It had been easy for Cecil to disguise the small troop, or occasionally hide them from sight, in order for the group to leave Raiden unseen. But Cecil had spent a great part of his magic in speeding up this small troop, in their journey from Raiden to the outskirts of what was once the great city of Blade. Now he seemed
exhausted, as his eyes looked on at the sight before him in disbelief. What manner of trickery was this? He wondered.

Not one of those with the mage, Neese of the violet hair, Duke Spark the possessed, the old witch woman Magda, nor even the young page Piper, said a word, as they all looked on in stunned silence.

In the desert floor, close to the rubble that once was Blade, stood what looked like a huge tent city surrounded by giant pillars of fire, that stretched hundreds of feet high into the sky. Now floating above the pillars, was a vast black rock mountain, and arising out of the mountain was a twisted collection of towers and buildings that could not be real! These looked more like the ancient mythic buildings Cecil had only read about, in tales out of Lodoss's long forgotten past!