It happened in one split moment.
Rosalind finished with that warning, only for a powerful gust of wind, akin to a raging typhoon, suddenly infiltrated the room with an unstoppable force. It burst through the entrance, unyielding and relentless, as if possessing a mind of its own. Its arrival was accompanied by an uproar of chaos and destruction.
The Fae screamed as the tempestuous wind, now inside the enclosed space, seized every available object as its victim. With a thunderous roar, it hurled itself upon the room’s contents, as if engaged in a fierce battle. It careened with a deafening ferocity, rattling windows, toppling chairs, and overturning anything in its path.
Furniture, once anchored to the ground, was lifted off its sturdy foundations, becoming mere playthings in the wind’s merciless grasp. Chairs somersaulted through the air, crashing into each other like carts on a rampage. Tables were upended, their contents splattered across the room, creating a disorderly labyrinth of debris.
Islinda’s feet had a mind of their own and refused to move amid the raging chaos even as the wind threatened to throw her off her feet any second. What was the possibility an ominous cyclone would start in a meeting hall? Zero. This was not natural, it was obviously the work of a Fae.
Rosalind was an autumn Fae, but even she was not powerful enough to summon an air current of this intensity. There were powerful forces at work here and Maxi’s words from earlier crossed her mind. Rosalind had been working for someone. With the magnitude of this destruction, it was probably someone powerful. Even more than Aldric.
Visibility was low with the rising debris but Islinda narrowed her eyes enough to see that not all Fae were running for safety. The Autumn Fae among the servants tried to control the tempest but even they were enough to calm it. If anything the air grew dense, saturated with the chaos and commotion as the wind maintained its dominance.
Islinda was lucky not to have been hit so far considering she stood at the spot as if she were invulnerable unlike every other person desperate to escape the relentless grip of the wind. Her hair whipped furiously at her face and dust got into her eyes.
Except her luck ran out.
A chair hit her square in the face and she stumbled back only to be caught by someone. Maxi. The Fae was not smiling.
"Are you stupid or simply asking for death, you moron?!" Her eyes flashed with anger, her voice nearly swallowed up by the wind.
Islinda did not have the time to answer, not that she had a comprehensive excuse to offer, as Maxi dragged her along toward the entrance. However, the howling gusts seem to come from that very corner.
"Fuck!" Maxi cursed as she turned to assess the room, looking for an escape route. However, there was just one entrance with several windows which was not really an option. Those uneven shards would rip into her skin before she had the chance to jump out.
"By the gods, Maxi, are you trying to crush me to death? Please get up, it’s over now." Islinda grunted, unable to take her weight anymore.
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