| Fred and the others stumble out into the sunlight, and discover that
they are within 500 feet from the river. This exit is build into a cliff.
The floating stone door, still covered with shards of the fused sand/glass
hanging on one side of it's face that had been jamming it drops and goes
dead. Then, a cloud of dirt blasts it's way out of the hole. This way out
of the city has served it's purpose and sealed itself in a most permanent
manner. No enemy will gain entrance through this way ever.
Fred and the other survivors stumble back to the boat, surprising the
lookout and the others by the direction that they come from. Soon, the
dead are mourned and the living celebrated (with hugs, kisses, and toasts).
Fred then calls for a meeting with those not needed to sail the small craft
down this river.
********************************************************************
"First," Fred says to the gathered crowd. "While I have lost people
under my command while in the Navy…..losing them to monster snakes and
carnivorous bugs was a new one for me. Alicia, you say you know what those
monsters were?"
"I'm afraid I do," Alicia sighs. "I do not know why those guardian creatures
were acting the way they did, but I……think it has something to do with
whatever devastated the land here. Those creatures were only supposed to
kill or chase off any intruders who enter the treasury without permission.
They SHOULD not have been so aggressive! And with the devastation that
destroyed everything above ground I……never dreamed that the treasury would
be in any shape that you could have entered. Besides, the portals to that
room should not have been open." A look of real sorrow is on Alicia's face,
quieting any would be critizers.
The were-bear mage then speaks, partly to comfort Alicia and partly
to throw out some information.
"What we have here is something comparable to the some of the war magic
released in the war that eventually sank Atlantis," he says, drawing shocked
mutters from his audience. "What really is…..disturbing for a spell slinger
such as myself and Carradene is………"
Synizn looks like he's swallowed a bad tasting berry.
|
