A massive crowd filled the courtyard of the Palace of Spire today. Along with the members of the Enlightened Conclave, the Arcane Watch, and the delegates from the city-states, a group of fifty-four people stood near the center. They were the Grand Magisters- the elite battle-mages who served as Solara's ultimate deterrent.
A single Magister could summon fierce lightning storms, open spatial rifts, or call down firestorms to wipe out an army from miles away. They were the main reason Solara, a city of scholars, had never faced an attack, and why the city always stayed neutral. If Solara took a side, it would tip the balance of power completely.
It was the first time Lorian and Selena had seen them in person, but neither of them had time to be impressed. They were too busy setting up the upcoming demonstration.
Lorian had already explained his theory and warned everyone that reviving the assassin from its ash could be risky, especially for anyone standing too close. The mages had prepared themselves, meaning no one could blame Lorian if things went wrong.
The real problem was figuring out how much mana to pour into the ash pile. The late Grand Scholar, Elana de Valois, had possessed a massive, almost superhuman mana pool. That unnatural energy was why she had looked so young even at the age of one hundred and forty. The mages could not agree on how much mana to use or how many of them should channel it at once. Finally, Lorian stepped in. He suggested they all pour their mana together, starting small and slowly increasing it until their combined energy matched the right level to trigger the reaction.
The Grand Magisters liked the idea and started doing just that. But soon, their faces twisted in discomfort, their focus seemed to get broken. A few of them stopped casting and started wiggling around. Then, one by one, they began screaming and jumping like crazy.
Their wild antics quickly spread to the Arcane Watch members. Even Gauthier de Mornay, Roul de Courtenay, and Guillaume de Saint-Clair- the three pillars of the Arcane Watch, started jumping and shouting in panic.
At the same time, dark clouds rolled in overhead, and strong winds began to blow from every direction. But the mages and guards were too busy freaking out to notice the sudden change in the weather. A few of them ripped off their fancy robes just to get them off. In the pale light, people finally saw what was causing the madness- their bodies were completely covered in red fire ants, crawling all over them like a swarm.
Lorian stared in disbelief. "RUN TO THE F***ING WATER, YOU GEEZERS!" he shouted.
Everyone scrambled, making a mad dash for the palace lake. They tripped, fell, and rolled across the grass, running as if wild beasts were chasing them. The big lake at the Palace of Spire turned out to be way too small, too shallow as they all jumped right in it; like pack of lemmings jumping to death in water.
Meanwhile, the weather grew much worse. The heavy winds felt strong enough to blow people away like dry leaves. Lorian grabbed a stone pillar and yelled, "JAX, PROTECT SELENA! NO HARM SHOULD COME TO HER!"
Hearing the order, Jax slammed his right hand into a nearby birch tree, digging his claws deep into the wood to anchor himself, while his other arm pulled Selena in tight.
Lorian's eyes scanned the area and suddenly got locked onto a dark figure standing high up on the wall. It seemed to be a person in a hooded tattered cloak. His face was hidden in shadow except for two bright green eyes. His arms were stretched out wide, as if they were controlling the storm itself. A bit further away, he noticed another hooded figure sitting on the wall, also glowing with bright green eyes.
The four glowing eyes locked right onto Lorian. Even though he could not see their faces, Lorian could feel as if they were smiling at him.
A massive gust of wind hit them hard. Lorian screamed, feeling his grip on the stone pillar start to slip. His voice was quickly drowned out by Jax's deep bestial roar and Selena's cry. Then a blinding wall of dust swept through, cutting off all sound.
Just as quickly as it started, the strange storm vanished. The dark clouds broke, and the warm morning sun shone down on the plaza again.
The Grand Magisters climbed out of the pool one by one, their skin was bright red and swollen with bitemarks. Lorian looked back up at the walls, but the figures were gone.
Then came another shock.
The ash pouches were missing. Not just the one they were going to use for the test, but the ones carried by the other city-state delegates as well. It looked like the fierce wind had blown every single pouch away.
Lorian hurried over to where Selena and Jax were standing. Selena was safe, but she looked completely shaken, as if she were still in shock. Lorian shook her gently and called her name until she snapped out of it, throwing her arms around him in a tight hug. Maeve, Cillian, and the other Valorian guards rushed over, looking relieved to see she was unharmed.
Lorian turned to Jax, who was standing straight with his hands behind his back.
"Show me your hand," Lorian ordered.
Jax held it out. His right hand- the one he had driven into the birch tree to hold his ground- was a gory mess. Wood splinters had pierced deep into his paw, and sharp splinters of woods were stuck right between his flesh and claws. He was bleeding badly.
The Valorian knights, feeling guilty that they had failed to protect their princess, dropped to one knee in front of Jax. They were grateful to him for saving her, which was supposed to be their job, and hurting himself badly I that process.
Selena's eyes got filled with tears. She gently took his bleeding hand in hers, "Thank you, Jax. I do not know how to…."
"Don't talk like that, Princess," Jax grunted, "You saved my neck in court yesterday. And you're the master's woman. If something happened to you, he'd snap. Not on my watch. Nobody touches you while I'm standing here."
Selena smiled through her tears and gave Jax a quick hug, "Like idiot lord, like idiot retainer!" She looked up at Cillian and told her to get Jax patched up right away.
But the worst was not over yet.
Roul spotted a thick trail of ants leading straight toward the palace. Following his lead, the group tracked the trail, crushing ants underfoot the whole way. The line of bugs ended at the inner chamber where Grand Scholar Elana's body was kept.
The ants had covered the wooden stand and eaten away most of the soft flesh on Elana's corpse, leaving it barely recognizable. A few people gagged and threw up on the spot after seeing the grim remains.
Gauthier collapsed onto the floor, looking completely defeated. "We failed… I failed…" he kept mumbling over and over.
Thibaut de Vianne, the Chancellor of the Seals, spun around and yelled at one of the Grand Magisters, "What is the meaning of this, High Mage Duran? We specifically told you to seal the entire palace behind a protective barrier. How did this happen? It was just an eighth-tier weather spell! Why couldn't any of you stop it?"
Mage Duran dropped to his knees, "I beg your forgiveness, Your Brilliance. But when we raised the barrier, we never thought an attack would come from beneath our feet. Once the fire ants swarmed us, our focus broke, and the shield fell apart."
"And that careless mistake cost us everything- our future and our pride!" Thibaut roared.
Lorian bent down and picked up one of the ants. It was a normal fire ant, native to this world, looked just like the ones from his old life. It wriggled between his fingers, its tiny jaws still holding a speck of flesh.
Lorian walked back to the pool to check if all the people have come out; and there the last surprise was awaiting him.