After leaving the castle, Erik and his allies encountered a large mob, consisting of hundreds of first rankers from the village of Bamburgh itself. They were gathering on the road towards the castle, clearly trying to find out what was happening at the castle.
Unfortunately for them, they were stopped by a barrier, blocking their assent to the castle. Now, they were clamouring outside it as they looked up at concern.
This was the method Elora had implemented to ensure these villagers wouldn't disturb them. It was a sigil barrier that she'd created before they even stormed the castle.
It only covered the road, making it far smaller than the barrier that covered the castle, but it was also much stronger. It was perfectly capable of holding back hundreds of first rankers for at least an hour or two.
Of course, that also meant they could go around, but that would have meant scaling rocks, and none of them had decided to go that far to test the barrier's width.
