Massive tree trunks plastered with moss reached for the sky, their sturdy branches held leaves and vines that dangled in the air, swaying ever so slightly by the soft caress of the wind.
They were enshrouded in thick grey fog, towering high above the green swamp water, there was no current, with the surface as still as solid ground.
Life flourished, and yet not a single critter was to be seen, no locals, or other signs of movement, until the earth began quaking.
The ground shook, ripples disturbed the stagnant river, soft tremors turned into intense vibrations that set waves into motion, with the earth on the edges of the water being ripped apart.
New paths were carved for the river to flow as the gaps widened and deepened, tree roots revealed themselves and lost their footing, the age-old giants were suddenly on the verge of being felled.
Each tremor was stronger than the last, the giant trunks were pushed around like ships on the open sea with no signs of stopping.
The soft earth buckled and bulged, forming mounds out of nowhere as though something was pressing against the floor from underneath.
Muffled popping escaped the cracks on the surface, then the ground was lifted, all at once!
Pebbles and dust were sent flying, a sharp whistling pushed through the gaps; rock and mud were pulverized as the mound was blown open…
The river and the trees got blasted into the sky, droplets and splinters of wood were all that remained and fell back to the ground once the pressurized air had passed.
It left nothing behind but a giant crater where once nature had ruled, with the fog all but gone.
Damaged roots hung over the bottomless pit, dirt and stones rolled down the sides.
Several moments passed before the ends of the river recovered enough water to spill over and drain into the hole, creating two separate waterfalls.
… …
Daren's fingers twitched, feeling was slowly returning to his limbs, his back was against the crystal coating of the cave, rubble covered his body.
His ears were ringing, and opening his eyes felt like a nigh impossible task.
He turned his torso, pushing his hands against the floor to get himself up, every muscle ached, his coughing knocked up dust.
Disorganized memories tumbled through his mind, a bright flash had blinded him, then he lost his consciousness.
Daren patted himself off, 'How am I alive?' his hands wandered along his skin, looking for wounds and bruises, but aside from the dirt clinging to him, he was… fine?
He lifted his head, a frown stretched across his face from the sudden pain, but he pressed on, desperate to find out what happened to the rest.
Lying almost right next to him was Marquis Gomon, face down, small rocks all over him; the same held true for Winny.
Then there was Kassan, Daren blinked, he couldn't believe his eyes!
Kassan was still standing!
Daren pushed through the pain in his limbs and walked towards him, his upright and imposing back filled Daren with confidence, "Kassan." he limped closer, then reached out with his hand, "Kas-" the name got stuck in his throat, Kassan was standing, his hands and arms pressed tightly against his barrier… or at least what remained of it.
The protective dome was reduced to a small chunk, a piece of broken glass, just in front of Kassan.
Daren tapped his shoulder, and all the confidence that had built up left his body in one go as Kassan fell at the slightest touch.
He slung his arms around the leader of the expedition, their saviour, stopping him from hitting the ground in his vulnerable state.
Daren held him in his embrace, pressing some fingers against the side of his neck to check his pulse, 'Out cold… but alive.' he was expecting the worst, but exhaled in relief.
Many parts of the walls around them had collapsed after facing the explosion, cracks continued to spread, debris kept falling, the only place unaffected was right beneath the opening in the ceiling, as there was nothing left to fall.
A lifeless hole replaced the lake that was teeming with blood, and the heart that hung above it was wiped out, not a shred of evidence remained to indicate it ever existed in the first place.
The roots were rotting and shrinking at a rapid pace, 'Must be looking similar aboveground…' Daren was reminded of when they fled their original camp, and the dead swamp they later took refuge in.
Nearly everyone was accounted, except for Frey, Marv… and Reyna.
'Are they buried under there?' a majority of the cave had been closed off, likely forever, the soldiers and their remains had been thoroughly wiped out.
The locals and the harsh environment, neither of them had even contributed to this failure, it was all orchestrated by a human.
"Kuh-" someone coughed, then gasped for air, Daren frantically looked around, had he missed someone?
His vision was slightly blurry, but near the gaping hole in the floor was a strange figure.
Reyna was lifted off the ground, fingers were squeezing the top of her throat, her hands were clawing at the arm that was holding her, but despite it being no more than bones and loose skin, she couldn't escape the chokehold.
Her lungs yearned for air, her sight was gradually dimming, but perhaps this wasn't too bad, at least she wouldn't have to stare at the hideous visage in front of her for too much longer.
Plamus' eyes were empty, half of the flesh on his face was gone, only a few strands of hair were left standing on his scalp.
Bone splinters were stuck in his head, and limbs, residues of the detonated corpses.
His back and spine were hunched, with dark tendrils waving in the air from where the dagger was stuck, "Rey…na… Rey… na…" he spoke.
