A guard comes running. “Our magic. It’s not working.”
The lightstones go out at the same moment.
“Light candles!” the queen yells.
I try to condense some water on my hand, wondering if my magic has been suppressed as well, but relief courses through me as a water ball appears on my palm.
Beside me, Mirella gives me a small smile.
The thin flame of a candle brings some light to the mezzanine, and the queen yells, “Secure all windows and doors! Defend our treasure.”
“I have water magic,” I tell her. “How can I help?”
Her eyes are hard and her body is stiff. “Stay close, but hidden. He’s coming.”
He. It can’t be. “The Witch King?” I ask.
She nods. “He didn’t get us last time. This court kept itself well hidden, but he promised revenge. I guess that’s why he didn’t give us time to hide now. Ghouls are his creatures, and if they’re here, it’s because he transcended to this area. Nobody’s safe. Nowhere’s safe. A circle of magic, or rather, a circle withnomagic, that’s his signature attack.”
My insides turn to stone.
“Fire can deter the ghouls,” Tarlia says. “If you have oil or spirits, we can make weapons to fight them.”
The queen glares at her. “Hide. Just hide, and hope he doesn’t find you.” She then yells, “Archers!”
“Arrows won’t hurt them,” Renel says.
Meanwhile, two guards carrying bows come to the queen’s side.
She huffs. “They’ll slow them down. With no air magic, we can’t push them off the hill. Now hide!”
Something’s banging on the main door of the castle, and I go there and reinforce the door with ice. The banging doesn’t stop, and I don’t know how long I’ll be able to protect it with my magic.
There aren’t enough guards around, perhaps because they’re protecting other windows and doors, but I’m getting the sense that the forces here are quite small.
Renel and Tarlia rush down the stairs and continue going down, and then I hear glass crashing above me and rush to the mezzanine. Four ghouls breached the area, and while the guards shoot arrows, they do nothing.
I aim at the feet of the two closest to us, and lock them in place with ice, giving time for the queen to hit them with her sword. The two others advance, and something hits one ghoul.An apple. I realize it’s Mirella, who throws a second one at them. I create ice daggers and hit their chests. They fall, and I push them out the window.
“Do you have more swords somewhere?” I ask the queen. “Arrows don’t work.”
She snaps her fingers, and one of the guards descends the stairs. I can barely believe she let most of her retinue abandon her. Two ghouls advance through the broken windows, and I send balls of ice on their faces. My magic is temporarily weakened after reinforcing the door, and I can’t create enough ice to lock all of their feet or to create a barrier, and I’m starting to get worried.
Mirella throws plates at them, but still they advance, and then five more show up behind them. I create a layer of ice on the floor, smooth and slippery, and while some of the ghouls fall, three still advance, while five more come from behind them.
I have a dagger, but it’s hardly enough to fight against one ghoul, nevermind six or seven of them.
My insides turn cold. I should perhaps run and hide, but then if the ghouls take the castle, will there be any hiding spot? And we don’t even know if they haven’t entered through other windows. Don’t even know if any place is safe.
I create thin ice daggers and throw, realizing they’re as useless as arrows, as Mirella throws a plate, making one of them fall. There are too many.
My heart beats fast in my chest, and I glance at Mirella, wondering if she’s willing to run, but she has a cup in her hand, her face set, ready to fight. The queen is struggling with her sword against two ghouls. This would be the moment for a great surge of magic, but there isn’t that much humidity here, and my magic is still weakened.
A new light comes from behind me. Tarlia has a candle, and Renel carries a pot, and then she throws a wooden skewer withfire on its tip, then another. The ghouls burn quickly when fire reaches them, and I use some water to douse it and prevent the fire from burning the castle.
Once these ghouls are pushed back, we approach the window, from where I see more creatures climbing. Outside, I can feel more water in the air. My magic returns in full force, and and I create a layer of ice on the stone, turning it slippery, while Tarlia and Renel throw balls or skewers with fire. I see that he has some strong alcohol in the pot, and some wooden and fabric pieces, and they’re lighting and throwing them, which is quite effective against the ghouls.
Below us, the door bangs, and I go down to reinforce it—but it’s too late. It swings open, revealing a man flanked by some ten ghouls. A man with purplish-black hair.
