"Holy—" Jack hushed his voice. The city was not like anything they'd seen in the tower yet. Tall stone towers, once elegant, were now twisted and charred. Nearly half the buildings were leveled, their walls sliced clean through by enormous, precise vertical cuts. The other half was just ash heaps. Everything visible was ablaze in orange fire, lighting up the smoke-filled sky. Yet something was terribly amiss: the destruction looked deliberate. Blade-like slashes through stone, then scorched black edges all the same pattern.
Gun's eyes went wide. "This… was done by someone, not nature." He fought the surge of dread. "Look at the cuts – every building's been sheared. And then set on fire."
Luna shivered. "Someone slaughtered this city and burned it afterward. Why?"
A tragic silence fell. Fire flickered in Gun's eyes. "People could still be alive under there." He started running down the hill path toward the flames, calling ahead, "Move, move!"
"Gun, wait!" Waver caught hold of him. "This is dangerous!"
"No!" Gun demanded, straining. "There's someone alive. I'm sure of it. I saw –" He pointed at one flicker of movement amid the blaze: a small huddle that looked like a bundle or a body on the ground.
Jack squinted. "You sure?"
Gun nodded sharply. "Yes. In the center of that fire. Just outside the biggest tower." He added, resolve hardening his voice, "She might know what happened. I have to save her."
No more arguing. Waver threw up two massive ice barriers with a sweeping gesture. [Glacier Walls] sprang up to the left and right of the path, using the jungle's moisture. They groaned into existence, huge sheets of ice thousands of layers thick, forming a rough corridor. The heat was blistering just outside the walls, but inside it became barely bearable.
"Luna, Jack – keep up with Gun," Waver barked, moving behind the columns as if ready to hold off the flames.
Jack charged in. "Nothin's gonna stop me!" Lightning crackled, arcing ahead to burst fire along the ground, extinguishing any stray tongues in their way. Luna circled the edges of the blaze, sending her floating Graceful Flame orbs to clear out pockets of fire.
Gun plunged forward, the ice walls flanking him. The crunch of burning wood and stone under his boots was deafening. Every now and then, he had to leap over small columns of fire shooting from patches of wood on the ground, but the ice walls held.
Through the smoke and heat, Gun saw the figure they had glimpsed. It was a woman, lying crumpled on the ruins of a stone bench. Her clothes were torn, and spots on her skin were blackened with burn. She might have been sleeping or unconscious when the attackers came; now the flames were licking dangerously close to her.
Gun sprinted the last few feet, flinging himself down next to her. He grabbed her shoulders and dragged her away as fast as he could. The heat was intense, and though the ice walls kept most fire at bay, a few stray flames flickered around them.
"Luna, heal her!" he shouted.
Luna spun to him, worry etched on her face. She put a hand through the [Ashen Veil] around them, sending it to encompass Gun and the woman in a cooling grey mist of smoke and healing energy. Gun ducked into it, feeling Luna's gentle warmth seeping into his skin. Already, he saw faint color returning to the woman's face, her breathing easing.
"Got her out!" Gun called back. Jack had crouched low, scanning for any more threats. Waver stood steady, arms crossed, still raising melting ice shields.
The ice walls cracked and dripped but remained standing just long enough to save them. Luna kept the veil afloat, mixing its healing with a tingling antidote that neutralized some of the worst burns. Slowly, the woman's eyelids fluttered.
She groaned softly, stirring.
Gun let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "She's waking up," he said.
The woman opened her eyes – deep brown and unfocused at first – and looked around. Her gaze settled on Gun's face, then Luna's. Confusion clouded her features for a moment. Then recognition – or was it relief? Her lips moved, bloodless and cracked.
"Thank... you," she whispered, barely audible. Her voice was ragged, but somehow she knew kindness.
Gun smiled gently despite his own exhaustion. "You're safe now," he said, helping her to sit against a soot-streaked wall. "We got you." Luna hovered close, the healing aura still surrounding them.
Waver lowered his arms. He let the final sheet of ice melt into droplets on the ground. Nearby fires flickered out without their heat source.
The four Divers stood around the rescued woman. Gun noticed that she was dressed in a torn uniform of silver and white – clearly part of some organization or city guard. She bore an insignia on her shoulder: a stylized insect with blades crossed through it. Gun's jaw tightened: he did not recognize it, but the blade symbol made sense now.
"Who are you?" Jack asked softly, a hint of sternness in his voice despite his concern. "What's your name?"
The woman still shivered slightly, smoke-motes swirling in her dark hair. She looked at Jack, then at Gun. "Nahla," she managed. "Nahla Elier."
"Luna," Gun started gently. "We're Gun, Jack, Luna, and Waver. We came to help. You said something about someone causing this?"
Nahla's eyes grew distant. "Attack… ruin… not random," she coughed. "He came swift… blades… fire." She glanced around at the burning ruins. "He cut our city like meat." She closed her eyes, as if reliving the horror. "Why… would anyone?"
Luna's brow furrowed. "You lived through it. You must be a survivor from that city."
Nahla managed a small nod, then winced, rubbing her scorched arm. "Thanks to you, yes." The pain was evident.
Gun stood and took a cautious step toward the final city gate still glowing orange. A few ragged flames clung to stone edges, but the worst seemed out. "We'll need answers, but first…" Gun turned to Luna. "Finish healing her wounds."
Luna nodded. She raised her hands again, focusing through the Ashen Veil. Soft amber light flowed around Nahla, knitting flesh and easing pain. Slowly, Nahla's face lost some of its gray pallor. Her breaths evened, and a faint smile of relief appeared.
Jack surveyed the scene. The city was completely wrecked. He noticed movement – not the woman, but something strange. Two figures stumbling out from the charred remains on the far side: survivors, or attackers? Gun's hand tightened on his swords. "Hold up," he murmured.
The two figures staggered through the smoke, ragged cloaks pulled over their arms. They were clearly in shock, bloodied and lost. One dropped to their knees in the ash. Jack moved forward, cautious but quick.
"Who are you? What happened?" Jack demanded quietly.
The second survivor – a man with a shattered grin and scorched uniform – looked up, eyes dazed. "He… he was a demon dressed in the finest of black," he whispered. "Tall... with a rapier of fire. I swear…." He coughed up blood and collapsed.
Luna and Gun exchanged glances. Demon? Pyre demon? They had heard legends of such things in the tower. If true, this was bigger trouble.
Gun glanced back at Nahla, who now sat propped on the wall, much of her burns healed, though exhaustion clouded her eyes. She looked between them. "Tell them everything," she said. "Make them know."
Waver stepped forward. "We need answers, but the flames are nearly under control. Nahla, rest now. We'll handle the situation."
Nahla nodded, exhausted. She leaned back against the wall, eyes closing once more.
Gun watched over her. The city fires had almost died out entirely under Luna's magic. The jungle's breeze was returning, carrying away the last wisps of smoke.
Behind him, Jack and Waver began to question the unconscious survivor and search for clues. Gun's senses were all on Nahla. He felt a strange empathy for her. "We'll come back for answers," he promised quietly.
Nahla's eyes drifted open again a final time. She mustered a faint smile toward Gun. "Thank you," she whispered, her voice stronger now. "You saved me... saved all."
Gun simply nodded, heart pounding with unasked questions.
Above them, the sun dipped low. The jungle around them waited. Nahla's story would have to wait for another dawn.
And so, Gun realized, the floor had only just revealed its first true challenge.