Ahrden woke up gasping and clawing at his chest. Sweat was running down his face, and he could barely catch his breath. His heart was pounding, and his arms and legs were shaking. He had never felt anything remotely similar to what he was feeling now. He felt a distant yet powerful sensation of a malicious evil, something he couldn't explain or understand, yet it was more present and more real than anything in the room.
Thinking back, he could actually remember when his peaceful slumber slowly turned into an unnatural nightmare that was fuelled by something foul. The nightmare grew as he slept, and he only woke up because his mind could no longer bear the horrors he was witnessing in his dream. Fortunately, he could not recall the dream itself, with the exception of two things: fire and screaming. Unstoppable, all-consuming fire. Hopeless, bone-chilling screaming.
Just as the dream had built up in his sleep, he felt the continuation of that increasing dread coming ever closer, becoming ever more powerful. Ahrden's head was pounding as the pressure grew ever larger, and he could literally feel the tension in his chest grow with it. Ahrden could tell that something relating to magic was taking place at that moment, although he couldn't imagine how that could be. The magic was incredibly foul and it was growing more and more powerful as a spell would, while it was fed with arcane.
Ahrden remembered reading about dark and forbidden spells, which could have such an effect on nearby arcane wielders. The troubling thing about it was that to be able to cast such a spell, one needed to be immensely powerful and that troubled Ahrden dearly. Another thing bothering him was that the casting needed to be close by to feel its effect so intensely.
After getting out of bed, he quickly put in some clothes and started rummaging around his papers and books, desperately trying to find something relating to what was happening. After a minute, however, he lost his patience, knowing that he didn't have much time left and it would be more beneficial if he tried to locate the source of the spell rather than to look for a spell that he almost knew nothing about.
At first, Ahrden was unsure how he would find the individual casting a spell with such a tremendous power. He knew that the spell's effect on him had to strengthen as he got closer to it, so he decided to teleport in the direction he felt the source to be and worked from there.
As he turned on his heels with closed eyes, facing every direction trying to locate where the spell was being cast, he heard a soft rattling sound coming from one of his bookshelves. He opened his eyes and went to the source of the sound. It turned out to be coming from a book on one of the higher shelves. Ahrden immediately recognized the softly shaking book because it was among the few he had never gotten around reading due to the powerful spell protecting it.
Reaching out with his power, Ahrden grabbed the book and floated it towards his hands. This particular book reacted to the spell being cast, so there must have been some connection between the two. Normally this would have been the case, but the magnitude of the powers at play here and the foulness of the spell could have easily had such an effect on the protective spells alone. In all honesty, these were uncharted waters for Ahrden, and the best he could do was to follow what little lead he had.
Ahrden felt angry about how he had not devoted enough time and effort to figure out the spell that kept the book shut, and now that he desperately needed it, it was all too late. For now, he could do nothing about it, so he just placed the book on his desk and went back to find out the direction from which this terrible aura of evil was spreading.
He materialized just outside the city in the direction he suspected the source of the spell to be. He immediately felt the pressure increase when he arrived but not by much, which was a good sign because that meant that the caster was still some distance away. Ahrden looked around, but he couldn't hear or see anybody, not even with his enhanced senses. Knowing this to be the right direction, he wasted no time and made another jump towards the same direction, altering it only slightly.
When Ahrden materialized again, he fell down on his knees because momentarily, he couldn't cope with the overwhelming pain, he was feeling in his head and his chest. He needed a few moments to get used to the feeling, as much as he could, and to build up some arcane defence against it, although it did little against the pain. His eyes detected nothing out of the ordinary, but through his other senses, he could feel something he had never felt before. Potent arcane power was flowing along the forest's ground, almost as if it was a thick fog of some kind. He didn't know that such things could happen, but he suspected this to be another property of the spell. He knew that he was getting close, so he decided to only teleport where he could see, not wanting to bump into the caster.
Spotting a close hill, Ahrden was quickly on top of it and from there, he could locate the caster. Among the sturdy tree trunks stood a cloaked figure dressed in a deep dark purple outfit, with arms raised high as he was chanting something which sounded foreign to Ahrden, but its foulness was immediately evident. The slowly flowing arcane energies originated from the caster and remained denser around the figure as it seeped through the purple cloak.
