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Whatever that was, it was too far way to for Axiolis’ senses to pick up on it, but in that moment, Zeff still felt a tremendous and familiar unease. Like a whisper of something in his mind, an idea that wasn’t quite there--or maybe a memory that half-forgotten.

And he must not have been alone in that feeling, because the battle came nearly to a stop as everyone watched the sky.

It took everything he had to tear himself away, to remind himself that whatever was going on out there, it didn’t matter one bit when compared against the current mission.

In fact, this was a golden opportunity, he realized.

He set to work. With everyone standing so still and dumbfounded, it was suddenly quite easy to sense the fullness of the space around him. Every gap between souls, every break in the soul-infused prison cells--and every Rainlord reaper therein. Axiolis’ memory made it easy to identify them all.

He raised a benevolent wave to grab as many as he could, boxing them each in little icy cube for their own protection. With the wave, he could carry all of them to safety, just so long as everyone else stayed so distracted.

There wasn’t enough time. Already, he could tell that some of the enemies were returning to their senses. The sudden flood waters at their feet had no doubt grabbed their attention. And some of them were noticing the cubes, too.

Counter spikes solved that issue. The malevolent noticers were skewered through each of their skulls, save one, who was proving more tenacious.

Another quake arrived, the biggest yet, and even Zeff had to give pause again. He stayed on task, though. He could see in the corner of his eye that the sky was not just glowing, anymore. There was something blazingly bright there. But he had to keep everyone safe. He had to get them out of here.

Some of the other Rainlords had noticed his work, too, and begun helping. That was great, but this whole thing was hardly making any sense. Everyone getting so distracted in the first place. In the middle of a mission, no less? And not just any mission, but one of the most important they’d ever had?

This wasn’t normal. True, the sky seemed to be on fire, but was that really--?

He saw it.

Not fire.

Lava. A tidal wave of lava. Heading their way.