Chapter 21

"Grab your shit and get to the fucking stables, now!" Talia screamed as she burst into Bromyr's room. All the dwarves looked up startled. Floki quickly clambered to his feet as he stormed up to her.

"What in the gods names do you think you're doing bursting in like this! My Prince must permit you entry to his private quarters, this is incredibly disrespectful!" He stomped his foot in rage, his cheeks puffing out red and his beady eyes alight with his fury. Talia reached down and grabbed him by his bushy brown beard making sure to lean in as close as she could,

"You pack your fucking shit or I'll let you burn here like the little fucking idiot you are." She released him causing him to stumble back into his friends.

"Talia what is the meaning of this? I thought we had another week before our supplies were ready." Bromyr stood up and brushed himself off. He glanced around to his men and back to her waiting for an explanation.

"Nevermind that right now, we don't have a lot of time. Things are only going to get worse the longer we wait and I'd rather not face the King's guard if I don't have to. Now pack up, if you're not waiting for me at the stables in an hour and a half I'll leave you. I'm not joking." She turned on her heel and stomped out of their quarters and over to her own. Nico followed closely behind,

"What do you need me to do?" He asked while she started packing her things. She shoved her loose clothing back into the bag along with anything else that would fit.

"Go find Minnow and Alister, tell them to set sail as soon as they physically can. Tell them they have until sunrise. I'm going to gather our things here, do you still have that construct at the stables in our tack room?" She asked urgently. Nico was skilled at constructs and in that particular instant it would allow her to teleport most of their gear directly to the stables, hopefully unnoticed.

"Yes, I left it on your saddle, which reminds me what about those saddles and bags you had crafted up for us?" He followed her as she stormed out of Bromyr's room. She sighed heavily, if only there were time to go and grab what they had finished but there was no way she was going to risk such and endeavor with the threat of the Dragonfyre looming.

"I guess I'm just glad it was pay on collection and not on commission else I'd be out a fair bit of gold for shit we'll never get to see." Nico didn't ask any more questions as she opened her door and entered her room. Instead the moment he noted her open window he assumed his raven form and flew out into the open air of Amethyst Cove.

'I'll be back soon, stay safe.' He told her as he faded into the distance. She offered him the same sentiment before quickly packing her bags and throwing them onto the pile of goods she had stored in her closet. She eyed the pile with a small bit of loathing, it was always a pain in the ass to move such a stockpile. It was worse when they were under imminent threat. She lay a hand flat on the surface of the pile and recalled the incantation to use with Nico's construct. It took a few moments to remember the proper words but once she did it was only a second before the gear disappeared with a 'whoosh'.

"We're ready to go Talia." Bromyr spoke from her doorway, his posse stacked behind him all with grim yet determined expressions on their faces. Talia nodded, pushing her way through them to lead outside. They followed without word like a well oiled troop. She supposed fear was a truly magnificent motivation.

"Where are you going?" Lotus called from a table. She was surrounded by several folks who looked similar to her in coloring and facial features.

"We're leaving, you'd do well to do the same. Anyone working for Minnow get to the docks now and load your shit into his ship." Talia ordered loudly. Most of Lotus's party stood and departed quickly, no other instruction needed.

"And what am I supposed to do?" Lotus snapped, her eyes glowing bright blue with barely repressed rage. Talia felt her own emotions spike dangerously,

"I don't care what the fuck you do so long as you don't get in my way." She turned and continued to march out the doors and into the streets. She could hear the small woman rush up behind her,

"Good! Then I'll follow you. I won't get in your way, I swear it." She sounded breathless already and they hadn't even started to run in earnest. Talia debated backhanding her and ordering her to bugger off elsewhere but she didn't have the time or desire to do it. Lotus was more an annoying thorn than she was a true threat, should she fall behind it was on her.

Silently they all pressed forward in an attempt to rush the gates before panic could set in, though it seemed that at least some city folks seemed to know what Dragonfyre was. Talia could hear distant screaming and arguing as well as the sound of rushing feet quickly approaching. Already the road ahead was clogged with people, their faces pale and nervous as they tried to decide the best course of action. Guards were slowly but surely starting to bleed into the crowds as well, their shiny armored bodies standing out starkly even amongst the vibrant people.