The situation was dire, but one sliver of hope that lingered in the air was that Ahrden was not facing a member of the Arcane Army. So far, he was suspecting this because the foulness he was now feeling different from the one the Arcane Agent had emitted, but he couldn't have been certain. Now that he could see the purple cloak of the caster, who had the posture of a male and the raised hands that hung out from under the sleeves were definitely alive, Ahrden was certain that he was dealing with another mage.
Everything around the figure was dying in front of Ahrden's eyes, and what was foreboding even more, was that the plants looked like they were being burnt, yet no flame was visible. The ground had turned black around the caster, with small patches even giving out smoke as the whole area was spreading. No tree had fallen yet, but many trunks had already turned to coal, and the loud creaking of the trees signalled that it was only a matter of minutes before they would collapse under their own weight.
Ahrden felt the heat wash over him as he stood on the top of the hill and felt something he had not felt in a long time now: he was petrified. He immediately thought about Kadelinas, the only person he knew who could actually wield arcane and was definitely powerful enough. Ahrden understood that it was a rather narrow-minded thought to think of the one person he knew that could be standing there, but the list of magi he knew started and ended with Kadelinas. Besides the question of who was behind this an even more pressing one was what was being cast and how could it be stopped.
Ahrden was certain that whatever the cloaked mage was doing it had to be stopped. He crouched low and started approaching the figure. Given the amount of power that this mage was wielding, Ahrden didn't feel confident that he could stop him even if he ambushed him, but his odds were still a lot greater than if he were to meet him after the spell was completed.
Ahrden was familiar with how easy it was to get deeply buried in one's own head when casting a complicated spell, so he held onto that thought as it was the only thing he could use. As he approached the figure, the heat grew greater, and his steps started squeaking on the burnt foliage, which now was reduced to pure coal.
The pain in his body was increasing, yet he could not risk teleporting closer because he was sure that his opponent was skilled enough to feel him casting the teleportation spell even while being occupied with his own grand spell. Ahrden also didn't want to attack from afar because he was afraid that it would give his opponent time to respond to it. He gritted his teeth and kept advancing forward, getting ever closer. As the chanting got louder, Ahrden could make out bits and pieces of it, which frightened him deeply because the spell fragments that he heard and could make out were solely used in the darkest of spells. The heat was becoming difficult to tolerate, and his clothes were already drenched in sweat when he finally came right up to the cloaked figure.
He was able to constrain himself from using any spell so far, which meant that his opponent hadn't noticed him yet. Now that he was this close, he could see delicate tendrils of arcane power swirling around the caster's fingers in a deep-deep purple that matched the colour of the cloak he was wearing. This was mostly good news because this told him that he wasn't dealing with an orange mage and confirmed that the caster indeed wasn't from the Arcane Army.
Ahrden gathered as much power as he could while picking up a casting stance and going through the spell he was going to use. He was trying to block out as much of the pressure and pain as he could, but all he had achieved was slightly dulling it.
No matter how powerful the mage was, from this close and with time to prepare Ahrden could deliver a fatal blow to anyone who was not expecting it. His only concern was that most of the spells that were of this magnitude had a built-in defensive measure that channelled some of the arcane present to form a protective shield around the caster. This defensive measure was made for cases exactly like this, when the casting mage would have been a vulnerable target without it.
All Ahrden had to do was muster enough power to break through this protective shield and strike down the unsuspecting mage behind it. He had his doubts because if only a fraction of the energy being controlled by the mage was being transferred into the shield, he'd have a hard time penetrating it. On the other hand, the caster wouldn't have expected another mage to approach him, so fortifying the spell couldn't have been a priority.
When Ahrden had gathered everything he could and readied his most powerful spell, he lifted his head to face the mage again. He still hadn't taken notice of Ahrden, only chanted the spell with increasing volume. Ahrden knew that this was the best shot he could ever ask for; he cast the spell with a booming voice and channelled everything into it.
A bright blue beam of energy with a hint of purple shot out from his extended palms and crushed straight into the spherical shield. The powers at play shrieked as the shield withheld the attacking arcane, holding fast against all of what Ahrden could muster. Ahrden's eyes grew wide and filled with horror as he saw the darkest purple, he had ever seen flare-up under his attack, causing his beam of arcane to effortlessly wash over it. Ahrden held the beam as long as he could, but soon he could not sustain the attack.
