Katja and Thrycia ran down a short hallway made of the same black stone the rest of the pyramid was made of. It was odd, there were no torches or any visible light source for that matter, yet Katja had no trouble seeing. The stone, though as smooth as glass and dark as obsidian, gave no reflection. Another sign of the ziggurat's magical nature, she supposed.

The human women and elf passed through an archway into a large tomb. A massive sarcophagus stood in the center of the room. A hundred or more smaller stone coffins surrounded it in a circle. The High Priest stood on the sarcophagus, chanting a spell. Katja saw a flash of white beside him, the girl who'd gotten them into all this, lying bound at priest's feet.

Nadia stood on a smaller coffin, grinning maniacally as she chanted a counter spell. A dozen cultists surrounded her. As Thrycia and Katja ran to the mistress' aid, Katja saw that half a dozen of the smaller sarcophaguses had been broken open.  

The mummified occupants had been raised by Nadia, forming a defensive ring around the sorceress. Their movements were sluggish; the mistress was only sparing them enough thought to keep the necromantic spells going, concentrating the rest of her efforts on the sorcerous duel with the High priest.

Despite that, the mummies were more than enough to keep their opponents occupied. The cultist's blades had no effect on the shriveled corpses, who slowly groped at the men and women, trying to strangle them. Here and there, one would cut off an arm or leg, only to fall a second later, dragged down by the reanimated limb.

The High Priest yelled something, completing his spell. From inside his robes, a long stream of black smoke poured out, towards Nadia. As it flew, the smoke contracted, forming a long, black snake, which hurled itself at the sorceress, fangs bared.

Nadia quickly cast a spell in reply, summoning a knife of black shadow, which sliced the snake in half from head to tail. The severed halves writhed in midair, changing into long ropes, which quickly wrapped the young woman.

The High Priest's advantage was short lived, though, as Nadia barked a word of power. In an instant, she was enveloped in a purple fire which consumed the ropes. A cultist which had managed to dodge past the mummies and was about to stab her fell back, on fire, arms flailing wildly.

She extended a hand and the fire short forth, streaming towards her opponent. He opened his mouth far wider than any normal person could and a stream of water erupted out. It met the fire, instantly filling the room with steam.

In the mist, Thrycia and Katja moved over to join Nadia. The two of them quickly finished off the rest of the cultists still fighting Nadia's mummies. The last man dodged Thrycia's sword but was too slow to avoid the corpse behind him, which grabbed the frightened man with strength belied by its withered limbs. A second later, the mummy relaxed, letting the new corpse slid to the ground.

Nadia cast another spell. Her skin began to stretch, flowing like water. In seconds, the young woman had turned into a large wolf. The High Priest quickly chanted his own spell, transforming into a massive tusked ogre. Shadows flowed into his hands, forming a large spiked club.

Bellowing a roar that shook the stones of the chamber, the mistress charged forward. She ducked beneath the ogre's club and grappled with it. The two monsters fell back, crushing several coffins as they stumbled back.

Katja saw a flash of white in the rain of broken black stone. The girl! Katja sprinted towards the sarcophagus. The young woman hurriedly ducked under the club as the ogre swung again, trying to brain Nadia. The two combatants ignored the young woman, almost running over her as they grappled.

The girl lay on the ground, groaning softly. She had an ugly bruise on her forehead, but was otherwise alright. "Can you stand?" Katja asked as she quickly cut the rope binding the girl's hands and feet. She put one arm around the girl, helping her to her feet.

The two limped back to where Thrycia stood as the battle continued to rage behind them. Nadia howled in pain as the ogre managed to grab the snarling wolf with its arms, trying to crush it. All of a sudden, the wolf changed, rapidly shifting into a long Wyrm.

The tide of battle shifted almost at once as Nadia quickly wrapped the High Priest in her coils. She unhinged her jaws, revealing thousands of dagger-like teeth. Before she could bite the ogre's head off, it turned to smoke. The cloud flowed back to the sarcophagus reforming into the priest. He panted behind his cracked mask, his robes torn and bloodied.

The Wyrm shrank, turning back into Nadia. She barked another spell, summoning several lances of black magic, which shot forward. The priest struggled to counter this last attack. He threw dark fire, destroying several of the lances, but two got through, piercing him through the chest. Dying, the High Priest collapsed, blood spilling out onto the coffin.

All of a sudden, the temperature in the chamber dropped at least ten degrees. Frost danced across the black stone floor and a strong breeze filled the room. Katja felt the gust tugging her toward the center of the room, towards the sarcophagus. A low, soft laugh filled the room. The girl cowered, clutching at Katja fearfully. The young woman looked around, nervously, trying to find the source of the laughter.

With horror, she realized it was coming from the sarcophagus. The priest's blood was soaking into the black stone, absorbed. A second later, the lid of the stone coffin slid back. A cadaverous figure, clad in dusty black robes stood up. His mouth was open in laughter.

"Lorradin!" He said in a hoarse, whispering voice that was never the less as audible as if he's shouted. He glanced over at Nadia. "Why don't you get rid of that puppet you're using and face me yourself, Lorradin!"

"Very well. If you insist…" The mistress said. A second later, Nadia collapsed, like a puppet with its strings cut. An apt description, Katja thought. A second later, there was a flash of light. Standing over the unconscious woman was the last person Katja had ever wanted to see; the mistress herself. She stood, gathering her dark green robes around herself, frowning.  

"It's been too long…" The necromancer said, grinning. "My old apprentice!"