Clive could do nothing but watch in horror as the massive platform slowly descended upon the city. It had the shape of a irregular circle with several turret like structures and a small tower on top of it. Several columns of metal on its top surface also crackled with blue lightning seemingly drawling ambient Aether directly from the air. It looked heavily armored on top. At its underbelly, several small canons emerged from a spherical structure. It appeared like the whole platform was being powered by some unknown power source since it was evident that keeping such a massive platform afloat would consume massive amounts of energy.
Within the blink of an eye the platform opened fire on the city below, Not just on the garrison but the entire city as a whole killing both soldiers and the common folk.
The canons did not fire traditional projectiles like canon balls but rather blasts of energy which seemed like lightning. Each blast crackled with blue energy and left trails of crackling blue in their wake and erupted into a massive blast when it made contact with its intended target.
Clive watched in horror as the magnificent city they had just witnessed slowly began to fall into ruin. The tall towers began falling down erupting massive plumes of smoke in the wake of their destruction.
"What kind of fiend gives orders to slaughter innocent people ? " Clive thought to himself, his blood boiled with anger, but there was nothing he could do besides watch. As much as he hated the Iron Empire for bringing ruin upon the Grand Duchy of Rosaria, he never wished to hurt the innocent people.
His internal tirade was cut short as a bolt of energy arced through the air, aimed directly at their position. Clive squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for the impact and a world of pain that would soon follow but that did not happen. Just as he opened his eyes, he watched as the bolt streaked past them, completely missing them and sending a tremor as it struck the ground below them. Relief washed over the group, a fleeting moment of joy amidst the carnage. But their respite was short-lived., for that shot that had missed them completely had in fact severed one of the massive cables holding their sky chariot.
Panic erupted. Shouts and screams filled the air as the occupants scrambled for any semblance of a hold. Amina grabbed Clive's arm, her grip tight. "Hold on!" she yelled, her voice barely audible above the panicked shouts of the other passengers in the Sky chariot.
The remaining cable, groaned under the strain of the unbalanced weight threatening to give away any second. Clive had just mere seconds to react and the only thing he could think of was, " Am i going to die ? just like that? "
Then came a sickening snap. The sky chariot lurched violently, throwing Clive off balance. He tumbled across the tilting platform, scraping his arm raw on the metal. Amina who was holding onto Clive's hand lost her grip when he lost his balance.
" Clive !!!!!!....." Amina let out desperate shout her body tumbled out of the open window, disappearing into the lush forest far below. Clive's vision blurred with tears. He had witnessed death before, but never someone he cared about falling to their demise right in front of him. No amount of training nor experience could help with that feeling of guilt. The feeling that you could have done something to maybe help them.
Clive hurriedly turned to his remaining companions. Tiamat was holding onto a pole in the corner so tightly, the veins in his hands seemed like they would almost pop out. On the other side, Biast was holding onto Aevis with one hand while an woman on his other.
Just as the the chariot reached the ground Clive closed his eyes, this time preparing to die for real but then something happened. The impact he was waiting for did not yet arrive, He opened his eyes and saw that time itself seemed to slow down for everyone and everything in the sky chariot.
"What... what's happening?" Clive stammered.
The whole thing was hovering inches above ground and slowly approaching it. The branches and leaves from the trees the rubble had hit along the way was falling around them just fine. It was only the sky chariot.
Clive was unable to comprehend why it was happening. He scanned the faces of everyone on the sky chariot including his comrades to see if anyone was using magick, but none of them were wielding their powers and if that were the case no one in Valisthea had the the power to slow down time itself.
Before he could think of a reasonable explanation for this the time pause snapped and the ruined sky slammed into the ground, albeit not with force it would have had the time stop not happened The force was still considerable enough to throw Clive up and he hit the roof and he fell unconscious. The mangled chariot careened down a steep hill, throwing its remaining occupants around like rag dolls.
it collided with the trunk of a massive tree on its roll down the hill, splitting it in two and killing anyone who hadn't succumbed to the initial fall.
Clive lay on his back on a stoned floor at the edge of a city. A wall covered the perimeter of the city but the crashed sky chariot had broken through it, flinging the bodies of its passengers in all four directions.
The sun had risen well into the sky now and as the bright sunlight shone upon Clive's face he slowly opened his eyes, using his hands to shield his eyes from the harsh sunlight. He stood up, still in a daze and looked around. The air was thick with the stench of burnt wood and fresh blood. The mangled bodies of the passengers lay scattered everywhere around him. One man even had lower torso ripped off with his intestines spilling out of his upper body.
These sights shook Clive to the core. He hurriedly looked for his companions and was glad to see Biast leaning against a section of the broken wall
" Biast ! " Clive shouted as strode towards him, being careful to avoid the mangled bodies littering the ground.
" Clive ! " Biast's face lit up as saw Clive alive and kicking
Clive came up and leaned up to him noticing a wound on Biast's knee and blood from a deep gash across his thigh staining his garbs underneath his armor.
" You're one tough nut to crack huh ? " He let out a cheerful laugh.
Clive smiled knowing it might help distract him from his pain.
" Let me have a look " Clive brought his hands close to laceration in Biast's thighs. The moment his hand touched the wound Biast winched in pain.
"Ahh " He pushed off Clive's hand " Don't touch it !"
Clive pulled his hand away and looked around, unable to find Tiamat and Aevis he turned back to Biast, " Where's the sergeant and Aevis "
Biast pointed over to narrow alley leading into the city. " Over there. They went ahead to scout the path ahead "
" Clive.." He continued, " She is not coming back. No one could have survived the fall and even if she had she would have been right here now "
Clive felt very sad. After a long time Clive found someone else to talk to beside Biast and Tiamat. but alas she was dead and Clive could do nothing more than accept the reality.
To hide the his sadness asked, " Did they not search for me before going to scout the path ahead ? "
Biast wanted to say something but he couldn't. He turned his down in disappointment. Clive knew the answer to his question. He was overcome with a sense of deep sadness, " Did he leave me to die just like that ? Does he not care for me ? " These thoughts began to cloud Clive's mind.
He was startled by a massive explosion somewhere in the sky which sent shockwaves rippling through the air. He looked up towards the sky, the battle was still raging around them. The Ironblood weren't completely defenseless. Clive watched as several trebuchets launched burning projectiles at the airships above them bringing down a few which fell upon the city.
The colossal floating platform had now drifted off to the western part of the city where it continued its carnage.
" We should join them " Clive said.
Biast nodded and held out his hand. Clive took it, helping him stand up and walk to the alleyway. Together, they limped towards the narrow alleyway leading into the heart of the fallen city.