Tempest

Chapter Thirteen

A/N: This took way too long to write, but in my defense I was on a different continent.

Both sorcerers jumped back in fear. Apparently this wasn’t part of their plan. I just stared. Only the center had collapsed so far, but I could see the cracks expanding like deadly spider webs. Some of people were clambering onto the already-fallen rocks to save themselves, but all I could think was, Oh, god, what is Kyran or Taz is under there? Who’s under there? Who died because of us? The town hall slowly began to fall unto itself, rocks falling, and all the bright and lovely decorations scattered among the chaos just seemed to give the whole scene not only gruesome but also with a delightful macabre tinge to it. I shook, motionless, my fist still frozen mid-punch as screams filled the air. A woman’s dress got snagged under a falling rock, and she glanced up, panicking, to see a rock hurtling towards her. I let my fist fall and I looked away to hear her screams cut off.

There was nothing to do. If I got any closer I might die too, and it seemed that the sorcerers were not expecting the whole building to cave in, which was extremely bad planning on their part. The blonde’s face was pale, pale, and slightly green, as if he was about to be sick, and it occurred to me that he didn’t want to be doing this any more than I wanted to watch it. He just appeared to be another puppet in this massive, dangerous game. His hands were shaking, and when out of the corner of his eye he caught me looking, he angrily glared before looking away. I could hear snatches of what the older sorcerer was saying under his breath. Things like, “This wasn’t supposed to happen,” or, “We need him.”

As you can imagine, I wasn’t in the best state of mind right now, and marching over to the sorcerers like an angry child was probably not the best thing to do, but in my mind it was perfect. “What are you talking about? Who do you need?” I yelled, before raising my hand to punch him again, but he caught me this time.

His grip was iron around my wrist, freezing and unforgiving. He leaned down so his face was in mine; his breath was chilly and I smelled something akin to rotting flesh on him. I swallowed to keep myself from retching. “Listen, Vivien. I’m sorry to say this, but you’re not important. There are two people in this equation that are very, very important, and that’s what we came here for,” he said, very silkily. His words weren’t very threatening, but then he jerked his wrist, and my wrist was engulfed in a fiery pain. I cried out and he released me and I slumped to the floor, cradling my wrist.

“That was not necessary!” the blonde one shrieked, his voice suddenly thunderous, and the other snarled at him.

“You’re just weak!” he shouted back and shoved the younger to the ground. He landed sprawled on his back, before flipping himself back up onto all fours. His spine seemed to stick out of his back and his shoulder blades rippled grotesquely beneath his skin. The other took a step back. “Calm yourself,” he muttered beneath his breath, extending his hands face-up, as if trying to sooth him.

The blonde seemed to relax, uncurling slightly and raising to both feet, swaying slightly. The other steadied him with his hands on his shoulders, but he jerked away, casting his gaze down. We must’ve made for quite a sight, the two sorcerers squabbling and one lowly human just sitting on the ground and crying.

By this point, almost all of the town hall had collapsed and some people were clawing their way out of the wreckage, brightly colored balls wandering from the blackened, charred remains of the hall. There was no sign of Kyran’s white clothing or Taz’s white mask. Dimly, I remembered my mysterious suitor, and there was no sign of him either.

Everyone.

They’re gone.

In my private moment of grieving, I didn’t notice both of the sorcerers stop their fighting and snap to attention, both staring into the remains of the building. People were crowded around, even in a near-death experience they still wanted to see what everyone was gasping about. I glanced up shakily and slowly, cautiously made my way over to the gathering of people. The sorcerers ignored me, preferring to stare from afar. And there, lying in the middle of the rubble with a purple ribbon lying over its back was a fox. A golden fox.