The Shapeshifter’s Gambit

A Reaper Enters The Fog. Only The Axe Returns.

The executioner’s axe extended five paces from the hilt to the half-moon edge. It was meant for two hands to wield, but Xurn twirled the weapon like a baton with one hand. He approached Morgaelion, still standing inside the freshly breached wall.

Fog appeared behind Morgaelion. The fiend took a few steps back, and the thick mist completely obscured him. Still, the black reaper did not pause or slow his advance.

Entering the dense haze, the reaper’s silhouette could still be seen, despite the opaque cloud. His heavy footfalls could be heard over all the other sounds in the room. The black reaper howled a battle cry that reverberated through the throne room. The howl ended abruptly.

“I am the master!” Morgaelion yelled.

A few seconds later, Xurn’s head launched from the fog into a column of red reapers. The axe broke at the haft. The blade of the executioner’s axe was buried nearly a foot into the reaper’s skull. Xurn’s eyes remained open, as if in a permanent state of shock.