The figure standing in the midst of the attack became visible again when Ahrden's spell subsided, and the protective shield turned invisible again. The mage looked startled by the sudden attack, but nothing more. He changed the incantation but didn't stop it while he also started gesturing with his hands in well-measured formations. Ahrden knew that this could only mean that he was concluding the spell.
With everything that Ahrden had, he started casting spell after spell using every attack he could, desperately trying to break through the shield. He could freely conjure many powerful spells since he was not being attacked in return, but he could not get through the purple shield.
When he took a moment to catch his breath, the mage turned his head skywards and shot his arms up, clasping them above his head. From them, a narrow streak of fire had shot out and exploded at the crown level of the forest. The explosion wasn't big, and it seemed to have only served to spread the fire that the mage produced. The flames of the fire were brighter than Ahrden had ever seen any fire to be, and it had an evil sense to it, almost as if it was hungry to consume. In seconds it engulfed all of the nearby trees and spread further on, with unnatural swiftness.
The clocked figure finished his spell with a final few gestures, then turned his head down towards Ahrden, who tore his eyes from the flames and turned his frightened gaze towards the mage.
'Hell of a fight you put up there, you wretched fiend,' the mage spit out the words in a hoarse voice, and without seeing his face, it was evident that the casting of the spell took out most of his energies. 'Made me finish it before I could fuel it with more arcane and for that, I damn you. But it matters little. My Inferno will still destroy your puny capital nonetheless.'
Ahrden's jaw dropped as his worst fear, which had been clawing at the back of his mind since he woke up from that dream, became a reality. The mage must have seen the shock in his eyes as he laughed and continued.
'I see you know what I'm talking about. It pleases me because there is at least one person who can appreciate how extraordinary the spell is that I've created.'
Ahrden could not speak. He could barely breathe. His mind was already trying to accept the fact that all he knew was going to die that day.
'But don't feel bad; I'm not sure if even I could stop that beast now.'
'The Valley… Everyone… Can't…'
'Stop mumbling. You are embarrassing yourself. I placed wards in a loose circle around your capital; it shouldn't spread further. But anything that is within… Well, that weak blue shield of yours won't be able to save a flower against what is coming, even if you give it your all.'
Although Ahrden couldn't see his face, the evil mage grinned, and in the next second purple flares started appearing all around his cloak. Ahrden could do nothing but watch as they spread until he was completely engulfed in it, and then the mage was gone.
As Ahrden stood there, alone in the middle of the forest that was getting consumed by one of the darkest spells ever created, his mind could barely process the pass events.
He met Karthesta Malitez. The Evil King. The ruler of the Velintenal nation. The one rumoured to be a dark mage. The one who had destroyed two nations already through mysterious means. And his own capital had hours to live.
---
Unbearable heat quickly engulfed Ahrden as he stood still, unable to comprehend what had just happened. When he felt a branch falling on him, so he teleported out from under it, finally catching up to what was happening. He looked around and saw the untouched part of the forest, which wasn't blazing yet. He teleported out to that area and looked at the wall of fire coming towards him.
Ahrden had heard exaggerated, implausible and questionable stories about the Evil King told at night in the pub, but he never gave much thought to them. In all honestly, he never even considered the fact that Malitez could really be a mage. His kingdom had grown so much over the last few decades and in such an unfashionable way that no one could explain it how. This caused people to come up with other ways to rationalize the events, which eventually led to them deeming the Evil King an evil mage. Ahrden knew how afraid everyone was of things they didn't understand, and Karthesta Malitez was definitely one such thing, so in some way, it made sense for Ahrden that everyone branded the mysterious ruler so. Now, Ahrden thought of all the past stories with a new understanding.
It was well known that despite the long and bloody war that ended with the fall of the merged Santord and Mentard nation, the faith of the conflict was sealed in one mere day. The merged nation was defeated by a mysterious poison that spread through the entire united nation in one night. The following day the Velintenal armies marched into the weakened kingdom and slaughtered everyone who remained and opposed them.
First and foremost, Ahrden always believed that the poison was the creation of clever potion-makers instead to have come from arcane. Secondly, he always focused on how the other two nations reacted to this: by doing utterly nothing. He could not believe how the Polenteus and the Nethedral nation did not unite to defeat a nation that would perform such a dishonourable feat. With the details of that faithful night remaining in the shroud of unknown and the common hate towards all other nations burning strong the union against the Velintenal nation never happened.
