The explosion came a moment later, delayed and violent. Frozen shards scattered like rain across the sky and deep cracks spread across the dimension's structure like glass giving way under pressure it was never meant to hold.
At the same moment Nina stepped forward and heat erupted from her in thick spiraling columns. Her flames rose heavy and relentless and the air around her distorted visibly under the intensity of it. The ground beneath her feet began to melt and then vaporize completely, leaving behind a glowing red pattern carved into whatever surface had been there before.
Her faint smile disappeared.
She clenched her fist and the flames compressed, pulling inward violently from every direction until they formed a single blazing sphere hovering above her open palm. It pulsed like a living heart and waves of heat rolled outward from it in visible layers that bent light and scorched everything they touched.
She thrust her hand forward and a sphere shot out.
