Attack on the Crystal Castle

Most of the castle was caught unaware when the attack happened. As per usual, members of the Guard had been positioned at key entrances and exits, as well as at the doors of the chambers of the royal family, lords, and guests, but from the point of view of the castle residents, the sorcerers appeared to materialize within the walls. It is possible that someone let them in through the sewers or staff entrances, but anyone that may have witnessed this likely did not survive. The residents that had been asleep were quickly awoken, if not by the shouts of people being tossed down the hallways, then by their rooms being set on fire as dark-clothed figures did everything they could to block the Guard from the chambers of the queen and king.

The battle was fought primarily within the halls of the Crystal Castle, with some conflict taking place on the palace grounds as the residents attempted to evacuate. The center of the fighting was located outside the chambers of Queen Jensine and King Anthond, where both the Guard and the sorcerers attempted to keep each other from entering.

With narrow space to maneuver, the Guard were at an extreme disadvantage when faced with the sorcerers' magic. They had trouble getting close to the attackers without being bowled over into their companions, and when they did manage to move within sword reach, they had to take extreme care not to cut off the arm of a friendly combatant, especially while surrounding by the disorienting lights and sounds associated with magic. The situation became even worse when the sorcerers began to set the castle on fire, which filled the halls with smoke and made it difficult for the Guard to see and breathe. The sorcerers remained strangely unaffected.

While fighting took place all over the castle, most of the sorcerers converged upon the chambers of the queen and king, where they entered combat with the Guard stationed outside the doors. While some of these sorcerers fought to enter the chambers, the others effectively kept Guard reinforcements, led by Captain Bryne, from aiding their companions.    Elsewhere, smaller Guard companies worked to evacuate the rest of the castle, facing similar skirmishes outside of the guest rooms. While they succeeded in helping most of the lords escape, they failed to prevent the assassination of the Caligo representatives. The Leirion representatives, on the other hand, were nowhere to be found. One Guard company, led by the dragon Cora Wyrmkin, managed to extract Princess Avalon from her chambers and escape to the gardens, where Cora then broke away to lend a hand to Bryne.    While Bryne's soldiers held the sorcerers' attention, Cora successfully slipped through the enemy forces into the royal chambers. Although she was able to kill the assassins in the room, Queen Jensine had already been beheaded, and King Anthond was bleeding out on the floor with a stab wound in his chest. In his dying moments, Anthond ordered her to return to the princess and get her to safety, as she was to remain in charge of Avalon's protection no matter what. Distraught, Cora obeyed and rejoined Bryne to relay the news, before falling back to the princess in the garden.    Avalon's Guard was under attack when Cora arrived, so Bryne and her soldiers were forced to stay behind long enough to cover the princess's retreat. Once Cora and Avalon were well on their way to the safehouse, the captain and the rest of the Guard fled as well, disappearing into the sewers in order to escape the city. Following the death of the queen and king, the final retreat of the Guard marked the end of the battle and the fall of Aurora's capital.

The assassination of Queen Jensine and King Anthond and the disappearance of Princess Avalon meant a temporary end to Dawntreader rule in Aurora, leaving the kingdom's capital to fall into the hands of the Leirion sorcerers. Since the Caligan representatives were killed in the conflict as well, this supposed attack by Leirion was seen as a declaration of war on both Aurora and Caligo.

In order to put herself in a position to retake Mirour, Princess Avalon had to make several unfavorable deals with the ruler of Caligo, including an arranged marriage with one of his sons. All three nations had to prepare to enter war, especially since the Emperor of Leirion claimed to have been falsely accused of initiating the attack. As stories of the sorcerers spread, fear and hatred of magic worsened in Aurora, increasing discrimination against magical creatures and seemingly reducing years of progress. Many Aurorans also blamed Avalon for failing to protect them, so she was faced with the added difficulty of having to retake a kingdom in which she had fallen out of favor.