Energy and chatter thrum through the opera house as hundreds of citizens find their seats amongst the magnificence of architecture and magic that plays epic tales across its roof. Misxibis hums beside a set of pristine instruments as she lies across a satin couch, herself draped in a startling black silk dress with flecks of gold and silver that shine like stars with each movement.

Amongst the chatter, a familiar voice floats through the air and she turns to find no one there. She shakes her head and organises her papers. The room shifts to darkness and all sound stops. The curtains peel back and a magical spotlight shines down on her, accompanied by roaring applause.

"Missy!" Zips screams charging across the room, followed closely by Heri and Tyrvaan, their footsteps thundering across the ancient stonework.

"The stone is spreading!" Heri shouts, "we have to stop it somehow!" Tyrvaan grunts in agreement.

"Missy, wake up! " Zips shouts again as they skid to a halt before her. Zips drops her sack of gold beside another at Misxibis' feet and begins shaking her. Tyrvaan pulls a short blade and begins to expertly cut the stone from her skin without leaving any marks, but it's clear this is only temporary for as he finishes one part, the first has grown back again. Tyrvaan ignores the rune stamped onto her wrist, convinced it had been there all along, but Zips stutters for a second, as she recognises it as a twin to her own.

Charles stumbles across the bridge and all but collapses before the altar. A large shard of an amulet hangs there and it's clear that this fits perfectly with the one he once held.

"Steady there," Zylnan says, steadying his friend. "Do we know this isn't a trap of some kind?" Charles nods in assent and casts his hand over the altar, feeling for anything malicious, then stops and shakes his head.

"It's the real thing. We should take it now. We don't know when the others will get here." Zylnan nods, though the comment gets him thinking, and he peers around the large room, spotting four other entrances, two on the south wall, one to the east, and another to the north.

“I feel, they should be here already,” he mumbles, but Charles ignores him, reaching for the amulet and lifting it from where it hangs.

Sights and images dance in time with Misxibis' words, playing across the magically charmed ceiling and wall of the opera house, enacting the epic tales of her poems as the words and music hang in the air.

Again, the voice catches in her ear.

'So familiar, but vhere I heard it? It come from crowd?' she wonders, her pause barely noticed as she continues into the next stanza and the opera hall explodes with light and sound as the great confrontation of her tale begins to play out, much to the delight of the spectators who 'oooh' and 'ahhh'. Then abruptly, she stops.

"Missy, Missy," the voice echoes more and more insistently and she squints against the lights, much to the shock of the spectators who peer around in confusion at the sudden interruption.

"Who there? Who is that?" She shouts, and the attendees begin to mutter as they peer around for who she's addressing, wondering if it's part of the show. The magically created images freeze on the ceiling and swirl to nothing. Replaced a moment later with a short beautiful goblin, a huge rabbit, and a dragonborn in full plate. Their movements tell of desperation, but no sounds come forth.

"Vhat?" Missy mumbles, as the dream of the night before comes to the forefront of her mind. A stinging reverberates across her face and she takes a step back before the thousands of expectant eyes.

"It didn't work!" Zips shouts, shaking the stinging sensation from her hand.

"Try again!" Tyrvaan shouts, carving away at the creeping stone.

"Get out of the way. Let me do it!" Heri says, stepping up and clubs the dreary-eyed Misxibis across the face. Her head snaps back and then lolls forward once more.

"AHHH! Missy wake up!" Zips screams, "what can we do? Do you have magic dragon?"

"Not for this," he grunts.

"Zips you keep shouting, I think it's doing something. I'll keep hitting." Heri says. Zips nods and opens her mouth to scream her name once more.

"We need to help them," Zylnan says, grabbing the awed Charles by the wrist. He looks up, meeting his eye and nods.

"You got it!" The words ring from one of the doors to the south and Charles and Zylnan both turn to see the battered form of Talkoris running down the stairs, Sephina, Revin and two Purple Hand assassins at his heels. They thunder across the nearest bridge, coming to a halt before them.

"I knew you'd make it through! Let's find the exit to this place and we can all celebrate when we escape. Did you see Ezeheli?" his words fall out in a rush, his flushed face ecstatic.

"I knew one of take the amulet. In fact I was counting on it. Those pesky tests aren't there for nothing" a sinister voice echoes from another door and all turn to see Ezeheli descend the other staircase, "But to find you all made it. What a treat for me, that I will get to see you fall personally." He stares directly at Charles and Talkoris, a smirk on his lips. "Looks like you have another of my things, I'll be taking that."

