Death and Destruction

A miscast spell does terrible destruction to those in the Palace.

37.

Death and Destruction

 

It was one of those unexpected occurrences that suddenly caused major changes.   The wizard had been not much more than a lackey of Earl Redburr - familiar with practical magic and scrying, but completely lacking in the casting of powerful spells.   His orders by his liege were to find the Queen of Northmarch and either subdue her or kill her, using whatever means were necessary. 

 

Due to his lack of knowledge of any sort of battle spells, Redburr had given him a valuable relic - an Archmage’s staff of an enemy of the Southern Empire that had been defeated after years of conflict, nearly 100 years ago.   

 

The Earl had not known the power of the staff, only that it enabled the wielder to cast a number of offensive spells as well as cast a teleportation spell three times each day. 

 

The wizard had seen an opportunity to greatly exalt himself in his lord’s eyes by killing not only the Queen but the horrid Drow clan that had befriended her.   He had been told by the Earl himself that the Raptorians and the Hobgoblins were expendable, so he had no qualms about using a Fireball spell against Eioldth, even if it meant the death of some of their forces.  

 

He had used the spell once, minutes before, near the Tournament field, and he knew of its destructive power.  But he had not factored the closed in quarters of the palace hall.   The Fireball spell had no place to disperse.  It annihilated the Raptorians and Hobgoblins directly in front of him, as well as the defending merchants.  

 

But that was all that the Wizard beheld.  Before his eyes could even focus on the destruction down the hall, the spell contacted the back wall, blowing out all the windows along the wall, but reflecting most of the blast back down the hallway a second time.   Those leveled by the first blast had the shock wave pass over them without much added harm.

 

But the wizard and his guards received the blunt of the reflected blast.   They were thrown violently backwards as the debris from the initial blast which had been snatched up by the reflection of force, pelted them savagely. 

 

Yet it was the fire that was the worst, for a moment later a slightly weakened wave of flames roared over them, igniting anything even slightly flammable.  The wizard died at once, his robes engulfed in flames.   The guards surrounding him screamed horribly as their iron armor melted and seared their skin.

 

In a minute’s time, the whole hall was an inferno.   All the merchants lay dead, except for one small man who had been partially shielded by the body of another.  

 

Thorm Thannendwaf, head of the Westmark branch of the Dwarven Armorer’s Guild for over 80 years, and a Master of the Bitter Dregs, also lay dead, burnt terminally by superheated mithril in his chainmail. 

 

Carn the Bugbear laid near death, on top of the Dwarf, all of his hair burned off.  Mutt the Goblin had been the most fortunate, for his small size and quick reaction had spared him from the most serious burns, though he lay under the bodies of two merchants and a hobgoblin, painfully trying to breathe with slightly burned lungs.

 

Duchess Aurei had escaped all fire damage, due to a natural dark Elven magic resistance that she had inherited.   But the force of the blast had slammed her into the stone wall at the back of the hall, knocking her unconscious.

 

Her unconsciousness was perhaps a blessing, for she escaped seeing the death of two of her daughters.   Aranthi had not inherited her mother’s magic resistance, and though she had been given an Autocaster ring by her parents that held spells that would have healed her instantly upon sustaining any deadly injury, she found the large ring was rather ugly and didn’t match her apparel, so she had not worn it.  She died instantly, before her petite body ever contacted the back wall from the force of the explosion.

 

Sirya has also not inherited her mother’s Drow magic resistance, and had been battling reptilians with her short sword and buckler, directly in front of the wizard.   She too had received an Autocaster ring, but the precast healing spell had been activated only minutes before the blast when a reptilian had cut her throat deeply.   The injury had been instantly healed, but once used, an Autocaster ring had to be recharged by having another spell cast into it.  

 

So when the massive fireball spell exploded, the healing spell had been used up.   All that remained in the ring was a second spell that transported her body to the Keep in Westmark instantly, when she was rendered unconscious.   So the ducal guards in Westmark that found her burning body actually knew of her fate before her sisters or parents. 

 

Amala and Snoe had been extremely fortunate to have somehow inherited their mother’s Drow magic resistance, though they, like her, had never lived in the Underdark.   Both girls escaped the fiery blast, but had been tossed like dolls against the back wall.   They laid there stunned and slightly injured.

 

Amala’s proximity to Aedric when the fireball hit greatly reduced the damage that the young Elven knight took.   But even reduced, he had been terribly burnt and was sprawled out in pain so horrible he fell into a coma.

 

Queen Eioldth had worn an Autocaster ring for eight decades, but she had insisted that the injured Aaron take her ring and wear it this day before he joined her group racing upstairs to fight the invaders.   The automatic spells cast into the Queen’s ring were a healing spell and a teleport upon unconsciousness spell, both of which activated for Aaron when the Fireball slammed into him.   He awoke in the Queen’s bedchamber, uninjured but dazed.

 

Queen Eioldth, however, wasn’t so lucky.   She had several rings of protection from fire among her jewelry, but had not selected one to wear this day, as when the day had dawned, she had no plans other than attending a joust.   So the lackey wizard’s too powerful, staff-based spell hit her and found the beautiful Elven lady totally unprotected.  She knew it was her time as soon as the spell was thrown forward and with a deep breath, she closed her eyes and thought of her late husband and daughter and prepared to join them.

Reviews

[Elina]

"Sirya has also not inherited..." I believe you want "had," rather than "has."

So...maybe it's simply because my family just put one of our most beloved cats down today, but I honestly cried as I read this. How terribly tragic and awful.

[Eddie Davis]

It was a really hard one to write; I felt rather guilty killing off so many characters, and my wife was mad at me for quite a while because of it. I'm very sorry about your loss of your cat. I know how pets are parts of a family. If you have a humane society near you, I'd recommend adopting another cat from them. When our 12 year old dog died some years ago, we adopted a Pomeranian from ours and it helped us deal with our grief as well as help a needy dog.

[Elina]

Haha! Oh, I understand that. I have different characters (not only in my current book, but in others that I started) that I have plans of "killing off," and I always feel a bit depressed at the thought, as I love all of my characters so much.
And as far as getting other cats...we really don't need to. Haha! We have four, three of which are kittens that had been in our hay barn during the bitter cold parts of winter, so we took them in and have kept them, since. But I agree...it certainly helps to have other animals to love on when one passes.

[Eddie Davis]

Oh, yeah, that's right, you live on a farm. That would be wonderful, I think. It sounds so peaceful.

[Elina]

It really is wonderful. I was actually born in Phoenix, Arizona...I would never want to go back (to live, anyway). I truly enjoy living in a rural area. There are lakes galore, and so many different places to go hiking and riding...it's wonderful. I feel truly blessed.