But while his mind appeared broken, the tendrils that had drained the locals and the soldiers were merely caressing her, toying with her, "…Rey-na…" his grip tightened and he pulled her closer, his breath was bouncing off her lips and cheeks.
He reeked of death.
The stench made her nauseous, lightheaded, or perhaps it was the lack of air?
Either way, she was losing her strength, her hands that were fighting back had resorted to clinging to Plamus' arm, anything else was expending too much energy.
Her mind was slipping in and out of consciousness, the darkness was overwhelming, but far in the distance was a speck of light.
The light was coming closer, it was a cold grey, isolation, fear, desperation, then more colours appeared around her, a vivid speck of green that danced from one corner to the other, its shade was shifting like a leaf across the seasons, finally she could breathe, this was true freedom, she was filled with joy.
A gentle yellow followed, soothing her with its mere presence, beckoning her closer, her worries melted away.
Several more hues filled in the gaps between them, but just when the palette of colours was reaching full saturation, the cold grey returned, it overshadowed all the others, consumed them one by one.
Reyna felt powerless, there was no way to fight back, nothing she could do, all thoughts of resisting faded, she was at their mercy.
A deep red approached her, stepping in between her and the grey light, her eyes adjusted, the cold grey were stones that formed the walls of the prison cell she found herself in.
She had tried to run away, to escape this life… this hell, but after crossing into the nearest woods, she lost control.
It was taken from her, her life dictated, from start to finish, next in line in the order of succession for the barony, and yet nothing more than a pawn, moved to whichever position that was currently desired of her.
The outlines became clearer, a hand was reaching for her, Reyna flinched back, but the hand grabbed her by the chin.
"You are breaking my heart; how could you even try to run away? Don't you know how worried I was?" the words felt like lashes, but Reyna knew better than to take them at face-value.
The woman pushed a strand of her red hair behind her ear, she was studying Reyna's expressions, her heartless eyes scanning the girl.
Reyna looked behind the woman, her soulless stare was directed at none other than her own mother.
"You disappoint me. The family has poured all its resources into you, allowing you to push to heights others can only dream of, and this is how you repay us? By running away from your responsibilities? I thought I had raised you better than that." Silvana sneered.
The red-haired woman stroked Reyna's cheek, "Poor little thing, look at you trembling from my touch." she smiled, "Don't tell me you are afraid of the consequences now? It's a little too late to regret your actions, don't you think?"
Runic patterns lit up all around Reyna's shivering body, she was clad in them from head to toes.
Reyna gritted her teeth, the runes spawned particles, she was shouting in her mind, begging them to do her bidding, but despite her being the strongest mage in the room, she could only watch as the particles swarmed her against her wishes, and broke out in a fire.
The flames scorched her clothes and skin, the familiar pain was setting in, she was biting down on her tongue, trying to fight her urge to cry out, refusing to give that woman the satisfaction of hearing her scream.
Silvana grabbed the woman's shoulder, "Zarina, this-"
But the woman shook her off, "Quiet Silvana. If you keep coddling her, she'll never understand. You are Reyna Ironhoof, you are a part of this family, and it should always be your topmost priority. You are lucky that you are showing ample results from all the effort we put into raising you, otherwise… well… I am sure you can imagine; so until you learn to treasure my words, I will have to keep reminding you."
Her flesh was sizzling, no amount of self-control would be enough to allow Reyna to keep ignoring that she was being burned alive, before long, her mouth opened involuntarily, "AAAGHHRR!!"
Silvana closed her eyes, her ears were hurting from the pitch of her daughter's screams, but she didn't hurry to intervene…
The fire coated her fully, she was in agony, her nails digging into the runes in hopes of scraping them off, but the blazing heat only increased.
Particles oozed out like blood from a wound, which only served to further stoke the flame; it was rising, before it only clung to her, now it was spreading along the arm that was holding onto Reyna.
Zarina became enveloped by the flames, as was the rest of the cell.
Reyna's surroundings flickered, the temperatures were deforming the very fabric of space… the memory she had been caught up in melted away, the torture, the prison, her mother, and the one responsible for everything… they vanished.
The hand around her neck was forming blisters, swollen pockets filled with cloudy fluid, that wandered up Plamus' arm and beyond, the flesh that was touching her was cooking, a disgusting smell filled the quivering air, sparks travelled into every direction.
The amulet under her clothes and its chain shook, it behaved similarly during her fight against the mutated Treeman, but this time it was surrendering immediately, allowing her aura to flare up without restraint!
Plamus was forced to shield himself using his other arm, as the dark tendrils moved to hide behind him, to evade getting burned.
