As time resumed, the air displaced by Borealis's massive form surged around us, whirling in eddies that smashed against my wards. Screams rose from the city below, where we seemed to teleport to just a few hundred feet above a bustling market. With every beat of the ice demon's wings, gales tossed stalls and people in all directions. Frigid snow whipped with the winds, covering the rooves and streets in a thin layer of frost.
The air shuddered, and slowly, trembling, I turned my gaze up, and my eyes grew wide. The sky had vanished, swallowed by a raging ocean of brilliant white light. In the heartbeat I'd looked at the city, the lances had collided with the Grand Aegis. Waves of energy scoured the golden membrane, but the only hint of instability was a series of ripples spreading across the shield where the lances had initially impacted. The explosions spread like water on a plate, only flickering out as they neared the edge of the Grand Aegis, nearly a mile in diameter.
