As soon as the summoning was complete, Hazelmere’s entire body got chilled to the bone. It felt as if her whole body got suddenly encased in ice.

All of a sudden, she saw rows of giant trees in front of her. She never imagined trees could be so tall and thick. She couldn’t even see their tops! For a moment, she wondered if, perhaps, the portal led to Sanddiac forest, the land of the wood elves.

But none of it mattered because the energy was leaving her body at a dangerous pace. “A curse, perhaps?” She wondered. “Maybe we missed a trap in the scrolls?”

“Everyone, stand back!” She heard Heartwell yell, “Flee! We’ll buy you some time!”

She looked in the direction of his voice and saw him struggling to get his sword out of its sheet.

“Nail it!” He cursed, “I can’t get my sword out! It’s stuck!”

“I can’t get mine either!” Vukasin joined him in yelling.

“Everyone retreat, now! We’ll return once we rally!”

“Commander, my body is getting stiff!” One of his soldiers said in a pleading voice, “I can’t move properly!”

“None of us can! Just pull back! And make sure all the mages are with us! Don’t leave them behind!”

As he said that, he took a spear away from one of his soldiers, saying: “I’m better at using this than you are!” Then, he shoved his sheathed sword in the same soldier’s hands: “In the meantime, try getting this nailed thing out!”

The soldier nodded and started pulling the sword maniacally, but without success.

“Are you mages deaf!” Heartwell got back to his yelling, “Pull back! Pull back while you still can! We don’t know how much time we can buy!”

Hazelmere felt her body fly up in the air as her vision started twisting around. She let out a sigh of relief once she realized she was in Vukasin’s hands.

“We can’t lose the royal archmage, can we?” He said, forcing a smile on his face. However, his eyes revealed the terror he felt.

“What’s going on?” She asked.

“You’ve successfully opened the portal.”

“To where?”

“… only the gods know.”

As Vukasin carried her away, she leaned over his shoulder to take a look at the portal.

It didn’t look like anything was emerging from it. There was nothing but enormous trees out there, nothing that looked dangerously.

As she let out another involuntary sigh, she saw fog come out of her lips.

“Oh, gods! Oh, gods! Oh, gods!” She screamed, covering her mouth with both hands.

“What is it?” Vukasin asked, her panic transferring to his voice.

“Our souls are being sucked out! Don’t open your mouth!” Her voice was muffled as her hands wrapped around her mouth as tight as possible.

Hearing that, Vukasin yelled as loud as he could: “The royal archmage orders everyone to close their mouth shut if they don’t want their souls to be sucked out!”

Then, he sealed his lips and started breathing through his nostrils.

His movements got much more demanding as he started feeling thousands of small, invisible daggers prodding his skin. Not penetrating it, they were just toying with him.

Still looking at the portal, Hazelmere finally noticed something ominous.

The ground around the trees was white. Unbelievably so.

There was no earth, there was no grass, nothing but whiteness on the other side, as far as her eyes could see.

Which wasn’t much, considering the enormous trees blocked her sight.

She also noticed that the whiteness was slowly spilling into her world. It was slowly creeping forward, moving like some goo.

As they started descending the hill, she heard the people screaming all around her. Looking around, she saw that most of the people weren’t descending as much as they rolled down the hill. In their panic, and the rush to escape the terrorizing, chilling feeling as soon as possible, people lost their balance, falling face-first onto the ground as inertia took care of their descent for them.

Vukasin, however, acted in a composed manner, even though his ragged breathing and rushed moves revealed his hidden concerns. Still, acting like a proper knight, he didn’t let any of it get in the way of his mission.

Somewhere half-way to the bottom of the hill, he stopped, putting Hazelmere back on her feet, looking directly into her eyes. He was breathing so hard, the soul was leaving him through his nose.

“I can’t carry you anymore. I need to go back and help them! You should be safe now, just run and don’t look back! May Sun be with you!”

“May he protect you all!” She responded.

