I finally saw the conclusion of the nightmare I have been having.
Valen and Aethel were frozen instantly by the roar. Their bodies blocked the rest of the blast from reaching me. They saved me even in death.
The world went still. Time stopped.
I was desperate. I do not know who or what I reached for. I invoked everything I had. Every name I knew. Every god that has ever graced me with their blessing. All of it, at once, directed at my party.
It burned. But that sensation went quickly.
Replaced by cold.
. . .So that is the whole story. I must have died in that moment. Whether this world is what comes after, or something else entirely, I cannot say.
I can only hope that whatever I cast gave them a chance to survive.
. . .Oh Aethel. My dear sweet Aethel. I am sorry. I really am.