He snatched his sword from his bedside, grabbed a coat and put on his boots before rushing out of his room, and making his way to the entrance of the Orlein mansion. As he ran across the gardens towards the gate separating the mansion and the rest of the city, he could see the flames rising to the skies.
The streets were busy with rushing people. While some ran away from the flames to safer spots in the city, others ran towards the burning buildings. Some carried buckets with them, while others were empty handed.
He spotted a few wounded being carried away on makeshift stretchers. Once again, innocent people were wounded, and quite possibly had even died because of reckless, vile acts of terror.
He finally reached the burning buildings, only to stop in his tracks as he saw the church consumed in flames. The rose window above the door had almost melted, the once-beautifully crafted depiction of the Daughter and the Sun was barely recognisable.
They had started a fire in the church.
He felt slightly dizzy as smoke thickened. There was no wind to clear it and improve visibility. He covered his nose with the sleeve of his coat, trying to filter our at least some of the smoke he was inhaling. His gaze darted from one side to the other as he assessed the situation.
The building hadn’t collapsed yet, but the entrance had. He could see silhouettes moving through the tinted windows on either side of the entrance, desperately seeking a way out.
A chain of buckets had been created already, leading from the nearest well to the side of the building, but a few buckets of water wasn’t enough to put out this inferno. Still, the people passed the buckets along, at least trying to contain the flames, preventing them from leaping to the other buildings.
About a dozen people were tending to the wounded, some distance away from the burning church. While some of the wounded were carried away on makeshift stretchers, most were still here.
While he looked, one of the healers pulled a white blanket over the face of one of the wounded, covering his entire body. He was one of the many who had been covered like that.
Midhir averted his gaze from the several dozen dead bodies. There was nothing he could do for them, but he had to try and save the few survivors still inside the church.
He looked around for familiar faces. Neither Alistair nor Captain Rianne was anywhere to be seen, but he did spot a few guards trying to lift the rubble and clear the entrance. After taking a shallow breath through the sleeve of his coat, he rushed towards them.
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“Guards!” He shouted as he approached. His voice was barely audible over the roaring flames, and the creaking building. “Find someone who has a water elemental crystal!” These flames had grown too large, and too hot to be put out with just buckets of water after all. They needed to cast water resonances.
“We can’t!” One of the guards shouted back. “Crystal tools aren’t working!”
Midhir’s eyes widened. He touched his earring attempting to pull out something, anything, from it. His hand caught the air, and the piece of cloth he tried to summon from his holding gem didn’t appear.
A breeze blew the smoke towards them, causing him to retreat. He coughed as smoke filled his lungs, burning his throat. It carried with it the shouts of the people still inside the church.
His gaze darted from one window to the other. The metal bars holding up the glass tiles were still intact – not even a child could squeeze through there. Even if it could, the bars were probably too hot to touch. They needed to be able to use crystal tools to extinguish these flames and rescue the people trapped inside.
He turned his gaze to the nearby buildings. A skilled crystal staff user was nearby – that was the only way the terrorists would be able to prevent the use of crystal tools. But where were they? “You!” He called to the small group of guards who were also forced to retreat as the veil of smoke in front of the entrance thickened.
“Spread out and try to cast resonances!” he ordered without a second thought. “Mark when you are able to cast. Hurry!”
While the guards ran off in different directions, he rushed over to where the survivors were being tended. The healers were unable to use healing resonances, so they had resorted to using bandages to stem the bleeding before carrying off the wounded to the hospital. Too many lives were being lost because of that.
Out of a box full of cloth cut in various sizes, he snatched a small piece to wrap around his mouth and nose, and another, longer piece to wrap around his palms. “I need to take this,” he pointed at one of the rods they were using to make the makeshift stretchers and took it without waiting for a response.
Every moment they wasted meant more death and grief. He had no time to ask for permission – he could ask for forgiveness later if he had to.
Rushing back to the church, he approached the window left of the entrance. The glass had all broken and fallen already, all that remained were the metal bars that once held it in place.
He passed the rod through the two central bars, then pulled it to the side so it pressed against both of them. They were so hot, he could feel the heat transfer to the rod he was holding. Glad that he wrapped his hands first, he pushed the rod further to the side, pressing against both of the bars. He could see those who were trapped inside, huddled together, as low to the ground as they could be to try and save themselves from the smoke slowly filling the air.
He felt it move ever so slightly as he pushed with all of his strength. The bars bent, but it was nowhere near enough to let an adult pass. Even a small child would barely squeeze through and be defenceless against the hot metal.
While loud, ear piercing creaks joined the cacophony of the roaring flames and cries for help, a crash echoed in the city. What followed was a blood-freezing shriek, and a deafening explosion.