As we journeyed, we saw more and more evidence of traffic on the road ahead of us and small rutted roads branching off to farmsteads. Sometimes we could see them and occasionally we could see people moving about. We eventually came to a crossroads with a smaller and less traveled road cutting across the road we were on. A large orange sandstone rock along our main road and carved deeply into the soft stone was the name "Sternberg" in the common tongue and an arrow pointing to the town. Thanks to Jell, we knew we had another ten miles to go, but it would be after dark and great mountains of clouds were piling up in the sky like white towers.

"My knee says rain will soon be upon us," Karl said from his seat beside Godfrey in the big wagon."

"Those clouds are telling the same tale," Godfrey acknowledged. "Rain by nightfall is my guess."

"Do you want to make camp or continue on toward the town?" I called out that question to the party.

"There likely be no rooms for us to stay in," Brey responded, "with town being full of people for the fair and it will be dark, so it seems we can pitch our tents here and now or pitch them in the dark and rain. I say we stop and pitch our tents and so we know we will have dry beds tonight."

There was a chorus of agreement from the rest of the party, otherwise I would have continued on to spite Brey. That was a petty thought, but it was how I felt about him. So far, I had managed to speak only a handful of words to him since we started.

"Then let us find ourselves a likely spot and pitch our camp." I said.

Not long after making the decision to camp we saw some large sandstone rocks forming a semicircle on a flat bit of ground and we decided that we were not likely to find a better place so we turned off the road toward them. An old campfire of half-burned sticks and ash told us others had sheltered here before.

With practiced ease, the camp was soon up and a fire was going. The sun was nearly down and it was going to be a dark night with the cloud cover. Helena, who followed me with her own mandala, and I sat upon some rocks getting prepared to meditate upon our Arcane Mandalas, when the setting sun broke through the clouds illuminating the ground. I was facing east and in the sky, far away, I could see something flying. At first I thought it was a hawk or an eagle since they plentiful here, but what I saw flew straight and true and came toward us as if it flew with a purpose. I watched it for a bit and it grew bigger, bigger than any bird of prey I had ever seen, and with a curse at my own foolishness, I scrambled down from where I was perched on some rocks as I called out an alarm to my friends.

"What is it?" Helena asked me worriedly.

"Something in the sky," I said as I reached up and lifted her down to the ground. "Back to the wagons!"

I grabbed her hand and we ran back to the wagons to our fellows were now alerted and had seen the thing in the sky. Our mercenaries had their pavise shields set up and their heavy crossbows cocked and ready. I pulled out my wand of fireballs and with the cold dread of someone facing a battle, we waited.

The flying creature turned at the last minute to circle our encampment. I gave the order not to fire until we could be sure about what the intentions of this thing were. It was close enough now that I could see it clearly in the gleaming rays of the setting sun. It had huge wings like a golden eagle, but many times the size of those possessed by those birds of prey. Its body was like a lion's, covering a golden fur that shown like burnished bronze in the sunlight. The strangest thing was that it had the face of a man whose hair and beard formed a lion-like mane of a slightly darker gold than the rest of him.

"By Aten's light," whispered Amenaruu, "it is a sphinx."

My brain turned over and over, as the priest's observation was correct in that it looked very sphinx-light, but some bit of lore I had read came drifting up from the depths of my mind and I recognized what our visitor was. I call it a visitor because it was obviously coming in to land near us, but no so near as to constitute a direct attack. I looked over to our horses, they should have been reacting to this threat by now, but they stood calmly cropping at the grass paying little attention to the great creature approaching us. That confirmed what I believed.

"Everyone," I said loudly, "do not attack it. Put your weapons away, this is a Lammasu and it is a creature of good."

The Lammasu landed like a cat, softly and without sound, despite its massive size. It was bigger than the even the biggest lion I had seen in the gladiator pits in Axxen. The thing must have heard me for it smiled and approached slowly so as not to startle us. It was an awe inspiring creature, majestic and serene and it exuded such benevolence that our fear and anxiety faded to nothing only to be replaced by the wonder at seeing such a creature so close. I stepped forward, just past the wagons to meet the Lammasu. Dimitri and Amenaruu came with me without being asked. I could see the wonder that I felt plain on their faces.

"I am called Lowen," the creature rumbled out his greeting, "and we are well met, Mage Barrim."

"You know who I am?" I asked stupidly. Obviously, he knew me or he would not have greeted me so, but I was so surprised I just blurted the question out.

"Indeed, I have come to know of you rather recently," Lowen replied. "But allow me to save some time for we do not have a lot of it before the others appear."

I was about to ask what others he was talking about, but I thought I should just listen to what he had to say since he said that he was pressed for time. The big head nodded in approval at my silence.

