The defeated mage had seemed so terrifying seconds ago. Him along with his skeletons. Yet our teacher ended them with a single spell, the most surreal tide of light I had ever seen.
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It was the power of a maister gave us that little respite and more… hope. 146Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhf59xihgMW
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Judging by Maister Rorke’s casual demeanor as he approached, nothing else sinister would be waiting for us outside."Step lightly; we are still besieged," he said. Everybody else, Warren, Roy, the clerics, we breathed a little easier. I forgot I was even breathing. But an air of calm slowly unwinded back into the sanctum, and I could feel my heart beating normally again.
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When I was upright, I resisted the urge to hug my teacher. It was not over yet, and I could not pretend things might go ack to normal. But at long last, there was room to think. And in that interval, the maister quickly surveyed the students to make sure everyone was okay. Then he turned toward the clergy, approaching the head priest in the center. "Vicar Riordan, while I don’t mean to challenge your faith, this is no longer a safe haven."
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"Faith demands staunchness," the vicar casually protested. "As much as it is our salvation, it is in need of saving. And it cannot stand without its keeper."
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"It will not stand at all,” rebutted Rorke. “There are not enough words for the coming danger, except to say that the tempest in the eastern sky is something of a vexxing fixation. It alone is cause to flee in earnest. I have never seen a storm such as the one at our gates."
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The vicar kept his confident albeit weak smile."The strength of what we must weather is irrelevant, Maister. Heark, by my Faith, I cannot abandon a sacred place and allow it to be ground down into ruin by the wicked. It has stood the test of time since Otto and its founding. I am unable relinquish the halls that have elevated countless pupils over the centuries. I want to be here when it ends, should it end." When he said those words, a question dawned on me. Would Cinderfall see its last day? My heart thumped. Hell had come so close, and nobody seemed to know why. Why were we under attack?
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“Why don’t we just run back through the hole in the wall?” exclaimed Roy. The Skeletons are gone; the heretic is dead; and Maister Rorke can rightly smite anything that roams the streets.”
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Priestess Serrina and Rorke surveyed us students with grim visages. The priestess peered distantly into a swift and somber memory. “I am sorry, Roy,” she said. "It is much to risk for a student.”
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“But why?”
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“Because the last one who endeavored to cross the threshold quickly vanished into dust,” Rorke said flatly.
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Roy winced, no doubt from the same image that crossed my thoughts.
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Maister Rorke sighed in deep dismay while in meditation. The crystal tip of his bronze, ornate staff hung over his head and furrowed brow. Before long, however, he was upright. "I will guide the children to safety, Vicar. We shall make our way to the keep, activate the warpstone therein, and teleport away from the danger."
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"As you say, Maister," Riordan turned his defiant attention to Priestess Serrina, who’d been listening so intently. "Here is thine salvation, sister. Accompany the young ones alongside the maister. Be their light, as thou art ours. Once they are safe, and thou art on the other side, there is one more task for thee to finish. Give this missive to the Grand Hierohpant.” He retrieved a sealed letter from within his robe. In that split second, I noticed the glittering seal. “Do not tarry; do not falter. Be their guiding light."
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"As you say," she replied stoically. I suppose she wasn’t keen on a final stand, a last-ditch effort to conclude the battle with dead priests and priestesses. You couldn’t tell as much by looking at her face though. Serrina had a stone visage throughout. I chose to believe then that the woman without a smile was hiding grace. Maybe, there was more to her beneath the surface.
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"Students of Cinderfall!" Rorke beckoned. "Stay close, mind your surroundings, and do not stray from thy mentors. We are leaving Cinderfall Academy.” Steadfast vigor bellowed forth alongside his words. It helped me believe that, maybe, we could all slip away from this chaos in one piece. Reality remained a grim thing. Within it, I had stumbled into a realm of cope where, even after dust settled, I began to accept that some of my classmates wouldn’t be around anymore.
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Yet, wherever a thread of comfort could be found, I tugged. By the gods, let Elise be safe. She stayed at the forefront of my thoughts after I had found Roy.
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Everyone who was ready to flee the fucking nightmare, they gathered by the entrance, now a pile of rubble. We would be moving together, as one, and I could remember staring at worn leather shoes. They fidgeted with the weight of uncertainty.
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Before our departure into the chaos outside, Serrina would make her peace with the clerics. A bow. A bow and a few words. "May the Trinity beget thee providence, Vicar Riordan."
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"And you as well, sister."
Roy, too, bowed before the Vicar, ever the holy soldier. “Th-thank you, vicar.”
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And Serrina looked at the lot of us, a clash of somberness and resolve in her brilliant green eyes. "Stay as one, for I may ward the collective and rescue thee at a glance, at the slightest twitch of danger." Not the usual kind of lesson, admittedly. The priestess was different now, still resolute but in a heroic way. I envied that stalwart grace. But in all of the excitement, I forgot something. Something important...
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I am going to slow them down.
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There was nothing I could think to say in the moment between getting together and leaving the sanctum. My willpower, whatever I could muster of it, rallied toward keeping my feet on the ground. I don’t know how scared I was. I don’t know if I was brave or if I had become numb from the unbearability of it all. I was just lucky that someone was there to guide us, because I didn’t have to think for myself. I don’t think I could have.
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and then Add to home screen.