The source of the roar was obvious immediately when I turned in the direction of the sound. My spell had revealed the at least part of the city that was buried here and had made a large obviously unnatural circular indent in the sand – about thirty feet deep, though the depth varied with the bedrock the city was built on, and 2 miles across. On the northern edge of that space a huge monster had also been unburied. Well. Partially unburied. Only the head and two forelegs of the creature protrude from the sand, the rest still buried in the dune behind it. The sight is slightly surreal.

“Mistress.” Pink's voice is a bit uncertain.

“Yes, Pink?”

“Is … is that a rock turtle?”

“Perhaps. It likely started its life as a rock turtle if nothing else.”

It does look a bit like a rock turtle. Well it's much bigger than any rock turtle I've ever seen – its head alone is probably thirty-five feet high, I can only imagine how massive the body concealed beneath the sand is. Also its moving. Its forelegs are ponderously scrabbling for purchase against the bedrock seemingly with the intent of pulling itself up. Ah. A huge magical creature like that, there's no way that the sand will pose any obstacle at all to it. Even as the thought flashes through my mind I feel a huge magical power flexing inside the creatures body and with a smooth motion it beings to pull itself free of the ground. As it stands the dune behind it rises with it – its shell I think idly – until the creature has pulled itself to its full height probably something like two hundred feet above the top of my head.

“Mistress … should we … run?”

From the corner of my eye I shoot Pink a contemptuous glare, not dignifying the question with a response. Most of my attention is still on the “turtle” though. Monsters called rock turtles are native to Artas though in my memory they grow to be about twenty feet high at most. Despite that this thing looks exactly like a rock turtle, just bigger, its visible skin – on its head, legs, and tail – is gray and pebbly; its shell (sand still running off of it like water) looks less like something organic and more like a mountain of gray stone that has somehow grown around the turtle's body. In the cracks and fissures of that mountain there is an angry red glow, pulsing like a heartbeat. And every inch of the thing veritably trembles with magical power – undoubtedly reinforcing its armor and its hide. Now erect, it faces us, once again opens its mouth and looses another ground-shattering roar. My magical protections invalidate it completely of course but I can see the sand billowing wildly around us and the dirt beneath our feet vibrating from the sound.

At my side I see Pink shiver a bit, feeling the effect of the roar despite my protective barrier. It seems that turtle is pretty strong. But more importantly … that red glow the cracks in its shell are emitting – that's not normal. In fact nothing about this creature is normal, it is something corrupted. A part of the expected unpleasntness resulting from the imbalance Pink and I are seeking to correct. It would probably be best if it died here. Making that happen though, judging by its apparent toughness, will be a huge pain in the ass. Haaah … well this is why I have Pink. This can be an educational experience if nothing else, Pink's raw magical power is less than that turtle's so if she's able to kill it maybe that will mean she's quite skillful? Well that's only if she can.

With a thought I throttle the link between us, reducing her ability to use my power, to make the contest a bit more fair. If her wide-eyed look is any indication Pink notices immediately. She's making her goldfish face again … too bad Pink, no matter how cute you are, this is for your own good. Probably. Maybe.

“Go kill that turtle. I don't like it.”

“...yes, mistress.” Only the briefest instant of hesitation.

The wide-eyed look disappears, replaced by grim determination. Determined Pink is cute too – I defiantly won't let her die no matter the outcome here; I decide on the spot. Pink nods at me and turns away, stepping outside of the protection of my Rune Formation. As her high-heeled foot crosses the Runes they disperse, their purpose completed. Pink drops to one knee and begins muttering an incantation. She plants one hand on the ground and reaches the other out in front of her, her fingers grasping empty air. Mana surges through her body as the spell completes and in her outstretched hand a black bastard sword appears. It is a rough looking thing, an instrument with no purpose but war. A black iron hilt that terminates in an uneven cross-guard and a blade that looks ragged and malformed; as if someone just smashed a meter and a half length of obsidian out of a mountain and called it a blade – no art or craftsmanship on display at all. At the same time a black shield – a small round buckler – appears under her other hand and her clothes flex and shift – re-configuring themselves into a suit of black leather armor. The armor is slightly too revealing, obviously sacrificing a degree of defensive ability in exchange for some less easily defined benefit, but Pink is a succubus I suppose she can't help herself. At least the heels have been swapped out for some practical looking leather boots.

“Well done Pink. Now our colors match.”

