//------------------------------// // An Archmagus at Work // Story: The Crystal Vizier // by Lich-Lord Krosis //------------------------------// Pain. A sharp, stabbing sensation. Quite uncomfortable to experience, especially when your body is riddled with it. "Ugh..." Cadence moaned, her eyesight blurry at best and damaged at worst. She saw... shapes, one large, one small. She was not sure at first what they were, but as her vision grew less covered in blurs, she could definitely make out movements, indicating life. They were in the room with her, yet obviously did not register her presence. Clouded voices were now registered by her eardrums, the sensation of speech upon her sensitive ears intensifying the pain that racked her body, and causing her to groan in agony, her head igniting with a headache. The two figures stopped conversing, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw them start to move towards her. She wanted to run. She wanted to shriek, she wanted to gallop, fly or teleport as far away as possible from this place. Her body, unsure of which she wanted more, convulsed, and she yelped with pain, her eyes growing even more blurred with tears of pain and terror. She felt a pair of hooves wrap themselves around her, and she screamed. She didn't care how much it hurt. Wait... Shiny... She could recognize that scent anywhere. She sighed in relief, her burning lungs taking in more air to fuel her ailing body. She wanted to hug her stallion, wanted him to hold her, to cuddle her, to tell her everything was going to be okay. A sharp whimper of pain escaped her lips, and her husbands hooves hurriedly retracted. No. She wanted his hooves, no matter how much it hurt. Damn this pain. Damn it to Tartarus. She mustered every shred of energy she had left in her system, and flung herself towards the shape of Shining. ......... Pain. ......... - Twenty Minutes Earlier - ......... "Cadence... Oh my goddesses..." Shining gasped, his breath still returning to him after the cataclysmic explosion that his wife had caused. The entire throne room was wrecked, pieces of broken crystal and woodwork littered the floor, and there was an absolutely massive hole in the east wall, the blizzard outside taking the opportunity to invade the previously comfy hall. Shining gasped as he turned to his right, to find the collapsed form of his wife. He leaned in to hold her, instinct telling him to comfort her. To protect her. "SIRE! DON'T TOUCH HER!" Kel'Thuzad's deep voice shrieked over the winds that howled throught the throne room, already starting to cover everything in sight in a sheet of fine white powder. Shining retracted his hooves, his instinct telling him to cradle his wife, who's crimson blood was already seeping from several large gashes in her barrel and underbelly, coloring the bluish-violet crystal floor red. He knew he shouldn't touch her. Kel'Thuzad was right. The lich's presence was announced by the loud crackles of the bluish flame echoing from his claws. "MY LORD! HOLD HER STILL! I'M GOING TO CAUTERIZE THE WOUNDS! SHE'S LOST FAR TOO MUCH BLOOD ALREADY!" the Archlich roared, the flames dancing around his hands crackling and popping with more intensity as he prepared the spell for release. Shining turned to the lich, who's presence offered some shield from the biting cold of the winter wind that howled around them. Shining nodded grimly, and looked back to his right, the pink from of his beloved still collapsed on the ground, the pool of red growing wider and thicker by the second. He slowly wrapped his hooves around her, using as gentle touches as he could, attempting to leave as many of the numerous cuts as he could open to the lich's vision. "AGH!!!" Cadence roared, her Royal Canterlot Voice echoing through the wreckage of the chamber. A sick melting, frying sound reached Shining's ears, and he winced. Cadence was shaking, almost unnoticeably so, and he used a few gentle bursts of magic to rub her coat in an undamaged spot, attempting to keep her soothed as best he could. Then the smell hit him. The smell of cooking meat. Of charred fur and burning flesh. He glanced back at the lich, who's gaze was fixated on a rather large cut adorning his wife's lower neck. He worked without emotion, without second-guesses. A good trait to have in these situations, Shining thought. The lich's claws were stock-still, apart from the occasional flicker of movement from his thumb to redirect the small beam of white heat that was fired from his palm. The second hand was channeling a sort of miniature ice flow, coating another large gash on