A wailing wall of wind slammed into Castle Ælfweard, ripping roofs from the outer towers and keep. Rowena tumbled across the allure and slammed into the balustrade before crawling behind a merlon. Even behind the high castle walls, the gale buffeted the men in the bailey battling the conflagration, knocking some from their feet. Smouldering embers flared anew. Majestic pines of the outlying forest bowed low, their roots clinging desperately to the earth. Clouds tore away, revealing the brilliant indifference of cold stars and portents etched in a blood moon ascendant.
As she huddled behind the merlon, an ominous calm followed, which seemed to Rowena as if Nature held her breath in hushed anticipation. The fracas of frogs, the melody of mockingbirds, the cry of coyotes, and the orations of owls—all gone. The nocturnal soundscape swept away in an ominous instant, as if the Hand of the Unseen had gathered all life into its merciless fist. The silence that followed was so stark she feared the storm had stolen her hearing—it did not last.
Winds rose and whipped into a tempest of unnatural fury. Roiling clouds returned, swallowing moon and stars whole. Hail pelted down. Rowena peered out from the battlements, her ice-blue eyes sweeping the darkness for what the sulfurous winds had preceded. Dread coursed through her veins like spilled ink, for her heart knew what rode the wind, though her senses perceived nothing.
She flew down the stone steps toward the bailey, seeking her beloved Wyrtgeorn. His towering frame commanded respect throughout the castle, though Rowena knew the gentle heart beneath his intimidating presence. Wyrtgeorn stood in the thick of the firefight, rallying his men to their furthest limits in hope of containing the inferno that burned with supernatural hunger, consuming water as fuel and threatening the winter grain stores. Rowena found him amidst the smoke and chaos.
"We must away!" she cried, seizing his arm.