The Wild Series: Reign of Ashes (Main Page/Pridelands)

Rehema braced herself on the bear, her talons tangling into his fur but not enough to hurt him.

((Was Thallus here I don't remember?))

Ya, he's there! Rinka's holding him in her right talon!)

Now we either wait for Crow, or we wait for Jay to type up exactly what's attacking the city and where, or I just have Rinka drop them all off somewhere for them to help while she goes after Zarrock XP)

((Well my cheetah is there somewhere but yeah we're waiting on the slowpokes XP ))
((And continue to wait on the slowpokes we shall))

Wildwing wrote:Ya, he's there! Rinka's holding him in her right talon!)

Now we either wait for Crow, or we wait for Jay to type up exactly what's attacking the city and where, or I just have Rinka drop them all off somewhere for them to help while she goes after Zarrock XP)

(Maybe we should have Rinka rush in to catch Zarrock and have a bit of a fight. That could bide us time while the others decide if they want characters in the city or not, we could just say the others were on their way and meanwhile blah blah blah was going on with Zarinka)

That could also work!)

Wildwing wrote:That could also work!)

There are no rules! XP despite the extensive rule list )

XD)

So should have a time skip-like thing where I have Rinka arrive without the others, and they decide where Rinka left them?)

On a separate note, I want to make a map of Rinka's city to make things easier for everyone to be on the same page as far as setting goes, but I don't want to go through the effort XD)

*let skip~!*

Rinka, in all her Phoenix glory, slammed into the ground in front of her hollow and bellowed in fury,

"ZARROCK!!"

Wildwing wrote:*let skip~!*

Rinka, in all her Phoenix glory, slammed into the ground in front of her hollow and bellowed in fury,

"ZARROCK!!"

From the top of the building, Zarrock wistfully dropped the jar holding the small flame in the hopes it would either crash on the ground in front of Rinka, or she would catch it. Regardless of which would happen, he figured she would be distracted. He was already in Shade form by the time the jar had crossed half of the distance. With a swing of his right wing he send a flurry of violet flames like bolts towards Rinka, and dived from the rooftop with a screech. His curved black talons resembled a withered, dead tree creeping high into the air as they reached for the sun.

(Hey I'm no slowpoke! Oh wait... xD

So what exactly are we gonna have everyone doing now?)

Jaystep wrote:

Wildwing wrote:*let skip~!*

Rinka, in all her Phoenix glory, slammed into the ground in front of her hollow and bellowed in fury,

"ZARROCK!!"

From the top of the building, Zarrock wistfully dropped the jar holding the small flame in the hopes it would either crash on the ground in front of Rinka, or she would catch it. Regardless of which would happen, he figured she would be distracted. He was already in Shade form by the time the jar had crossed half of the distance. With a swing of his right wing he send a flurry of violet flames like bolts towards Rinka, and dived from the rooftop with a screech. His curved black talons resembled a withered, dead tree creeping high into the air as they reached for the sun.

Attracted by movement, Rinka spotted Zarrock only after he dropped the jar. She immediately moved forward to catch it. But as she reached out her talon, her gaze was drawn upward by the Dark Phoenix's transformation. His attack already sent, she made a split second decision. She swept her wings over her head, creating a shield-like force from the pale flames that followed. As Zarrock's bolts collided with the barrier, all of them dispersing in ripples of orange and violet flame, Rinka glanced down at the sound of the jar shattering at her feet.
The Phoenix snapped her attention back to the Alpha Shade with an infuriated scowl. She jumped to the side to avoid his dive, spun around to face him, and then charged talons first.

Wildwing wrote:

Jaystep wrote:

Wildwing wrote:*let skip~!*

Rinka, in all her Phoenix glory, slammed into the ground in front of her hollow and bellowed in fury,

"ZARROCK!!"

From the top of the building, Zarrock wistfully dropped the jar holding the small flame in the hopes it would either crash on the ground in front of Rinka, or she would catch it. Regardless of which would happen, he figured she would be distracted. He was already in Shade form by the time the jar had crossed half of the distance. With a swing of his right wing he send a flurry of violet flames like bolts towards Rinka, and dived from the rooftop with a screech. His curved black talons resembled a withered, dead tree creeping high into the air as they reached for the sun.

