Chapter 205 - 206
Everyone scrambled into the nearest alleyway in anticipation of another devastating conflagration spell, time seeming to slow as Woods, now farthest in the back, tripped over his feet under the burden of the dead girl’s body and fell to the ground with wide, disbelieving eyes. A bright flash suddenly stole away their vision, all of them covering their bodies as best they could as a rush of hot air whooshed into the alleyway as if a mythical beast had just let loose a scalding breath. Anice sensed the pillar of flames punch through the western gate and continue on into the land beyond the walls before abruptly flickering out like a candle.
Woods, along with a significant portion of Mayhaven’s population, had almost instantaneously disappeared from sight. The rest of the Dozen, for their part, had been protected from the tumultuous torrents of scalding air by sudden shields of invisible energy, their lives preserved by the charms that Mr. Albeck had made for them.
No...
Jaden stood up in a daze and stumbled out of the alleyway, shrugging off Zech’s fumbling reach as he came to a stop a few paces away from where their friend had fallen. He subconsciously reached out with his left hand, only to retract it almost immediately before gritting his teeth and turning his head.
Just a handful of minutes ago everyone had been smiling in the hot sun while they awaited the arrival of the holy delegation. Now, thousands of people were dead including many of the Dozen’s family members.
Everyone began to sob with different levels of hysteria as it registered in their minds that Woods was dead. An upbeat and lively young man that all of them loved, erased in the blink of an eye in a merciless manner.
Were they all destined to die today? Anice could sense the demon as it moved closer, lashing out with its arms to destroy anything in sight while blasting things to bits that were beyond its physical reach. After killing all those that had fled down West Street, it had turned its attention to the hundreds of people that were still hiding within homes and other buildings, blast after blast sounding in the background from not far off. Its intent was clear; to kill everything and everyone that fell within its perceptions.
Jaden winced and took a few steps back, noticing that the soles of his shoes were melting away from the heat of the pavement beneath them. Like everyone else, his mind was a mess.
As the group remained in place, dazed and disturbed, a scarlet blur suddenly shot past the mouth of the alleyway a second before an echoing sound of impact filled the sombre streets. Something had just smashed directly through Mayhaven’s western wall in a shower of fractured stone, as if the fortifications had been struck by one of the great projectiles of the siege engines commonly used in war.