A landscape beneath the night sky. There were no stars. A massive two-story building without a roof and with missing segments of walls. Because of this, its architecture created a feeling of alienness and unease. Four black tornadoes stretched out from the depths of the night and sank into the center of the building.
"Who are they?"
"I've never seen them before."
The Ice Queen and the Cursed headed there. They entered through one of the doorways, passed through a corridor, and found themselves in a large interior room. In the center, on a stone slab covered with mysterious magical symbols, lay the body of the Herald, while four black trunks were plunged in his head and body. The Herald was constantly shaking. Blue electrical discharges were running across his body.
The Ice Queen and the Cursed drew their swords and struck the black trunks at the same time. They tore away from the victim and were thrown to the sides. A wild shriek came from all corners of the room.
The Ice Queen grabbed the Herald and dragged him along with her. He awkwardly shuffled his feet. His eyes were closed, but he was conscious.
In the corridor, the black tornadoes rushed after them and began to catch up. Several black clumps fell to the floor in front of them and turned into black monsters. They had no eyes. Only black voids where their eyes and mouths should have been. They pounced on the fleeing group. The Queen and the Cursed cut them to pieces with their swords.
The black tornadoes were close.
They wouldn't make it to the doors in time.
They jumped through openings in the walls and found themselves outside. Then they ran on.
While running, the Cursed saw black spots appearing on the Queen's left hand that hadn't been there before.
"What happened to your hand?"
"This is from jumping through the opening in the wall. We don't know the consequences of such a passage, but otherwise we wouldn't have escaped in time. It's some kind of hostile magic."
As they ran across the plain beneath the night sky, they were transported back.
The Cursed and the Ice Queen stood in the hall with the capsules. The Herald lay before them. The black tornado was no longer on him.
"What do you see?" asked the Ice Queen.
"I see Territory 77. The Sorceress Maidens' squad, and farther back, deep within it, a mysterious abode where the sword lies."
"The coordinates of the abode?"
"Here."
He lay motionless for some time. Then he raised his hand, and a two-foot-long black rod formed in it.
The Ice Queen took it.
They returned to the snowy forest, where the generals were on horseback and an army of zombies stood nearby.
The Ice Queen plunged the rod into the Black Cube. It trembled, released black streams of smoke, and devoured the horses and the nearby zombies again.
For a moment, it seemed to the Cursed that the whole story was repeating itself and that they were moving toward death again, and he was overcome by a chill. He did not want the mission to fail after everything they had been through.
The cart carrying the Black Cube rolled forward.
Then it stopped, a bright flash ran through space, and they found themselves in a new place.