Fear lashed out at the hearts of the remaining warriors as they pondered what would happen next, for the spell’s wrath was nowhere near its zenith.
Jagged blue lightning bolts shot out of the mass of clouds and struck some of the soldiers, hounds, and bugs, frying them where they stood and instantly disintegrating them. All that remained of these poor souls was a mound of ash.
The soldiers who weren’t struck breathed a sigh of relief, but their pain would come soon enough. More bolts of lightning shot out from the clouds, striking the ground beneath their feet.
The strength of the impact sent giant clumps of earth and the hapless soldiers both flying high into the air. These poor souls had a few seconds of sheer terror before they landed on the ground, bones crunching as necks and backs snapped and their bodies stopped moving.
Some weren’t that fortunate. These unlucky few flew into the cracks in the ground that had formed earlier, harried screams erupting from their gullets as the planet swallowed them up, never to be seen again.
That was too much for the few lone survivors. Everyone left standing broke ranks and ran for the relative cover of the Guild Complex, but even that wouldn’t save them.
At that moment, the clouds that had blocked out the sky gathered together, forming a massive tornado that lashed down from the sky.
The swirling vortex was so large, the eye of the storm was easily a half-mile across. The mighty power of the funnel swept up everything in its path, leaving nothing behind. Soon, nothing was left of the wizard army or the Guild Complex that had stood there moments earlier.
Teryn looked around and saw that all the wizards aiding him had fallen unconscious, having given all they could. Even Lyrad was on his knees and about to pass out from the strain.
He felt his own consciousness start to slip away, but he wasn’t ready for that just yet. There was one more foe that needed to die first.
As if acting on his command, the three Swords of Valor lifted up out of the ground and flew into Lange Du Mort’s body. The wraith-like being howled with an unnatural shriek as the blue flames surrounding the swords engulfed him.
Teryn watched with glee as the blades sunk deeper and the flames tore apart the very fiber of Lange Du Mort’s being. As the acrid stench of burning, rotted flesh and bone reached his nostrils, he clenched his fists harder and harder until they drew blood, and his lips curled into a wicked smile.
His eyes gleamed in the dim blue light of the fires. He would see Valeria’s attacker torn to shreds before he gave up, even if it killed him in the process.
Lange Du Mort seemed to sense Teryn’s emotions as well. Slightly before the demon’s skull-shaped head disappeared into the mass of blue flames, the young mage could have sworn he saw the fiend smile back at him for just a brief second.
Teryn blinked in disbelief and just as quickly as the ghastly smile had appeared, it was gone again. Lange Du Mort let out one last ear-piercing shriek before disappearing completely into the spell of the swords and dying at last.
Teryn, satisfied with the carnage, let out a gruesome laugh of triumph. Then he checked the stasis bubble around Valeria before finally giving into the exhaustion and collapsing onto the ground.
The last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was a burning skull that seemed to be staring back at him. Then everything went black.
* * * * * * * * * *
Teryn awoke several days later to the sound of weeping coming from behind him. He wiped the gunk out of his eyes and looked around to see where it was coming from. It was the wizard Aldrek, who was weeping over the bodies of a couple of the other mages.
From the looks of things, the Fhyrrstorm had proved too much for some of his wizard band, and they had given their all.
He scanned their number and noticed that of the original twelve, only a handful had survived. A lonely tear fell from his eyes, splashing onto the ground. It was one thing to kill your enemies, but quite another to be responsible for the death of an ally.
His eyes trailed to his side where Valeria lay. She looked as peaceful as ever, so he tried to find Lyrad. The priest was very much alive. All of his training undoubtedly gave him better stamina, and besides, he hadn’t been involved directly in the casting of the spell, so he likely hadn’t been tasked as hard to begin with.
Teryn roused Lyrad from his slumber and had him start on the grim task of performing the last rites for their fallen wizard compatriots.
Then he turned his attention back to Valeria. He checked the magical stasis bubble that he had erected to protect her. The magic field had weakened considerably, but it appeared to have held.
He dared not poke it too hard, though, since any sudden movement or break in the magic could have disastrous consequences. He could only hope the barrier held out a little longer. Until they could call for help.
The Guild has rooms for the injured, and skilled priests that can tend to her, he thought. Surely, with the battle over and their leader exposed for the demon he was, they would forgive my transgressions and let me back in, right?
He pushed himself upright, muscles straining after days of misuse, and started toward the Guild Complex. He’d be able to use their care facilities to better stabilize Valeria. They wouldn’t turn him away, he was sure of it.
Or so he thought. As his tired eyes took in the field in front of him, he was stunned to the point where he fell back down to his knees.
Not a single stone of
