Abdul Alhazrad had made his camp away from the rest of the caravan. Such was normal for the wizard but this night his behavior was different, he had carefully unrolled a cloth embroidered with circles and mystic symbols, placing it precisely on the ground so that the glyphs aligned with certain stars. Sitting in the midst of the cloth he burnt noxious powders and began to mutter incantations in barbarous tongues.
The other travelers assumed the heat had driven him mad, there was nothing else unusual about this night except perhaps the overly noisy bugs that droned constantly. Suddenly Alhazrad covered his eyes as though he had seen something he could not bear. Almost at that instant one of the caravan drivers dropped to the ground, his mouth opened impossibly wide and the droning bug sound issued forth combined with a bloody gurgle. Then others began to fall in the same fashion.
Alhazrad was curled in a fetal position, praying to dark gods to hold off the nightmare he dared not look upon. The wizard clasped his hands to his ears but he could not shut out the sound of screams, ripping flesh, and above all the the insect droning.
Morning came, the sun's light shown upon the caravan revealing the aftermath of Alhazrad's conjurations. Of the caravan not one shred of flesh remained, only the bones of men and camels scattered across bloody sand. Abdul Alhazrad gathered his belongs and set out afoot. He had made a bargain with dark powers and kept it, the Swarm of Nebros had been fed and if he had any regrets for this deed his face did not show it.
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