Attracted by movement, Rinka spotted Zarrock only after he dropped the jar. She immediately moved forward to catch it. But as she reached out her talon, her gaze was drawn upward by the Dark Phoenix's transformation. His attack already sent, she made a split second decision. She swept her wings over her head, creating a shield-like force from the pale flames that followed. As Zarrock's bolts collided with the barrier, all of them dispersing in ripples of orange and violet flame, Rinka glanced down at the sound of the jar shattering at her feet.
The Phoenix snapped her attention back to the Alpha Shade with an infuriated scowl. She jumped to the side to avoid his dive, spun around to face him, and then charged talons first.

Zarrock's talons scored into the broken concrete where Rinka had been, but the Shade turned on a dime and swung a wing of violet flames in her new direction. He let out a savage scream that shook the feathers around his face.

Jaystep wrote:

Wildwing wrote:

Jaystep wrote:

Wildwing wrote:*let skip~!*

Rinka, in all her Phoenix glory, slammed into the ground in front of her hollow and bellowed in fury,

"ZARROCK!!"

From the top of the building, Zarrock wistfully dropped the jar holding the small flame in the hopes it would either crash on the ground in front of Rinka, or she would catch it. Regardless of which would happen, he figured she would be distracted. He was already in Shade form by the time the jar had crossed half of the distance. With a swing of his right wing he send a flurry of violet flames like bolts towards Rinka, and dived from the rooftop with a screech. His curved black talons resembled a withered, dead tree creeping high into the air as they reached for the sun.

Attracted by movement, Rinka spotted Zarrock only after he dropped the jar. She immediately moved forward to catch it. But as she reached out her talon, her gaze was drawn upward by the Dark Phoenix's transformation. His attack already sent, she made a split second decision. She swept her wings over her head, creating a shield-like force from the pale flames that followed. As Zarrock's bolts collided with the barrier, all of them dispersing in ripples of orange and violet flame, Rinka glanced down at the sound of the jar shattering at her feet.
The Phoenix snapped her attention back to the Alpha Shade with an infuriated scowl. She jumped to the side to avoid his dive, spun around to face him, and then charged talons first.

Zarrock's talons scored into the broken concrete where Rinka had been, but the Shade turned on a dime and swung a wing of violet flames in her new direction. He let out a savage scream that shook the feathers around his face.

As she charged Zarrock, Rinka sprung into a flip over the new wave of violet flames and brought her talons down on the Alpha Shade's head as gravity pulled her back to the ground.

(Attack: Jump Attack)

Wildwing wrote:

Jaystep wrote:

Wildwing wrote:

Jaystep wrote:

Wildwing wrote:*let skip~!*

Rinka, in all her Phoenix glory, slammed into the ground in front of her hollow and bellowed in fury,

"ZARROCK!!"

From the top of the building, Zarrock wistfully dropped the jar holding the small flame in the hopes it would either crash on the ground in front of Rinka, or she would catch it. Regardless of which would happen, he figured she would be distracted. He was already in Shade form by the time the jar had crossed half of the distance. With a swing of his right wing he send a flurry of violet flames like bolts towards Rinka, and dived from the rooftop with a screech. His curved black talons resembled a withered, dead tree creeping high into the air as they reached for the sun.

Attracted by movement, Rinka spotted Zarrock only after he dropped the jar. She immediately moved forward to catch it. But as she reached out her talon, her gaze was drawn upward by the Dark Phoenix's transformation. His attack already sent, she made a split second decision. She swept her wings over her head, creating a shield-like force from the pale flames that followed. As Zarrock's bolts collided with the barrier, all of them dispersing in ripples of orange and violet flame, Rinka glanced down at the sound of the jar shattering at her feet.
The Phoenix snapped her attention back to the Alpha Shade with an infuriated scowl. She jumped to the side to avoid his dive, spun around to face him, and then charged talons first.

Zarrock's talons scored into the broken concrete where Rinka had been, but the Shade turned on a dime and swung a wing of violet flames in her new direction. He let out a savage scream that shook the feathers around his face.

As she charged Zarrock, Rinka sprung into a flip over the new wave of violet flames and brought her talons down on the Alpha Shade's head as gravity pulled her back to the ground.

(Attack: Jump Attack)

The talons connected but did little to deter Zarrock from snapping back with his beak, narrowly missing Rinka's face. He charged into her with his shoulder to try and knock her off balance and jutted his head forward to bite again.

