The jeers from the gatehouse had long since turned to cries of terror, but the sounds were instantly swallowed by the storm.
The cataclysmic scene lasted for about ten seconds.
Then, as abruptly as it had arrived, the winds began to subside.
The dust and sand obscuring their vision slowly settled.
The two soldiers, still shaken, cautiously opened their stinging eyes.
The sky was once again a vivid blue, and the sun was just as blinding.
The streak of Dark Gold Streaming Light that had caused it all had vanished without a trace, as if it had never been there.
Only the ravaged ground before the fortress, the new scrapes on its walls, and their own sorry state—covered in dust and spitting sand from their mouths—proved that the brief, terrifying moment had not been a hallucination.
"J-just now..." the sentry's voice was hoarse and trembling. "What in the world was that?"
