Iris glanced at her lute, in the firm grip of one of the guards, as they approached the fortress. *If only I had it!* she thought. *I could charm them into letting us go and telling us....*Before she could finish her thought, a cacephony of sounds reached their ears: an explosion, the snap of thick wood, the grating rumble of rocks grinding together, shouts of fear, screams of pain--
Everyone stopped short and stared at the once-solid fortress, now falling like a house of cards. Luckily, they were still far enough away to not be injured by debris plummeting to the ground, but that didn't ease Iris's mind any as she thought of her friends still inside.
"Run!" commanded the leader of the guards. "Lord Venger must have been slain, and if he finds us once he is whole again he will kill us!" The burly men tore off in all directions.
"Give me back my lute!" Iris shouted, but in vain, as the man carrying it dashed off. She turned away, asking herself, "Now what am I...?"
A tingle in her half-open right hand caught her attention, and as she watched, a golden light appeared in the shape of her lute. It solidified, and the lute glowed with a golden aura briefly before returning to normal.
Iris didn't allow herself to stay stunned for more than a brief moment. A song that might help her friends sprang to mind and lips, and she began strumming and singing, reaching out and trying to put herself in her friends' shoes in the hopes that her magic could find them in time.
"I keep runnin' in circles, never know where I stand/And nothin' seems to work exactly as I planned...."
An oval of rainbowy light, a portal, appeared a few steps away. Fay approached it, but jumped back as a figure fell through....
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