Charles emits a low growl as he tucks it into his cloak and the battered sand-wraiths rush forward crossing the two bridges to the south. Talkoris, Sephina and the Purple Hand move towards one, cutting off the charging creatures, and Zylnan, Charles and Revin face the others.

"Who are you?" Misxibis shouts at the shapes on the ceiling. "You aren't real!" No one moves in the concert hall, their eyes locked upon their idol and her apparent bout of madness as she screams at the blank ceiling above. But it is not blank, not to her, and she watches the characters from her dream become increasingly more frantic.

"No, that not real. This is real," she mutters, turning from the vision and fleeing the stage. She drops her papers and runs past the accompanying orchestra that watch her go. Misxibis pushes the door open, her gown streaming behind her and runs the clean paved streets below a starry nights' sky. Faces turn to watch her with puzzled intrigue and concern as the voices chase her, words growing in urgency with each step.

"Missy. Missy, don't die! MISSY, WAKE UP!" something crashes into her cheek and she spins, falling to the ground in sight of her home. The paved street cracks and she breaks through, her arms frantically waving as darkness consumes her. She struggles against the abyss as swirls around her consuming her hopes and dreams.

Heri blows his hand to alleviate the stinging sensation as Misxibis' eyes flicker open and she peers around. The stone slowly consuming her cracks and shatters and she falls to her knees, landing awkwardly a moment before Zips bowls her over.

"Missy, you're back!" Tyrvaan sighs in relief, sliding his long knife back into its sheath and lifting his shield and mace.

"That's great! But some help would be fantastic!" Charles' shouts from the platform above, his voice accompanied by the sounds of battle. Heri nods, hoists his bow and begins running. Tyrvaan runs in the opposite direction and they both turn, crossing bridges towards the central platform.

Tyrvaan raises his shield and throws a diving sand-wraith to the ground, as another steps over it, and swipes at him, its claws tearing through his armour and leaving it slick with blood.

"Let's go Missy! We're almost there! Just got the green eyed man to kill!" Zips chirps, helping her to her feet. She takes a few wobbly steps and shakes her head.

"I wish I could go back. Now, I depressed" Misxibis mumbles, as the splendour and sensations of her vision begin to fade from her mind.

"Of course you are, you're an artist! Now, let's go kill some horrid wraiths..." An aura of whispering magic washes over them, swirling around the room like a tornado and from the spaces between the bridges, great snakes of sand emerge, their sickly green eyes glowing with an alien intelligence as they look down on the central platform.

"And... and giant sand snakes...," Zips finishes looking up at the creature towering over them. Misxibis groans and pushes herself upright.

"Take me back," she mumbles and begins towards the nearest bridge, followed closely by Zips.

Zylnan swings his flaming blade, cutting deep into the sand-wraith before him as green fire explodes onto those nearby. Another dives at him and its claws rake along his forearm as he struggles to bat it away. The felled one scrambles to its feet, still burning and screams, its mouth tearing far too wide. An arrow thunks through its skull, petals and butterflies dancing momentarily around its shaft and it drops, still and unmoving to the floor.

Charles extends his arm and an ice shard rockets over Zylnan's shoulder, piercing one of the charging wraiths and exploding. Ice impacts those around and one sand-wraith falls to the ground, several shards lodged in its spine.

Sephina grunts as another sand-wraith catches her shoulder with its claws, and retaliates with a dagger through its heart. It collapses as several others charge around, seeking to flank them. A purple hand agent moves to intercept, blocking their blows and swiping back with his polearm, cutting deep across the creature's chest.

Kalani steps up beside Zylnan and swipes forward with her two scythes, decapitating the closest sand wraith. The light vanishes from its eyes as its head sails up and over the railing into the abyss below. The other agent charges the giant sand-snake, whipping his massive greataxe at it and dislodging a huge chunk of sand from its neck. It hisses in reply and crashes onto him. As the explosion of sand dissipates, the space appears vacant and all look up to see the agent trapped in the creature's mouth.

Talkoris steps into the now empty space and cuts clear through a sand-wraith, leaving two distinct parts to fall to the floor. Another snake swipes for him from behind and he ducks below its imprisoning bite.

Tyrvaan glances around looking for Zips, and feels a foreboding sense of dread set in as he fails to find her. He tries to shrug it off, and cracks the nearest sand-wraith in the head, the force splitting its skull. He raises his shield, as movement in the corner of his eye alerts him to an onrushing sand-snake. Sand explodes from his shield as he plants his feet, giving no ground.

