The black haired woman knew right away that something was wrong. But caught in the teleportation magic, she was as a leaf floating in rapids, and only after what seemed like an eternity, she reached her destination. The dark room suddenly illuminated and she gasped as dozens of magical bonds grasped her simultaneously, leaving her no time to catch her breath, before the pain started and she screamed. Fighting on, she called on her own powers and felt her life force being drained, unexpectedly. All she could see of her assailants was blurry, shadowy shapes, surrounding her, holding her.

Aahh, finally the traitress reveals herself.

The woman squinted to see who had spoken, the slow drawl reminding her of someone, so long ago. A black shrouded figure walked into the light and she gasped when she saw it.

You! Its impossible! You killed yourself centuries ago!

I got better, thanks to my new friends. You are still as hot-headed, my old pupil, never considering all the possibilities before jumping into action.

The figure smiled, a sinister sneer that never reached its coal black solid eyes.

But I know you, you blindingly walked into my trap, as all those fools that follow you and your fool god… they are all mine now, serving the Darkness. As you will soon. Struggle all you want, it will only accelerate your death and conversion to my army… I’ll enjoy having you by my side again, without any of your traitorous mind.

The figure turned around and left the circle of purple light the bonding magic made, mumbling to himself. The woman could feel the drain of her considerable powers and seeing the futility of it, ceased her struggle, willing her mind to a calm but observant state.

The shadowy figures were bound to make a mistake, and she would be ready to pounce…

Seeing that Higness would follow Kali, Crystal devised a strategy and assigned a  guide from her troop to bring the tiefling to a side gate, while the rest of them took the tunnel. From there, the group made a daring sortie to successfully fight off a group of grobbles guarding this little used entrance. With everybody back inside the walls, the reunion with their friends was short, as the siege of the city was still going strong, with what seemed like thousands of scaly grobbles pushed forward by hundreds of rat faced skraugs, assailing the ramparts. And an unknown number of shades directing the assault.

For hours upon hours, the  defenders struggled, the added magical might of the little group helping to relieve the exhausted Sunny and Sandron, and soon firebolts, eldritch bolts, thorn whips, magical rocks and psychic insults added extra power to the countless arrows and crossbow bolts being shot, killing the scaly lizards by the dozen, but still more came. The group got organized by Elios as an emergency stopgap, moving along the walls to where the fighting was the fiercest, giving a magical boost to break a surge, aided by the two chosen.

As they were moving at a new location, Esa stopped Ersin and pointed to a human talking to a big group of infantry soldiers, seemingly organizing them for a sortie. Quickly, the imp told the warlock that she recognized the human as one that had been possessed by a shade, spurring the group into quickly attacking the officer. Explanations for their actions came easily when everyone saw the four armed shadow coming out of the corpse, Aliyah, the Artherk Chosen, seeing one for the first time. That menace did not last long, but it redoubled the defenders will to fight, as that sortie would have been a disaster for them.

That attempted sabotage stopped, the fighting seemed to reduce in intensity, the assault less severe. For a few hours, the lull allowed the group to really rest for the first time in over three days, that most spent sleeping where they could. When they woke up, their resources replenished, the balance had shifted and the conclusion forgone after another day of fighting.

Lighthaven still stood.

With the retreating hordes of monsters, spontaneous celebrations started around the town, celebrating the victory and remembering the dead. The heroes of the battle were justly rewarded with party invitation from all around town, the alcohol flowing freely.

A few days later, Eldric called for the group to come to him at the Aracnath chapter house in town, the tone of his invitation seemingly urgent…

As the monsters retreated, and Styx finally got to lay down, it felt like anything but rest.  His bones ached to the core.  His legs were sore from all the standing, fighting, patrolling, and scouting.  His arms still vibrated from the constant clashing of weapons on weapons.  His head throbbed from the constant yelling of orders or death screams from those slain during the attack.

He tried to relax, but his body wasn't ready to let him.

Styx didn't remember falling asleep, just that he woke up almost a full day later...or was it a couple days.  He wasn't even sure any more.

His back was now sore from laying so long and due to the not so soft beds in the barracks.  When the attack first started, he made the decision that any resting he would do, would be in the barracks with the other men; a gentle reminder that he was one of them, even though he looked more like an enemy than an ally.

Stretching his muscles as he got up, he felt different again; more powerful.  It felt like two sides of a coin.  On one side, he could feel rage building up inside of him; a fire that could not be quenched.  On the other side, there was a state of calm, where his healing magic flowed more freely, like a cool breeze through his bugbearian hair.  He couldn't help but wonder if this was the work of Selene or if it was just a taint from the Shade that possessed him less than a full moon ago.  Maybe it was both.

As he stood in reflection, it wasn't long before duty called and a messenger arrived with an urgent invitation from Eldric.  With one last pandiculation more reminiscent of a cat, he cleaned himself up, donned his armor, strapped his weapons in, and set off to the Aracnath chapter house.