in all directions, striking several more.  There are screams, and some of her soldiers drop, but most hold their ground.  Inwardly, Zenobia triumphs.  She’s going after the men, not the creatures.  Her only thought is vengeance.  Not survival.  A move of desperation.  The day is mine!And suddenly, something goes terribly wrong.  One of the null shadows ceases its attack on the witch.  It looks back towards the soldiers, snuffling at the air.  Quite suddenly, it leaps towards her men.Confused, Zenobia looks around.  What could cause them to…And then she sees it.  One of the handlers has dropped his rod.He is scrambling forward, desperate to recover it.  Zenobia’s unconscious mind intuits from his burned clothing that he must have lost it trying to evade the witch’s fireball, but her conscious mind doesn’t care. All it cares about is that he retrieves it before—But it’s too late.  The rogue null shadow leaps on one of the other handlers and tears him to shreds.A second null shadow stops its attack.  It turns back towards the handlers and snarls.“Stop them!  Get them back under control!” Zenobia shouts.Troops rush to protect the handlers from their charges, but the damage has been done.  The other handlers, seeing the gory remains of their comrade, lose their nerve and with it their control.  The third and fourth null shadows stop their attacks on the witch.  One springs towards the handlers, while the other launches itself towards the ranks of the clerics.  Zenobia shouts commands, desperately trying to re-establish order among her men.  The creatures must be gotten back under control, must be turned back against the witch—The witch.Zenobia turns, but Manaal has disappeared.The Captain’s blood runs cold.But Manaal’s disappearance does not last long.  Zenobia looks up.  The witch is now standing atop her tower, far out of the reach of the null shadows.  Her white robe is stained red with her own blood, and she looks down on the soldiers with an expression of terrible fury.No one will ever know if Captain Zenobia’s last order would have been to attack or sound the retreat.  She is incinerated in a burst of fiery vengeance before she has a chance to utter it.</blockquote>

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