The Deathweaver ship coasted through the atmosphere like a phantom, and a faint hum drifted through the air as the vessel descended to its destination. It soared over rolling hills and darkened grasslands like a sliver of the void that was carved from the darkest corner of the night sky.

Several minutes later the vessel nestled between a grouping of hills, away from prying eyes, almost a mile away from the abandoned mines. The engines powered down, and then a small hatch on the side of the ship opened with a moaning hiss.

A dozen pools of miasmic black ink poured from the hatch and dripped onto the ground like tar. They writhed, churned, and morphed into grotesque humanoid shapes. Ichor dripped from wolf-like maws while long claws, like daggers, hung beside their incorporeal smokey bodies.

Then, as one, they vanished into the shadows and set out towards the cave.

The hunt was on.

Leech Seed struck one of the shadows, and it howled. What Ferrothorn would find would be both interesting - yet terrifying. The shadows were bottomless and lifeless pits, but they were not empty. Rage fueled them, and agony filled their frigid and lightless husks.

A thousand thousand minds stretched beyond the empty voids of their souls, spreading across unfathomable distances like a massive interconnected web of consciousness. The dread hivemind knew no fear, for they were united in purpose and resolve. They knew no pain, for the collective shouldered the burdens of the individual.

The shadows, disorganized yet frenzied, attacked their targets with the reckless ferocity of rabid wolves. They twisted like ethereal serpents and slashed with icy talons.

Keep the brute on stand-by. If the natives do not break, then retreat and resort to probing attacks. Outlast them and stick to the shadows.

The shades snarled as Titania and her pokemon barred their path. Their eyes burned with primal fury as thin tendrils of crimson smoke leached from their gaseous eyes. They charged as one and slithered in the air like serpents with teeth and claws glistening with spectral frost.

The pack of dark spirits split in two, half ascending towards the roof and the rest slinking amidst the shadows. A deathly chill suffused the air as the upper shades opened their maws like pythons. They roared, long and terrible, with anguished cries that were like ice-cold daggers being driven into the mind.

Six Deathweaver Shades use Astonish!

Meanwhile, the other six shades vanished into the darkness. They become one with the shadows, stalking like silent wolves in order to surround their prey.

Six Deathweaver Shades use Phantom Force!

The shadows reacted to the spike of fear like moths to a flame. They swirled around Titania and her pokemon like wisps of noxious smoke. Their forms were momentarily destabilized by the ice beams, but the cold energy was ineffective against their equally frozen spirits.

Shadows snapped at their heels and wriggled unnaturally along the walls, distorting the features of the cave into grotesque facsimiles of leering eyes and sneering grins. Their howls reverberated through the cave and filled the air with a predatory dread.

A hole appeared in the shadows’ macabre dance, just small enough for the woman to squeeze through and avoid the spectral claws. A random chink in their circle, allowing her to escape - or a feint to lead her into a killing blow?

There was only one way to find out...

A scroll appeared in front of Ivar the Boneless without warning. It materialized with a puff of fire and smoke, and it bore a glowing red and gold seal of a lion's head surrounded by strange runes. The scroll floated in the air before him until it would be claimed. A subtle hum of magic surrounded the scroll, and within was a letter written with a flowing well-practiced script in Ivar's native tongue.

----

From the desk of Archmage Sheodin Thundermane, Chief Ambassador of the Khroniktan Alliance;

To Whom It May Concern,

Greetings, sovereign leaders of Gaia. May the Everlasting Flame of Ha’Ari, the King of Kings and Father of Creation, light your path and grant you the wisdom of Heaven. The prayers of our people have uplifted you during this trying time, and the upheaval of your world, caused by the wrath of Eras and its titans, has been felt by us despite the few short years we have walked on your soil and looked upon your skies.

It troubles us that the echoes of the All Consuming Darkness have been felt even here on these shores. Eyes born from the blackness between the stars have settled upon your world and have disrupted the delicate balance of power, and ancient malevolence has awoken that seeks to place you in eternal bondage. Take solace, though, that Ha’Ari has stretched out His mighty hand and offers you protection. It is through His power, and the might of the Khroniktan Alliance, that Eras’s wrath was abated and the formidable colossus Ni’Thorne met its demise.

We warmly invite you or a representative of your nation-state to visit our colony New Ketajhi, located in the region known as the Royale Prairies of Siv’en, in order to open diplomatic relations. Food and lodging will be provided.

Sincerely,

Archmage Sheodin Thundermane, Chief Ambassador of the Khroniktan Alliance