The explosion happened in three main stages. First was the ignition of gasses within the bastards' bodies. The pressure built up rapidly, until the bodies couldn't withstand it anymore and burst open. As the hot gasses exploded outwards, it ignited the other gasses that weren't being contained. This multi-stage explosion blasted burning hot gas and boiling caustic blood several kilometers.
Luckily, thanks to the mountain, Vildra and the Esmos were mostly unharmed. The explosion did shake the mountain a little, and the shockwave pushed Vildra high up, but otherwise caused no injuries. This was not the case for the incoming dragon and bastard army.
The raining blood seemed mundane at first. Though a bad sign for the bastards, the dragons didn't care for common intimidation attempts. Then it started burning. The optimal response would be attempting to wash the blood off. The panicked response was to use ice magic on it.
Tarilite absorbs mana from spells, making it incredibly resistant to magic targeting it. A small amount of tarilite can absorb a large amount of mana. It also heats up a little in the process. If the dragons had used magic to create water, then the tarilite in the blood wouldn't even be noticed.
Using ice magic was a terrible move. It didn't cool down the burning areas, it only froze the flesh around it. Instead, it only heated the blood up more, which made the acid react more quickly. The high difference in heat caused their scales to crack, seeping the blood deeper and shielding it from their own attempts to remove it. By the time one wisened up and tried using water, the blood was too deep to wash away easily.
Then the secondary effects of the blood started. Once it reached the muscles and bloodstream, Besmo's poison began spreading. Vildra knew that ingesting the poison was non-lethal. However, they never tested what happens if it got into the bloodstream of a dragon.
First there would be pain, spreading rapidly around the point of first contact. (In this case, it was all over the dragons' body.) Once it reached the brain, a feeling of nausea would overwhelm the senses. Muscles were weakened, suffering from hypoxia as the poison prevented blood from delivering oxygen. Within a minute, the dragons' wings are too weakened to maintain flight. For those that can still think straight, they will do a controlled landing; others simply fall out of the sky.
At 3 minutes, the dragons' immune system would be able to clear enough poison from the bloodstream for oxygen to flow back to vital areas. However, any poison that manages to find their way out of the bloodstream persist. They enter individual cells and inhibit several cellular functions. The immune system detects these infections and treats it like a virus, killing affected cells. This does not work for cells in the eyes and brain.
At 5 minutes, most symptoms will have cleared up, except for lingering headaches, nausea, exhaustion, minor pain across the entire body, and a foreboding sense that something is wrong. Of course, that is ignoring the acid currently burrowing in deeper past flesh and muscles. Depending on where the blood first hit, some dragons have already died. Others are attempting to heal, but are finding that since the tarilite reached the bloodstream, they can't cast any spells. Not that they could save everyone; they already spent too much mana.
At 10 minutes, the acid would have neutralized itself enough to stop eating through flesh. The surviving dragons would also have enough cognition to recognize the need to retreat. Those that can still walk drag those who can't, either from broken bones or severed nerves or not having half their legs. The walk out of the wastes will take about 2 hours due to their conditions.
At 30 minutes, some dragons will notice an impairment to their vision; either an overall blurring, or reddening of their vision. Additionally, they aren't able to focus distance correctly. Their vision will continue to worsen, though their brain will attempt to compensate for as long as possible.
At 1 hour, some dragons display signs of brain damage. There is no help available. The damage is permanent.
At 2 hours, the dragons finally exit the wastes. This is also around the time their body should have cleared the tarilite out of their body. Thanks to this, first-aid magic can finally be applied. The process is lengthy, but with enough time, most of the injuries can be recovered from. Unfortunately, healing magic does not fix what the body cannot; broken scales remain broken, there are holes in their hide, their eyes remain impaired. Lost nerve connections cannot be healed using magic, nor can brain damage.
At 4 hours, it becomes clear that all have some form of brain damage. It will only get worse.
Besmo's poison has a half-life of 41 hours. It will take weeks for all of the poison remaining in the dragons to decay naturally. During that time, vision will continue to worsen, as will damage to the brain. At worst, they will die, or become vegetative.
There is no treatment available for a dragon's brain.
