[Mirandir]

There were already two dead amongst them. Both innocent. Everyone (the wolves excluded) were getting restless. It was almost time for another deadline and another death. How many more innocent people would have to die before the Witch King's twisted game was over?

Nog shot suspicious glances around the room, casting his scrutinizing gaze on all those present. Suspicion early in the Day had fallen on him and he was determined not to die.

"What about sally?" Nog cried.

"What a novel idea!" Izzy declared, adding some of her bonus votes to the decree.

"But wait!" Kent yelled, standing to prove his point. "Kuru keeps bringing up my newbie status. He must be hiding something!

The minute hand of the clock on the wall inched closer and closer to the deadline mark. Finally taking notice, many threw in their votes, leaving a flurry of papers to be sorted through. Just as it was tallied that Kuru would be the one to die, he grasped at his throat. The room fell silent as they watched him gasp for air, unable to take any in as if someone had his throat in a stranglehold. Indeed, had anybody bothered to move to slow his demise, they would have seen the faint outline of a black gauntleted hand crushing the life out of poor Kuru. The Star Wars fans in the room could not help but note the irony.

After a minute of struggling, a blue-faced Kuru fell to the floor, dead. As Kent and Lari dragged his body to the corner where they were temporarily hiding their dead, a faded blue orb rose from Kuru's deceased form and vanished into where the gate had been.

"What in the world was that?" Brinn asked, scratching her head.

Fea shrugged. "Not a wolf, that's for sure."

The mood in the room was melancholic. Night had begun.