Now Ahrden could put together many things, but the answers birthed even more questions. The Evil King was indeed a mage with immense power. Malitez decided to continue his conquest and wipe out the Polenteus nation to conquer it afterwards. This time he chose fire to do the work for him, and Ahrden knew the reason why. The only reason why the Velintenal nation did not grow in strength proportionally to the land it had acquired after poising two nations was because there were some unforeseen side-effects of the toxin. Not even the potion-makers know how or why but the toxin had poisoned the land so drastically that it rendered most of the area uninhabitable.
As Ahrden stood there staring into the abyss of a primordial malice that even Malitez could not stop he understood the reason. He understood that the Kartesta Malitez did not mean to reduce the united nation into a wasteland. He wanted to wipe them out, but he also wanted to benefit from the deed. The reason why he couldn't; was that he couldn't control his own spell. The spell that created the poison. And now Inferno. Ahrden was doubtful that those alleged wards would even stop the spread of the fire given all of this, so it was probably going to rage until the arcane ran out.
Malitez resorted to fire because this at least would do no further harm than to burn all that can be burnt. The powerful but unwise Malitez has learnt from his past mistake and did not want to further reduce the liveable land within their confined Valley which was soon to be his own alone.
There also wasn't any formal way of declaring war as there had been when the merged nation was overtaken. The atrocity that was done there happened at the end of a long and blood-soaked old-fashioned war. What was happening today was different. Malitez seemed to have skipped all the steps that led up to his personal involvement, and he immediately chose to resort to the method with no honour. Ahrden felt that his recent encounters with the Velintenal nation had a lot to do with this.
The merciless heat hit Ahrden in the face again and forced him back to the present. Inferno was a spell that could not be put out easily; thus, it would consume everything in its path. Ahrden could easily save himself, but this wasn't new. What differed now from all the past occasions when he had helped his nation was that now he wouldn't just let a group of solider or a battalion of them or even their national army die. He would let their capital be destroyed and with it doom their entire nation. The only hope that his nation could have had was that if Ahrden had interrupted the casting of the spell. That could have prevented Inferno from being created, but now there was nothing he could do.
The pain and pressure had vanished when the spell was completed and was replaced with a terrible sensation that a powerful abomination had been released into the world. Now that Ahrden actually knew what he was up against, he felt weak and helpless. Remembering all he had read of the spell made him want to panic even more.
Ahrden knew that he had basically no chance of stopping Inferno even if he knew the right spell for it, but it was also clear to him that no one in Belentedor had even that sliver of hope to do anything about it. As he stood there feeling the hungry flames rushing towards him, his thoughts were racing in his head, desperately trying to find a way to stop the devastation that awaited if he did nothing.
The first idea was to test how well he could hold his ground using what he already knew. The fire was nearing him fast despite the distance he had initially backed away to. Ahrden formed a shield around himself the way he had done many times before and fed a great deal of arcane into it. When Inferno came closer, the flames jumped onto his invisible shield, which flared up brightly and melted into nothing as the fire raced around its surface.
The spell ate through his defence like it was paper.
After teleporting further back, Ahrden thought of a few freezing and water spells he knew but disregarded even the idea, and the thought alone made him realize how desperate he was.
The only hope he had left was sitting on his desk, so in the next moment, he was standing over it. He was in his study looking at the book, which acted so strangely when the spell was being cast. After studying it closely, suddenly it occurred to him that he had already figured out the spell that could open in. The only reason why it still remained closed was that he could never execute it with enough power and precision to actually overpower the protective spell. Ahrden really hoped that the book contained something relating to Inferno otherwise, he had nothing. This being his nation's only hope, he had to get it open.
Ahrden calmed himself and concentrated on the spell which had bested him so far. He gathered the arcane energies within himself and cast the spell with the greatest care. Infuriatingly nothing happened, precisely what he was expecting. Even in this dire and pressing time, he didn't believe in himself to be able to overpower the spell on the book. He tried repeatedly but failed every time, causing little to no reaction from the book that lay in front of him.
Ahrden was preparing to try again when he heard something. He had gathered so much arcane for the spell he was trying to cast that the pure power surging through his body had involuntarily enhanced his senses which enabled him to hear the running footsteps of a scout. Ahrden opened his eyes, and moments later, he heard the bells of City Hall sound in the rhythm used only in case of the most serious emergency.