----------------------------------------
Pov Vildra
I'd like to think I'm lucky. That explosion made dad's gang retreat. Probably because they realized that it's not worth fighting me. The pool of blood around the mountain should be a good enough signifier. Though I do find it weird that they're walking home. Did the explosion hurt them?
That's the second reason why I think I'm lucky. Since I was right above the mountain when the explosion happened, most of the shockwaves bounced around me. The winds still pushed me up, but it was more like a strong hurricane than an explosion.
Now that I won't have to deal with dad's gang anymore, I should focus on those clouds over there. I swear if it's another army of... oh shit. It's Leviamuth. The clouds weren't from any spells or anything, it was the smoke coming off of their body.
Leviamuth is basically a giant flying worm made out of molten... something. No one actually knows, considering its so hot it glows as bright as the sun. The only reason I can look at them right now without squinting is because the smoke is only showing their silhouette. Why are they here? The dragon lords should've been keeping an eye on them.
The worst part of seeing Leviamuth is knowing that Behethan might be nearby. I mean, sort of good if they distract each other, but bad if they actually fight. I need to evacuate the Esmos. Who cares if others find out about them, I can't risk losing them. I can always make a new home.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
"Esmos, gather at the entrance. We're evacuating."
...No response? Did the explosion do something?
I hurry over to the entrance and break in. I don't have time going the long way.
Inside, the Esmos were curled up and glowing. What. The. Fuck. Fuck it, I don't have time for this. I scoop them up and put as many on my back as possible. They bite into my back, which hurts. The good news is they aren't drinking my blood... wait no, that's really bad. Something is very wrong with them.
I got everyone but Aesmo. Where is she? I curse her incredible skill to hide and start searching her standard hiding spots. Not behind rock #1, not under rock #2, not on the roof. I rush through my den until I find her, dangling in the center. Half in 'gravitas', half out, she floats while glowing. Normally I'd say it looked cool, but the lack of any reaction is worrying. I jump up, grab her, and ride 'gravitas' up out of the mountain.
Fuck, where do I go? I need time to analyze the situation... up! The cloud should give me cover in case anything else is targeting me. Though I guess with Leviamuth present, I shouldn't worry about that anymore.
Now, what's up with the Esmos? They're glowing, curled up, and are mostly unresponsive. They do seem to be conscious though, which just makes this worse. Let's see... what can cause glowing? I can't think of any traditional effects, which means it's most likely magical in origin. Maybe 'gravitas'? Or the giant magical circle in the clouds (that is now glowing... I'm evacuating anyways)? Could the high density of bastard and dragons have some sort of effect on them? After all, they spent their entire lives in the wastes...
Eesmo, where is she? Fuck, I never confirmed her location. She definitely succeeded in her primary objective, but did she attach to any of my cousins? I didn't check since I was being rushed. Alright, where were they? ...In the blood pools now. That's not ideal.
"Eesmo, can you respond?"
My shouts don't incite any response. I glance over at where Leviamuth was and pale. A large stone aphid was approaching them. Behethan. I was running out of time. Then I heard a whisper from my back.
"78.3 forward. 161.9 left. 11 down."
Cesmo? That sounded too sane for Cesmo. Whatever. I'll assume the measurements were in meters, and move accordingly. I reached the position given, but encountered a minor problem. 11 meters down was under the blood. While considering my options, I felt a stinging pain on my back. Someone was biting harder, and it hurts.
Then the blood spiraled. The spiraling blood parted to reveal the bottom, uncovered by blood. There, hiding within a burnt dragon corpse was Eesmo. Surprisingly uninjured, I grabbed them, then flew up. The blood rushed back to fill the void.
Eesmo wasn't glowing. This gives me valuable information. The cause for the Esmos' glowing is local, found closer to the mountaintop where they were at. The two main suspects is 'gravitas' and the circle in the clouds. Whichever it is, it can't reach us if I fly away!
----------------------------------------
Excerpt from 'The Effects of the Wastes' Chapter 11 'mana sickness'
...A sudden increase in ambient mana can cause issues for those that have adapted to the wastes. The body struggles to properly control the absorption of mana, causing there to be excess and thus cause manauriunt. Luckily, this is usually harmless, if nauseating. The problem is when the change in ambient mana is too large. If more mana enters the body than can be expelled by manauriunt, then mana starts to build up and solidify. This is known as mana sickness. If exposed for too long, then the body becomes stiff, while the victim remains conscious.
