Rose let herself be dragged back towards Lord Venger's throne but glared at Reginald, the guard she had almost burned earlier that night. He held her arm roughly, digging in fingers painfully now and again.Bull, the leader, still eyed her suspiciously as he barked out orders to the men. She hoped that the others who had made it outside with Zakiyah's book would be able to elude the guards. Or perhaps merely delay them from bringing them back within the walls. She knew none of them wanted to be locked up inside Lord Venger's fortress for the night. Well, except perhaps Bubbles maybe. She hoped again the cambion was alright.
Suddenly, an explosion shook the fortress, loosing Reginald's hold on her arm. The guards all looked around, a bit alarmed and Bull yelled at the men to keep a look out. He turned back to Rose and growled out, "This had better not be the works of you and your troupe, or else it'll go badly for the lot of ye."
Rose didn't bother to answer, but she eased up on her clenched fists and called the demon magic within her. The smoke simmered just under her deon-marked palms, waiting to be released.
A second explosion, worse than the first, caused debris to fall from the upper levels down into the throne room. Several guards shielded themselves from the larger chunks of stone.
Rose looked up as she heard a high pitched voice calling her name. "Rose! Rose!"
Through the dust, she could see part of the spiral stairway and in the curve was Kimmy Kenderkin, waving wildly. She could just hear other voices calling out and swore she saw the Lorekeeper! She gasped as she realized that Lord Venger must have brought her here and taken her book. The others must've found Zakiyah!
Bull screamed out to the guards, "Don't just stand there! Bring them here!"
Rose stood up straight and yelled, "Get out of here and back to the others! Quickly! I have my own way out!" She hoped Kimmy and the others heard and then released the smoke in a powerful wave which snaked out around the room in an enormous smoke screen, detaining most of the guards.
She concentrated and forced a bit of herself into the smokey section blocking the door, making it solid. A guard attempted to grab her and she looked over, as if in a trance. It was Reginald again, hate in his eyes.
"I'll stop you for good, witch!" he roared and gripped her wrist so as to break it.
Rose felt the pain and swiftly reached over and shoved her palm into his face. Reginald screamed and released her wrist, clawing at his face. Beneath his hands, the other guards watched in horror as Reginald's face burned away from the inside out. It spread from his face outward to the rest of his body until there was nothing left to burn. The shell of his body collapsed into a foul smelling ash. Then there was just a hint of spices in the air.
The guards closest to Rose kept their distance from her. The ones near the door found it impossible to make it through the smoke. It was as if there were a shield between them and the doorway. One that seemed to get hotter the longer they stood within it.
As Bull grabbed a sword and rushed towards her, one of Rose's hands swept the air in front of her and a wall of smoke burst forth. A hawk soared through, taking shape and solidifying as it flew. It screeched a battle cry and dove for Bull's head, distracting him from the Storyteller.
Rose used the time to send tendrils of smoke to entwine around the groups of guards and had hoardes of snakes raise their hissing heads, ready to strike.
Bull cried out, "Fools! Attack her! It's not real! It's just illusion!" It was then that the hawk swooped down and snatched his sword out of his grasp with its talons. The thought passed between the men that if the hawk could do that then there was no telling what the snakes could do.
Rose knew this wouldn't stop the men for long, but she hoped the others would make it out before they tried the door again. She couldn't keep the shield up for long and only in bursts of will...
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