Catalyst(103)

It was now or never.

I stopped drawing in magic. I lifted my hand. Streams of fire twisted and turned in the dim room. They hovered over our heads, mesmerizing everyone. Everyone gazed up and stopped fighting. That’s when I brought them down.

The waves of fire plummeted, splashing over and through the creatures. I guided the blazes to engulf only the monsters. Their bodies burned and cooked. Their disfigured skin blistered, then blackened. The horrific smell of rancid roast pork filled the room. I forced myself to block out their chorus of agony, remembering that I was doing this for the princess and the people of Alexandria.

Groups of goblins collapsed. Their small bodies twitched. The heat drove the ogres and trolls insane. They struck and crushed their own people, trying in vain to put out the flames. Bodies of trolls and ogres toppled over like an avalanche. They crashed into the floor, igniting up the remaining carpets.

I could no longer contain or control all that magic. I sent a tiny bit of the fire back to the torches; the rest dissipated into nothingness. The flames on the corpses popped and crackled.

I bent over, putting my hands on my knees, and panted. The sweat rolled down my face. I sucked in as much air as I could. Dwarves and elves moved around the room, finishing off those creatures still living with expert cuts of their swords and axes.

“Hellsfire, are you all right?” the princess asked, placing a hand on my hunched back.

I wiped a drop of sweat from the corner of my eye and shook my head.

“Is there anything we can do for you?”

I waved my hand, trying to speak. My mouth moved, but no sound came out. I took one gigantic gulp of air. Then I rose, reached into my purse, and downed a rejuvenation potion. My strength came back to me bit by bit.

“I’m all right, Your Highness. Thank you.”

I stood on guard. Premier could have sensed my magic and be on his way, or he could have been behind those webs all along. I doubted the latter. Even with the lack of regard he showed his creatures, not even he would have wanted so many to be killed when he was so close to victory.

“Nice job, lad,” Jastillian said. He flicked some dark entrails from his bushy beard. “And my foolish brother didn’t believe you had it in you.” He laughed, and I couldn’t help but grin.

“How could we have missed them?” someone asked in frustration. “The doors are wide open, and we saw nothing!”

“Concealment webs,” I said, staring at the illusion of empty hallways created by the webs. “Premier must have known about the tunnels and set a trap in case Princess Krystal returned. I need some of you to cover me while I take down the webs.”

I undid the webs. It was sloppy and messy, but fast. I would have walked through them, but didn’t want to take the chance that Premier had more surprises in store, or was just standing right there. I breathed easier when I saw Premier wasn't there and that there wasn’t another trap.

“We can't keep taking losses like this,” Jastillian said.

“What's the count?” I asked.

“Fourteen dead and four seriously wounded. More than half our people are gone.”

“We've got to hurry,” Prastian said.

“The dungeons aren't far from here,” Krystal said.

“Let's hope we don't run into any more surprises,” Behast said.

We left the wounded concealed in the secret passage, with a dwarf and an elf to guard them. The library was on the castle’s first floor—as close as the princess could get us to the dungeons. We jogged through the hallways, heading for the lower levels and keeping an eye out for any more traps or surprises.

We neared our destination and stopped. Krystal and I scouted the entrance to the dungeons. Two trolls and four goblins guarded them. I peeked from our hiding place and scanned the area for any magic. There were no webs or enchantments I could feel. It wasn’t the strong magic that worried me. It was the subtle magic I might not be able to detect.

We returned to the others and told them what we’d found. They decided to attack directly, since there was no other way to get to the dungeons. I would stay behind, watching for magic and guarding the princess.

Our forces rushed out. From a distance, the elves were able to get a few of their remaining arrows off. One troll had five arrows sticking out of his chest. Black blood ran down his chest, and he fell to the ground. Two more arrows pinned a goblin against the wall. As he slid to the floor, his dark blood left a slimy trail. The other goblins moved quickly, running towards us before more arrows could be released. The second troll had an arrow piercing his shoulder, but it barely slowed him down.

The dwarves and Behast followed the arrows. The dwarves’ axes found their marks and hacked away. Even if a creature blocked one, someone else's axe took its place, until the creature lost a limb and eventually its head.