Third Person's POV
In a fraction of a second, he raised his head and conjured an ice shield above him.
The shield met the lightning head-on—BOOM!
The impact shattered the shield, and the blow sent Ethan spiraling downward.
His wings folded involuntarily as pain erupted through his skull.
Charred flesh peeled from his scalp, and smoke curled from his body as he was flung back into the lake, vanishing beneath the waves.
The water exploded around him in a towering pillar as ripples hissed with residual lightning and trailing steam into the air.
Above the water, silence returned, but it was the silence before the storm.
Meanwhile, atop a colossal tree in the farthest corner of the devastated meadow, a shimmering dark hemispherical veil pulsed with invisible energy and masked a pocket of space where three figures stood.
It was a silent stronghold where an immobile shadow cloaked and protected two young women behind it.
