The earth convulsed, and the air cracked as I came too, destruction and mayhem all around me. The ground was being ripped up into the air, where it exploded into specks that stretched like a blanket of dust coating the sky. I could no longer see the sun or the blue of the sky, just flashes of yellow and crimson light that tore through the thick haze that now covered the world. With every flash, another crack deafened me, and rang in my head, as if it were a bell.

I watched perplexed as entire buildings and the ground underneath rose into the air and splintered into a cloud of nothingness, with a deafening boom. The shock wave that followed rippled through the sky. More and more buildings rose and exploded. It was like watching someone throw thousands of pebbles into a pound as the ripples from the explosions spread across the sky and crashed into one another.

I ran through the cobbled streets, my footing slipping now and then as the ground rumbled and cracked. The muscles in my legs strained and tightened with the excursion. If I could stay in front of this destruction. Keep enough distance, I might outrun it. They had to be an end to it somewhere.

A house in front of me crumbled through the vibrating world around it. The roof sagged down, and I jumped, working up its angled slope. My instincts told me to jump at the end of the roof and over to the adjoining building. Skirt across the next roof and on to another, making my way to the west side of the city. Events playing out in my head in a flash.

The building gave way before I made it to the end of the roof. With no support, the roof came crashing down. I fell with bricks and mortar crashing all around me. Dazed, but not injured. I brushed the decaying building off me and struggled to my feet.

Part of the 20 ft high west perimeter wall had come crashing down. It was over 4 yards thick, built from Vallis stone. Entire armies had tried to breach it without so much of a scratch. Now made into a pile of rubble in an instant. I dove through the gap and ran up the bank towards Fools Ravine.

My mind raced as I ran. What could cause such devastation, who could even harness such a power? I looked around as I approached the top of the ridge that circled the west side of the great city, Allensmore. The ridge had created a natural defence for the city, stopping attacks occurring from the South and West. Useless now against this monstrous force.

I stared in shock as huge sections of the city shot up into the air and exploded into a cloud of grey dust. Three people, a family, maybe. A man and a woman with a small child came running around a corner from the streets below.

The devastation followed them as they ran, buildings shot into the air behind them and exploded. It looked like a snake of havoc as it twisted and curved through the city, working its way towards them.

They passed through the outside gate leading to the Wards and I could see them more clearly. It was Benack and Jezzery. The small child, Kaleb’s daughter Kelsey, being dragged along as buildings crumbled behind them.

Jezzery lost her footing and stumbled to the floor, her leg bent backwards underneath her. I could see her screaming at Benack as Kelsey dove towards her, wrapping her arms around her neck, her head nestling into her grandma’s shoulder. Benack stood motionless for a moment, his colossal frame dwarfed by the collapsing buildings around him. A moment later and he grabbed the child, ripping her from Jezzery’s neck, and ran. For a moment I thought I heard Kelsey screech as she reached back for her grandma, her small arms stretched as far as they could.

I watched, mouth wide, as a house, Jezzery and the ground rose in the air. Jezzery floated and spun as the ground beneath her cracked and split. Her fiery red hair now a dull grey as it spread out and floated around her. I imagined she might fall. She might descend through the deteriorating road that now disintegrated into dust beneath her tumbling body. A breath later and a red flash lit the surrounding area, and there was nothing. No building, no road, no Jezzery. Just a cloud of grey dust.

My stomach heaved as I tried to catch my breath. Had Jezzery died in front of me. I had no time to make sense of it as a wave of sound crashed into me. It thrust me up into the air, back and slammed me into a tree; knocking the wind out of me. I gasped as I slumped to the floor. Every breath was agony, it was like my body was being strangled from the inside.

Through watery eyes I saw Benack, still carrying his granddaughter in his enormous arms, run into the west tower. A fortified building of stone and mortar. Would that keep them safe, would that be strong enough against this unknown force? Benack darted inside, his silhouette disappearing as he turned. A heartbeat later and the tower shot up into the air. I closed my eyes, turning my head away as I ground my teeth together. My mind screaming at them to run, get out of there.

A flash of red burned through my closed eyes, I instinctively bent my arms to cover my face. A moment later, a deafening boom as another wave of sound crashed into me. Myself and the tree became one, as the tree uprooted from the ground and we were both thrown up into the air.

I tried to inhale as me, and the tree danced through the air, spinning as we flew. But there was no air. The shock wave had created a vacuum, blowing away all the surrounding air. There was nothing to breathe. My lungs burned hotter as they starved for air. In a chaotic mess of limbs and branches, we toppled over the ridge.

We tumbled through the air and down the ravine. Without warning, my lungs expanded as we tumbled down. It was like I had been drowning and my head had just popped above the surface of the water. Gasping with relief, I bellowed as my lungs ached as they stretched back into shape.

The tree’s branches scraped along the wall of the ravine, causing it to spin. I dug my hands into the bark, my fingertips bleeding with the pressure. The trunk caught between a crack in the rocks and wedged there; the tree flexed like a string on a bow, slamming me into the wall. For the third time in as many moments, the air rushed out of me as my ribs crushed under the force.

Pinned between the tree and the wall of the ravine, I choked for air. My chest crushed as the weight of the tree bore down on me and bound me to the side of the ravine. More deafening explosions rocked the world around me. The fall had broken my body, limbs twisted and bones shattered. The burn in my chest raged as I tried to claw for air, straining against the weight of the tree, unable to free myself.

The tree pushed down on me harder, pushing me into the hard rocky face of the cliff edge. Through tear-filled eyes I could see a green light lit the world around me and grow brighter until I could feel nothing but a blanket of warmth around me. The light seemed to penetrate my skin and flood through every part of my body. It grew more intense until it felt like I couldn’t take anymore.

I exploded outwards, every part of me bathed in green. My mind felt disconnected and remote, as every part of me separated by the unimaginable distance of the stars. I cried and sat upright in a field of lush green. Soft white clouds drifted slowly in a blue sky above me as a warm sun beamed down and bathed me in its light.