her barrel in a thin sheet of ice, cutting off the profuse bleeding. He grunted occasionally with strain, probably not used to using such precise aim and focus. Finished with the cut, me withdrew, and began on the next one, quickly melting the ice bandage he had laid over it. Cadence had fainted, whether from blood loss or pain neither of them knew. All they knew is that she was dying, and time was of the essence if they wished to save her. Shining turned his gaze to the largest cut he could see, a jagged canyon of spilt flesh running up her side, and focused. Slowly, a bubble of dark... Blue energy? Shaking his head, he refocused on his task. As he did, a blue bubble of energy warped into existence, covering the wound to the best of his ability and vision. "AHHH!!!" The stallion looked up and to the left, towards the source of the scream and stopped. Twily? What was she doing here?! Unfortunately, Kel'Thuzad had also heard that scream, and quite obviously thought of it as a threat, his ice-laying hand quickly reaching up, just in time to stop a full frontal blast of violet energy, Twilight's magic crackling and popping in the air a few inches from his palm. ......... INSOLENT WHELP! I WILL RIP YOUR SOUL FROM YOUR FROZEN HUSK! Kel'Thuzad growled, the lavender newcomer testing his patience to the limit. He knew not who this unicorn was, and what she wanted, but shooting a tremendously powerful ball of pure arcane energy at his face while he was helping to save his queen's life, was not the best move. He sneered, and charged a frostbolt, aiming it at the pest's head. He released. "KEL'THUZAD, STOP! THATS MY SISTER!" He heard his master hurriedly screech from beside him. Damn it all. Already the frostbolt was yards from his master's sibling's head, so he acted quickly. He could not cancel the spell, not enough time. Or distance. Quickly, he molded the bolt in mid-flight, the icy projectile feet away from turning the unicorn's skull into a brain-flavored slushy receptacle, chilled to perfection. The bolt arced around the stunned Twilight's head, wrapping around her and the unconscious ponies beneath her. The frozen ponies remained still in their hastily created ice block, and the lich smirked, momentarily proud of himself for the little stunt. Without a second thought however, the lich was back into his delicate surgeries, sealing his queen's flesh back together with small beams of necromantic flames and frost. Shining's mouth hung open like a broken hinge, a gasp leaving it. His advisor had just silenced the most powerful unicorn in Equestria with a flick of his wrist. Were ponies really that weak when it came to magic, or was Kel'Thuzad just insanely talented? He almost didn't want to know... ......... - Twenty Minutes Later - ......... "My lady, please stop! Your injuries are still mending!" Kel'Thuzad said, worriedly gasping in fear, his queen's form catapulting towards his king, snuggling into his chest. The alicorn groaned in reply, and ceased movement, lying still on her husband's belly. Shining's eyes went wide, before he gently wrapped his hooves around her, careful not to disturb the stitches Kel'Thuzad had sown into her skin. "Well. Okay then." Shining chuckled, letting his wife snuggle up on his chest, ignoring the blood that still matted parts of her fur. He turned to Kel'Thuzad, who had returned hesitantly to his work, slowly and safely thawing his master's friends from their icy prison. The lich grumbled something under his meaningless breath, and continued his work. Several minutes went by like this, the icy confines of Kel'Thuzad's chambers deathly quiet. "So... any idea why my wife caused an explosion?" Shining asked, his hooves gently stroking Cadence's back, careful not to disturb her right wing, which was apparently quite broken. Kel'Thuzad's claws stopped glowing, and he turned to Shining. "I have theories, but some of them are quite outlandish..." the lich said, obviously perplexed. "What I do know is this. After I started explaining the benefits and downsides of undeath to you and your spouse, Lady Cadence's magical energy started to fluctuate beyond safety, presumably from stress or anger. I swiftly wrapped her in a ward that negates the effects of magic, but the runes powering it were quite quickly overpowered by your wife's impressive magical energy, and they shattered, causing an explosion of quite a large magnitude." the Archlich explained. Shining nodded, and went back to his cuddling. Even then, my ward SHOULD have held. Something was giving her energy. Something far more powerful than me... I wonder...