"No pushin! Get in line if yer so eager ta get out the gates!" One guard shouted over the crowd. Talia noted his hand resting firmly upon the pommel of his sword. No guard was standing idly, they all paced with their weapons within quick grasp. She wondered if they'd start killing people when panic truly broke out. What was the King thinking now? Was he trying to escape too, or was he going to hide in his jade palace? She could see the greenish-blue castle sitting high above the rest of the city. If he thought it would burn he was sorely mistaken.

The group was forced to fall into line behind the citizens ahead of them as everyone surged for the gates. The noise became cacophonous, nearly deafening her sensitive ears. What was worse was the jostling, no human seemed to mind ramming into her now that they were scared. She stumbled several times from the impact of a scared human attempting to rush forward. She'd slam her fist into their midriffs causing them to fall to the ground in agony and silence.

"Do you think we should be leaving a trail of injured folks behind us? Especially with so many guards nearby..." Bromyr muttered to Talia from her left. She winced, turning in an attempt to see him when she replied,

"Do you want to be bowled over by these headless chickens? They'd kill us for a chance to move forward believe you me." Humans were dangerous when they were afraid, it wasn't a lesson she had to learn more than once. They were like cornered wolves lashing out at anything close enough to feel pain or bleed.

"The guards are too distracted as it is my Prince, even if they wanted to watch us they have to focus the gates or get stampeded." Floki was fingering his own sword wishing he had his axe on his back. Talia was right when she warned Bromyr of the danger of humans. Like a tidal wave they'd rush over them thoughtlessly just to preserve another few seconds of their miserable lives.

"What was this King thinking bringing Dragonfyre into his city? Do you still have the egg? Do you think this could be related to..." Talia waved at Bromyr silencing him with a glare.

"Even if it was because of that we can't let the whole world know about it. And we're leaving so hopefully any plans he had for it are thwarted in that regard." It was a stretch to assume the Dragonfyre had anything to do with the dragon egg, she assumed it was more a precaution on the King's end with wars threatening at every border. Perhaps he was going to try and take a preemptive. Amethyst Cove had never been a huge kingdom with massive amounts of land but that could always change under each new leader.

"Do you guys smell that?" Lotus spoke up suddenly, her small hand grabbing a fist full of Talia's tunic. Talia paused and sniffed the air, through the muddled scent of human, fear, and water she could almost catch the ghost of a smell...

"Get down!" She screamed as she threw Lotus to the ground. Nico immediately launched himself into Bromyr. Talia barely had time to construct a shield before the first shockwave struck them. The sound of the explosion hit her ears though after the first moment she found herself completely deafened. She watched in shock and awe as dust and debris flew past her barrier. It was like watching a tidal wave of wood and bodies.

"Wha..." Lotus pulled herself up to a sitting position as she watched Talia strain against the force of the explosion. She watched as black smoke started to billow towards the dockyards. The dust started to settle and the people behind them started to surge towards the gate in a frenzy of rabid terror.

"Don't move yet, I can't promise I can keep this barrier up for the second shockwave." Talia warned her darkly. Lotus noted her eye had started to glow brightly. She could even feel the sharp spike in mana as she braced for what was to come.

"Second shockwave?" It was all she could manage. Was this what Dragonfyre was truly capable of? It was with horror that she saw a ripple in the distant smoke. It took no time at all for the reverberations to reach them, she could see the ground below her ripple and buck under the force.

"Gah!" Talia screamed, her right arm buckling with a sickening 'crack'. Still she held her left arm forward with a look of pure concentration and her barrier held against the hurricane of wind and flame that had now overtaken them.

"Talia! Let me help you." Nico cried out from where he was holding Bromyr down. Talia shook her head at him,

"You would never be able to withstand the force. It's alright I can take this no problem." She flashed him a reassuring smile though Lotus could see the overwhelming pain reflected in her eye.

"But your arm..." He tried to reach towards her but she pinned him with a sharp look.