She turns back to look at me, eyes widening slightly “Yes.” She replies simply, a blush creeping up to her cheeks, before spinning away from my gaze and tensing her legs. Before I can say anything more she jumps, and her body explodes off the ground toward the turtle, the blade in her hand igniting as she goes – bathed in green fire as she reaches the apex of her leap.

“And that is an interesting sword…” I murmur to her retreating back.

My part is done, maybe I can watch the rest from my floating island? Thinking that I look around for it but sadly its already floated nearly a mile away – following the currents of mana in the air. In hindsight maybe I should have added some method to control its motion remotely. Behind me I can hear roars and screams of fury – the battle apparently beginning in earnest. Well. I think I'll leave that to Pink, I've seen enough idiots flailing swords around for a dozen lifetimes. And what could a turtle even do that might be interesting? So I'll take this opportunity to explore the city a bit in the meantime. The turtle and Pink are duking it out on the northern end of the crater but the western edge looks more interesting to me – there is a large fort looking building over there, on the other side of a dozen city blocks of residential-looking buildings.

As I wander through the sand-blasted ruin of a city I try to study the buildings a bit. Passive observation is something of a specialty of mine after all. The first notable thing is these buildings were all shaped with magic, as expected of a demon city, you can tell because there are no breaks in the stone for mortar or other conventional architectural staples. Instead it looks as if the sturdy stone houses simply rose out of the ground fully formed. Which they did. Probably. That also explains why these buildings are still standing despite being buried under tons of dirt and presumably being trampled by large turtles and other monsters – though the collapsed roofs of some of the buildings tell a story of some monster being just a bit too heavy. Probably that really large turtle over there.

The second notable thing is the damage these buildings have sustained. On nearly every building there are scorch marks – of the roofs and exterior walls – hard to see, partly because some ignoramus recently blew huge quantity of sand all over and around here and effectively sand-blasted the whole damn place. But they're there, if you know what to look for. And how could I, of all people, fail to recognize the trails left by the so-called 'Spiritual Artillery' the Celestials wield with such glee? To bombard a whole city like this would take quite a few of my feathered friends – probably an entire Chorus – which would explain some things. For an entire Chorus – the term Celestial's use for the wings of their standing army – to be this deep into Artas would be decidedly not good. Celestial incursions are supposed to be repelled at the border, sometimes infiltrators slip onto the continent and attempt an assassination or kidnapping or something but it's always small stuff. This is a whole different scale, for the Celestial's to have marched an army straight through the center of Artas … well it paints a picture doesn't it?

As I approach the fort, the signs of Celestial bombardment become ever more obvious. Buildings damaged where the lances of light drilled through them, empty plots here and there where a structure was reduced to rubble – and subsequently carried away by my spell. Oops. Most tellingly the whole area is permeated by the stench of holy magic, probably some high ranking priest of the doves “blessed” this land to render it uninhabitable to demons. But the “blessing” is ancient, faded by time to the point that even after uncovering the “blessed” land I feel no particular discomfort. Also there are constant tremors in this area, the ground shaking and splitting, accompanied by deep bass roars – some new Celestial magic no doubt. Very annoying.

Even as I think that there is an especially large tremor and a fissure cracks and gapes open – almost directly under my feet. I have wings though so it's not actually as big of a deal as it sounds. With a single beat of my wings I return to the sky, nearly a hundred feet up. The fort I was making my way towards; however, does not have wings and it can only sit helplessly and be split down the middle – cracked open like an overripe melon. I'm treated to a brief glimpse of the thing's interior – boring gray stone rooms and corridors – before both the halves slide into the still-widening fissure, crashing into each other and grinding themselves into rubble. Though I picked it on a whim, it seems I won't be able to visit that fort, no great loss. There probably wasn't anything important in there. Hopefully the same is true for all of this ruin – because it is also rapidly disappearing.

The same phenomenon is occurring all around me, the ground trembles and shakes, before bursting open and swallowing anything and everything. The ancient city I recently unburied is quickly disappearing beneath the sands once more. It might be irritating if I judged anything of value was being lost but I don't think there is. Certainly nothing that lives is down there, excepting a handful of monsters maybe, and it's not as if I have any interest in baubles or trinkets of any description. No the knowledge that the Celestial's passed this way is enough, that it happened a considerably long time ago is not entirely unexpected either. I vaguely felt it after all, that since my castle was emptied a long time has passed. Maybe if I had moved a bit more quickly the demon race might not be in such dire straits? Well it's a pity but I require a large amount of sleep, nothing to be done about it. Sorry if you died because of me though – I think idly as the last remaining structure is swallowed up by the ground, as if it had never been.

