Chapter 436 — The Magic Barrier of Boulder Fortress
Blade of Dawn · Page 3 of 5
Inside the fortress, it was safe!
"The barrier's stopped the Skyfire!" "The barrier caught them!" "The Cecil men can't break in!" "We're safe!!"
The cheers rose first from those southerners' mouths, and then the other soldiers and knights of Boulder Fortress—strung to the breaking point, sick with dread—took up the cheering as well.
In the castle district, the nobles and the high knights cheered too.
"Ladies! Gentlemen! We may set our minds at ease," said Sir Marchi, standing on the high dais of the castle's great hall, arms spread wide, smiling down at every face below him—at the southern nobles beaming with delight, at the fortress knights who had finally relaxed. "The Cecil men's 'fancy trinkets' are not, it seems, invincible after all. Against a magic barrier, they can be stopped just the same!"
A southern noble rose, bowed deeply to Sir Marchi in an exaggerated gesture of respect, then turned and addressed the assembly in some florid, operatic tone: "My friends—we may bring the red wine up from the cellars!"
After so long trembling under such relentless tension and oppression, the nobles seemed to need a banquet to settle their nerves.
And before the banquet began, that "Skyfire" from on high gradually ceased; perhaps even the Cecil men had recognised the strength of Boulder Fortress, or perhaps their magical devices needed to cool and rest. This circumstance only lightened the mood in the fortress further.
Sir Marchi and his knights could still keep their emotions in check; but the southern nobles... they had been pent up too hard, strung too tight, and now that they had finally relaxed, their banquet threatened to turn into an orgy of revenge.
But Sir Marchi smiled and permitted it all—in his view, these poor gentlemen truly did need a good relaxation; the pressure they had borne of late had simply been too great.
The castle district blazed with light, and a feast was swiftly laid out.
The nobles' celebration seemed to come too abruptly, too extravagantly—but nobles are that kind of breed: holding banquets is not merely their amusement but their social life, their work, even their daily existence. They knew the soldiers elsewhere in the fortress would still be at their posts, and so they could raise their cups and pass the wine in the banquet hall with perfect confidence. Nobles are skilled at giving feasts, and accustomed to giving them on any pretext and under any name—to say nothing of a situation with cause as ample as this one.
Viscount Carroll, however, could not quite endure this violent shift of atmosphere. After a short while in the banquet hall he felt stifled, made some excuse, and left the hall for the outside; on the terrace he found a quiet corner and breathed the fresh night air.
It was the highest terrace in the castle district, and from here the state of the magic barrier could be seen clearly.
The magical barrier of Boulder Fortress remained active, a translucent energy shield enveloping the outer walls and faintly linked to the magically conductive metal embedded within them. Drawing upon the ancient and potent magical focus at the fortress's core, together with the arcane energy the walls had accumulated during the day, this barrier could be sustained until the next day—until the sun rose again and recharged it. And even should the next day bring no sun, the several great mage towers within the fortress could draw power from the subterranean magical focus and keep the barrier running at reduced capacity.
Gazing at that distant magical barrier, Viscount Karol, whose mood had been inexplicably frayed, felt a measure of reassurance steal over him. He exhaled softly and, through the translucent curtain of light, cast his gaze farther still.