Rinka was quick on her feet, able to move back with Zarrock with him barely touching her during his shoulder charge. She was able to move back a bit further, giving her room to blast him in the face with a fireball when he tried to fight. Immediately afterwords, she shot sideways and up into the air, landing with a turn on top a building. More specifically, on top of an organized bundle of wood on top of that building that caught on fire after she touched it. Not seeming to acknowledge this, she dove sharply at the Alpha Shade from her vantage point.

Wildwing wrote:Rinka was quick on her feet, able to move back with Zarrock with him barely touching her during his shoulder charge. She was able to move back a bit further, giving her room to blast him in the face with a fireball when he tried to fight. Immediately afterwords, she shot sideways and up into the air, landing with a turn on top a building. More specifically, on top of an organized bundle of wood on top of that building that caught on fire after she touched it. Not seeming to acknowledge this, she dove sharply at the Alpha Shade from her vantage point.

Zarrock's eyes flashed with violet rage, and he stood his ground. He took a deep breath, dark shadows gathering near his talons. Just before Rinka's dive connected he erupted a wave of Shade magic in all directions, sending her dive off course and potentially into something he hoped was breakable.

Jaystep wrote:

Wildwing wrote:Rinka was quick on her feet, able to move back with Zarrock with him barely touching her during his shoulder charge. She was able to move back a bit further, giving her room to blast him in the face with a fireball when he tried to fight. Immediately afterwords, she shot sideways and up into the air, landing with a turn on top a building. More specifically, on top of an organized bundle of wood on top of that building that caught on fire after she touched it. Not seeming to acknowledge this, she dove sharply at the Alpha Shade from her vantage point.

Zarrock's eyes flashed with violet rage, and he stood his ground. He took a deep breath, dark shadows gathering near his talons. Just before Rinka's dive connected he erupted a wave of Shade magic in all directions, sending her dive off course and potentially into something he hoped was breakable.

Rinka smacked right into the Shade magic with all her momentum. The momentum combined with the force of Zarrock's attack shot her back the way she came at half the altitude she dove. She smacked into the face of the building and collapsed to the ground from several feet above. Had the make-up of the building not been crystallized during it's 10,000+ years of existence, it would have collapsed in on itself as well.

Wildwing wrote:

Jaystep wrote:

Wildwing wrote:Rinka was quick on her feet, able to move back with Zarrock with him barely touching her during his shoulder charge. She was able to move back a bit further, giving her room to blast him in the face with a fireball when he tried to fight. Immediately afterwords, she shot sideways and up into the air, landing with a turn on top a building. More specifically, on top of an organized bundle of wood on top of that building that caught on fire after she touched it. Not seeming to acknowledge this, she dove sharply at the Alpha Shade from her vantage point.

Zarrock's eyes flashed with violet rage, and he stood his ground. He took a deep breath, dark shadows gathering near his talons. Just before Rinka's dive connected he erupted a wave of Shade magic in all directions, sending her dive off course and potentially into something he hoped was breakable.

Rinka smacked right into the Shade magic with all her momentum. The momentum combined with the force of Zarrock's attack shot her back the way she came at half the altitude she dove. She smacked into the face of the building and collapsed to the ground from several feet above. Had the make-up of the building not been crystallized during it's 10,000+ years of existence, it would have collapsed in on itself as well.

Zarrock let the shadow-fire wisps clear from the air before he moved in on Rinka. Black talons cracked on the man-stone between his prey.

Jaystep wrote:

Wildwing wrote:

Jaystep wrote:

Wildwing wrote:Rinka was quick on her feet, able to move back with Zarrock with him barely touching her during his shoulder charge. She was able to move back a bit further, giving her room to blast him in the face with a fireball when he tried to fight. Immediately afterwords, she shot sideways and up into the air, landing with a turn on top a building. More specifically, on top of an organized bundle of wood on top of that building that caught on fire after she touched it. Not seeming to acknowledge this, she dove sharply at the Alpha Shade from her vantage point.

Zarrock's eyes flashed with violet rage, and he stood his ground. He took a deep breath, dark shadows gathering near his talons. Just before Rinka's dive connected he erupted a wave of Shade magic in all directions, sending her dive off course and potentially into something he hoped was breakable.

Rinka smacked right into the Shade magic with all her momentum. The momentum combined with the force of Zarrock's attack shot her back the way she came at half the altitude she dove. She smacked into the face of the building and collapsed to the ground from several feet above. Had the make-up of the building not been crystallized during it's 10,000+ years of existence, it would have collapsed in on itself as well.