Something broke in Ahrden. Deep blue and bright purple flames flickered in his eyes as he trembled from the power within him and shouted the spell. The walls of his house shook as his voice resonated through it, overpowering the bells. The book's cover flew open in the same instant as a wall in his study let out a loud cracking sound, and a narrow crack ran across it.
In the next second, Ahrden snapped back to his normal state, and without a moment of pause to appreciate his accomplishment he was already flipping through the book. He felt energized from the potent power he had inside him, and luckily he didn't need to go far to find what he was looking for. His sudden excitement quickly vanished when he realized that almost the entire book was dedicated to this one spell, containing everything one would want to know about it. The problem was that Ahrden didn't have time to look at anything more than he absolutely needed.
When he found the part about how to neutralize the spell, he felt his desperation further rise within him. The spell designed to defuse the Inferno was immensely complicated and way beyond anything he had ever tried casting before. Ahrden ruled out this option knowing that the fire must have been only minutes away, and he was years away from being able to cast such a spell.
Ahrden turned a few more pages and saw more spells created to battle the evil effect of the Inferno, but they were mostly made to save the caster and a smaller area around the mage rather than to stop the spell itself. Ahrden wanted to move on from there because he was not the one in danger, but he saw a familiar spell on that page.
It was a specific modification of the arcane shield he so often used and had already tried on Inferno. It was tailored to withstand the devastation of the ancient spell so the caster could protect the ones under the shield. At the same moment, Ahrden heard screaming from outside and knew that he was too late. He wasn't sure what made him do the following things he did, but he acted with assurance and seeming confidence. He turned the page to see if the spell continued there too and when he saw that it didn't, he ripped it out of the ancient tome with one fluent motion. The book let out a painful sigh but no spells were in place to avenge the deed.
Ahrden teleported in front of his house and saw that the whole city woke up and utter chaos was everywhere. He noted the scene but did nothing about it and started towards where he estimated the fire to first reach the capital. The sun was already on its way up, and long shadows were already appearing on the street as he walked. He felt someone running towards him from behind and knew that the person wanted something from him directly. He had no time to deal with such things.
When Ahrden materialized, he was where the forest and the capital met facing the woods, which were crying out in agony. He could see the Inferno coming his way, brightly colouring everything red and spreading its hungry wrath everywhere. The fire spread as far as the eye could see, but the capital curved quite sharply at this part so Ahrden could stand at the exact location where the spell would first reach Belentedor.
Ahrden was standing at the edge of a garden, with the house that belonged to it behind him. He was alone, and the chaos seemed to be less intense on this scarcely populated part of the capital.
No one knew that they didn't have a chance to escape what was coming. There was no hope if Ahrden failed, no future awaited the nation.
Ahrden took a deep breath and levitated the ripped-out paper in front of him. He started reading the specific moves and gestures, along with the incantation itself. He could feel the fear behind him and the nearing death in front of him. There was no escaping what came for anyone except him, and he knew that he would rather die than be the only one to live through it. He prepared for the spell, knowing that this was not only life or death for everyone else but also for him. He tuned everything out and focused on the paper. The knowledge it had, the power it held, the salvation it could offer if it was in the right hands and just another thing to burn if in the wrong.
Ahrden calmed himself; despite everything, he reached a deep tranquil state. Only the paper, arcane, and he was present. The spell required him to take a different approach when creating the protective shield, but at least the fundamentals remained the same.
Inferno neared, and the air became hotter than naturally possible. The vegetation around Ahrden was withering and dying in seconds. The corners already smoking; he let the piece of paper fall to the ground and closed his eyes. He took one more deep breath, and he started casting the spell.
He didn't rush it, knowing that he only had time to try it once. He said out loud the incantation saying it clearly, remembering the words vividly. Bright blue energy shot out from his hands, and it formed a wall in front of him that reached high up. Ahrden opened his eyes and saw that Inferno had arrived. The hungry flames came crashing into the shield he cast, but it held.
Ahrden looked at the bright blue shield he'd conjured and how it could stop the Inferno right as it wanted to consume him. Ahrden channelled what he could into strengthening the shield, and although barely, it held against the attack. From the corner of his eyes, Ahrden could see the gardens on both sides lit up in flames. Looking again at what he had created, he saw that the wall he had raised was barely wider than him and did nothing to prevent the death of his nation.
