The Cinder Crossing
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 12318
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Desdemona made her way through the twisting passages of the Catacombs
guided only by the smallest
pinprick of a witch's light. She did not want to advertise her movements
to any passersby. She was a
witch of no little power, accompanied by two others as well as five
praeternaturally strong zombies, but
nevertheless the caverns of the Dragon were a dangerous place and the
Catacombs more so than most.
She looked forward to accomplishing her mission and returning to the Coven.
If all went well with
Mother Abigail's design, Desdemona would then have time to visit the Harsh
Realm and enjoy some rest
and relaxation.
As her party reached the Cinder Crossing there was still no sign that any others were about, so they crossed the lava river without fear that they would be met by any opposition. It came as a complete surprise therefore when the lead zombie spun round and dropped to the stone bridge. The top of his head had been sliced right off. In the blink of an eye Desdemona shouted out an incantation and crossed her arms three times. A shimmering sphere enveloped the group and the witch peered into the darkness ahead of them. A pair of wicked battle-axes flew from the darkness but bounced harmlessly off the sphere. Desdemona sneered at her unseen foe and began to walk forward with impunity. "Come out, come out, wherever you are," she taunted her attacker and laughed. But she was met with only silence. At Desdemona's command, Farrah began to levitate above the bridge and then she flew off to their right. In the flickering light of the lava bed below them, the witch glided through the air like a dark shadow. For her part, Gladys readied a small packet of herbs. And then the group reached the further side of the bridge and the dark embankment from which the attack had come. A dark hole yawned before them, a passage further north. But no one was there. Desdemona pointed at the cracked opening of the passage and a sheen of flashing light flowed over it, blocking it up. If her enemy was hiding in there, they would be unable to break through before she had taken what she had come for and returned home. Farrah signaled that she saw nothing on either side of the embankment. Satisfied, Desdemona led the group east along the lava flow. She needed to reach Gundra's Cliffs and she wanted to do it as quickly as possible. But in her haste she never bothered to turn and look behind her. In her haste she never saw the black figure emerge from the darkness of the shadows that wavered along the stone walls. But the figure never lost sight of Desdemona or her sisters. It watched the trio of witches with blazing eyes of white flames and followed them. And as it crept closer its body billowed about like a noxious cloud and its eyes seemed to dance and leap with hunger and with glee.
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WolfRun
8/21/2000 4:15:42 PM
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