"It's alright it'll heal in a minute now let me focus before we all get blown up!" Nico bit his lip at her order but eventually relented.

"If you need help ask." He bit out. She nodded,

"I know. I will if it's needed but for now your focus is the dwarves. Start moving them towards the stables, once the worst of this blast wave is over I'll follow you. Try not to get trampled by the humans or stabbed by a guard would you?" She smiled at him. He looked to her with a mixture of uncertainty and regret but eventually did as she said.

"What about me?" Lotus piped up quickly, she didn't want to get let behind. Talia shrugged,

"Whatever you want to do, do it. I have bigger things to worry about." Lotus's heart sank at the implications. She wasn't about to get left behind or abandoned again.

"I can be useful! I can do magic." She lifted her hand up and summoned some water out of the air. It was a cheap trick she had done a thousand times before in her homeland but it had earned her a few coins here or there. The small blob of water encased her hand before she allowed it to fall to the ground with a 'splat!'.

"That's all well and good but a little drop of water's not going to do anything against these flames. This isn't your regular fire, it can't be put out with water alone. It will devour everything in sight including the metal and stone." Lotus watched as Talia sagged under the pressure of maintaining the shield. Her arms were shaking and she was sweating profusely, it was clear she wasn't going to be able to keep it up. She readied herself just in case the half-giant would stumble, already getting a feel for the distant ocean waters surging and ebbing.

"I can't do much besides summon water but if we could suffocate the flames..." She offered eagerly. Talia cut her off with a snap of her teeth,

"The only way to choke out the Dragonfyre is to let it burn itself out or to take away its fuel source and snuff it before it can find another. Even if you could bring the whole ocean down on it, it would burn." Lotus couldn't wrap her mind around such a thing but she would defer to Talia's knowledge on the matter.

Talia could feel her strength waning quickly as the chaos outside her safety bubble continued to rage. She could detect the source of the explosion clearly as it burned up into an inferno. If she didn't move soon the green flames would overrun them and even her magic wouldn't be able to hold them at bay. The whole city was soon to be lost. Still, she couldn't stop now else the dwarves and Nico would be overrun and probably die in the heatwave. Even she was starting to sweat from the sheer intensity of the fire and it wasn't even close to them yet.

Minutes passed like hours. Talia wasn't sure how long it took before the wind started to die down and her hearing to return but she could swear by it being at least ten years just by the exhaustion weighing down her limbs. Finally she let her non-broken arm fall and with it the barrier. Quickly smoke and dust flowed in like water, she choked as she covered her face with her broken arm and grabbed at Lotus to drag her along to the stables. Maybe her magic would come in handy, just not for something like Dragonfyre.

"Wait, look out!" Lotus screamed and pulled away from Talia's grasp. She barely heard the woman through the ringing in her ears but she did manage to turn just in time to see a flaming mast hurtling down towards them. On instinct she raised her right arm in an attempt to create a quick shield but the pain nearly took her to her knees. In horror she watched it get closer and closer until a wall of water swirled in just above her head. The roar of the water sounded just like a waterfall, if her ears weren't still ringing she was sure it was a noise that would rattle her.

"I thought you were a small time mage..." She managed to croak just as the flaming mast sunk itself into the watery barrier. It hissed venomously but didn't manage to break through. Luckily she noted that the fire was orangish red and not green, it went out without a fight leaving a blackened mess behind.

"Well, I'm more of a one trick pony to be fair. I can summon water to me and that's about it, though the amount depends entirely on what I'm doing. In this instance... As much of the ocean as I can physically manage." Lotus strained under the weight of her water but Talia noted her confidence. She stood proudly with her arms raised and her eyes glowing brilliantly.

"You could have sank your slaver ship and had the water whisk you and the others away safely..." She mused quietly while getting to her feet. Lotus may credit herself to being weak but there was no denying her potential. Lotus shrugged with a small smile,

"They took precautions. But now I can do my magic freely so I figure what better way to pay you back right? We should go..." The water started to recede quickly back to the ocean. Talia nodded. They both turned and darted down the now empty street towards the stables.