Something snapped in him again. What broke in him was irreversible, something that even time couldn't heal, only dull. A vial in him shattered that contained something dark. Its content would only surface if a terrible event forced it to. The feeling was similar to when he was about to open the tome that contained the spell but on a much larger scale. From this, there was no going back. He felt it spread out in his body. The utter powerlessness he felt in that moment, the clear evidence of his failure, the thoughts that crossed his mind would forever stain his soul. But this darkness gave him something. Something that made him feel mighty. If he survived what was coming, his eyes would never cease to carry the cost and consequence of this day.
Ahrden felt untapped powers being released as he shrieked. He channelled everything he had, everything he felt and everything he could control into the shield. The shield flared up as bright as the sun and exploded upwards and sideways faster than a flying arrow. Ahrden was able to command all of what was released, and he poured everything into his spell, feeding the growing wall of protection. He could not see how the shield was spreading, but he could feel it. He could feel everything.
At that moment, he could feel the gardens behind him, the houses behind that, the terrified people on the streets and everyone who tried to flee. His protective shield went around the entire capital, completely encircling it and closed in on it from above, locking everyone under the dome. He was glad to feel that no one was able to leave the city, which meant that no one was locked out. The fire which managed to get inside before the shield was extended died down quickly because it was cut off from the core of the spell, and unlike any other fire, this malicious blaze needed the arcane power infused within the spell to fuel its destruction.
When Ahrden felt the dome completely close, he stopped screaming, but he could not let up with anything else. The real battle had only just begun. He placed his left foot forward, the other further back to better support his stance. He barely acknowledged how deep his feet went into the dry ground from the pressure of the energies leaving his two extended palms.
Ahrden was staring down his faceless foe in front of him, with his own bright blue fire burning in his eyes. The dome around the town was constantly flaring and shining in bright blue as the devastating fire was attacking it from every direction and without pause. The magical nature of the fire became evident for everyone under the dome when they noticed that the fire started climbing up on the side of the wall, spreading upwards, with nothing to fuel the burning.
It was increasingly hard for Ahrden to keep the dome intact as more pressure was put on it. Soon the fire reached the top of the dome, and the assault on the shield no longer grew, only remained constant. He was sheer determination and will, while he also felt something divine being present at the moment. Ahrden allowed himself to believe that if he kept a hold on everything, he could have a chance to save his capital.
As time went on and he kept maintaining this inhuman performance, his body started to radiate from the arcane energy that was being channelled through it. The glow started off as faint and blinking but intensified till it was bright and strong.
The citizens of the capital quickly realized that something much larger than any of them was afoot, and they were not dealt any cards in this faithful battle. They could see what the threat was, but none could understand it, nor where did their protection come from. The army was mobilized, and the capital was thoroughly searched, which led to the discovery of Ahrden.
--
No one dared to get too close, but everyone was desperately trying to look at what was going on; soon, the whole city breathed as one around Ahrden. He stood alone at the dome with a wide path around him, but beyond that crowded the entire populace of Belentedor. People were standing in the gardens, peering out the windows of the houses, piling on the roofs and climbing on the taller buildings further back.
Ahrden, being totally immersed with the casting, noticed nothing from what was happening around him. He subconsciously felt that he couldn't stop his feet from sinking into the ground, so he devoted a slight fraction of the energy present to lift himself up from the ground. Despite the magnitude of the current events, everyone gasped in shock when Ahrden rose above the ground and levitated in the air. Such a thing would have been near impossible for Ahrden to muster, let alone unfalteringly hold for an extended period, had he not been in the state he was in.
Time went on, but no one moved under the dome. The unprecedented lighting amazed everyone, and people couldn't stop staring at the dome, unable to get used to the sight. The bright red colour of the fire was dancing everywhere, saturated by the ever-present bright blue, which turned a deeper shade as time went on. At first, only a few noticed it, but later purple stripes flared up in the dark blue sea from time to time.
Ahrden had closed his eyes, finding it easier to focus, but he, too, had felt the change in the attribute of his power. The glow around his body was going through the same shift, and although some of it was seeping through the shut lids of his eyes, if he were to open them, the fire in them would bear the same change in its colour.
Minutes turned into hours, and hours passed one after the other. The crowd around Ahrden didn't go anywhere; food and drink were brought out when people became hungry, and for the absolute necessities, everyone left for a little, but the city remained gathered around him to watch the unfaltering work of Ahrden, which they all knew was the only reason they were alive.
