Terrible Price

A quiet hush fell over the tower as every soul within shuddered at once. The crystal focus beneath my hand let out a high-pitched whine and began to vibrate violently, glowing brighter and brighter as the supercharged Dispel Magic ravaged the delicate runes and circles maintaining the curse.

And then it shattered. 

The room rocked from the shockwave, tiny knives of crystal shrapnel flying in all directions. The Blade Ward kept them from my hand, but I still stumbled back, looking up in awe as the golden chains binding the Shard shook. Black, jagged cracks ran through the polished metal, and link by link, it began to break. Gold rained from the sky in flecks and fragments, peppering the ground and the spell collapsed in on itself.

The crystal hummed as thousands of black threads snapped at once, seeming relieved to be free of the burden. It brightened momentarily as the mana it was mustering no longer had anywhere to go, but quickly dispersed it.