The moments that proceeded Celris' fall moved extremely slowly to Crane.  His mind moved at an unnatural speed, as thousands of thoughts flooded his mind at once.  Like a rushing river, none had any specific direction, but each pointed to one simple question.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">What do I do?</span><br/><br/>Apparently, he couldn't do anything, for as he stared into the unforgiving eyes of the beast, he had the displeasure of watching it's tongue flick into the air and with the right movements, reflect the rays of heat from the sun directly at him.  Crane scowled, knowing the beast had one, and he had lost.  Crane stood straight as the small ball of focussed light found his chest.  His skin began to sizzle, as the heat grew, yet he felt nothing.  Not pain, nor remorse, just frustration.  He shouldn't have trusted Osbourne, he should've killed him when he had the chance.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Too late</span><br/><br/>The flames soon encompassed his body like some sort of glowing jacket, and then they spread attaching to the gas particles in the air like bees on honey.  In reality the moment finished in a mere minute, but Crane watched the tendrils of searing flames for what seemed like hours.  Almost beautifully, they danced in the morning glow, eating the oxygen like hungry animals.  A wall of smoke and flames obscured Crane's view so that he could not see Celris anymore.  Soon the magical barrier around him shattered like glass, fragmenting the space around him for a brief moment before the flames consumed him too.<br/><br/>Even after he was destroyed, the sand in the area was either scorched to glass, or separated to reveal the sandstone crag below.  There, in the middle of the desert, a smoking crater of ruin remained.  A beautiful murky glass covered the entire crater, sizzling at the edges.  In fact, one would almost call it pretty.  In it's center stood the charred skeleton of Crane.  It stood peacefully for a few minutes before crumpling into dust.  It was over.<br/><br/><br/>********************************<br/><br/>The serpent dove downward, shutting it's eyes to avoid the flame.  The creature that had attacked it moments ago had done well to injure it's eye.  Even then, a pain like none other occupied his cranium.  Whether or not the creature had found a way into him, it had done enough to blind him.  The serpent slithered back into the sand, avoiding the final blasts.  It was pleased.  Satisfied.<br/><br/>When the dust settled, it found it's way to the surface, rearing it's head to examine the scorched land in front of him.  The destruction had turned the dirt to a beautiful panel of light.  The snake slid into the still-hot panel, settling in it's center.  It felt the pain all over it's body now, she had done something right in fighting it.  This surprised the beast, impressed it.  No creature had every hurt it before, what could have been able to do it to him?