Already, this was proving to be a trying battle, and it had only just begun. Nazzeth quickly healed Mercarri by uttering a few arcane words. Then he proceeded to fly higher, bringing Katherine along for the ride. “Yield or I will go higher and higher and then drop you.”

As he threatened Katherine, Mercarri slowly got to one knee. The gnomes that surrounded her, dipping their large, pointed hats in her blood jumped back, startled. She used her divine magic to heal both her and Dare, and in doing so left herself open to attack. The gnomes rushed in and cut into her flesh with their sickles. Darkness clouded her vision, and Mercarri was again unconcious. 

Lilvari came to the rescue, brandishing Curse Bringer. With several slashes, she slayed several of the gnomes. While this was happening, Katherine glared at Nazzeth, weighing his threat. Slowly her snarling lips turned into a grin. In a burst of speed, she let loose several magic missiles. Each one hit him in quick succession. Nazzeth struggled through the first two to maintain the concentration necessary to keep Katherine in the air, but the last blast was too much. Katherine floated harmlessly to the ground, cackling the entire way. 

The adventurers traded blows with the gnomes, taking a lot of damage but delivering it as well. Lilvari pulled Dare out of harms way, disappearing in a boom of thunder. The force of it damaged Katherine and several of the gnomes nearby. Mystic, in her spider form, also took damage. The gnome closest to her saw a chance to attack. He cut her spider form down. Her original form popped back into existence. She was able to use her magical abilities to heal herself and Dare, who needed it again after being attacked by several more gnomes. 

Katherine pointed up to Nazzeth and muttered a spell. Nazzeth suddenly felt tired. His eyes grew heavy. Everyone watched in horror was he fell fifty feet to the ground, apparently asleep. Hitting the ground at such force awakened him in a jolt of pain.  Katherine fired more missles towards him and Dare. Nazzeth went unconscious. Dare was still alive but barely. He pulled additional strength from deep inside and carried on. 

Meanwhile, the rest of the party continued fighting the gnomes. Katherine looked over as the last one was cut down. She backpeddled. Lilvari and Dare followed. Mercarri cast Silence around her. They could see Katherine screaming in anger but no sound came out. Lilvari closed in and attacked with Cursebringer. Katherine managed to run towards Dare, and as soon as she was free of the Silence spell, she made Dare an offer.

“Your sister is still alive. If you wish to see her again, best not kill me. For I’m the only one who can lead you to Tem Tem.”

Everyone halted at the news. Nazzeth was the first to approach Katherine. He promised to accept her surrender, though he had slightly different plans. He held out his hands to her. After thinking it over for a moment, she took them in her own, and as soon as she did, Nazzeth attempted to cast Inflict Wounds. She stepped back before the spell could cause any harm. The party continued their onslaught, and Katherine had nowhere to go. Mercarri cast Shit Hammer and while Katherine was trying to evade the party’s attacks, she silently moved the mace over Katherine’s head.

Katherine felt something spatter on her cloak. At the same time, she smelled a horrible stench. She looked at her shoulder, at the few bits of brown that lay there. Then more splatters, this time on her head. Just as she turned her attention to the sky, wet, shimmering excrement landed right in her eye, blinding her. Before she could react, the mace slammed down on the back of her head, knocking her out.

Lilvari, Nazzeth and Ultorin quickly cut off her hands and cut out her tongue, wanting to ensure there was no chance she could cast spells ever again. They then tied her up by her ankles. They searched her for loot but found nothing. Not satisfied, Nazzeth cast Detect Magic. A faint glow could be seen emanating from inside the fallen tree. Getting on his knees, Nazzeth looked in a hole near the base of the trunk. The entire tree was hollow, the space filled with small bones. After digging through them for several moments, he came across a large pink stone. He didn’t know exactly what it was, but he could sense the dark magic held within. He took it with him for safe keeping. Ultorin also looked at the bones and found them to be all humanoid, though made up of different races — human, elf, half-orc and the like. One commonality among them was that all the bones were those of children. Alice, it seems, wasn’t the first to catch the attention of Katherine. 

But because of Team Ramrod, she would be the last.