Vukasin turned around and started climbing back up, towards the portal. He struggled to move properly, appearing to be moving in slow motion. Feeling that the energy is still leaving her body, Hazelmere ran in the opposite direction.

But Peratha’s voice made her stop: “Hazelmere!” She saw Peratha gesticulating towards her, realizing she wants her to act as support.

After some hesitation, Hazelmere ran towards her.

“I think I know what we are dealing with, but I’m out of mana,” Peratha said.

“I’m drained too!”

“Still, we have better chances together!”

Peratha started chanting an incantation, closing her eyes to focus better. Meanwhile, Hazelmere put both hands on her to increase energy absorption.

In a few moments, the spell was ready. It formed between the palm of Peratha’s left hand and her staff. Then, she started feeding more mana into it, increasing its size.

As the spell grew, both of them got engulfed in it. Hazelmere felt immediate relief, feeling that the energy has finally stopped leaving her body.

“What did you do?” She asked, noticing that her soul wasn’t leaving her body anymore either.

“I am heating the air around us. We are under a massive frost attack.”

“Frost?”

“Yes. Whatever is attacking is trying to freeze us. I will try to grow the spell as much as I can. Hopefully, we will last enough to make a difference. And, by the way, our souls aren’t being sucked out. The fog you saw coming from your mouth is just a side effect of the frost attack.”

Hazelmere tilted her head in confusion.

“I have seen something similar before. I went against some talented frost mages a few times. But I have never seen anything this massive.”

Mizzete appeared right next to them: “Need a han … whoa! It’s so cozy in here!”

“Just give me as much mana as you can!”

As the spell grew, it became more noticeable, drawing nearby mages towards them. Each new mage gave Peratha more mana to grow the spell even further.”

Eventually, Natle joined them, carrying a big bag with her:

“I have managed to grab a bag of crystals as I was running. Here, take them!”

“You’re a literal lifesaver!”

“That is what my magic is all about!”

With fully charged crystals, growing the spell was much easier. After letting out a loud, strained grunt, Peratha expanded the spell into a large bubble.

“Knights, quickly, get into the spell!” Hazelmere yelled as she waved at the retreating soldiers.

“We’re no pansy-ass knights!” One of the soldiers grumbled.

“But we’re no fools either! Move!”

The soldiers retreated in an orderly manner towards the spell, forming a circle around its edges.

“Get the guy in charge!” Peratha commanded.

“I’m already here. I take it you have a plan?”

“You will have to carry me! I can’t maintain a spell this big while walking!”

Heartwell looked around quickly.

“Kortan!” He pointed towards the largest guy he saw, “Carry this mage! She can’t walk while she’s casting the spell.”

“Sure thing!”

But once Kortan got near Peratha, he started getting red in the face, his tail and ears fluttering nervously.

“Umm … is there some specific way I’m supposed to carry you?”

“Just pick me up already! I don’t know how much longer I can hold it!” She responded with a shrieking scream.

Kortan got serious, looking a bit offended: “Well ... when you ask so nicely!”

“Where do you think you’re touching, you stupid oaf!”

“Excuuse mee princess, but I’ve only ever had to carry my fellow soldiers, and they never had anything bad to say about it! Complain all you want later!”

-----

A disorderly group made its way down the holy site of Treadmondo. A mix of soldiers and mages, clumsily nested together, rushed ahead chaotically. The only thing preventing them from scattering in all directions was a big bubble surrounding them. In the center of the bubble was a visibly irritated red-haired mage, carried by a big, burly soldier. They were tightly escorted by the several mages, each of them clinging to the red-haired mage’s legs as they fed her with the necessary mana to keep the bubble intact.

After a lot of screaming, yelling, and cursing, the procession made its way down the hill safely.

“Has everyone made it? Did we lose someone?” Hazelmere moved around frantically, looking around as if she’d be able to recognize every mage that was with her. She saw that most of the soldiers and knights brought by the few summoned nobles were out of harm’s way long before the mages managed to get out.

