18th of Davor, 1329 Avard: Handir and Thri'Sil continued their scouting, with Zap and Ta'Crae bringing the horses.

The two drow'ari found the other horses at the edge of a small, red-drenched meadow. The red light from Maroth, above lent a blood-soaked tint to everything, though they could smell nothing but the night in the breeze.

Handir and Thri'Sil each quickly checked the horses, as well as the meadow. The heavy draft horses had arrows in their flanks, but were too tired to run any further. When Zap arrived, he smelled the familiar poison that he was becoming immune to. Their assassin had already sniped at them, and moved ahead.

The situation did not leave any of them comfortable. Ta'Crae was tempted to send his falcon up into the night to act as a scout, but the red light of Maroth and the darkness beneath the trees were not optimal for the flying scout. The ranger instead kept Phoenix flitting from branch to branch nearby, watching and waiting as a vanguard.

The four of them moved forward with caution foremost on their minds. When they heard the distant whinny of a horse somewhere up ahead, they instantly moved into defensive positions. Zap, both hands holding the reins to two heavy horses, and two more horses tied to those saddles, simply crouched in the roadway waiting. His shield was upon his back, and he longed to draw his blade, but he put all of his attention into keeping the horses silent and calm as they stood in the middle of the ancient roadway through the trees.

Thri'Sil and Handir moved forward, waiting and watching.

Ta'Crae hunkered down between the horses, using them as a shield, bow strung and an arrow notched, waiting.

For long seconds, only the forest breathed.

Zap saw something change in his shadow, and the horses reared even as he leapt forward. A concussive fireball erupted on the forest floor, engulfing the summer grass and leaves in burning naptha. The horses were thrown off their feet by the blast, with one of their saddle blankets on fire. Ta'Crae's hyper-sensitive elven eyes had seen the flash just before it hit, as well, and he had leapt free just in time.

Handir, acting on instinct, leapt up as high as he could, and then pushed off of the rough bark of a tree, reaching for more height. An instant later, he slithered through the shadows, and landed on a bough more than eighty feet off the ground.

The spell-caster was hovering – flying! – right over the burning circle. The man had black hair down to his buttocks, and wore a black tattered cloak that seemed to flap and flutter in a non-existant wind. The human tossed back a small vial of liquid, and vanished before Handir's silver eyes.

Thri'Sil's paranoia kicked into a higher gear, and he flitted through several shadows to get closer to Zap. Zap, for his part, was playing possum, ignoring the burning leaves and grass around him. His armor protected him from the worst of the heat and fire, and he grimaced, ignoring the rest.

Ta'Crae scuttled before one of the unconscious horses, looking frantically for any signs of their invisible assassin.

Handir slowly pulled a thunderstone from his pocket, and tossed it experimentally into the air. The thunderstone would ignite in a flash of light and a burst of thunder that would deafen anyone too close to it. The drow'ari listened, his ebon-colored, pointed ears straining above the wind through the canopy of the forest, the creak of the mighty trees, the burning leaves and grass below, and the panicked whinnies of the horses.

He heard just the faintest of murmurings from nearby, and hurled the thunderstone without a thought. The stone arced down and through the air to impact on something invisible, with a bright flash of white light that blinded him, and a thunderous blast of sonic energy so strong that it sent leaves spiralling downward in a burst from the trees.

Bats. Bats flew all about the forest, confusing them and confusing the situation.

Even as they flew past, some tiny, and some as large as fox-bats, Thri'Sil slid up to the tree closest to Zap.

The drow'ari felt a warm breath on his neck, and spun about. The invisible assassin had been waiting for him, and released an arrow directly into Thri'Sil's chest. The drow'ari stumbled back a step – the mithril, dwarven-crafted shirt beneath his black leathers saving his life.

Zap roared to his feet, his hand-and-a-half sword leading the way in a viscious strike, even as Thri'Sil planted his feet.

Thri'Sil's arm drew back, and pounded the assassin onto Zap's sword, again, and again, and again, until the sword burst forth from the assassin's chest. Zap, roaring, pinned the assassin's corpse face-first into the tree.

Ta'Crae paused to catch his breath, his finger tips stinging from the volley of arrows he had launched.

Hovering not twenty feet down and before Handir was the body of the mage, slowly spinning through the air, the shafts of arrows making him look the part of a pin-cushion.

Two of them. There had been two of them, all along. The mage was the same mage that had been responsible for the (supposed) deaths of Rell and Kaisume. The assassin had nearly killed Zap, Xennith, and the others several times.

Handir found a bandolier of small vials on the dead mage's body. Potions of invisibility. Not too far away, they found the riding horses with the enchanted horse-shoes, the ones that had let Zap and Ta'Crae make it back safely to Takanal after the mage had nearly gotten them killed at the hands of the orcs.

