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[code]Hope Passage > Exusia[/code]
[sup][sup][sup][@Zombiedude101][@The Man Emperor][/sup][/sup][/sup][hr]

A clansman narrowly rode past Kai and the Dust Mother, two more riderless mounts led behind by ropes - yet more spoils from the raid - being pulled alongside them. Clans valued the beasts, if not for riding then for their meat, so nothing would ever be wasted. 

It was clear that this was no true Warband, their numbers dented by a fledgling group of defenders beyond the magics they'd originally anticipated, and a few of the clansmen had already pulled back while others were preoccupied in looting whatever else they could claim before the sands did. 

It did not matter, however - the assembled group in the emissary's now-tattered tent had been pressed hard, bruised, and bloodied, even with its strongest champions putting up an admirable defensive against the raiders. A barrier of flame rose just as the cord was cut and the canopy gave way and collapsed onto them. 

The very flimsy barrier defending them from the sandstorm was gone and Nakala was forced to grab her hood and throw it over her head. Her friend, the magician, had used the summons to cleave through some of the Boneclansmen. However, as the battle raged on, the members of the Boneclans were withdrawing steadily. Probably realizing that they weren't just some band of nobodies, and the cost was too much. However, they were turning out to figure... shadows in the fierce desert storm. 

Nakala was afraid to open her mouth, lest she gets sand in her mouth. Everyone was putting up a good fight, but there were just far too many. And they had all surrounded them. This might be their final battle. Nakala viciously thurst her spear in the direction of one of the Clansmen with the ferocity of a cornered, starved, dog. The spear pierced flesh and a blood-curdling scream rung out from the Bonesclan men.

She yanked back the spear and in the motion, it detached itself from the Clansmen. She panted, as she looked around... and saw herself getting engulfed in white light.

The sand beneath their feet gave way to carved stone and marble, the sound of battle and frequent lashing of the storm against the canvas displaced by an eery calm, as though they were in the eye of a storm. 

There was no brown haze - the coarse, bitter taste of the desert winds had left them. Instead, the group was sprawled haphazardly across an open courtyard, surrounded by ornate architecture which made even the finest of Deadwood's remaining cities a mass of broken, shoddy ruins by comparison. Though it was clear these buildings were indeed ancient, great care had gone into their restoration, if not preservation by the magics that now claimed them. 

An endless expanse of blue hung above them, yet the sun did not seem so unforgiving as it had mere miles below on the shores of the Bonewater. The people who lived here bore no leathery skin, nor did the masonry seem so weathered and cracked as it did in Alphos to the east. 

Nakala looked around, spear in one hand as she used the opposite hand to pull her hood down. She could still kind of taste sand in her mouth, also sand in her eyes (that was fun). She saw various runes drawn on the floor in chalk, and rows arranged in patterns... and surrounding them were Exusian soldiers clad in ornate white armor. Wielding spears, swords, and crossbows - and there were several robed magicians around the ritual circle, women, children, etc.

The Knights faced the group and one of them walked up without a weapon but a scroll spoke,

"You must be here to meet with the Queen," He softly said, "To enter her chambers, you all must relinquish your weapons and all tools used to perform magic. They will be returned to you after the meeting with the Queen... if all goes well."

Nakala narrowed her eyes... this was obviously an intimidation tactic as they were already [i]on[/i] Exusia. They were smackdab in the middle of their home turf and had no choice but to play by their rules... or risk death. Nakala wasn't one to kiss ass to the high and "mighty", but she knew a fight that she couldn't win. However, she was going to see how everyone else played this before giving up her spear. Nakala was just as dangerous with it as without it.

She could break the Queen's neck, the same with the Golem.