“I don’t know, everything was so chaotic,” Mizette responded.

Heartwell got in front of Hazelmere, blocking her path:

“My soldiers made sure all the mages are safe. And thanks to your mage here, all of my soldiers are accounted for too.”

“You are welcome,” Peratha sounded playful, despite the dreadful situation they were in and the bad mood she had just a moment ago.

“So, what are we dealing with?” Heartwell asked.

“I … I don’t know … I have no idea …”

“We did everything like we were supposed to! We tried to raise our concerns about the spell, but nobody was listening!” Mizette sounded both apologetic and furious.

“You had concerns about the spell?” Heartwell’s facial expression didn’t change.

“Indeed, they did,” The transcendent priest joined them, escorted by his faithful retinue.

“Transcendent … I don’t remember seeing you during the summoning,” Peratha’s voice was perhaps too accusatory. So much, the other mages exchanged uneasy looks between themselves.

“No, I wasn’t. I wasn’t needed there. And, by the looks of things, I’m still not needed.”

“Do you know anything?” Hazelmere raised her brow.

“My archpriestesses have assured me that there’s no trace of any demonic corruption. So, at least it looks like you didn’t open yet another portal to hell. In fact, they told me they can’t sense anything near the portal.”

He made a short, dramatic pause.

“And that’s exactly what frightens them so much.”

“I didn’t think about it while we were running for our lives, but he is right! I can’t sense any magic near the portal! It’s as if the energy doesn’t flow there!” Natle’s face was overtaken by dread.

The other archmages got similar looks on their faces right after she said that.

“But wait, wait, what does that mean?”

“That’s what my archpriestesses would like to know. They say that whatever is on the other side has no energy at all.”

“Not only that, but it’s also affecting the energy near the portal! I can sense it pushing the energy away!” Cybil joined the conversation.

Hazelmere thought hard for a few moments.

“But wait … that makes no sense!” She finally said.

“Isn’t that exactly why we are concerned?”

“No, no, I didn’t mean it like that! What I mean is: there were huge trees on the other side! Trees can’t exist without energy!”

“You saw the trees on the other side?” The transcendent priest asked.

“Yes! There is an entire forest out there! Although …” Hazelmere got lost in thought once again, “there was no ground or grass anywhere near them. They were growing out of some strange, white, goo.”

“I also saw a lot of that goo on the trees, not just on the ground!” Natle added.

Helzelmere continued: “And if I remember correctly, I saw that goo crawling into our world …”

“Are you saying it is alive?”

“I don’t know! I didn’t really take a good look at it! But I am fairly certain I saw it moving! Very slowly, but it was moving.”

“Is it possible there is mana out there, but the goo is draining it from the trees? Maybe it is feeding off of it?” Cybil asked.

Peratha nodded her head in satisfaction: “If that is true, that would make it a great source of energy! Something that eats mana must have a lot of it!”

“Unless it devours all of the mana in our world!” Mizette didn’t share Peratha’s enthusiasm, “Hazelmere said it was moving! We must find a way to stop it, right now!” 

“How are we supposed to stop it when we can’t even get near it?”

“That is exactly what terrifies me!”

“Miss royal archmage?” Someone grabbed Hazelmere’s shoulder from behind.

Turning around, she saw the royal guards, led by the now-familiar, well-rounded guards-commander.

“His imperial majesty would like to ask you a few things regarding your … pitiful failure.”

---

Hazelmere wasn’t restrained in any way, but the guards arranged themselves closely around her, too close for her liking. They moved like one, like a flowing river, almost drowning Hazelmere in the process.

They arrived at the large tent, which was surrounded by the remaining royal guards on all sides. The Emperor’s loud yelling could be heard, even from the outside.

“I don’t think now is the right time,” one of the guards standing in front of the tent said, uneasiness on his face.

“She doesn’t have a choice,” the guards-commander said matter-of-factly. Then, he motioned with his hand towards the tent, looking at Hazelmere.

