The Darkest Hour

Chapter 2

Phae stood wide-eyed and trembling as all around her young apprentices ran for their lives. She searched around desperately for means of escape, but the fire was everywhere. Searing flames leapt across bookshelves and between timber roof supports, stoked by burning texts that exploded like fire-crackers as their magically-imbued pages caught alight and combusted, adding their material to the raging heat of the inferno.

Across the room Master Kulgrim was furiously attempting to organise some of the more experienced magic users into fire-fighting teams to try and quench the blaze. It was no good. One by one their exits were cut off, leaving only a single doorway out into the streets.

Kulgrim called out to her.

"Phae, run! We need to get out of here now!"

Phae flinched as she watched the chaotic scene unfold about her, her hands still ablaze with the fierce fire magic that she had been so desperately trying to control. She couldn't move. Her whole body was paralysed with fear.

Kulgrim called out to her again. "Phae!"

She looked up, and saw him gesturing to the exit that was already starting to crumble as the age-old wooden building slowly burnt to the ground. She watched as above them one of the huge supporting roof beams started to c***k. The remaining mages ran for the door, Kulgrim with them. At the last moment he paused and turned back. He ran over to her and scooped her fragile body up in his arms. "Your father would kill me if I left you alone in here."

Just then the cracked roof beam started to give way. The whole building shook as the remaining supports struggled to take the extra weight. Kulgrim dashed for the door, but it was already too late. He stumbled as the beam fell, and Phae was sent crashing to the floor. She turned for sight of the brave water-mage, but the smoke was so thick she could barely see at all.

Somewhere amidst the smoke, a cry of pain reached her ears. The sound of Kulgrim's cries snapped her out of her paralysis. She struggled to her feet. "Master Kulgrim?"

The voice of the water-mage was faint. "Phae"

"Master Kulgrim, where are you?"

"Down here!"

Cautiously she felt her way through the smoke, following the coughs of her would-be rescuer towards their source. More through luck than judgement, she stumbled across the mage a few feet away, trapped under a pile of wood and debris.

Phae knelt down and tried to move him, but realised her hands were still ablaze with magic. She struggled for control, but amidst the noise and confusion of the fire, she was helpless. Tears streamed from her eyes.

She did her best to brush them away on her sleeve. "We need to get you out of here."

"Can't," the mage coughed. "Too hot legs broken. Tell your father I'm sorry"

As the water-mage started to fade, Phae could feel her frustration continue to grow. The flames on her hands doubled in size as all around her the fire burned even more brightly, and the heat grew even more intense. She wanted it to stop.

She looked around desperately for some means of moving the injured mage, but couldn't see anything of use amidst the smoke. She never meant to hurt anyone. She never meant to

Phae fell to her knees as the flames finally closed in around them, sucking away the final few gasps of air left in the Halls. It was hopeless.

"I don't want to die," Phae wept. On the floor beside her, Kulgrim lay perfectly still. If he hadn't passed already, it wouldn't be long now. "It's all my fault"

"It's not your fault Phae you're not going to die."

"Father?"

A funnel of air pierced the smoke above her, pushing the choking fumes away. There were strong magics building around her. The flames that had just moments before threatened to consume her suddenly started to retreat. As the smoke cleared further she could just make out the floating form of her father, arms outstretched, extending his magics across the ravaged Halls, slowly beating back the flames until they were finally reduced to nothing.

As the flames died, Phae dared a glance at the stricken water-mage by her side. Though his breathing was faint, he was alive; but only just. Breathing seemed a small mercy for poor Master Kulgrim when every breath he took was t*****e. Phae knew he didn't have long.

As the fire dissipated, small teams of mages bravely re-entered what was left of the Halls to quench the smouldering remains. As they did so, the still distant figure of her father descended from his position up in the rafters to land amidst the charred ruins of his once-proud Halls. Phae struggled to her feet and ran over to him. He held her tightly in his arms until the flames that covered her hands faded and she was restored to her normal self. That the returning mages had seen the shameful mark of her crime was in no doubt. She buried her face deeply in her father's cloak.

"It's alright Phae, it's over now. The fire's out and everyone is safe."

Phae looked up into her father's eyes. "Everyone?"

Her father shot a concerned look over to a group of mages struggled with a laden stretcher. Even from this distance he could tell the experienced Master Kulgrim had only a slim chance of survival at best. He looked down at his frightened daughter whose eyes streamed with tears. Beneath his arms he could feel her fragile form trembling. He wiped her tears away as best he could. "Everyone," he said firmly.

She struggled to free herself from his grasp. "You're lying!" she cried. Several mages turned their heads towards them.

"Phae I'm not lying to you."

"Yes, you are!" she replied. "Can't you see that his life-force is spent? He'll be dead within the hour and it's all my fault!" Wiping her tears on the back of her sleeve, Phae ran from the Halls. Her father called out and was about to run after her when all of a sudden he stopped in his tracks. The weight of two dozen pairs of eyes fixed on him, waiting for his instruction. They had seen everything. They knew what had caused the fire in the Halls. They knew who was responsible. He surveyed the scene before him. The Halls of Meditation were lost. The walls were nearly all burnt to the ground, and only the husk of the building's skeleton remained, its charred, blackened frame a sharp reminder of the vastly dangerous, uncontrollable power his daughter wielded.

Callum sighed as he considered his options. There was nothing else for it the Halls of Meditation would have to come down.