Zarrock let the shadow-fire wisps clear from the air before he moved in on Rinka. Black talons cracked on the man-stone between his prey.

Rinka hefted herself back to her talons. The look in her eyes was ghastly as she turned back towards Zarrock. As he slowly closed in on her, she began moving around him. She was circling while at the same taking steps away to keep the distance between them from decreasing even more. She was carefully observing him while taking what short time she had to recover.

Wildwing wrote:

Jaystep wrote:

Wildwing wrote:

Jaystep wrote:

Wildwing wrote:Rinka was quick on her feet, able to move back with Zarrock with him barely touching her during his shoulder charge. She was able to move back a bit further, giving her room to blast him in the face with a fireball when he tried to fight. Immediately afterwords, she shot sideways and up into the air, landing with a turn on top a building. More specifically, on top of an organized bundle of wood on top of that building that caught on fire after she touched it. Not seeming to acknowledge this, she dove sharply at the Alpha Shade from her vantage point.

Zarrock's eyes flashed with violet rage, and he stood his ground. He took a deep breath, dark shadows gathering near his talons. Just before Rinka's dive connected he erupted a wave of Shade magic in all directions, sending her dive off course and potentially into something he hoped was breakable.

Rinka smacked right into the Shade magic with all her momentum. The momentum combined with the force of Zarrock's attack shot her back the way she came at half the altitude she dove. She smacked into the face of the building and collapsed to the ground from several feet above. Had the make-up of the building not been crystallized during it's 10,000+ years of existence, it would have collapsed in on itself as well.

Zarrock let the shadow-fire wisps clear from the air before he moved in on Rinka. Black talons cracked on the man-stone between his prey.

Rinka hefted herself back to her talons. The look in her eyes was ghastly as she turned back towards Zarrock. As he slowly closed in on her, she began moving around him. She was circling while at the same taking steps away to keep the distance between them from decreasing even more. She was carefully observing him while taking what short time she had to recover.

Zarrock wasted no time, while is shadows gathered around him for a second attack, he closed the distance with a burst of his wings, propelling himself in a leap to snap his beak at Rinka's throat.

Jaystep wrote:

Wildwing wrote:

Jaystep wrote:

Wildwing wrote:

Jaystep wrote:

Wildwing wrote:Rinka was quick on her feet, able to move back with Zarrock with him barely touching her during his shoulder charge. She was able to move back a bit further, giving her room to blast him in the face with a fireball when he tried to fight. Immediately afterwords, she shot sideways and up into the air, landing with a turn on top a building. More specifically, on top of an organized bundle of wood on top of that building that caught on fire after she touched it. Not seeming to acknowledge this, she dove sharply at the Alpha Shade from her vantage point.

Zarrock's eyes flashed with violet rage, and he stood his ground. He took a deep breath, dark shadows gathering near his talons. Just before Rinka's dive connected he erupted a wave of Shade magic in all directions, sending her dive off course and potentially into something he hoped was breakable.

Rinka smacked right into the Shade magic with all her momentum. The momentum combined with the force of Zarrock's attack shot her back the way she came at half the altitude she dove. She smacked into the face of the building and collapsed to the ground from several feet above. Had the make-up of the building not been crystallized during it's 10,000+ years of existence, it would have collapsed in on itself as well.

Zarrock let the shadow-fire wisps clear from the air before he moved in on Rinka. Black talons cracked on the man-stone between his prey.

Rinka hefted herself back to her talons. The look in her eyes was ghastly as she turned back towards Zarrock. As he slowly closed in on her, she began moving around him. She was circling while at the same taking steps away to keep the distance between them from decreasing even more. She was carefully observing him while taking what short time she had to recover.

Zarrock wasted no time, while is shadows gathered around him for a second attack, he closed the distance with a burst of his wings, propelling himself in a leap to snap his beak at Rinka's throat.

(Permission from Jay to briefly control Zarrock, 'who's just gonna keep attacking Rinka until she does something to stop it' XD)

His attacks coming quicker and mercilessly, Rinka, fortunately having high agility and speed, barely dodged the strike. And what ensued was a deadly dance as Rinka continued to dodge his consecutive blows, each more violent than the last. Orange and violet flames twirled, Zarrock's sharp beak slashing the air right beside her cheek, her throat, and shadowy projectiles stabbing at her, as their talons moved in sync like a waltz. One final leap backward, when Zarrock's reach finally fell short, Rinka perceived his weariness. As he went in for a weaker, slower attack, the Phoenix Queen took her chance. Her entire being brightened, and then dispersed into tendrils of pale orange and white flame as Zarrock's attack connected.

