Chapter 1 Part 5

The scene outside of the smithy was maddening. A pillar of white-hot flame shot from the roofless building into the night sky, and the ground around the outside was smoking. It was noisy and the updraft from the heat was pulling the air into a strong wind. A fire brigade was busily dousing the nearby buildings but no one was getting close to the smithy.
Armegon roughly grabbed the guard captain standing nearby and shouted, “What’s been happening?”
The captain looked at Armegon sharply, but replied, “Shortly after dawn the roof blew off the smithy. We tried to douse the fire, but we can’t get close enough to get water on it. The mages said it was magic fire, so we’ve just been trying to keep the other buildings from catching. Someone or something is in there though; people have been reporting movement inside all day. Don’t see how it could be a person, but some of the mages claim that it is. ”
Armegon released the guard and turned to Avery. “We’ve got to go in there. This has been going on since dawn.”
Avery nodded and Armegon cast some protective spells. Trying to be ready for anything, they went in.
Inside the building, Avery stopped, speechless. In the center of the room stood a fire pit; between them and the pit stood Ultrecht. To Avery’s enchanted sight, lines of power emanated from Ultrecht in all directions like a spider’s web. Now Avery was nowhere near the caliber of mage that Armegon and Ultrecht were, but even he could see the sheer power being wielded here was immense. He grabbed Armegon by the sleeve and yelled, “You need to see the enchantments.”
Armegon wasted no time. He cast the needed spell and looked around. “Oh shit,” he said simply. There were politer things he might have said, but none of them seemed to express his opinion quite the same way.
After a few moments of study he said angrily, "He’s tapping three different extra dimensional power sources and using multiple foci. We’ve got to help. If he loses control, this entire city will be a smoking hole.”
“Is he really controlling that much power?” Avery asked.
“Gods yes,” Armegon replied, “I’ve never seen that much power used like this.”
Avery raised an eyebrow. “I’ve seen you wield power like this.”
Armegon’s tone was profoundly awed, “Not for fourteen hours straight.”
They conferred for a moment and decided that to try and bolster Ultrecht would only endanger his concentration. The best they could do was to hurry the project along. They plunged in and relieved the two staggeringly exhausted boys from shoveling coal to the maniacal dwarf who kept shouting for more.

Ultrecht knew only agony. He didn’t dare stop. The danger had long ago passed beyond simple danger to the smithy, if he faltered now the whole city could be harmed. He doggedly continued to play the lines of power, like a master bard played his harp. Three hours ago he’d been forced to bolster himself by opening a connection to a plane containing a primal source of life giving energy, a dangerous move that if not properly controlled would engulf his life-force like a candle thrown into a forge.
The last time he’d opened his eyes, Master Bindar was still forging away with the kind of stamina reserved only for madmen and dwarves, while poor Eric and Theo were near collapse. Painfully, he dragged his eyes open again to check on his charges. For a moment he thought he was losing it, stripped to the waist and manning shovels were both Armegon and Avery. He was too deep into the power to even be surprised. He let his eyes close and continued his painful vigil.

Avery was shoveling. He had a growing fear that they would soon run out of coal. Armegon was tiring and had resorted to working himself into a slow rage to maintain the spells that protected them both from the heat of the elementals. With Armegon’s magic being tied to his emotions, it was probably a good idea. He flung another load into the flames when the dwarf, who’d been bent over his work with a scribe for the past hour, suddenly began dancing with glee. “I need the heat! More flame!”
Avery launched himself into a frenzy of shoveling. Armegon swore, flung away his shovel, and blasted his most potent fire spell at the objects in the dwarf’s hands.” Across the room Ultrecht flinched as if he’d been struck.
The dwarf joined the two objects he was holding and yelled again, “The bucket! Bring the bucket!”
One of the boys struggled manfully to drag a large rune-covered bucket over, but exhaustion had taken its toll. Armegon grabbed it and ran for the dwarf.
“Pull the lid!” shouted the dwarf. Armegon complied, ripping the cover aside.
With a war cry that painted a fine line between the divine and the insane, Bindar plunged the hammer into the blood. It exploded with a force that flung everyone away.
Avery reacted. The moment the bucket exploded, Ultrecht’s carefully maintained web of spells was ripped asunder. The elementals thankfully disappeared, their job complete. But the residual heat would still be fatal. Ignoring the pain that washed through him, he cast a spell to lower the temperature around him. With nowhere to dissipate the heat but straight up, he used the already warm atmosphere as a heat sink.
He was using up his own life energy fast, but he had to save the others. He was quickly on the verge of collapse; there was just so much heat!
Armegon, bleeding and burned staggered to his feet. Quickly he cast, and a torrent of sleet and ice burst from him in all directions. The temperature dropped dramatically, and the thermally stressed stone walls of the smithy shattered. It was still painfully hot, but no longer lethal.
Avery and Armegon stood numbly and stared at each other for a small eternity, then turned and began seeing to the wounded.