The little gnome stepped up before the mighty floating stone, the fragment of earth was covered in runes and glowed with a bright red hue. The stone held a lot of power, and the dark presence within could be felt as a massive weight that grew with each step. He was cautious at first. Adjusting his cowl slightly, the gnome brushed the sand from the mantle covering his shoulders, and lightly shifted his bright green beard so less of his robe would be covered by it, then stepped right up to the stone.

"What is the meaning of this intrusion, servant?" The words formed in his mind rather than being heard. He felt the intent behind them, and wanted nothing more than to leave the great creature be. But it was almost noon, and time was of the essence.

"I am no servant," replied the gnome with a stutter. "I, Zooti Fizzlefury, am here to challenge you. Now come forth you beast!"

"Infidel!" came the reply so loud in Zooti's mind it made him jump back. Bright red lightning crashed down from the cloudless heavens and smashed into the little gnome, burning off the Twilight Cultist clothes he had stole from the true servant of the stone. The red lightning hurt, but it certainly was not intended to damage him so much as to destroy the fabrics he wore.

The stone ignited where it floated. The blaze gathered and began to take shape. Flames fueled upward and outward and soon the flaming form of an elemental stood where the stone once had. The mass of burning cinders and fire swirled to take only the most basic of body shapes, the only break in the flames made by the two bright red eyes and the bracers that were shackled to the elemental's arm.

"Right," Zooti shrugged to himself as the elemental drew itself up, taking a great breath, and letting out just a hint of what sounded like words from its inferno lips. But as with all arcana, the words faded from thought and memory as quickly as they alighted on the ears, and the incantation of the abyssal elemental completed. With a grand gesture, the fire creature thrust its arm in the direction of Zooti, and a ball of fire flung forth from its fingers at the tiny gnome.

The flames slammed into him, engulfing the tiny green haired Zooti in a ball of fire that faded quickly, only to reveal the gnome still standing there, a sheepish grin stretching from ear to ear on his face. The elemental paused for a moment, cocking its head in curiosity at the resisted assault.

"Fire is okay," Zooti began, rolling the fingers on his right hand in the form of a spell, "but ice is more my specialty," and with that, the gnome unleashed the spell he had been charging up. A bolt of snow and frost leapt from his hand and slammed into the fire elemental square in the chest.

The creature recoiled in pain. And then, as it prepared for another strike, it suddenly gasped for air mid casting.

"See! Told you I'm sneaky!" came the shout from Zimmy, the young gnomish maiden who had just thrust her frost laden dagger into the back of the unsuspecting fire elemental.

Whirling around, the elemental raised its hand to swing when from the sand came the charge of a human with a sword. The tall man wielded his rapier just in time to parry the blow from the elemental. The creature turned to face this new threat.

"Heyarrr!" cried Gelluk, the human swashbuckler who apparently had no fear of getting right up in the face of the Abyssal Templar and slamming his sword into the delicate energies that held the creature to the plane of existence."Pick on someone half your size there sparky!" Gelluk shouted, then thrust his rapier deep into the fire elemental and, with a shift of his weight, ran the blade vertically right up the templar's center torso and out of the head. Had it been a creature of flesh, it would have been chopped in half by the motion. However, being a creature of pure fire, it simply sat there with a confused look on its face. Such creatures bowed before it. They never gave such battle before.

But it was no longer paying attention to Zooti, who, being the mage that he was, had already donned his monocle to get a better look at the creature, and then began casting a spell that was far more precise than his previous one. With all the effort and mana he could muster, he flung a massive ball of snow at the templar. This time the attack landed square in the creatures back. Smoke ripped out of the creatures sides like blood from a wound as it desperately tried to maintain its presence in the world.

Entire portions of it had been extinguished by the attack, and now, much to the surprise of the templar, shards of ice had risen from the ground around its base, encompassing its flaming form and preventing it from moving. With a look of panic the templar glanced at Zooti just in time to see another frostbolt fly from his fingers and slam into the face of the creature. It was too much. The templar screamed in agony as its physical form extinguished and collapsed in a burst of smoke and mist, leaving nothing behind but flakes of still un melted frost and the bracers that had held it to the plane.

Gelluk leaned over and picked up one of the bracers. With his right hand he pulled out a small crest and showed it to the others.

Zimmy looked shocked. "That's it?! You promised us swag Zooti!" she angrily shouted at the bearded gnome.

"Don't worry my dear," Zooti spoke, picking through his bags looking for a robe to cover his hairy green chest. "Enough of those and we can talk to a Duke rather than one of these lowly Templars. I hear the Abyssal Dukes have the best pants a gnome could steal."