To my relief, the pause near the barricade let Gresch actually calm down enough to notice my message.
'Retreat? Burn? Oh, this voice—Your Majesty, are you speaking with me yourself? I—damn it, there's no time for this, is there? I heard an explosion—did it start a fire?'
'Yes, it did! Now get out already! I'm leading my forces outside.'
'Let these cursed heathens be damned… They are denying our victory even now! Very well…'
I exhaled and led my forces outside. With a telepathic call to the officers, I and Bloodimina easily gathered everybody, even those who were spread over the keep to serve as scouts, and went out in the nearest window.
We had to fight through more dragons out there before we could take shelter in one of the captured buildings. From here, the thick columns of smoke coming from the castle's keep were clear as day. The fire, which spread rapidly over oil, was visible through the windows and was only minutes away from licking the keep's roof.
