Betrayed by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #5)(51)

“I’m not sure if I’m excited or terrified,” Annia murmured in my ear. “I mean, I want the compound wiped from the face of Recca, and I’m sure this kind of spell is rare to witness. But what if we get caught up in the backlash?”

“Lord Iannis and Lord Logar are very experienced mages,” Fenris said. The wistful expression that briefly flickered in his dark eyes suggested that he longed to be out there with the other mages, casting this powerful spell that was so rarely used. “And like most people, they also have a strong sense of self-preservation. They would not cast this spell if they feared they would lose their lives in the process, or endanger us here.”

“Of course not.” Noria huffed, wrinkling her nose. “After all, sacrificing themselves for the common good would hardly be in character for them, now would it?”

“The stones they set will ensure the spell is contained,” Fenris said loudly before anyone could respond to Noria’s jab. “The magic will only affect what is within the boundary.”

The mages raised their arms, and a hush fell over us as we watched. The world seemed to take a collective breath, the calm before the storm. As if choreographed, the mages all began chanting in Loranian at once. A faint, golden light began to emanate from around the perimeter, growing gradually brighter as the chant rose in volume. The clouds above darkened, moving closer together. The wind kicked up, whipping the mages’ robes around their ankles. Iannis’s dark red hair was ripped from its tie. It streamed out behind him like a banner as he stood proud and fierce, chanting the spell along with the others. I sucked in a breath, and immediately noticed that the air seemed too hot, as if someone had lit a fire that was fast spreading through the ground.

I expected the clouds to burst into a torrential downpour, the wind to spin into a violent cyclone, sparks to catch on the grass and trees and set the fire ablaze. But though I saw sparks, they weren’t the kind that came from fire. Rather, they were golden and smelled like magic. They floated up from the ground and down from the sky, converging toward the area that was marked off by the stones. The golden glow that started around the boundary began to rise up as the sparks came, drawing on their strength to become more powerful.

“By Magorah,” Rylan murmured, his eyes wide as he watched the stunning spectacle. “They’re drawing on the power of nature herself!”

That was the closest way to explain it, I thought in agreement, as the golden glow continued to expand. A sense of awe filled me as I watched it form a dome over the compound, glowing brightly enough to give the sun a run for its money. Hell, I wasn’t sure that the sun wasn’t lending some of its energy to the spell in the first place.

The ground began to tremble then, and we gasped as the tremors raced up our feet, sending our hearts pounding. A muffled explosion followed, and then another tremor on its heels that nearly knocked me off my feet. I grabbed Annia, to steady her, since she only had one arm with which to break her fall.

“Get down!” I shouted to the others as I dragged her down to the grass. They followed suit, hurling themselves on the ground, belly down. We were far enough away from the trees that none would fall on us, and the safest place to be during any kind of earthquake was out in the open, away from buildings and other tall structures. Anybody from Canalo knew that. I had lived through quite a few tremors in Solantha.

Fortunately, this wasn’t a real earthquake. The tremors we felt had to be caused by the bunker collapsing below the earth. Still, the sound of trees groaning as their roots were unceremoniously pushed from the ground wasn’t reassuring, and I doubted the wildlife appreciated the distinction between a real earthquake and a magically induced one.

I continued to peer through the blades of grass at the compound, anxiously waiting for the spell to cease. There was nothing to see except the golden blaze and the mages standing outside of it—the wall of magic was glowing so brightly it was impossible to see what was happening within. My ears picked up groans and rumbles from beneath the ground, and muffled explosions from beyond the glowing wall. Judging by the noise, the destruction above and belowground had to be cataclysmic.

Finally, the golden glow began to fade, gradually melting back down into the ground. I waited to see if there were any residual tremors, then slowly got back to my feet, helping Annia up as I went. What would we see, now that the spell was done? Would anything remain?

Noria let out a horrified gasp as the last of the glow disappeared. Not a single building was left standing—the ground below where they once stood had sunk into a deep crater, swallowing whatever remained of the facilities. Or so I assumed. From our vantage point, all we could see was the blackened ground and the edges of the hole. Every tree and blade of grass was completely burned away. The stench of burnt carbon wafted toward me, thick and pungent in the air.

“My goodness,” one of the human drivers said, his voice hushed. “That was quite a spectacle.”

“A horrifying one, but yes, I agree,” Rylan said, sounding shell-shocked. His tanned skin had gone pale, and I could smell the fear rolling off him. I couldn’t exactly blame him, as my knees were a feeling a little on the wobbly side. But I stood up straighter and firmed my shoulders.

“It was necessary.” I stared at the devastation as I struggled to overcome my own shock. “Necessary not just because of what went on inside the compound, but to demonstrate exactly what you’re up against when it comes to the mages. Guns and numbers aren’t enough against a race who can dish out destruction like that.”