Sarai blinked at the man blankly for a moment. Her heartbeat pounded in her head while she searched for an answer.
"I didn't anger the gods," she managed.
But her timidity only made the accuser bolder.
"Oh, then who did?"
Sarai gulped.
This wasn't going well at all.
More people joined the first in expressing their displeasure and fear.
"Why is this happening?"
"What's wrong with the barrier?"
"Is the Lord of the Mountain really coming to destroy us all?"
When she didn't immediately answer, their emotions quickly turned to frustration.
"Why are you just standing there?"
"Have you come to see us all die?"
The crowd surrounded Sarai, pushing in. As the soldiers had all gone running toward the horns, there was no one around to defend the former Queen.
"This is all your fault!"
Someone threw a stone, barely missing the redhead and landing in the mass of humanity behind her. Shouts of indignation answered the lobbed projectile. The words around her became violent. Soon the words would turn to action.
The crowd had become a mob.
Sarai knew from her time in the Dreamscape that it only took one or two loud voices to turn a cheering crowd into a jeering crowd. It was unlikely that all of these people actually harbored resentment toward her, but they needed someone to blame.
'And Emira is an easy target since she is no longer Queen.'
Likely none of them knew exactly what their former monarch was capable of, or in their sudden swell of emotion, they no longer cared.
Sarai's emotions were going wild too. The urge to flee was irresistible.
It would be easy for her to escape these mundane humans and leave them to their demise.
The ground shook, temporarily stopping the mass of humanity from taking hold of the emerald queen.
"The ground!" Someone lamented. "The old Queen caused cracks in the earth!"
'How dare you!' The redhead was responsible for many things in her life, but seismic activity was not one of them. She needed to teach these people a lesson in manners!
But then a child cried out among the onlookers, her tiny voice echoing through the square.
"Mommy, what do we do? Are we going to die?"
Hearing the frightened words, Sarai doused the flame that was forming in her hand.
Yes, the child was about to die. At least in the original timeline.
Most of the people around her probably perished when the original conflict happened.
Could Sarai really make a difference this time?
The fiery woman clenched her fists, her jaw set in a determined line. 'I can try!'
Her eyes filled with determination as she summoned two Memories. The first formed in her hand. The beautiful gilded bauble spoke of authority and might. The [Strange Scepter] might not help her to find the right words, but it would help amplify anything she found the courage to say.
The second Memory materialized across her shoulders. The beautiful cape was covered with interlocking shapes that seemed to move in and out of one another in an endless maze of color. It was entrancing.
The [Mindweaver's Tapestry] was given to Sarai by Snowmobile as a gift. Its description had always made the shy baker reluctant to use it.
[A mesmerizing, intricate tapestry woven from threads that seem to shimmer with a life of their own. Each thread in the tapestry represents a strand of thought, showcasing the complexity and interconnectedness of the mental landscape. A parting gift from an admirer.]
'Let's hope these people will become my admirers as well.' Sarai took a deep breath.
Keeping both eyes on the crying child, Sarai ignored everyone else around her.
"Don't worry!" Sarai spoke. Through the scepter, her voice came out loud and clear.
On her shoulders, the golden threads in the tapestry shimmered as her words seemed to ripple through the air.
While the anger of the crowd did not dissipate, Sarai could see the anxiety on people's faces lessen.
Her anxiety did as well. 'They didn't immediately maul me. That's something!' She tentatively continued.
"I don't know who angered the gods, but it doesn't matter. The earth is going to open and swallow you whole."
The panic she had just calmed doubled tenfold. They had felt the world quaking below them. And it was more than just the regular shuddering that the mountains sometimes sent their way.
"What can we do?!" A woman cried.
"Save us, mighty Queen!" A man begged, hoping his supplication would not fall on deaf ears.
Only a few still resisted the pull of her words. Sarai decided to ignore them.
"Everyone must get to the north side of the city as soon as possible. Those who can fight, get a weapon. Those who cannot, take shelter after you pass the palace."
Sarai felt her Memories echo and enhance her words. That is what one of the tapestry's enchantments did--enhanced the words of the speaker to make them more persuasive.
The crowd froze, fraught with indecision. Some believed her wholeheartedly while others were less confident in their previous beliefs about the stoic royal.
Only a few still harbored the anger of a revolution they did not get to enact.
She met the defiant looks with determination of her own.
A screech sounded, breaking the tension of the moment.
All eyes shifted from the ground to overhead. Sarai looked too. Her expression darkened.
A single flying abomination swooped down over the city, ready to capture some delicious human prey. Its hungry fangs glistened with anticipation of flesh.
Coming in from the south, the corrupted being was not part of the Tyrant's horde.
It was merely a bottom-feeder opportunist.
Yet it would suffer the same fate as all others that opposed the fiery former Queen.
With a sigh, Sarai lifted her hand and blasted the creature with a ball of flames.
The monster hissed as the smell of charred flesh filled the air. Before the abomination could get anywhere near the people, a second immolating blast hit it across its hideous skull.
The dead mound of flesh and bones crashed into a nearby structure, crumbling it.
"What are you waiting for? The barrier is broken and more are coming. Move!" Sarai wished Noble were here to emotionally jolt them into action.
The tapestry seemed to understand. It flashed, blinding those closest to her temporarily. A woman gathered up her child and ran northward. "Let's go!"
Others began to follow until only a few rebels remained to oppose Sarai.
Even after the display of power, they were aching for a fight.
She shrugged.
Some people just didn't want to be saved.
Before they could get any ideas about trying to harm her, Sarai sent a spray of harmless sparks in their direction.
"Shoo! Go fight the monsters or each other. Leave me alone!"
The [Mineweaver's Tapestry] glowed softly as Sarai's eyes lit with flames.
The revolutionaries looked confused for a moment. It was only when more sparks lit fires under their shoes that they finally fled.
Sarai walked away from them unharmed.
'Dead men walking...I tried!'
The ground rumbled like the groan of a sleeping giant.
More cracks formed in the ground.
Sarai quickened her pace.
The Tapestry billowed out behind her as she hurried through the streets with her message being spread far and wide by way of her scepter.
Both salvation and doom were located in one direction.
North.