A Song for Winter: Bomb

No one knew where the strange magical device came from or how it go into Drakthorpe but that wasn’t the issue right now. Right now the issue was what to do with it before it exploded. All along the large black metal rectangular box shined golden runes that radiated all kinds of magical energies. At the center was a large translucent sphere that slowly began to fill with liquid arcane energy that glowed a malicious green and gold color. Bands made of gold wrapped around the globe covered in runes that lit up in patterns that alternated faster and faster. A scan from the Harlock, the spaceship currently in orbit around the planet, confirmed that this device was a magical bomb and it had a payload strong enough to turn Drakthorpe and most of the northlands into a massive crater.

 

William didn’t have any experience diffusing bombs but he wasn’t about to endanger anyone else. Everyone was evacuated to the Harlock or through a portal to somewhere off the world just in case the worst happened. After examining the runes along the black metal case of the bomb, William determined that the runes that powered it were the work of some kind of spellcasting savant. Each spell was woven to exact specifications and then wrapped around six other layers of spells before being woven into another set of spells like a basket woven out of reeds. Dispelling one spell threatened to create a cascade effect that would detonate every other spell. Trying to crack the spherical container of liquid arcana would also set off the bomb. If William could dispel all the spells that held the bomb together at once it would immediately fix the problem but he couldn’t so that was out of the question. No barrier could be erected in time to contain the blast either.

 

Sky runes were being used as a modifier on the fire runes to spread the explosion further so William started there. He hoped that if he could dispel the sky runes then at the very least he could shrink the explosion’s radius. William managed to dispel a dozen carefully selected air runes without destabilizing the whole spell structure but as he went for the next one the glass sphere of liquid arcana start to spin rapidly. As the globe spun the metal casing of the bomb opened up to reveal six smaller spheres inside. Dispelling runes one at a time wasn’t going to be enough to stop this bomb in time. An idea struck William but it was highly dangerous and could easily backfire but it was all he had. 

 

William quickly carved portal runes around the base of the bomb and five extra sets around the bomb. With his earth maul, William folded the earth around the bomb so the portal runes fully encompassed the bomb on all sides. William used his talisman dagger to prick his finger to smear a series of blood runes along the earthen cage. The portal runes inside activated as William ran as fast as he could. Inside the earthen portal box, the bomb exploded sending its blast into the portals and back out another one of the portals creating a feedback loop. Eventually, the bomb was destroyed by its looping blast and collapsed as the power of the explosion collapsed into itself. It wasn’t the cleanest way to deal with the bomb but it did  successfully contain it.