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Kymalin saw the flash of light before she understood what was going on.
She threw a dead soldier off her and scrambled out of the way as she felt a strong blast of magic heading for her. "Clear the way! Stick to the walls!" she yelled to the others who just felt the sudden surge of power just now. What was that?
Ice sprites, Cardovians, and Synkterians alike pushed each other away in an attempt to plaster themselves to the ice walls. Metal clunk against the floor. Guns clicked shut. Swords sheathed. Was this like when Nyxis dropped from the sky with that weird contraption of his? The one where he blew all of them away and none of the people present at that time could access their magic for a whole day. Was it another one of those?
"Kymalin!" Marin's voice floated to her ear through the chaos. "The eastern flank succeeded in securing the two-hundred and fourth floor!"
"Tell them to retreat," Kymalin said, eyeing the ice floor and trying to see through its opaque surface something from below to confirm this imminent threat. "We need to withdraw."
Marin knitted her eyebrows. She braced the doorway's pillar and glanced to the floor with unease. She could feel that as well considering her face paled. Now she knew why Kymalin issued a retreat.
"April!" Kymalin shouted at the space above her. Ever since the floors lessened and lessened due to their barrage, the air sprite had found more reasons to stay in the air. Now, Kymalin needed her to go down before she gets roasted by whatever's coming at them. "Get down! There's something coming!"
The sound of feathers flapping filled Kymalin's ears as April dropped from the sky, one of her wings bleeding and torn. What happened? April caught Kymalin staring and she bared her teeth. "That ice sprite general got me," she staggered to where Kymalin pressed against the wall. "She's good. You? What happened to that arm?"
Kymalin looked down at her own arm dangling uselessly at her side. She had quite forgotten she was injured. "A brownie sneaked up on me," she said before glancing down once more, straining her eyes to check if something was coming for them. "Got me real good. I couldn't even view his soul. Did you feel it?"
April followed Kymalin's gaze to the floor. She nodded. "Something was down there, right?"
Kymalin's gut felt horrible with its twists and churns. "It's after us," she said through her teeth. "Somehow."
April folded her wings to herself, wincing when it's the busted one's turn. "Ah," she grunted as she used her hand to tuck it in. "Remind me to kill that ice sprite when I see her again. This hurts like hell."
Kymalin opened her mouth to say something when she stumbled. All the air left her lungs. Her limbs turned heavy as her soul quivered within her. Water slid from her eyes as she gasped for air. What was this? Was April doing this? Kymalin forced her head to turn to where April was. She found the air sprite equally writhing on the floor beside her. Kymalin's ears rang with such an unholy sound of people gasping for breath. They weren't going to die but it sure was painful.