His grip on her was loosening, his instinct was torn between dropping her to run to safety and finishing her on the spot to secure his victory… but inside of him there was a desire, a malicious drive that didn't want her to have a quick and painless death!
"REEEYYNAAA!" he shouted as the fire washed over him.
Wrinkles were growing on her skin, then the rune pattern pulsed, and a fresh batch of fire particles were set off.
Plamus was pushed away, his feet and tendrils dug into the ground to halt his momentum.
One arm was burned black, while the other was missing entirely, still clasped around her throat.
His head and shoulders twitched, his nerves were rattled, his body had deteriorated at an incredible pace, him being able to stand and move went beyond all reason.
Daren was pulling Kassan with all his might, a thin white veil was wrapped around them, Marquis Gomon, and Winny.
Luckily the opening in the ceiling had allowed wind particles to spread all the way down here, or the four of them would have been toast.
Daren sighed, not only was she a rank three mage, having hidden this fact from everyone, but she also had a way of creating particles from nothing… never had he heard of such a thing.
How many lives could he have saved if he hadn't run out of them? If he also had this ability, how many soldiers would still be here to defend them?
He twirled his fingers, lifting the rocks off Marquis Gomon and Winny.
Reyna pulled on the black hand that was holding onto her, and tossed it to the side, she inhaled, free again.
Plamus' head tilted, his eyes locked onto her, regaining some clarity.
Darkness gathered in his hand in the form of a ball, spikes popped up and sunk back in.
The sweat on Reyna's forehead was getting vaporized the moment it appeared, the longer he charged his spell, the quicker her heart raced.
She never wanted to fight Plamus head on, not in his current state, it was a death sentence, but coming so close to dying had caused her to enter a fight or flight response, where she wasted large amounts of her energy only to force him to create some distance.
But being close to her wasn't a requirement to end her life, taking on a rank four spell no matter the distance… Reyna looked up… that wouldn't end well…
She threw her arm from left to right, fire particles were sent over to Plamus, creating an arc, that lit up in the same sequence.
The little flames changed from red to white in just a heartbeat, then from white to a deep blue before combusting into a violent bloom of light, as though the twilight sky and its stars had been pulled underground!
The aftereffects of the lightshow soon passed, and all that remained was the thick purple glow of Plamus' barrier, not a scratch or blemish in sight.
Reyna clicked her tongue, breaking through was wishful thinking, the massive disparity between their ranks was painfully obvious.
All she'd wanted was to force him into casting his spell before it reached a dangerous level… and she had failed.
There was no way she could put enough pressure onto him on her lonesome; she briefly turned towards Daren but shook her head.
Only if the other rank three mages woke up and joined in could they dream of putting up a fight.
For that to happen they'd need someone to guard and watch over them, or they would end up as collateral damage.
"Funny how life comes back to bite you for your mistakes. Guess I deserve this one." Reyna cracked her knuckles; her heart was beating out her chest.
Plamus' transformation was her fault, but there was no room for lament now, not in a moment like this.
Purple streaks were lashing out from his spell at the floor around him, digging into the already broken crystal surface, the sheer amount of power contained within was threatening to burst out at a moment's notice.
Reyna blinked, and by the time her eyes reopened, the ball teeming with destructive energy had left Plamus' hands.
It felt like she was standing on the edge of a cliff, peering down into the void, a never-ending chasm, but despite the immediate danger, she wasn't frozen with fear, she still had a foothold, something that provided her with confidence, all that was left was to take the plunge and believe.
The ball homed in on her with barely any time to react, then it ruptured, tears opened along its sides, and fumes came leaking out.
A thick smokescreen filled the place, resembling thunderclouds as purple lightning flickered inside, forking along its edges, masking Plamus' target from view.
Then the fumes began to shrink, they were drawn back towards the orb, inhaled like a breath of air.
The haze collapsed in on itself, the magic coiling tighter and tighter, until even the air nearby bent towards its core.
Time paused for an infinitely long moment, the water that came crashing down from the hole above slowed to a crawl, then without warning, the spell was unleashed!
The pull inverted in an instant.
A loud, electric buzzing raced to the corners of the cave.
It was followed by a horizontal shockwave, an eerie halo that flattened everything in its path.
The ground rippled, curling up before slamming flat again.
Anything unyielding shattered under the crushing pressure.
Stone exploded into shards, dust rained from above… the threat of a second cave-in was looming over their heads, but Daren wasn't worried about the aftermath as much as withstanding the here and now!
Despite his wobbly feet, he forced himself to run as fast and as hard as he could.
The range of Plamus' spell was impossible to gauge, but the farther he got, the likelier his survival was.
The other three mages were floating next to him, their limbs were pulled by a fluffy mass of vapour.
Yet no amount of haste was enough to escape the blast radius in time…