Ellegaard investigated the battlefield. The crystals still glowed as if they were alive, and the destruction surrounding the area became more evident the closer she got to the castle.
The damp air still carried the metallic scent of blood mixed with wet ash and pulverized stone.
Further ahead, upon the king's old throne, lay a large stain of dried blood splattered across the stone and dust, as if something had crashed there with tremendous force.
She touched the stain and immediately knew whose blood it was. Then she looked at the path ahead of the throne; the blood trailed forward until it eventually faded into a blurred streak. A few finger marks could be seen in the dust, desperate signs of someone who had tried to keep moving even when their body should no longer have been capable of doing so.
There was a great deal of ash nearby, swirling before the walls like a tornado of dust dragged out from the castle's interior.
