"What happened?" (Patreon)

I murmured, with a miserable sinking feeling that I already knew the answer.

"The Plague of Battles hath been released, Sire," an Ixie replied.

"No," I groaned.  "How can this be?  There's no way I would ever use that."

"That's exactly what thou saidst when I came to remind thee to use it," the Ixie replied.  "Thou seemed to be in some form of Irenaeid battle-trance, whipping off arrows as quickly as thou couldst apport them .. but the tide of battle was still going against thee.  'Use the Plague of Battles, Sire,' I exhorted thee.  'Shoot it amongst the enemy commanders, and the day is ours.'  Thou swattedst angrily at me.  'A true scion of Irenaeus needeth no such foul tricks to win a battle,' thou scoffedst."

"Then thou tookest the phial from out thy elfintory and flung it away over the porch railing."

"But -" I interjected.  "Duchess Catherine told me that the container could not be opened accidentally."

"Twas as she said," the Ixie elaborated.  "One of thy army spotted the phial on the ground, and taking it for a potion, rashly opened it and drank it."

I stared goggle-eyed at the Ixie.

"He immediately began attacking his fellows with savage ferocity, and then .. he exploded, causing the cloud which thou seest."

I gazed out across the roiling cloud of green vapor, and thanked Fuma that it was opaque enough to prevent me seeing the carnage which I could hear taking place within.

"This is terrible!" I shrieked.  "I've got to do something!"

I leaped up and tried to climb over the porch railing, but a sudden swarm of Ixies pushed me back.

"LET ME GO!" I bellowed.  "I have to get down there and help my allies!  I asked them to come fight for me!  This whole debacle is my fault!"

"Twill do no good to throw thy life away!" the Ixies insisted.  "None can survive the Plague of Battles!  Its victims are doomed to fight until they are slain or die of exhaustion!  No-one escapes!"

"Edessa and Theronmyathus escaped," I countered.

"They were far enough from the blast to see the cloud coming and react.  The Queen and her hoofmaiden are both powerful spellweavers.  Dost thou know how to make a dome of force to keep the vapors out?"

I had to admit that I did not.

Maybe some of my allies had retreated into the base of the scrying tower, either out of gluttony or cowardice, or perhaps like Burnside they knew about the Plague of Battles ...

I dashed down the stairs, but the room was empty.

Someone outside was screaming and beating on the door.

"Don't thou dare open that, Sire," the Ixies warned me.  "There is nothing outside but the Plague of Battles."

I shuddered as I tried to guess how long it would take for the cloud to subside and all of its victims to perish.  The Duchess hadn't given any particulars regarding the cloud duration .. but she had said the the battlefield would remain contaminated for a very long time .. and that was with her recommended use of a few drops on an arrow, not the entire phial!

Was I trapped in this tower indefinitely?  How would I survive??

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