Higher Plain Ch 34: Meeting Of The Two Titans!

Faylina waded through the ocean with deliberate steps, each one slow and cautious, though even caution meant little when your legs towered like cliffs and your strides spanned miles.

The waves slapped against her steel shoes, massive, rolling swells that would've drowned ships with ease—yet to her, they were little more than chilly gusts of water brushing past her skin. She felt their resistance, sure. Like a child might feel a strong wind push against their body while walking through a storm. But it didn't slow her. It didn't stop her.

Her blue steel-clad feet churned the sea itself, displacing volumes of water beyond measure. And though she couldn't see it from where she stood, the very act of her moving through the ocean was causing devastation far beyond her sight.

Far-off coasts were drowning.

Tides surged without warning, smashing into bays, ports, and peaceful seaside villages with waves taller than towers. Towns that had existed for generations vanished beneath the angry rush of water. Boats were flung onto rooftops like toys. Entire crops were swallowed in minutes. Animals screamed. People ran. And still the sea rose.

It wasn't just the water, either.

Every time Faylina stepped, the seafloor groaned in protest beneath her. The pressure of her colossal form shattered tectonic plates. Earthquakes rippled out in every direction—first as tremors, then as full-blown ruptures. Fault lines cracked open in once-quiet fields. Buildings hundreds of miles inland suddenly shivered, groaned, and collapsed. Mountain ranges echoed with the low rumble of shifting earth.

A merchant city on the coast, vibrant with color and music that very morning, was now a panicked blur of screaming citizens and stampeding animals. Towering waves loomed on the horizon like watery giants of their own, crashing into the stone walls and tearing through them like they were made of paper. People scrambled to higher ground—temples, bell towers, hilltops—anywhere that wasn't drowning.

And beyond all of it—through the mist, through the sea spray, through the chaos and terror—there she was.

Faylina.

A figure on the horizon, impossibly tall, impossibly serene. To some, she looked like a goddess risen from the sea. To others, she was the embodiment of the end. A titan whose presence was so vast, it made even the clouds part in her wake.

She didn't look angry.

She didn't look cruel.

But she didn't have to be.

Even calm, even careful, she was devastation made real.

And she didn't even know.

Her eyes scanned the landscape as she walked, trying to spot the flicker of familiar power, trying to sense the presence of the Xylarion who had come down here for her. Her senses were sharp—she knew the Xylarion was here. Somewhere. Reckless, naïve, fragile-hearted Faylina thought. And yet... part of her understood.

Maybe the Xylarion had meant well. Maybe she had come here with soft intentions. But this world—this fragile little place—it couldn't handle two of them. Not even one. Not any of them.

As she pushed further through the churning ocean, Faylina whispered a soft call, her voice low and measured.

"I'm coming."

The words stretched over the wind, over the crashing waves and the distant thunder of collapsing towns. She didn't raise her voice. She didn't need to.

Her voice carried.

Across continents.

Across kingdoms.

And somewhere, she hoped, the princess would hear her.

Because the longer she stayed here... the worse it would get.

This world was not made for them. It was too brittle, too small. And no matter how gently she moved, every second she remained... it broke a little more. 

The water was up to her hips now.

Faylina kept walking, though every step felt heavier than the last. Not because of the ocean itself—the waves parted for her legs like curtains, crashing harmlessly against her thighs—but because of the weight behind each movement. The devastation. The pressure. The distant screams. She tried not to focus on any of it.

Her eyes stayed forward.

Her lips pressed into a tight line.

The sky had grown darker behind her, not with clouds but with smoke—somewhere far away, a city had likely caught fire, sparked by a broken line of flame or lightning pulled from the chaos of her passage. She didn't look back. She couldn't.

She told herself it was for the best.

Every moment she delayed was another moment this world suffered. She had to find the other Xylarion.

The water was growing deeper now, surging with her wake, pulling small isles beneath the surface like they'd never existed at all. She felt the shift of continents beneath her soles. The land down there was breaking apart. Cracking like old porcelain. Earthquakes rolled through the sea floor as she walked.

But then—movement.

Something ahead, in the surf.

Faylina froze, one leg still slightly raised, sending a subtle tidal ripple outward just from the sudden pause. She stared ahead. The sea still churned, white foam spraying, but something was coming through the waves.

Someone.

A small shape at first, dark and steady, striding through the ocean with the kind of purpose she recognized instantly. No fear. No hesitation. Each step was calm, deliberate, sovereign. And even before she saw her face, Faylina's heart dropped into her stomach.

It had to be her.

The figure drew closer, the sea parting around her silver-armored form like it had for Faylina herself. Not quite as tall—no, only a little smaller—but she cut no less an imposing silhouette. Her hair, short and the color of moonlight, clung slightly to her face from the salt and wind. Eyes like cut steel locked onto Faylina's own from across the surf.

The sea reached her waist now, swirling and alive.

But the woman came to a halt only a few hundred yards away—close enough now for her features to be clear, unmistakable.

Faylina took a slow breath. She felt suddenly like a child again.

"...Kaelira," she said softly, bowing her head just enough to show respect. "Hello."

The silver-haired woman stood perfectly still, armored arms at her sides. Her voice carried with perfect clarity despite the wind and the sea.

"Hello, Princess Faylina."