The cause, of course, is that over-sized turtle rampaging around over there. Since its gone and buried the city I might as well wat-

“KREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-”

A huge noise emerges from the ongoing battle, the turtle has opened its mouth and is letting out some sort of shrill warbling cry, its not damaging me but it does hurt my ears and I can feel a headache appearing. Unacceptable.

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE– AGUKH.”

Before I can can even think the mana has been shaped and loosed and the turtle's throat explodes a rain of disgusting gore that showers the ground below – silencing the cry. Damn. There goes letting Pink handle this herself, I think morosely but the noise was simply intolerable. Pink did seem to have the situation in hand, at least from my point of view – now that I'm paying attention again.

While I was examining the ruined city Pink had been really doing some work on that turtle. Its shell was scorched and blackened in places – mostly near its head or legs, indicative of strikes that had just barely missed more vulnerable targets – the so-called Soulfire doing its work, even against as powerful a magical creature as this. The turtle was also missing one of its huge eyes, the leaking bloody hole – bigger than my body – is kind of gross to look at, and also one of its legs – the right hind limb. I can see the dismembered leg lying in the sand about a hundred yards from where the turtle is currently. The front right leg is also heavily wounded, bleeding and scarred by soulfire, whereas the other two limbs are more or less wholly unscathed. Pink's plan is apparently to rob the thing of its mobility by removing the two limbs on its right side. I can't help but think … Pink do you really need to worry about a turtle's mobility?

Pink for her part looks more or less untouched. Unsurprising considering any direct hit from a body hundreds of times her size would … end the fight lets say. But that doesn't mean she's untroubled by her opponent. For one thing the turtle has probably been using ranged-sound based attacks, if all the roaring that's been happening is any indication, because it's facing an opponent it's unlikely to be able to stomp on with its feet or bite with its jaws. I'm sure Pink has some ability to resist with her level of magical skill and available mana – but such sound-based magic is fundamentally impossible to avoid completely between combatants that are relatively evenly matched and the damage tends to be cumulative. For another she looks exhausted and from my spot half a mile away in the sky – almost literally floating on a cloud – I can only offer my sympathy to those whose lot it is in life to do the hard work that needs doing.

Pink is sweating and breathing so heavily she's practically panting while she faces off against the turtle. As I watch she bursts into motion, leading with her sword held in a two-handed grip, leaping towards the turtle's right foreleg – using her wings to increase her speed – it's quite an impressive strike, especially as green fire bursts out along the length of her blade. But the turtle is apparently ready for it because, with speed that seems unlikely for such a large creature, it twists its body and interposes its shell between Pink and the leg. Unfazed Pink uses her wings to change her trajectory, sliding past the shell and readying her blade – unwilling to let her target escape. The turtle makes a strange bleating noise from its ruined windpipe – apparently distressed.

Pink smiles and unleashes her strike.

*TINK*

And the strike is deflected, as a new turtle emerges from the sand beneath the giant's feet and throws itself in the path of the blade. Pink – reeling from the suddenly lost momentum – tumbles out of the sky and lands on the ground in front of the leg she intended to sever. The giant turtle – sensing opportunity – raises its leg and stomps down – sending a massive shock-wave rippling outwards and opening new fissures all over the basin. Huh. Seems the turtle was the one making the earthquakes. Pink manages to slip out from beneath its foot – she can fly so of course she won't be done in by something like a stomp – and she's taken to the sky once more, warily circling the turtle. The reason for her wariness is obvious as – all over the basin – the snouts of at least a hundred more rock turtles begin to emerge.

The newcomers are properly sized rock turtles this time. The largest standing maybe thirty feet off the ground – normal sized in other words. More noticeable though is the rainbow of colors emitted by their shells. Each shell glows and pulses in different shades of red and orange, no two turtles exactly the same color. That is not normal. Maybe it's alright to let Pink take the kid gloves off I muse to myself. Though on the other hand – it's not like a group of turtles can kill something that can fly, no matter how many of them gather. Even ostentatiously magical turtles like these don't have any capacity to attack from range – their innate brand of magic is entirely focused on reinforcing their massive frames.

Even as I think that – unexpectedly – a dozen of the newcomer's shells all surge with mana and in a flash glow white-hot; each discharging a beam of chaotic energy towards Pink.