Pyre Academy
The Fall

The Resistance's operation was well underway, with teams already taking out any troops from the Uppercity. Citizens we're quietly being taken out of several hidden exits from the city. Victoria, Pellan and another Resistance member were climbing one of the struts in the Undercity.

Victoria looked up and couldn't help picturing families above going about their day, as if nothing was about to go wrong, she looked down at the empty Undercity, rotting away in the darkness. She wasn't sure if she could justify the Resistance's actions.

The three of them reached an old walkway and the Resistance member handed them some explosives.

"Place these on the weak spots" He said, Pellan nodded and walked on ahead, Victoria sighed and began following.

"Hey, don't mess this up, girl" The Resistance member said.

"I won't" Victoria reluctantly replied. She walked behind Pellan on the catwalk, he began placing the explosives on a beam above, and Victoria closed her eyes.

"Help me with this would you?" Pellan growled. Victoria walked over and reached up to help, but then elbowed him in his face and sent him falling into the city below. Victoria panicked, in shock at what she had just done. Taken yet another life.

Victoria took the explosive down and put it in her bag, she took a deep breath and summoned her Celestial Rapier, the headed back to the Resistance member. He saw her coming and stood up.

"Where is your friend?" He growled.

"He had to go back down to the Undercity" She said, quietly.

The Resistance member summoned a Celestial Mace, and charged at Victoria, Victoria fired a blast of fire at the Resistance member, but he dodged.

"You'll have to do better than that, Pyre scum" He roared, and swung the mace at Victoria, she blocked with the blade of the rapier and kicked the man's leg, he slipped and fell, but managed to hold onto the platform by the tips of his fingers.

"Help!" He begged, as his mace fell and faded into the air. Victoria gazed down at the man for a second, unsure of what to do. She couldn't have another life on her hands. She reached down, but as she did, a nearby column exploded in flames, sending the man falling to his death, Victoria herself was blown over, but managed to grab hold onto the rusty railings.

The Uppercity came crashing down where the column had fallen, the harsh light of day finally hitting the city below, several more explosions went off. Victoria was shell shocked, but slowly came to when she heard the column she was on begin to creak under the strain.

"Dammit" She said to herself and quickly stood up, the Uppercity was rapidly collapsing down around her, screams and flames were everywhere.

"No more" Victoria screamed.

She focused her Crystallium and erupted in flame, growing huge wings of fire, from her back, her eyes glowed orange and she grew horns from her forehead.

She flew through the air at the speed of light and managed to stop a huge chunk of the city from falling at a fast pace, she lowered it down onto the city below. Imperium Airships spotted her and began firing laser guided rockets at her, she dispensed of the rocks by firing balls of fire from her hands.

She then charged at the airships and destroyed them in a ball of flame, the column upon which she had stood moments before began to give way. She flew as fast as she could with wings of fire and welded the column together with the last of her strength.

As she ran out of energy, the wings of fire disappeared and Victoria began to fall toward the ground before, she hit the ground, but the last of her Crystalliam managed to break her fall. Despite surviving the fall, Victoria knew it was over, she heard of the power of the Crystalliam Knights, who had given their lives for a burst of temporary power.

In her last moments, she took comfort in the fact that she had spent her life to save others, despite them being her enemy. She hoped that one day, Raryst and Imperistia would be at peace. Victoria closed her eyes and passed away.

A few minutes passed before an Imperium rescue team noticed her body.

"Isn't this the missing prisoner, the one from Pyre?" One of the team asked.

"You don't think she was behind this do you?" Another theorized.

"The evidence speaks for itself" Arwyn said, taking off his helmet, he looked at his once great city. "I was a fool to believe that we could trust them" He sighed.

Hiran approached from behind.

"We will have retribution, dear brother" He said as he placed his hand on Arwyn's shoulder.

"For all those who died here today" Arwyn nodded. Before walking away.

"Sir, what should we do with the body?" One of the rescuers asked Hiran.

"Burn it and send it to Rychard Pyre" He said flatly before following his brother.

The creaks of the remaining city above echoed across the chasm which had once been Imperistia.

That night, in the caves in the nearby mountains, the fleeing Undercity civilians had begun to make their home, hiding away from the Imperium. Angelas was sat apart from the rest of the group and had set up a video call.

"We have crippled the Imperium, the plan is proceeding as expected" She said.

"Good, they were most likely a tool for either of the Harbingers" A familiar man's voice explained.

"I know, but all those lives..." Angelas sighed deeply.

"A necessary sacrifice in our war for the freedom of all mankind. Hubun, Lacerman, Elvman, Human, in our new world we will all live free from the control of Gods and Harbingers." The man smiled, as he pulled down his hood.

It was the Mystic who had brought Rory back from the Underworld. "We have no place for those who wield the power of gods, we shall hunt them to the corners of Crystalla until there are none left. At any cost" He added.