The sky above Myrta burned.
Ignis hovered high above the plaza, her crimson wings spread wide, each beat sending waves of heat rippling through the air. Flames coiled around her arms and shoulders like living serpents, growing brighter, hotter, until her entire form blazed like a second sun.
Then she dove.
It wasn't a controlled descent. It was a meteor.
"Burn them all—!"
A torrent of fire erupted from her body, streaking downward in a blazing pillar. The mages below reacted instantly, raising their staves and chanting in unison. A dome of overlapping barriers shimmered into existence above them, layered and pulsing with magical light. The flames slammed into it, exploding outward in waves of orange and gold. The ground cracked. The air itself seemed to scream.
But when the fire finally faded, the barrier still held.
