Silence hung heavy about the room, like a leech. Draining away life itself and it draws deeper and deeper, ever closer to the critical point of life or death. Dust, thick from the hundreds of years of the room's stagnation, lay heavy on the walls and floor. The only movement of air came from the slight fluttering of the tall man's cloak as he turned back the direction he had come. He walked twenty-five paces back to the opposite wall then turned again, his pale gray green eyes sweeping across the stone floor. He already knew every stone by heart but still his eyes continued to search for something. Hi graying black hair brushed the unusually low ceiling as he paced. The only light in the room came from the four candles on each of the stone walls. The only window, and entrance, or exit, had been boarded up and sealed by magic that no light could penetrate through that. There was no other way into or out of the room except the window that the man could see. He didn't know how he had arrived there or how he was going to get out.
    As the candles burned lower so did the supply of air that remained in the stone chamber. The magic that held the window also kept air from passing into and out of the room. The four candles were already close to being spent but the air would be gone before the tall man was left in darkness. He had already used much of it in his attempts to escape.
    He had reached the middle of the chamber when he stopped suddenly. There was a flash of silver as he drew his sword and its long thin blade reflected the light of the candles. He walked to he window and with careful precision etched a strange symbol into the dark wood that blocked his only way of escape. The blade made a slight scraping sound as he sheathed it quickly and walked away from the window, breaking the silence in an ominous tone that told of the fire that lay hidden the man's cold marble eyes. In the middle of the chamber he stopped again and turned back toward the window. He did take a step or make a move but suddenly the room blurred as it rushed past him faster than the eye could follow. The wooden planks rushed forward so quickly the man did not even have time to blink. Instantly his hands came flying forward, hands balled in fists.
    As flesh met oak there was a blinding flash of mysticshook like it was the end of the world. The man was thrown back against the far wall his head bouncing twice before he slid to the floor. Blackness rushed in about him, but he fought to remain awake. He pushed himself to red light. An ear shattering boomed emanated from everywhere and everything his feet and staggered towards where the window had been. The entire wall had been destroyed; revealing blackness that no power could penetrate. The tall man reached the edge and looked cautiously about. After a long pause for study, which revealed nothing, he launched himself into the darkness.