THE GREAT CITY OF ZENARLI

Adriana's POV.

The towering Minneapolis of Zenarli stood tall, a rampart extending around the city's perimeter, fortifying the city against intruders. A magnificent sight to behold.

Finally.

She had finally reached Zenarli. A bubble of excitement in her chest as the outer walls of Zenarli came into view. She was exhausted, and seeing the towering Minneapolis was a lift on her downcast spirits. When planning her escape, she hadn't expected it to be a walk in the park, but she hadn't expected it to be so difficult either.

Overwhelmed by her escape and the freedom, she had been safe in the knowledge that Anlai and the emissaries weren't after her and had let her guard down.

She paid for such laxity.

Halfway towards Vendarya, she was assaulted by desert bandits. Adriana had fought tooth and nail to escape, having been outmatched four to one without a weapon. s

She had made a risky decision, lost her horse in the process, and escaped by hair's breadth, walking the remaining distance on foot.

Above, the sun had set; its rays captured by the sky, turning them a blue-pink hue, twilight. Adriana stared long at the gates, the guards patrolling the area, holding their weapons akimbo, their gazes fixed on the horizon far behind Adriana.

She couldn't risk another physical assault. Her body was aching, and every breath she took burned, her head ached, and her knees buckled beneath her. Adriana would have to move in when it was very dark, and hopefully, she would blend in tomorrow.

A new beginning.

She was already thinking of tomorrow.

Adriana thought wistfully as the memory of her teammates came unbidden. Azrael with the beautiful smile, Kali and his jokes, Kayak and his–...

No, she couldn't dwell on the past. She had to let the past be and plan for the future, but a weight had settled on her chest, and she couldn't help but feel lonely. Her parents were gone, her friends burnt to ashes, gone with the wind.

Adriana glanced back once more. No more Anlai, no more magic. Hopefully, she would dodge Foucault, that is, if he knew her whereabouts, and she highly doubted it.

With that thought in mind that Adriana sat on the cooling sands, watching the colored skies turn dark, the winds grow colder, the moon didn't deign to show up and Adriana was glad for it. She needed the darkness to sneak after all and wait.

Waiting for the night to fall.

....

Night fell faster than Adriana expected, and soon, she was swimming in the city's moat, under the portcullis, and with the guards watching the horizon, she had stolen past the guard post and was in the city.

Adriana crouched atop the roof of an abandoned outpost. Her eyes were fixed on the armored group passing through the city, their torches illuminating the streets, the orange glow reflecting on buildings as they marched past.

Entering the city, Adriana was surprised to the capital city in all its nightly glory. It was bustling with life, streetlamps illuminating the streets, the raucous noise of occupants in an inn as they staked their bets and yelled their throats out, the makeshift stores selling roadside attractions.

Zenarli hadn't lost its charm. The whole city seemed to buzz with electric energy, alive. The nightly critters seemed to sense the mood, imitated the energy, and were chirping nonchalantly.

Food carts trundled along the streets, and traders cried, haggling over prices. Children ran butt naked, running after each other, the teenagers could be spotted holding hands in groups, stopping to examine objects that caught their attention.

Even the old, whose bones had long tired from youthful squabbles, couldn't help but join in the most effortless way possible, sitting on rocking chairs; thick woolen blankets heavily draped around them, enjoying the cool night breeze blowing at their scalp.

Was this the paranormal activity Foucault complained of? Was there even any to begin with? But Anlai had said–

BOOM!

Adriana looked up sharply to see fireworks shot in the sky. Bright, colorful lights burst into the skies, the shimmer of light spreading, adding color to the night sky. Cheers rose at the spectacle, and Adriana was almost tempted to join their merrymaking. The mood was infectious, almost.

A sudden gust of wind blew, cold and eerie. A slow ghostly whistle followed and the wind blew again; in a pattern of wind-whistle-wind-whistle, the wind continued blowing.

The whole city seemed to stop. They all heard the tune and felt the shift in energies around them–the inexplicable feeling that centered around being watched, all at the same time.

The streetlamps flickered off, drowning the city in darkness, and the whistling stopped. The winds remained still.

Everyone seemed to wait. The tension in the air was palpable until a loud siren sounded, breaking them out of their reverie. The whole city seemed to be submerged underwater as a large fire conjured itself to life, orange flames whipping around, twisting, flaring. Adriana watched, transfixed along with everyone as the fire rose and swirled amidst the city, ravaging the stalls around it.

"Run!" Someone screamed, and the spell broke.

Everyone scampered off in different directions, tearing down streets. Cries rose to a deafening crescendo as the fire tore forwards in blinding rage, eating away at the foundations of buildings. They all ran recklessly, pushing each other away, stepping on fallen goods and people alike.

No-one stopped to help the other. People were fast reaching their houses, slamming the doors behind them, barring it from within as if that would stop the fiery force that swallowed wood. The mood in the air was fearful, and it was no doubt infectious. Adriana willed herself to find safe grounds to hide and save her skin.

Adriana was about scaling down the building when she glanced at the sky, behind the ravaging flame. A dome-shaped palace stood tall and bright, unperturbed by the disturbances of the city below. It looked like another world.

But it wasn't the palace decor that caught Adriana's attention. It was the forlorn figure at the top of the dome-shaped head, staring at the discord below, suspended mid-air. Adriana squinted her eyes at the figure.

Was he flying? Was that–. The figure seemed to sense her gaze and turned to answer her question with a fireball shot at the building where she stood.

Before Adriana could react, the fireball tore through the structure of the building, eating up an ample amount of foundation and the building shook upon impact, lurching forward with a loud creak.

Adriana screamed as she lurched back, the force knocking her off balance. She fell off the building, her hand breaking her fall. Pain exploded all over her body as she fell. The building collapsed beside her sending rubble of bricks, glass and wood all over the streets.

Black and white spots danced in Adriana's periphery, her mind on the flying figure and for some reason beknownst to her, she thought it was Anlai. Then she succumbed to blissful unconsciousness.