Luckily, this causes no more discomfort than manauriunt, and if ambient mana levels are lowered sufficiently, then the body naturally reverts back to normal. There are no physical injuries due to mana sickness. Additionally, some say that mana sickness can grant natural magic power, independent of spells. However, this has not been proven...
----------------------------------------
Pov Vildra's sister, Uildra
Ugh. It hurts. My face. I can't feel my face. That sucks. At least I can still see. What happened?
I was going for Hellipa's liver, then everything went black. Ah, did I get killed? That sucks. So this is what happens when 'contingency' doesn't have enough mana. My injuries don't get fixed.
I see my circle is still intact. It's even being fueled somehow. Not that it matters. I can see Vildra flying away. And she has her ciels with her. That's dad's gang over there. How did they die...urk. Right, I don't have much mana right now. Can't keep using 'omniscience'. Gotta get out of here first.
Ah, a problem; I appear to be missing feeling in my lower half. And my central organs. And wings. I'm immobile. How cruel! She's forcing me get annihilated by my own trap! Jokes on her though. I can change the circle, even without mana.
I can only change the radius of the circle though, and considering the primary targets are long gone, I might as well shrink it to the minimum... Oh. I appear to still be in range. Just barely.
Fuck. Left arm extend. Fuck. Left arm pull in. Fuck. Right arm extend. Fuck. Right arm pull in. Fuck. Left arm extend. Fuck. Left arm pull in. Fuck. Right ar
----------------------------------------
An explosion in the center of the mountain rocked everyone who could see it. Vildra, who was flying full speed away, was the least affected. From her perspective, the shockwave was about as strong as the strongest storm. Nothing to scoff at, but still managable.
The greater problem was the heat. Not for Vildra; dragons can withstand high heat easily. No, the danger was to the Esmos. The heat was enough to burn them half to death. Luckily, Desmo saw the incoming heat before Vildra felt the explosion. Desmo, struggling to move, curled their body upright. When the shockwave hit, it immediately knocked Desmo down. However, that moment of protection against the heat prevented any of the Esmos from dying of burns.
Sure, they were still severely burned, but not enough to not feel it. And if you can feel pain, you're still alive.
The mountain, for the most part, was undamaged. If Vildra had turned around, they would have seen the pillar of fire coming out from the hole she dug. Most of the explosion was directed upwards, into the sky. It looked like an eruption, except with barely any fragmentation.
Then the magic circle activated. 'Time reversal' focused into the center of the mountain. In the same area as both 'gravitas' and the explosion. The three effects mixed, fighting against each other. The explosive gasses were remade by 'time reversal', then reignited and exploded, only to be undone again. 'Gravitas' pulled the unexploded gasses away from the heat, preventing explosions, only for 'time reversal' to send the gasses back down.
In the middle was a mana spire. Fueling both 'gravitas' and 'time reversal', only to be annihilated by the explosion, then brought back by 'time reversal'. There was a paradox. Something that fueled its own destruction and recreation. left alone, it could last forever.
However, there was something else, something on the edge of the paradox. Something that could change. Uildra, dying and reviving over and over again. Each time, she remembered the previous second, only to be blown up. Then remade with memory of that explosion, and nothing else. A near-eternal hell. One that she had the key to.
Magic circles are incredibly precise; a single wrong rune causes a wrong effect, assuming it even activates. Uildra reached out in the split moment between explosions towards 'time reversal', changing rune 17 from 'pol' to 'pil'. Immediately, the reversal of time accelerated. The circle was now 'time fall'; a spell that accelerates time. Since time was being reversed when it was used, the acceleration of time was towards the past.
The explosion was undone, then before the gasses could reignite, the gasses themselves were undone. Gravitas was uncast, the area it was in reversed to before it existed. The hole was refilled, all of Vildra's mining undone (the side rooms and hallway was out of range though). Then time went even further back. Uildra regressed rapidly, before shrinking down to an egg, then non-existence.
Then the circle ran out of mana. The mana spire could no longer fuel it, and so it stopped. Since the person who made the clouds didn't exist to maintain it anymore, they dissipated away. The mountain was now a little younger. The circle has sent its center back 400 years ago.
And at the top was a cap of pure gold, shining the sun in all directions.