The once-beautiful Phoenix World lay in ruins. Charred remains of towering trees, scorched earth, and shattered rocks were all that remained of a place that had once radiated vibrant, divine energy. The sky, usually a vivid blue, was now a murky red, filled with swirling ash and smoke. Pools of molten gold bubbled on the ground, remnants of the flames that had burned so intensely they had melted the very earth. The air, thick with the acrid scent of destruction, hung heavy over the land like a suffocating blanket.
Lucan, Maris, and Elysia stood in the center of the devastation, their expressions a mixture of shock and disbelief. The silence around them was deafening, punctuated only by the occasional crackle of embers from a half-burned tree.
Maris's normally radiant face was ashen, her light blue eyes wide with horror as she looked around. "How could this happen?" she whispered, her voice trembling. "We came as soon as we could… but we were too late."