From the fire that burned atop the roof that Zarrock now had his back to, Rinka reformed. With those flames pulling towards her being as she rose into the sky, she stooped over. Gravity was not enough with this. Her entire body brightened once more and with an explosion of fire, she shot down on Zarrock, leaving behind a streak of orange and slammed him into the ground.

When the dust of the explosion settled, Zarrock lay with his wings spread to each side in the center of a small, smoldering crater. The shadows and violet flames that made up his form sunk into the charred ground around him until only a Harris Hawk remained. Rinka's impact had been enough to knock the Alpha Shade out of his battle form and returned him to a bleeding, broken hawk. Streams of smoke wisped from the edges of his wings where they had been singed, his head lay to one side. Blood trickled from a wound above his left eye as he wearily struggled to open it. There was a ringing in his ears as the world came back into focus, and a stream of fear began to pour into his heart as he understood Rinka now towered over him, her flames still bright.

Zarrock coughed twice, regaining his senses and the strength in his wings. The fear that crept into him slowly began to wane, turning into a mixture of rage and spite. With a low growl a opened his beak to speak, and at the same time a ripple of amber lighting arced across the sky overhead. Despite the clear and blue skies, the air overhead crackled with yellow energy. From the thickest point of light a tear in the world ripped open. A Rift, larger than any before, had torn open in the skies above the flaming city. Shades and other birds alike either froze in horror, or scattered in every direction around the tear.

From inside the blackness of the torn light, five Phoenix blazed into the world. Zarrock stared, ridged with shock and pain. A numbness took over as he was unable to understand what was happening around him.

In the front of the formation, Tyrin spun out of the portal. His armor shimmered with the light of the Rift and shone with the flames on his feathers. In mid spin, Tyrin swung his twin swords toward the nearest group of Shades and cleaved them apart. As he blazed through the air he righted himself, and slammed helmet-first into another Shade, knocking him out of the sky. A stroke of his wings took him into a dive between the tall buildings below as his swords found homes buried in any Shade his dive collided with. Behind him, like a trail of fire the other Phoenix followed, catching their own prey with just as much persuasion. Tyrin's voice boomed through the streets as the inferno tore through the sky around him. "Phoenix Guard! Quench the fires! Destroy the Shades!"

Rinka towered over the tiny form of Zarrock, looking down on him from the tip of her beak. Finally, she had him right where she wanted him. Finally, as she shifted her talon to move it over his tiny, breakable form, she could deal with this menace. Finally, she was one step closer to winning this war-

Like a bolt of lightning, an impossible connection snapped back into existence. Feelings, thoughts, a presence that had been gone for 3 years was back, scrambling her senses completely. She caught herself before she could collapse on top of the Harris Hawk and spun around with a mix of emotions, more genuine than what she'd felt in years. And she could only gape as he, as well as four other Phoenix, appeared from an impossible fissure in the sky.

Ki's terrible screech boomed through the air at her king's command as her massive form spun through the air ripping any Shade her talons to wrap around apart. She slammed into the ground, blocking the path of various animals trying to flee from the city. "Why are you running!?" her voice thundered over the sounds of battle, breaking her focus from the group to snatch a shade from midair and slammed the shadowy creature into the ground below, splattering various Shade bits all over ground. Her eyes snapped back up to the group, narrowing i a burning rage. "Do you want to be known as the cowards who hid like hatchlings while their friends burned!? OR DO YOU WANT THESE MONSTERS TO FEAR YOUR VERY PRESENCE AND NOT GIVE THEM AN INCH WHILE YOU STILL DRAW BREATH?! The choice is yours." With a massive flap of her wings, Ki shot back up into the air and screamed a valorous war cry as she barreled towards another battalion of Shades. The group of animals followed, echoing her battle cry as they started to push back against the shade invaders.

---

Khiarra drifted around the battlefield, low to the ground. Her focus was not on the various Shades scattered about the city, but if one got too close she wouldn't hesitate to cleave them in two. Instead she was on the hunt for something more valuable to her. Her head snapped up as, thanks to her acute sense of hearing, a small noise caught her attention. She made her way towards the sounds, which were growing louder with every beat of her wings. Khiarra spotted the source of the noise, a pile of rubble surrounded by a pack of four snapping Shade wolves.

