The castle fell into silence, an uneasy calm that blanketed the night as the group readied themselves to fight. The storm outside raged on, its thunder a distant roar that masked the first signs of invasion.
From the battlements, Azarath squinted his eyes through the rain, his dark cape billowing behind him. He fixed his gaze on a shadow that moved unnaturally fast at the castle gates, followed by another, and another. With a low growl, he rumbled, “They're at the gates!”
Xal'dar's followers had gathered at the castle gates in great numbers, cloaked in black robes that billowed behind them like feathers. Among the assembled throng before the gates, a figure emerged from the shadows. It was a tall elf with obsidian skin, and eyes that blazed with an otherworldly violet light. With his hand raised, he began to chant a spell,
"Kurshubba zahiru! Kalimma asharu sharak!"