Heri jumps back as the giant sand-snake crashes into the floor he just vacated. The grains of smashed sand begin to shift, moving back together and the giant snakes head reforms above him.

Ezeheli waves his hand, his eyes cascading with blue-green light and a cold column of air slams down over the central platform, followed by pelting shards of ice and rigid sand that pierces and cut all they touch. Charles, Heri, Sephina, Talkoris, Revin, Tyrvaan and Zylnan raise their arms in protection as the icy sand storm slices through armour and skin.

Charles spins his hand, altering the course of time to shift himself a few paces to the side as a gigantic ice shard lands where he had stood moments before. All flee its deadly onslaught, scrambling for cover as the sand-wraiths caught in its freezing embrace collapses to the ground, their bodies laced with shards like pin-cushions.

Zips' eyes widen as she beholds the storm from the bottom of one of the bridges, the tears of joy at Misxibis' rescue drying on her face and sighs. "Stupid Dragon," she mumbles, drawing her rapier and charging after him, skidding up to put her back to his and carving a huge glob of sand coated flesh from the giant sand-snake as Tyrvaan stumbles from the ice storm.

Zylnan slips out of the icy sandstorm, pulls an oilskin from his cloak and kisses it. "I've been saving you for this moment," he mumbles, "fly true." He aims and throws it through the falling ice shards towards Ezeheli. It sails forward a metre and is smashed to the ground by a huge chunk of sandy ice. He sighs, pulls a potion from his pocket and downs it, closing some of his wounds.

Charles skids to a stop beside Zylnan and holds out his hand to Ezeheli, his eyes aglow with hatred. He clenches his hand and Earth churns beneath his feet as a hand made from the shifting ancient stonework seizes his leg and squeezes. Charles smirks.

Heri dives from the storm, skidding along the ancient stonework and shoots his bow up into the nearest sand snake's mouth. The arrow sinks to its fletching, and blackness seeps into the flowing sand of its face. The snake hisses in reply, swiping with its tail in an effort to knock him from the bridge and he rolls back, just out of reach. Zylnan charges to the top of the bridge above Heri and unleashes a blast of force at the sand snakes' head, leaving a huge impact crater in its face.

Misxibis blinks at the sudden fury unleashed in the chamber as the last vestiges of her vision vanish. She watches Zips dart over the nearest bridge and sights Ezeheli on the next, charging round the room to confront him. She plucks at her lute as she runs and a burst of magic embraces Tyrvaan. His wounds close and he nods thanks in her direction, keeping his eye on the sand-wraith before him.

Kalani swipes at the giant snake, her scythes removing huge chunks of flesh in an attempt to free their captured comrade as three daggers slam into its face, courtesy of Sephina. The purple hand agent falls from the sand-snakes mouth, clattering to the bridge with an agonising thunk. He pushes himself up and reaches for his fallen greataxe as the sand snake swoops down on him once more, scooping him up and swallowing him. His body vanishes from sight as the giant sand snake bares its fangs and hisses.

"No," Kalani whispers, taking a step back.

Talkoris batters away the still standing sand-wraiths and Revin's firebolt slams into the one before him. A huge sand tail crashes into his side pushing him precariously towards the edge of the bridge.

Ezeheli curses as he struggles to free himself from Charles' grasp and pulls his leg from the grasping stone. Charles redoubles his concentration, pouring more magic into the spell and it darts forward with startling speed seizing the recently freed leg.

"I will get you! You won't escape me!" Ezeheli screams, as the earthen hand pulls him further into the liquid ground.

Zips jumps to the side as the giant sand snake dives for her, and scythes through one side of its fanned head, removing it entirely. Sand pours from the deep wound as Tyrvaan steps up and seizes its head in his claws. It flails, throwing him around as he tries to clamber atop its head. His claws slip and he lands on his feet as it thrashes. Tryvaan drives his mace into the monster's body, knocking it back with such force it explodes, disappearing into the darkness below

Misxibis slides to a stop behind Ezeheli, pulls her crossbow and shoots off a bolt that clatters to the ground beside him. The sand-snake slides across the dark chasm to protect its master and dives at Misxibis. Its fangs sink deep and she yelps in pain as it releases, leaving a hole through one of her shoulders that oozes dark crimson.

"Don't freeze, Kalani," Sephina shouts, skidding past her, cutting at the giant snake with two daggers. Kalani grits her teeth and nods, swiping wildly and removing more of its sand coated flesh into the darkness below.

Talkoris lashes out with his sword, decapitating the final sand-wraith and runs back up the bridge, turning at the top to make for Ezeheli.

