Fallen One (Book three of Alfireán age)

- Bring Him Down -

"Rex!!!" Zaphaniea shouted as she projected a vision at them.

Alf's heart skipped a beat as the hazy images of a wave of destruction blotting out the sky played out before him. For a moment, he watched while the tsunami rushed towards his friends and engulfed them in a bright flash of white. Then the vision disappeared, and as the world returned to normal, Alfonso wasted no time.

Reaching out and mentally following Rex, Alf threw up his hands and began to charge a shield as the vice-champion took off in a dead run in the opposite direction: all of them following except for Rinnia.

Then the Wisp exploded!

The entire island shook, and the heavens disappeared as a crimson wave of fire blotted out the sky.

Sand exploded outwards; entire trees flew through the air, and shrapnel pierced through the firmament like arrows shot from a bow.

With the wind whipping his hair about, Alf released his charge and a blue barrier sprung to life around the group just as the shockwave slammed into them.

Multicolored flames tore at the crystalline shield, stripping away layer after layer, but by some miracle it held. The ground underneath them, however, did not. The sea of glass they ran upon on crumbled away, shattering into thousands of pieces.

Rex jumped from falling shard to falling shard, desperately trying to escape the raging inferno swallowing the island.

Then in a flash, it was all over.

The explosion played itself out, and the shaking slowly came to an end as Rex reached the shoreline and collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavily.

Alf's tattered shield dispersed. Scrunching his eyes, he twisted around and tried to see back into the thick, hazy smoke left behind them.

"Rinnia," Zaphaniea suddenly urged as she began to move her hands in a chaotic dance. Sending a picture of the princess falling out of the sky, and a stairway of her spheres, the grand champion finished pushing the last magic ball into place.

Rex sprung to his feet and raced up the invisible steps. Leaping through the sky, he caught the princess as she lost her lightning form and transformed back into a human.

Then holding her in his arms, the vice-champion raced back towards them and laid her on the sandy beach before Olivia.

"Is she alright?" Alf asked while Olivia leaned over the princess.

"I'm fine," Valarinnia answered gruffly. Opening her purple eyes, she pushed Olivia back and clambered to her feet. As the sound of muffled silence hung heavy on the island, she gazed off into the cloud of fog. Her eyes slowly trailed down into the chasm left by the destruction of the sea of glass where thousands of treelike, crystal structures sparkled in the dim light. "What happened?" the princess demanded.

Zaphaniea stared into the distance, her eyes glowing orangish gold. "It's hard to tell, but I think The Fallen One blew up the wind guardian," she said as the smoky haze coating the terrain started to float skyward, once again revealing what was left of the sacred island.

"What!?" Rinnia snapped, glaring back at the grand champion. Her short black hair swished about her angry face, and her amethyst armor creaked from the sudden motion.

"He drove a flaming sword into her and she exploded," Alf explained, recalling the image Zaphaniea had shown him moments ago.

The princess gasped and stepped back. Her young eyes widened in genuine grief; her slender shoulders began to shake, and her hands curled into fists.