Morning came and was gone, followed by noon and only in the afternoon did they start to notice some change in the events. As they looked up, they were able to make out the blue sky in-between the raging flames and the flaring dome, but only for an instant and on rare occasions. Sometime after the first of these sightings, the sky started appearing more and more frequently, and there were moments when a wide crack ran across the continuous fire, if only for the briefest moment.
The change was picked up fast, and soon everyone was focusing on it, speculating about what this could mean. When larger gaps started appearing and staying a little longer, someone said that the fuel to the fire must be running out. Although no one understood what fuelled the fire, approving nods washed over the whole crowd, and one or two small and still suppressed cheers appeared as well. In reality, they weren't too far from the truth because the arcane indeed was running out, and the spell was wearing off. The Evil King was interrupted when summoning the horrendous spell, but he could still channel an immense amount of arcane into it, which enabled the spell to wreak havoc for this long, but it was coming to an end now.
While remaining in this impossible trance state, Ahrden too noticed the change in the form of the pressure lessening, which had been trying to crumble the dome he had summoned. In that moment he wasn't able to feel distinctive emotions, but a swift wave of relief washed over him. For the first time since it started, he entertained the thought that he might be able to fully fend off the ancient spell.
Inferno was able to attack the defensive spell with full power for a very long time, but once it started faltering, it was dying fast. Ahrden was feeling the pressure lessen with every moment and felt confident that he would be able to hold the dome until the spell ultimately died.
And that was when he started losing it. The change has probably brought him out of the place he had been in, or he was just at the end of his capacity, but the cause mattered little now.
At first, he just became unsteady as he was levitating, and it frightened him dearly. He was the one channelling the energies into the dome, but he couldn't control the state he was in, which enable him to tap into such amounts of power. Panic started rising in him fearing that he would lose control which worsened his situation.
People around him noticed that he started swaying unsteadily in the air, and everyone fell silent in that second. Unable to aid Ahrden in any way, they just kept silent and prayed for him to have the strength to keep the protective dome up for the reminder time.
Next, the flaring shield started faltering, and the ceiling of the dome, which arched high above even the tallest buildings, started shrinking down, bringing downwards what little fire was still dancing on the other side of it. Panic spread fast among the people, but Ahrden noticed none of it as he was occupied with the terror raging within himself. The dome slowed its descent when it was dangerously close to the tip of the City Hall, that was the highest building in the town. When Ahrden felt the tower of the building pierced the dome, he admitted to himself that he won't be able to keep channelling power into the spell for another minute.
Ahrden still felt the arcane powers respond to him, but he started becoming unable to control them. If he were to lose it now; the remainder of the weakened Inferno would eat through the defenceless town in minutes. Ahrden opened his bloodshot eyes that still had the flames burning in them. The hair on his back lifted when on the other side of the dome he saw the Evil King. He didn't understand how he could stand amidst the fire with no visible shield protecting him, but his eyes told him that Kartesta Malitez was there. For brief instances, the flames lit his narrow mouth on his handsome face, and Ahrden could see him smirking at him. He knew that Ahrden was weakening and that the spell would outlast him. He knew that Ahrden could not hold the dome up for much longer, and although Inferno was dying too, it would live to see the city in ashes.
Desperation rouse to a whole new level in Ahrden. Without care, he poured more arcane into the shield than he could control, which made it highly unstable, yet he kept on doing it. He passed the point when his mere will was enough and started roaring in a deep guttural voice, doing everything he could to maintain the flow of power a little longer and feed the already unstable dome. As Ahrden screamed, his voice rose, and he knew that this was it. In one last effort, he released everything and pushed it outwards.
An immense shockwave soared through the air and connected with the inner side of the unstable dome, which exploded outwards, sending the remaining bits and pieces of Inferno flying out into the distance. All that remained of the spell were scattered so far out that it could not crawl its way back to the capital before it died.
The unified cheering, however, didn't come. The brightly flaring shield had obscured everyone's view so far, but now the obstacle was gone. Now, the crowd was able to see what lay beyond it. Or, more precisely, what didn't. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but black scorched flat ground. The ones sitting on the rooftops could look in all directions, but the same view greeted them from everywhere.
Inferno was gone and Belentedor still stood, but how much from the rest of the nation survived, was unknown to everyone. Seeing the scorched wasteland in every direction gave little hope to anybody.
Only when that sank in did they all rushed to the lying Ahrden as one.