"You lie," hissed the Warlock"
"Not at all," replied Belloc conversationally. "The maiden you spoke of has taken a husband."
Belloc's jibe had the desired effect. "Argh!" spluttered the Warlock in rage, "Enough! I shall destroy you all."
The enemy poised to strike, when of a sudden, a shadow fell, and everything became unnaturally still. Elves and men and gnomes and goblins alike looked about in fear and confusion. A black presence began moving towards them from deep within the Wood, and the gnomes and many of the goblins cast themselves upon the ground, gibbering with fear. Only Belloc and the Warlock remained unmoved.
Then, out of the dark forest there came a black nightmare. It was a shadow cast by evil, and dread darkness followed it like a penumbra. Its eyes were terrible to behold, and those that chanced to look into them either went cold inside with fear, becoming blank of mind and weak of limb, or cast themselves upon the ground in abject terror. Time itself seemed to halt, like a heart shocked by fear into stopping.
"Old fool," soughed the deadly black shadow, and the sound of its voice chilled all who heard it to the bone. Its voice was thin, yet powerful, and seemed to reverberate as though it issued from some great subterranean cavern.