For now though, we are completing our preparations and making our final battle plans Things are tense at the ritual site The ritual is to begin in a few hours and be completed as the three moons align high in the sky The scholars seem calm and collected, yet they know they place their lives in the hands of defenders like me They will not be able to defend themselves, having to focus entirely on the ritual I pray to the Earth Mother and the Shadowed One that we succeed This world will not survive another generation of infestation 6th Cycle, 1st of Cilren, year 1253 The battle has begun Our outer forces have been striking at their lines for hours, slaying dozens if not hundreds of soldiers, yet they come forth like an unyielding wave They will be at the grove in a short time I can hear the sounds of battle not far from here, even over the chanting of the scholars The moons have risen We must hold them off long enough There is nothing else in this world except this This battle, defending these men with every skill and talent we have earned or learned since birth is all that remains to us We must not fail, too much depends on it It is time for the elite squads of the Sai-Heth to rise to the challenge and we shall see who remains at the end I hear their battle cries now It seems they have broken through I can see the squads at the edge of the grove battling furiously so I must end this If we survive I will complete this account from the safety of the Shadow Realm If not, we have done all in our power to succeed 3rd Cycle, 5th of Cilren, year 1253 We did it! It was a glorious success, yet the cost was incredibly high The first soldiers of the coming army, dwarves, broke through the first of the squads and charged the ritual circle The protectors cut them down with little trouble, but they were only the beginning Hundreds of foes poured out of the forest into the grove like water flowing from a pitcher The clang of blade against blade echoed across the entire glade The moons rode high as we fought them to a standstill Many of our own men died 248 but took scores of the enemy to the grave with them However, despite our skills our numbers were too few We could not protect the ritual circle Scholars were slain as their protectors died around them Those that remained strained that much more, their energy draining that much faster as each scholar fell The moons soared high in the sky as the circle broke, two of the moons were in eclipse and the third was near Only a matter of minutes remained until the ritual was complete Somehow, with amazing will and strength from somewhere I did not know scholars possessed they held the circle together The power they summoned was amazing to behold and when the ritual was completed the entire battlefield, Sai-Heth and the parasites alike, stood still The moons flashed and shone incredibly, their radiance almost blinding Planets moved and stars realigned in the heavens Rainbows of color shot through all of existence it seems as the immense energy of the ritual extended towards its purpose We had succeeded The sun, our first love and the guardian of all that was green and good, would never rise again I am the only survivor of my squad My beloved compatriots all gave their lives so that the earth may have a new chance at life when the disease that currently infests it dies out without the heat and light of the sun I barely escaped with my scholar into the Shadow Realm before being swarmed by elves and their swirling blades I truly hope and believe that we have done the right thing Perhaps now those who would not head our advice will see their fault and learn to respect the new world they will find themselves in Only time will tell I have now fulfilled my orders and recorded the events that brought about the eclipse of the sun Now I shall leave the rest to my scholar companion when he wakes For history is much more his domain than that of a soldier Asraka Fulinas, Squad Captain 5th guardian squad of the Army of Shadows