The guards’ armor had done nothing to protect them against the power of Westcott’s spell. Lanier had been able to get out of Westcott’s line of sight, gambling that the mage was casting a spell intended to take out everyone in the room. What a spellcaster couldn’t see, he couldn’t affect, so Lanier, concealed by the packing crate, had been spared the effects of whatever Westcott had used to take the guards and Lambert down.