[center][img]https://www.wunderground.com/data/wximagenew/n/nukegm/167.jpg[/img][/center]

[center][h3]Something Wicked This Way Comes[/h3][/center]

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The storm swirled and raged, lightning bolts falling in ever greater numbers. They exploded with the roar akin to cannon fire, sending chunks of burning debris in all directions. More Shadow Warriors sprung up from the sand, clawing their way to freedom and leaping at the nearest Alliance warrior. 

Initially the battle had gone the way of a chaotic melee, with Gargth's minions sprouting from all directions and driving wedges between comrades-in-arms, but the Alliance seemed to be quick to react. The Fallen Wizard was amused by their trivial efforts to prevent the inevitable. Did they truly think they could win? He had slain many more than they had, many who were greater than even their best. 

What hope did this rag-tag folly possibly think they could cling to? 

A few arrows whizzed into him, though they broke apart before they touched his flesh as if an ivisible barrier barred their passage. A few random magical attacks followed, as the various spell-casters of the Alliance's army took pot-shots at him inbetween fighting the Shadow Warriors.

Not much apparently.

"FIGHT AND DIE," his magically augmented voice carried across the din of a desperate melee. "YOUR SOULS WILL BE FRESH HARVEST FOR THE SHADOW REALM!" 

As if to underline his point, Gargth lifted his left arm - a corrupted limb, seemingly made from several hundred twigs and branches - and gesticulated until a purple rolling sphere appeared in his hand. He'd directly contacted the Shadow Realm once more, harnessing its well of power. He marvelled at himself and his accomplishments, as the raw energy surged through him, threatening to once again obliterate his physical form with its sheer primal strength. 

A blue shield had formed around a band of Alliance soldiers, and they used it to great effect against the droves of Shadow Warriors surging towards them. Gargth sensed the shield's energy, and immediately understood its design. Its existence offended him greatly. 

[I]They are of Grandmaster Yrios's Guild. Powerful in magic, all. Withdraw from this folly, mortal. You overestimate your odds, here. The Guild of Tal’Zaroth is formidable, and you have yet to recover your full strength.[/I]

Lowering his hand so that the sphere - the size of a man's head - pointed at the blue shield, he cackled madly. "They shall die all the same," he muttered with a sneer. 

[I]Then you are a fool.[/I]

With a simple word of the arcane, Gargth sent the purple sphere hurtling towards the Mage Guild of Tal’Zaroth's position, urging his destructive attack to blast them straight off the face of the earth. The moment the sphere left his hand, Gargth felt a jolt echo throughout his body, as the after-affects of tapping the Shadow Realm momentarily weakened him. He fell to one knee, and the invisible barrier protecting his physical form flickered with an obvious intermittent glow of orange. 

If the Alliance were to destroy Gargth, the time was nigh. If the Mage Guild of Tal’Zaroth wanted to avoid being reduced to ash, and their souls harvested to the darkest corners of arcane lore, then they'd best stop the formidable Shadow Bolt coming their way.