Time for a Non-subtle Approach

What happened next surprised everyone. The process of petrification had evidently welded the lid fast to the body of the trunk. The whole chest, which even if it turned out to be empty must have weighed well over a hundred pounds, rose several feet into the air.

Astra, showing no sign of strain, put the chest down again. She turned to see three astonished faces looking at her. Evidently none of them had realised until now quite how strong she was.

She decided to attempt to convey a vision of what she intended to try next. She thought that Gloria, as an Aqualarian and evidently - going by the light that she had produced - a sorceress, was likely to be the most receptive subject. She visualised Balischo, Gloria and Carduman retreating to the other end of the subterranean chamber. Then she showed herself lifting the chest high above her head and dashing it to the floor. She visualised it as shattering on impact and shards flying in all directions. (It seemed unlikely to her that the chest's contents would be fragile, but if they were and broke in the process then too bad.)

Gloria's expression of rapt concentration cleared as the vision ended. "That was wonderful!" she sighed. As a steingeweser Astra might have some limitations that humnans did not, but she also clearly had some remarkable abilities that arguably more than compensated.

She returned her attention to the matter at hand. "Are you sure that you wouldn't be at risk of being injured by a flying shard yourself, Ma'am?"

Astra nodded. She was pretty confident by now that her body was tough enough to withstand almost anything. After all she had just fallen about ten feet onto a hard floor without any sign of damage.

Gloria turned to the others. "The princess showed me a vision. She is going to try to smash the chest on the floor. There could be pieces of it flying in all directions, so we must retreat to the far end of the chamber to make sure that we are not injured."

Astra lifted the chest above her head and then threw it forwards and downwards.

1. As anticipated, the chest shatters on impact with the floor.
2. Anti-climax. The chest remains intact. The petrified wood must be remarkably strong.
3. The chest does not shatter, but cracks appear.

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