“Good luck … you’ll need it.”

Hazelmere swallowed the lump in her throat and moved forward.

She removed the curtain away, but everybody was too busy to notice her getting in.

“Look what your masterful plan did!” The Emperor roared at Rowena, his royal advisor, “Look! We’re ruined! We’re all doomed! Maybe all of Greadinall is nailed because of your stupid plan! All those resources, all those mages pulled away from their duties! All for nothing! Worse than nothing! You’ve opened a new portal to hell, you donkey! If the financial loss doesn’t nail us, the demons pouring through the portal will!”

He huffed and puffed deeply between the sentences, his eyes bulging out as much as possible, his face red to the point of suffocation while Rowena stood in front of him with her head low. Her ears lay flat on top of her head while her tail has curled into a ball.

“But … your grace,” she spoke softly, “we know that the scrolls are reliable. We’ve consulted the experts. It must be that our mages have failed somehow.”

Hearing that caused a sudden, violent change in Hazelmere. All the stress, all the fear, finally came crashing down on her. And she finally had a valid target to vent all of her frustrations on.

Her face twisted grotesquely in rage as she moved towards Rowena with murderous intent.

“How dare you, you cheap whore!” She let out a roar of her own.

But the two royal guards stepped right in front of her, one of them barking: “Back off!” They had their hands on their sheeted swords.

That stopped Hazelmere from moving, but it didn’t stop her from yelling: “We did everything that was demanded from us, and we didn’t fail! Had we failed, the portal wouldn’t form in the first place!”

Rowena continued in a low voice, without acknowledging Hazelmere’s presence: “They must’ve made an error when they were setting the proper destination for the portal.”

“Listen, you back-stabbing whore …”

“Silence!” The murderous rage on Hazelmere’s face didn’t even come close to the Emperor’s madness, so she slowly backed down.

“Guards!” The Emperor yelled, even though there were already guards nearby. The guards-commander rushed inside immediately, followed by two more guards.

“Take this … whore, and throw her into the dungeon! I’ll deal with her later! At least the mage is right about that one thing!”

The guards handled Rowena roughly, dragging her out of the tent. She didn’t protest or resist as they did so.

With Rowena gone, the Emperor took some time to breathe it out. He fumed like crazy. As he did so, he looked at Hazelmere the same way a predator looks at the prey which has no chance of escaping.

That made the lump form in Hazelmere’s throat once more.

“What did you do?” He asked in a composed voice.

“We have cast the spell from the scrolls, with no error.”

“Then how in the heavens did you manage to summon a portal to hell!” His madness was back on, and in full force, “We were assured the scrolls are perfectly safe! How did you manage to nail it that hard!”

“My lord … your majesty …”

“Stop kissing my ass and give me a straight answer!”

“Your majesty, we didn’t summon a portal to hell. The transcendent priest says so!”

That only fueled the Emperor’s rage even more. He wobbled towards Hazelmere, grabbing her throat. Then, he squeezed it tight, drawing panicked sounds out of her as she choked.

“Are you working with him? Did you sabotage me on his orders? Are you serving him instead of me!” He yelled in her face as he shook her throat, making her entire head shake.

Hazelmere struggled to speak, but no words could leave her clenched throat.

“Your majesty, if I may,” a low and noticeably old voice spoke. Looking at the corner of her vision, Hazelmere saw the spymaster, landing his hand on the Emperor’s shoulder.

“This isn’t a fitting display for your magnificence,” he continued, “you have me for these things. I understand your anger, your righteous anger. After all, your servants have failed you miserably. But you can’t sully your hands with this filth. It’s my job to discipline your servants when they fail.”

The Emperor held a tight grip on Hazelmere’s throat for a few more moments, savoring her facial expression. But eventually, he let go. Hazelmere crumbled to the ground, coughing heavily while cradling her throat in panic.

“You’re right … I shouldn’t sully my noble hands with filth. You take care of it.”

“Of course, your majesty … with great pleasure.”