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room
exploded.
    The Fire
Blast spell was an area-effect spell. It was crude and imprecise, but
it was also brute force personified. Everything that could burn in
the room suddenly went up like it was soaked in gasoline.
    The
monsters were turned to ash so quickly that their bodies actually
stood for an instant, perfect copies made of lifeless cinders. And
then the wind blew past them, scattering ashes everywhere.
    The other
creatures that had been eagerly trying to force their way into the
room drew back with wails of fear. They raced away, disappearing into
the storm. Simon almost followed them but stopped and looked around
at the home he loved engulfed in flames.
    He chanted
another spell as quickly as he could and invoked it.
    The
Blizzard spell seemed to copy the storm outside but instantly snuffed
out the flames, freezing the entire room and coating the burning
ceiling with ice. Simon hoped that he had snuffed out the fire in
time to at least stop the tower from collapsing from the inside.
    With a
shrug, he put away that sad thought, recast his shield spell and
hurried outside.
    He could
barely see ten feet in any direction as the wind whipped ice
particles past his shield, sending tiny sparks flying in all
directions. He stopped and listened intently, trying to hear anything
above the screeching blizzard. But he couldn't tell where the
monsters had fled and he realized that he could stumble around for
hours and not find them until they attacked.
    Think,
Simon, think, he told himself frantically. How can I find these
things in this storm?
    He was trying to decide what to do
when a blood-chilling scream came from the area near the front gates.
    The wizard spun toward the sound and
hurried in that direction, slipping on the icy crust of snow that had
already built up around the tower.
    As the open gates appeared out of the
white wall of snow, Simon stopped short and stared in disbelief.
    There were several bodies scattered
across the ground, black blood and entrails making it look like a
scene out of a horror movie. Two of the monsters were still on their
feet but they were being pulled down by a half-dozen small, brown
figures while something that looked like a miniature tornado
repeatedly slammed into their heads, ripping bits of skin and bone
off of their faces, turning them into gory masses of flesh.
    The creatures finally collapsed as
the earthen smashed into them again and again. Simon had never seen
anything so violent and demented as this and could only stand with
his mouth open in shock.
    The bodies lay unmoving and obviously
dead and still the elementals, including Aeris, continued to tear
into them, literally ripping them apart.
    “ Guys?” Simon called out
tentatively. “Hey guys! Um, I think they're probably dead
enough.”
    All of the little figures stopped
attacking and looked over at him. The whirling dervish that was Aeris
slowed to a stop and all seven little elementals simply stared at
Simon blankly.
    “ Master!” Kronk called
out in surprise. He was standing on the caved-in chest of one of the
creatures, covered in gore.
    “ You're alive, master!”
    “ Uh, yeah. Mostly.”
    Simon really didn't know what to say
as he stared at the remains of whatever the hell had attacked the
tower. He had never seen such uncontrolled violence from the
elementals before and he was trying to process it.
    Aeris shot across the space between
then and stopped just outside of Simon's shield.
    “ We thought you were dead,”
he exclaimed, drops of black blood trickling off of his hovering
form.
    “ No, I'm still here. What
exactly were,” he nodded at the bodies, “those things?”
    “ Wights, master,” Kronk
said, his voice thick with disgust. “Back in ancient times,
they were known to follow in the wake of storms, masking their
presence until they attacked. It was a very effective tactic.”
    “ Can't argue with that.”
    Simon dismissed his shield but kept
his diamond skin spell active to protect him from