strangers arrive

[cole45]

In the darkness, the portal spins, glowing with a sick green light, and hisses as the magic pops. Embers burn as the power of the portal causes the area to bob and weave, like looking at a hot highway, the air is distorted by space and time. Tiny sparks of light flow from the portal as the ancient device buried in the trees is connected to the universe.
The men step through the portal, and it snaps closed with a rush of wind, and their ears pop. Those that can see them see about twenty humans dressed in dark clothing. Their features are haggard and beaten, as though they have seen more fighting. The manner of dress in which they are garbed, is as strange as the magical artifacts they carry.
They move out in unison, the human in the lead staring at a black magical device as they walk and pointing. It is clear that they are seeking something, moving like a well trained military force through the field that leads up to the portal. The humans move in the direction of the cathedral, sweeping forward as they went.
The sand of the cathedral was silent, and there was no wind, and no clouds as they moved across the shadowed floor. The chittering of the kobolds who live so close to the structure could be heard. The humans chattered in their alien tongue, and continued moving.
It happened fast as they moved into view of the half buried structure. Hands and arms clawed up at them from below, as zombies lifted themselves pout of the dirt and attack, hungering for the essence of their victims. The humans attacked with the bizarre cross bows on their backs, the sound of their firing was deafening. But the bolts did nothing to the zombies, who sunk their teeth into their flesh, and spilled blood. Where human blood touched the sand, red spiders formed, attacking the humans, and climbing up their legs.
Then in an instant, the sand turned soft, and they sunk into it, struggling trying swim out, trying to get away. They vanished into the sand as though they had never been there. The Kobolds came, and found only the strtange brass tubes in the area, still hot, and a single cloth patch, torn from the tunics of the humans. The letters were strange, and the Kobolds could not read it. But Ukla, the high chieftain would keep the soft patch as reminder of human folly. The patch bore the human letters “SG-19”, and the chieftain tied that patch to his hat.