"Shit," Jonah cursed, scrambling to his feet. "Atticus, are you alright?"
"Other than some sand in my eye, completely fine," came his dry reply. Atticus pushed himself up as well, instinctively reaching for his magic but had to put himself to a halt just in case he worsened the situation. "What the fuck just happened?"
"You boys alright?" King Calarian asked. He came around just as Atticus stood to his full height, dusting the golden sand from his clothes.
"Fine," replied Atticus. "What was that?"
"That," King Calarian said, gesturing to the flurry of sand and the abundance of men lying on the ground, struggling to get up, "is what happens when you use magic to mine the ores. You're lucky that when you tried earlier, it was just a small deposit. By the looks of it, magic reacted with one too many ores and resulted in that."