After taking a long moment to rest, and recover their thoughts, it was decided that Thri'Sil and Handir together would serve as better scouts, unfettered by Zap and Ta'Crae, who would stay with the horses and prepare the way for their escape.

A roc nearly caught them. The roc-hawke landed in a clearing near the horses, and while Zap tended to the wounded horses and kept them from panicking, the orcs missed the human warrior in their dismounted patrol. The near-miss only strengthened their resolve to find out how dangerous their foes were.

By dawn, they were back in Takanal with their report: numbers, troop movements, racial analyses, patrol routes, and more.

* * *

Rell poured over texts that he had already read, but now had a new significance for him. His encounter with a Disciple of Agincoth, his encounter with Death, and the proof of Agincoth's power had changed his world forever. Rell was dedicated, even feverishly so, to defending the one bastion of magic and light in all the world. He vowed to destroy the orcs by whatever means possible, as a cleric of Agincoth.

Behind him, in the near darkness, Kaisume watched his back, and waited. The half-elf had become one of the Shadow Guardians – brought back from the dead with a purpose: his mission, to protect Rell from all enemies, and ensure his survival.

* * *

Free of their task for the Duke of Hallis Island and the people of Takanal, Handir and Thri'Sil escaped. They had seen the number of orcs and ogres and kobolds and more up in the pass, and they knew that it was a defensive force, preparing the Grand Maul Pass for the armies to come along behind it.

The two drow'ari twins knew that Rakore was doomed.

The twins informed their master, Rial Mhenace, that they were leaving.

The manager of Gideon Enterprises, and head of the King's Quarrels, knew that the two drow'ari were perhaps the most dangerous assassins, rogues, thieves, and scouts in the world. Their drow'ari heritage, coupled with their training at the Star's End monastery, meant that they could do things once considered impossible. And so 'Mister Mhenace' turned over to them two artifacts of incredible power. He handed each of them a stack of ivory cards, and told them to be careful, and only use the cards in an emergency.

Each card was a powerful item, and when drawn from the deck, could grant wishes, restore life, or even change the course of history. Some of the cards, though, spelled instant doom. The archmage of Lok Magius had keyed the artifacts to the vault at Thayer's Rock, such that after the decks were used, they would return to the vault, no matter where in the world they were.

“Draw however many cards you want, and then pray you can use what you draw. After that, the cards will disappear – only to reappear here, in the vault.”

Handir glanced at his brother, and then drew ten cards form his deck, right then and there.

Rial dove for cover.

* * *

Zap and Ta'Crae remained in Takanal to help Father Thomalis and the baron with their fortifications.

A tug on Zap's tunic, though, brought him around – face to face with the young elf known as Sky. No questions were asked, and the human warrior wasted no breath on explanations, whisking her away to the Temple of the Trees and Father Thomalis.

A great evil had been unleashed on all of Rakore. The Marksmen were but a small taste of that evil, and they had managed to use Sky to meet their ends. She had only managed to escape when someone beat the snot out of Doom Rex, forcing him to reattend to his tasks, despite the recent loss of his wife to Zap.

Sky knew where the Doom's headquarters were, and the Wolf of Rahne could do nothing about it, trapped as he was in the defense of Takanal. The invasion had begun.

* * *

Rell held up the ogran-cut rubies to the light. One of them was different than the others, and he could see it in the light of magics surrounding him. The rubies had once served as focuses for the ogremai, during the original crusades, so long ago. The ograns had used the rubies to steal the souls of the more powerful clerics, paladins, and priests.

Kaisumi caught the ruby as it was tossed to him. The Shadow Guardian turned to follow his master as Rell stormed out of the room.

The soul within Kaisumi's hands held a secret that needed sharing – a secret that could tip the balance of power back into Rakore's hands. So begins the 19th of Davor, 1329.

My time in Korea had ended, and this was our last chance to play in Campaign VI. I wished that we could have played more, or longer, but it was my turn to go back to the States. Ian and the rest would remain, able to play on Rakore, or in the Veiled Lands, as Ian was crafting those lands.

I had a good time running for these guys.

And just so you know: Handir and Thri'Sil's souls were sucked into the Void. Thri'Sil's soul was sucked into the Void almost immediately, by sheer chance. Handir used and abused the decks – both of them – until he thought he had a plan to retrieve his brother's soul. In the end, though, the Void got him – leaving the vault at Thayer's Rock a zone of chaotic magic, and no one knowing why.

And of the Bat? He disappeared from Lok Magius with Sirik, and no one has seen him since.

3,500. (total character XP to date is 32,450)