Colliding schemes

Guarba steadily kept his golden scepter upright on the ground. The muscles and blood vessels in his arms swelled like tiny cyan serpents. From head to toe, his vigor flushed towards his scepter.

Kapa! Kapa! Atop this bonfire plaza, clamorous crackling sounds erupted as rock fragments gusted around sporadically.

To Sheyan’s astonishment, a shallow crevice had formed before Guarba; as though it was a curving grain long engraved on this ground. The maroon blood of the heap of Guardian corpses nearby flowed slowly through that crevice.