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[Cal Hurst]

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Earlier in the evening, Vaen, Natalya Vorn, Valatin, Rachel, Kolero Duriel, and Ishmael all traveled to Umbra in search of the Order of the Ebon Skull to have some questions answered. What they got were no answers, but the hissings and dark magics of the Skull followers. Having no choice, the entourage quickly escaped from Umbra, shaken and disturbed.

Laying down to sleep, Vaen finds himself deep in thought about the events of the eve. Falling asleep, his last thoughts set on the words spoken by one of them... "What will you do when there is an eclipse, and there is no more light to this world?"

****

The light shined down into Vaen's eyes, and Vaen groaned. The events of the night before still in his thoughts, he sighed. He glanced over at Natalya who was sleeping soundly next to him. He smiled, glad that she was able to get some sleep, even if it was just very little.

He stood up out of bed and stretched. He moved down to the first floor, and then outside, to the small pond just infront of his house. He reached down into the water and splashed some of it into his face, rubbing his eyes. He then glanced back into the water to see his reflection, only to be accompanied by the reflections of Gromph, Admoreth, and Zh'Azhak. He turned around quickly, but they were no longer there. He looked back at the reflection, and they were no longer there either. Vaen shook his head and sighed. "I'm letting them get to me..." He thought.

He turned and head for the door to his house. As he tried to push it open, it refused to move. The door was stuck. He shook it, but it seemed as though someone had locked it from the inside. Glancing over to the window, he saw the same three faces, waving at him, grinning evilly. Vaen's eyes widened. He tried shaking the door harder but it wouldn't budge.

"NATALYA!! NATALYA!! OPEN THE DOOR!" But she was still sound asleep. He then saw the three men use the teleporter to the second floor of the house. Vaen quickly ran to a nearby tree, climbing it and swinging on to the porch on the right side of the second story of his house. Glancing into the window, the three of the men were huddled around the bed where Natalya slept peacefully, daggers in all of their hands, peering down at Natalya.

"NATALYA!! WAKE UP!!!!!" Vaen shouted at the top of his lung, banging his fists against the window which, for some reason, refused to break.

The three men then glanced over at Vaen and smirked again, and then back at Natalya. Vaen's eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he saw them all raise their daggers in unison and stab Natalya in the chest. Blood spewed up and began to cover their bodies, as the three of them continued to stab Natalya's once sleeping but now lifeless body.

Vaen hit the window harder, screaming at the top of his lungs for his now dead fiancee. Pounding harder against the door, not being able to believe what is going on. He quickly moved over to the door, trying to open it, pushing it as hard as he can. Suddenly, the door swang open, propelling Vaen off of the roof, as he fell towards the ground. Screaming loudly, Vaen braces himself for impact...

***

"AAAAAAHHH!!!!!!" Vaen sat up in his bed, screaming, in a cold sweat. He looked over at his fiancee who was sleeping peacefully, and inspected her body for wounds. None. She was fine. Vaen began breathing extremely heavily, wiping the sweat from his face. He laid back down, placing his arms around Natalya, holding her close, afraid to fall back asleep.
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[Kolero Duriel]

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Kolero had stabled his poor, shaken ostard at the felucca minoc stables, gave it a snack for the night, and retired to the room he had been offered by the townspeople.

Kolero was removing his armor to go to sleep. I am not going to get any rest tonight, he thought as he dropped his platemail arms on the floor. He sighed and stood hunched, clearly drained. He began to stare at the flickering candle on the table nearby. In his daze, his platemail gauntlets slipped off and hit the floor with a clang, awaking him from his stupor.

"This is just... so troubling," he said aloud. Kolero was used to speaking out loud when he had something on his mind; he lived a quiet life by himself before the Legion.

He sat on the side of the bed with just his chainmail tunic and legs on. "Perhaps I will just... sleep like this tonight," he said with a sigh. He then lay down in the bed and blew out the candle next to him, slipping very quickly to sleep, as the rush he felt in Umbra left him drained.

****

"You get away from her!" Vaen said to a man enshrouded in black. An impossibly tall man, at least nine feel tall, dwarfing them even on their mounts. Natalya was behind Vaen, shaking and shivering. She dropped her shield out of fear.

A skinny skeleton in a black robe with red glowing eyes stood in front of them all, surrounded by two very daemonic looking men that were also extremely tall. "We are... not pleased with you. Weak fools..," the skeleton spoke, except his voice attacked from all angles, ending in a scream.

Suddenly, Kolero was there, not on his mount. His armor felt light, like paper. Useless. Suddenly, the giant daemon drew two swords and hurled them at Natalya and Vaen. Kolero could not watch, but gathered from the ensuing silence, then clatter of two dead, armored bodies falling off their mounts, what had happened.