"You and your companions have come to the attention of, well let us describe them as higher powers. You guest is going to take you into direct opposition to those things that are trying to break through the...borders of our reality. Oracles high and low throughout the various realms and planes have given warning about the cult you have faced in the path, and they have also indicated that you and your companions are to be a part of what is to come."

"What is coming?" I asked cautiously.

"An invasion that will all but destroy this reality," Lowen rumbled, its eyes were golden and held great and terrible wisdom, but they seemed to carry worry as well. "If it is successful. There are many who do not wish to see this reality to be destroyed. Therefore they are seeking you out for you have been seen to be the key to resisting the invasion, or so our oracles are saying. We have decided that we needed to aid you. I came first, and I have traveled many hundreds of your miles and across three different planes to get here first to prepare you."

"Prepare us for what?" I asked.

"The arrival of the others," came Lowen's reply. "They are coming because they have been warned as well and they come to give you aid even though they are of an evil disposition. They desire our reality to continue, as well. Almost certainly so they can claim it for their own foul plans for it, but that means they have a vested interest in keeping it intact until they can claim it as their prize."

It was then a terrible roar was heard in the southern sky and we all turned southward and looked up to see the form of a great red dragon emerging from the clouds. It was massive and its shadow covered the entire camp as it flew over. The horses now reared and protested their ropes and they tried to run to escape the terrible thing flying overhead.

But just as it passed over us with another great roar, it was answered by another roar to the north and we saw emerging from the clouds another dragon, but this one was silver and of a smaller size but it possessed grace beauty while the red dragon was a brute made up of raw power.

They both circled our camp and hands gripped their weapons tightly.

"Do not be alarmed!" Lowen called out in his deep bass voice. "No harm will come to you and they bring you aid."

The two dragons landed on top of the rocks that formed a partial wall around us, their wings blowing debris into our faces as they came down on their perches. Then we saw the forms waver and fade and two people now stood on the rocks. One was male figure, although not entirely human for he towered upward more than nine feet (3m) and his skin was shiny with a reddish hue. He wore armor of scale mail and his massive hands hand black claws projecting out at the tips of its fingers and from the toes of its bare feet. The face was covered in a red, wiry beard the same color as its shoulder length hair and the mouth was full of sharp teeth. Its eyes were they slitted eyes of a dragon. Over one shoulder he seemed to be carrying a great sack of green. In contrast, standing to the right on another pile of rocks was a woman, almost elf-like in her appearance with long white hair hanging down to waist. Her pale face was beautifully symmetrical with delicate features that were unworldly. Her eyes were violet and large. She was barefoot as well, but was clothed in a blue and silver gown. Like the male, she carried a burden, an intricately carved box held out before her with both of her hands. The male jumped down from the top of the rocks and landed so hard we felt the vibration in the soles of our feet. The woman chose a more dignified descent and levitated down to the ground. Both of them approached us with the female ignoring the male, but the male looked at her and his lips pulled back to reveal his fangs.

Lowen nodded a greeting to both of the polymorphed dragons that was only returned by the female. The male ignored him, other than to size him up as a potential opponent. The male, although not speaking, made it obvious that he hated being there and would have rather destroyed us all.

"Rakkakill and Argenta," Lowen said by way of introduction, "this is Mage Barrim and his party."

"Well met, Mage," the female said to me with her violet eyes that seem to be looking into me rather than at me.

"Well met," I simply replied. I did not know the proper way to address a dragon.

"Let us get this over with," Rakkakill snarled out with obvious impatience.

"Our truce," Lowen explained, "requires that all be here for the giving of what aid we have. But it looks like it shall not be much longer, the sun is fading quickly and night shall be upon us quickly."

The Lammasu was right, darkness was coming fast and I looked over at the stunned, disbelieving faces of my party and said, "Bring out our lights."

My companions shook their heads like they were trying to dispel a dream and then quickly pulled the coverings of the various enchanted lanterns and the space was soon filled with mage-light.

No sooner had that been accomplished, when Lowen said to our gathering, "The last ones are coming."

He was looking to the west and we turned to look as well. Once again we looked to the sky as we saw red dots approaching us and soon the resolved themselves into mounted riders upon horseback. The horses had eyes of red fire and flames wreathed their hooves as they came on with clouds of sulphurous smoke billowing from their nostrils.

Nightmares!

The riders, we could see were as equally unwholesome at their mounts. Three men, or what was once men of good, rode upon the backs of the Nightmares. They were Death Knights, former paladins that had fallen into evil and corruption, which had condemned them to be undead. They were all armored in black mail with narrow nasal helmets sitting on their corpse-like heads. Their eyes were fires of orange-red color and everything about them was blackened, as if they had come through some great fire. The came straight at us, angling down until the flaming hooves of their mounts touched the earth, the grass burned with each step they took. They stopped and dismounted, and with two of the Knights flanking the tallest of the three they approached. They were carrying bundles and all were armed with black swords.