Charles turns as Talkoris enters his eyeline and meets Misxibis’ eye over the railing. Time slows as a malicious presence seeps into the magic of the room and he continues to spin, his eyes falling on Revin standing a dozen feet from him. An orb of clearest glass appears in his hand and as he gazes into Talkoris’ back, his eyes begin to glow with green light.

"My lord!" Charles begins to scream, all the warning he can give as the orb flashes and Talkoris' body and soul are sucked into its clear surface.

"What are you doing?" he screams at Revin, unable to act, his concentration entirely focused on holding Ezeheli in place. Revin smirks, and turns from Charles.

Kalani spins and slashes, removing the arm from a sand-wraith and kicks its body into the abyss below. "Sephina! What is he doing?" she screams, pointing towards Revin. Sephina turns and charges.

"What have you done, Revin!" She ducks a blast of fire, slamming a dagger into his leg, spinning around him and driving another into his side, before slashing deep across his chest. He screams staggering back and green fire burns across the wound, healing it with fire. He grins and explodes into mist, drifting through the air, over the abyss and re-materialises on the far side. He pulls the dagger from his leg and thigh and sprints towards the east wall, passing behind the struggling Misxibis.

Heri waves her hand and butterflies and leaves trail around Zylnan, healing the deep cuts on his arms and shoulder, then fires another arrow at the thrashing snake's face. The arrow drives into its eye and it hisses wildly, swiping its tail across the platform in retaliation. Heri dives to one side as Zylnan goes the other and the tail slams down into nothing.

Ezeheli turns to the wounded Misxibis and his eyes glow. Her vision fades, blackness encroaching upon its edges, as she staggers back. She pushes against the insidious presence in her mind and it abates. Sweat beads on her face and she finds herself panting as her consciousness snaps back into her head. She pulls her lute and strums a chord. Sound explodes before her, knocking Ezeheli to the ground and the snake beside her shudders and shakes as the sound travels the length of its body, dislodging sand to rain down around her. She begins plucking several strings in a soft melodious tune and her deep wound stops bleeding, closing marginally.

The giant sand snake dives for Zips, scooping her up in its mouth as she thrashes wildly against its superior strength, trying to find purchase to drive its sword through the roof of its mouth but failing.

Heri looses an arrow into the giant sand-snakes neck and Zylnan slams a blast of force behind the arrow driving it full through the creature and severing its neck. The head tumbles backwards and falls far into the cavern below as its neck disintegrates into the abyss.

Misxibis spits a glob of blood from her mouth, bares her fangs and strums her lute. It shines like coloured crystal and a portal rips the air clean open just below the roof of the chamber. A huge crystal plummets through and crashes with earth shattering force into Ezeheli and the snake, shards exploding outwards like a wave of blades, cutting into the giant snake and Ezeheli.

Sephina sprints down the platform and turns running in pursuit of the fleeing Revin. As she passes Kalani, she disengages from the giant sand-snake and follows. The creature hisses and turns upon the other purple hand agent, as he batters the last sand-wraith away, blocking another blow.

"The deed is done!" Revin screams at Ezeheli, "I'll be waiting in the agreed upon place." He turns into the great arch on the eastern wall, vanishing into the shadows of the next room. Sephina follows close behind, but Kalani skids to a halt beside Misxibis.

"Let's end him," she breathes to Misxibis and swings at the nearest sand snake, leaving a deep slash in the sand. Misxibis thrums another power chord and the giant sand snake explodes from the magical shockwave.

"Yes!" Misxibis shouts, staggering, her wounds leaving her dizzy. The falling sand, blown by the magical currents of battle, lands in her mouth and she coughs and spits it out.

"Zips hold on!" Tyrvaan screams, dropping his shield to the ground and raising his dragon headed mace in both hands. He mutters a prayer and the end begins to glow with holy brilliant radiance. The eyes of the dragon shine with golden flames and he slams it into the snake's body. Radiant fire spreads across the surface of the snake, its heat turning each segment to glass as it burns, and as it reaches the top the snake shatters, the broken chunks raining into the darkness below. Zips falls, landing upon the walkway and grins at Tyrvaan.

Tyrvaan turns and and sprints for Ezeheli, each step ringing in the cavern as he brings his mace down on his shoulder. There's a crunch of bone and Ezeheli turns, eyes alight to glare at the dragon. Kalani jumps at the opportunity and darts towards his back, slashing with her scythes and leaving a ragged wound across his back.

Ezeheli grits his teeth and looks at the earthen hand around his calf, then up at the platform. He strains against it in vain and then grits his teeth.