Kolero turned. They were all dead. He was surrounded by giant daemons, and the skeleton creature with the red eyes. "We have... something special in store for you... Oh yes..." Kolero took a step back, reaching for his blade. He pulled out a wooden branch. Useless.

"Oh yes, you are not entirely without use. Not your body, your soul... A good slave for eternity." Then the creature, the lich, formed his hand and gestured, as if to say 'come here'. Suddenly, Kolero was not looking from his eyes, but from the lich's hand. He watched his own lifeless body fall to the ground as the daemons laughed.

"Yes, oh yes... for eternity..," said the voice, as the liche put him in his pocket, forever.

****

Kolero woke with a start, and almost a scream. He felt drenched somehow. He felt the chest of his armor. Wet. Blood? No. Sweat. Kolero had been sweating all throughout his nightmare. He sat up shakily and weak, eyeing his backpack of things near him. Drawing a bottle that read ale, that kolero had refilled with water, and a small handmade jar, he sat back down, trying to gain control of his shaking body.

After a moment of silent focus, he opened the bottle of water. It was about a quarter full. He opened the small jar, revealing a fine powder, and not much left. He dumped it all in the water, and without hesitation drank it all. It was a home-made medicine, a secret of his family, that put you in a deep sleep for a night, generally used when one does not want to dream.

He dropped the empty jar and bottle back in his pack. He was still breathing heavily. "I sh... try... m... ugh... some... N......" he said, as he tried to catch his breath. He had intended to say, 'I should try and make some more for Natalya.'

He lay back down and tried to focus his mind on nothing again. He felt awful, because he knew that though he showed less fear than some of his friends that night, he was this shaken, and he could only imagine what kind of dreams Natalya and Vaen were having.

[Natalya Vorn]

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Natalya laid in bed, still fully clothed in her armor and laying as close as humanly possible next to Vaen. He had already fallen asleep as she laid there staring at the wall infront of her remembering the evening. The Ebon Skull had kept moving closer and closer to them, almost trying to encircle her and the rest of the Legion. She had done her best to try and move away, but was so frightened she had problems watching all of them. Two of the men had seemed liked they enjoyed scaring her, following her around some and making her shake even more. All the thoughts kept rushing through her mind until she finally fell asleep merely from exhaustion.

*******

Natalya popped her eyes open quickly and glanced around room, her gaze going to Vaen sleeping next to her. She smiled a little and kissed him cheek, feeling a little better from the previous night. Vaen and Kolero were right, the rest did do her some good. She looked out the window and saw that it wasn't quite day light yet, so she quietly slipped out of bed and went downstairs to get a glass of water.

She stood there, leaning on the counter slightly as she sipped on her water and then suddenly a chill ran down her spine. She stood up straight and was about to turn around when an arm quickly went around her waist and a boney hand covered her mouth. She tried to scream but nothing came out. She tried to break free of the hold on her, but it only tightened the more that she moved. Then she heard the familiar cackling laughter from the night before as the figure that had ahold of her slowly turned around, taking her with him.

In front of her stood two of the men from the Ebon Skull, that she had seen the previous night in Umbra. Her eyes widened and she began to shake, watching the two mumble some words to each other. The two men began moving for the teleporter to the bedroom and Natalya tried to scream again, tried to break free from the hold on her. The men glanced back at her and cackled again as they continued to the second floor and she felt the grip tighten even more on her.

A few seconds passed that seemed more like hours. She tried to hide her fear but it was useless. All of the sudden she heard a blood curdling scream come from upstairs and knew it was Vaen. She heard the noises of a struggle, Vaen yelling out for her, and then nothing... She began to cry and shake even more as the figure holding her whispered into her ear with a hiss, "You're next my dear, but we'll take our time with you." She heard the teleporter sound off and looked over only to see one of the men from the Ebon Skull, his hands covered in blood. Her sobbing and shaking grew even more as the figure that had been holding onto her now through her over it's shoulder. She heard the sounds of a moongate opening up and then the teleporter again... it was the second man. Through her blurred eyesight she could see him carrying something but couldn't tell what it was until he moved closer, and then it was clear... it was Vaen's head. She immediatley started kicking and screaming as all three began to cackle, carrying her off into the moongate.

*******

Vaen woke up to Natalya shaking and yelling in her sleep. He leaned over her, shaking her gently, "Nat... hun... wake up." She bolted straight up in bed, her forehead smacking into Vaen's. She looked around the room frantically, her eyes settling on Vaen as he was rubbing his forehead. "Nat... what's wro...", Vaen was interrupted as she threw her arms around him crying. He just layed there and craddled her, rubbing her back lightly, "It's ok hun... it's ok." She continued crying until she fell asleep from exhaustion again.