It starts.

Light. Blinding light. It was all she could see, a pure haze of nothing. Though she knew there was more there. She could hear the soft murmurs, the plodding voices. She head the voices of her doom.

"Stop talking and get on with it!" a shriek escapes her lips, "Kill me now, end it! Ennnd iiiiiiit!!" her voice dissolves into a peal of laughter, followed by a scream.

Stony silence was her only reply, for a moment. After painfully quiet moments, a voice spoke up, "Rastilina, the charges laid against you are treason, sedition, and plotting to overthrow The Order. Such acts cannot be purged by mere death."

"I care not for The Order! I care about death. DEATH!" Rastilina struggled against the chains that held her down. She managed to wriggle weakly on the ground, but no more. The only strength left to her, it seemed, was in her voice. "Yours, the world, the universe, my very own. What we go through, all we see, touch, feel, it is nothing! It means nothing! The only thing with any mean-"

"Enough!" the voice boomed, deafening out even Rastilina's cries. "I will not have you poison any other members of the order. Enough damage has been caused by you already."

"Then give me what I want!"

Suddenly, the light faded. Rastilina blinked, and could see Taruma, head of The Order itself, standing calmly in front of her. To each side, a few meters away, stood elders of the clans. And a few meters from them, stood more of the elders. They were in a circle around here. All but Taruma himself stood in intense concetration, staffs in front of them. They were not talking to each other, Rastilina realized, but chanting.

"What matter of spell is this?!" She cried, her voice swelling once more. "What do you intend to do with me?"

"You are banished, Rastilina." Taruma said calmly, "Never again shall you taint us. Before the great birth, before the cataclysm... that is where you will find your fate."

"Before the.... what are you -"

At that moment, the chanting of the elders ended, and they raised their staffs in unison, striking the ground once. There was a loud crack, and Rastilina had dissapeared. Taruma sighed, and stepped away from the circle, shufflingly away weakly. It was a risk, this punishment. But... it could the saving grace, the one chance to get things right, to have things as they should have been...

On the other hand, it could imbue The Order's greatest magician with power enough to destroy the universe on her own. But what's life without a little risk?

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The Soft Serve Gestapo Gets Crowned

Chapter 1: It's the end of the world as we know it, and I'd like a refund.

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Sun shone down hard upon the city of Pa'tok. Being situated in a valley, surrounded by mountains, had not kept it safe. It had been a difficult summer, dry and hot, and supplies had not moved as they used to. The city relied on trade, and had hurt badly in the heat, the absense of people willing to do anything but stay indoors, and the absense of travellers. Business was bad. This was not a concern to most, Goblins were a stingy lot, and their stores would keep them well supplied for a long time to come. It just wouldn't make them a profit, either.

It was with great joy that the news of the approach of a large caravan came to the town. Summer was on its way out, and there was hope that this would be the first of many visitors. Those who could stir themselves out of there homes prepared their stores, brought out their best-looking wares, and hoped their store could be found by the approaching money... customers, customers! Riders had seem them approaching the mountain ranges, a day or two away. It would only be an eternity for those shopkeepers in need of a sale. Or if not need of a sale, certainly showing up the other stores around them.

TB was not worried or tense about the arrival though, because he knew exactly who was coming, and why.