All fighting instantly ceased. Servants, guards, and brigands alike stared at this miraculous apparition that had suddenly risen in their midst, all wondering where it had come from and what it could mean. Men who feared no mortal peril started quaking at this eerie, foreboding presence. The whirlwind blew the dust and drops of bloody mud indiscriminately into the faces of all who dared look upon it.
From the dark, mysterious cloud uttered a laugh—a deep laugh, bass and powerful, a laugh that rang of death knells and widow’s wails. It was a laugh that shook the trees and turned their summer leaves instantly to fall colors. It was a laugh of uncleanness, the triumph of evil incarnate loosed once more upon the world.
Then, from out of the whirlwind, bolts of lightning sizzled toward the he