"I don't need to see you to kill you Charles!" He screams and extends his arm toward the centre of the platform. A green vapour forms, spreading outwards at a startling rate. Charles' eyes widen and he begins to cough violently. Blood flecks appear on his hand as he tries to cover his mouth. He pulls his crystal book from his pocket and fervently flicks through the pages, reading the enchantments there through coughs as he spins his hand to alter the fates, as more and more blood begins to ooze from his nose and the corner of his mouth.

He turns to find Heri and Zylnan beside him, their hands coving their faces and they struggle to stay upright and stem the flow of blood oozing from them. Zylnan staggers forward, running for the clear air on the other side of the toxic vapour and breathes a gulp as he emerges. 

"Kick him into the abyss!" he coughs, pushing against the railing for support. Charles all but collapses beside him, his face ashen as he points a finger at Ezeheli and mumbles an incoherent gurgling babble. Three daggers appear around him and shoot towards Ezeheli piercing his leg, shoulder, and chest, leaving rapidly growing pools of crimson.

Zips peers back and forth between his struggling party members and the running Sephina, then kicks a chunk of glass from the bridge in frustration. "I'm sorry, but I have to help my friends!" Zips says, turning from Sephina and charging towards Ezeheli. He skirts the green mist and ducks out from behind Tyrvaan driving the point of his sword up into Ezeheli's stomach.

Misxibis sighs and plucks a simple melody on her lute. Magic flows around Charles and his face reddens. The other purple hand agent smacks the last sand-wraith, turns, and runs towards the party, dodging a bite from the giant snake. Heri skids to a stop beside Charles and Zylnan and waves her hand. Ethereal butterflies and flowers float around him and his wounds continue to close. Charles nods in thanks as Heri and Zylnan both take a step back and point behind Charles. He spins as the last of the giant sand snakes swoops down and eats him. Charles flails within its mouth but struggles to find purchase as the sand sticks to him, making any movement difficult.

Ezeheli smirks at Charles' capture and begins muttering ancient words. Magic flows up and the air crackles with energy.

"Die you traitor," Kalani says and drives one of her scythes deep into Ezeheli's back. He gasps and falls to his knees, dropping the amulet to the floor. The chained magic unravels, spinning out of control to slam violently into the ancient ceiling and shattering hundreds of half-statues of those who failed the trials and became entombed here. The rooms shakes, as audible cracks echo around them.

"This isn't over," Ezeheli choked out. He coughs blood onto the floor that hisses on contact and Zips darts forward, driving her rapier into his shoulder as Tyrvaan's mace crashes into him. The body tumbles over and drops from the bridge, into the abyss. The remaining sand-wraith collapses and the giant snake crumbles to nothing. Charles lands on the floor, covered in gloopy sand, and Heri and Zylnan rush to his side and pull him upright.

Zips grabs at the fallen amulet and Tyrvaan grabs her arm, shaking his head. More cracks trace across the ceiling and the thin film of sand across everything begins to vibrate. Tyrvaan lifts the amulet and places it in the sheath behind his shield.

"We have to get after him! He got away!" Sephina shouts, emerging disheveled from the darkened archway. Another crack echoes through the room and a great chunk of stone breaks from the ceiling, falling into the Abyss. More fragments follow, raining down around the room.

"RUN!" screams Zips.

"Revin escaped this way, there must be a way out!" Sephina shouts and all charge towards her. Zips skids to the side and scoops up the two sacks of treasure she dropped earlier, looking to Missy, then throwing hers over her shoulder as she realises how hurt her friend is. All stagger their way, bloody and broken for the exit, skirting into the darkened room.

Eight huge runes lie across the floor, some completely shattered, others alight with faint trails of magic, and on the wall above an ancient map of an unknown continent glitters with seven distinct points, forming a geomantic web of energy and power.

"We can use these to get out!" Charles shouts, gesturing towards the closest light.

"To where?" Misxibis shouts.

"Does it matter?"

"That one!" Sephina shouts, pointing at the furthermost west point on the ancient map. "We need to go there!"

"I'll try!" Charles screams as the room shakes violently, the crash of stone becoming deafening. He pushes what magic he has left into the portal and the runes alight with blue flames.

“We have to get out of here,” Sephina shouts, jumping into the circle and vanishing from sight, Kalani and the other purple hand agent a step behind. 

Everyone piles in, vanishing in turn, and as the last of his friends steps through, Charles closes his eyes and dives in. Just in time, as a crack tears open the ceiling above and the sands of the great Sabal'Har flood the chamber, burying the temple of Vidinor for good.