The phoenix let out a battle cry as she launched herself at the Shade pack. The first two went down easily, being crushed by her weight as she landed on them. The other pair put up a sad-attempt of a fight before they too fell to her blades. The female phoenix peaked into the rubble pile to spot the source of the squeaky noises: a small bear cub who had become trapped under rubble of ancient human ruins during the fight.

"Hey.. little one... it's okay..." she cooed to the cub, gently lifting a beam off of the cub and tossing it to the side. The cub scooted away from the phoenix, her voice shaky.

"Are you... are you one of the bad ones?? ... I can't find my momma...." the cub sniffled.

"No... no little one," a warm aura around Khiarra began to pulse that bathed the cub in amber light. "I'm one of the good ones... my name is Khiarra... what's your name?"


The cub shuffled to the phoenix, favoring her hind leg. "My name? My name is Skye."

"Well Skye, it's not safe here." Khiarra gently cradled the cub in her talons as she began to gently ascend into the air. "Lets go see if we can find your mother."

Zarrock saw the fire. He saw the shape of the feathers. He knew who was under that mask. For a few seconds, his blood froze and he felt nothing except for the frantic desire to get as far away from this forsaken city as he could. He took an eternity to center himself, recalling how very, very dead Tyrin was. He knew this... right? It was completely, unequivocally impossible. But it wouldn't be the first time...

No matter who was under the mask, the truth was that five new Phoenix were decimating his Shade forces around the city, and in moments they could close in on him as well. Zarrock came to his senses, carefully watching Rinka out of the corner of his eye to see how she would react. All he needed was a moment. I could get out now, if I'm fast enough...

Tyrin kept in formation as the others dispersed to help those in need, or kill those who needed it. The Phoenix swept his fiery wings across the street and shot back up into the air in chase of a cluster of three Shades. Through the adrenaline of combat, he started to let his excitement bubble through. He could barely focus on keeping up after the fleeing shadows as the reality of the situation began to sink in. She's out here somewhere! After all these years! I can feel how close she is, I can feel her--

Warmth shot through his veins as he brushed against her mind somewhere below. It as only for a fraction of a second, the tiniest contact, but it exploded through him like the wildfire on his feathers.

And then the connection was broken, but this time on Rinka's end. It was overwhelming. Everything she was feeling and experiencing at that moment was overwhelming. The flames that were her feathers writhed uncontrollably all across her form as she pressed her beak into the cup of her wing. Her flames agitated, reflecting the shambles of her mind, her thoughts were an endless repeat of Whatwhatwhatwhat and meaningless strings of everything played in a loop.

Wildwing wrote:And then the connection was broken, but this time on Rinka's end. It was overwhelming. Everything she was feeling and experiencing at that moment was overwhelming. The flames that were her feathers writhed uncontrollably all across her form as she pressed her beak into the cup of her wing. Her flames agitated, reflecting the shambles of her mind, her thoughts were an endless repeat of Whatwhatwhatwhat and meaningless strings of everything played in a loop.

Tyrin's mind reeled with emotions, that small brush of contact enough to cause hundreds of memories flooding back. He was dazed enough to let the Shades slip away from his grasp and they fled through the broken buildings below. He took a moment o gather himself, trying to take in the chaos of the city's panic... but in that moment he could only focus on finding one thing. He hovered, massive wings swinging waves of heat with each stroke, scanning the ground for her.

In the midst of the chaos in her mind, Rinka-with her wings still clasped to her beak-vaguely remembered that she had been dealing with something important. She turned her head slightly, her gaze falling where Zarrock was laying, last she'd been focusing on him.

24 shades remained in the city, their forces thinly spread all throughout the collection of shelters for the followers of the rebellion. About the same number of small violet fires were spread apart, marking the areas the shades had wrought their destruction. The flames rolled over even the crystallized rubble, eating away at the vegetation that grew between the hundreds of crevices and blackening homes.

The shades either wreaked havoc on their own or in pairs of two, dividing and conquering in multiple areas of the city-some even within eye shot of each other. The one group of three had just escaped from Tyrin. They started heading for the main area all the shades were gradually going towards-the remains of a sky scraper on it's side that served as the shelter for hundreds of animals-but then they circled around and charged the Phoenix King himself.