Throughout our history, from the First Cycle to this very moment, Elys had never before, and likely never again, experienced such a thunderous, cataclysmic blast as the Agamanthion's destruction. We had fled as far as we could. The more cowardly among us gated to the safety of another layer, but for those such as I, who were obliged to witness no matter the danger, there was no turning away from the sight. The shock wave flattened the rolling hills that the Agamanthion had been floating over, turning a vast area into a smooth, gently sloping crater. The energies it had contained ruined the ground, creating Elys's very first, and still only dead spot. I, for one, think that "the Ruined Circle" is the most fitting name. Special mention has to be put on the fact that such a violent explosion could create such symmetry, and the fact that it ruined the perfection of Elys' fertile lands.
Ah, but I stray.
That final throes of the Agamanthion signaled what is likely the end of a period. It was the burial of the Sixth Cycle into obscurity, and the last hope of the Seekers being crushed. It may well be the toll for the end of the Seekers themselves. From what has transpired in the Sixteenth Cycle, I can say that it has also signaled the end of the Herd's relaxed state. Never again will there be so many of us unprepared to fight as we were during the start of the Void Rift Crisis.
But, as they often are, this ending marked the beginning of something else. For as an old era, and the Necromancer Queen faded away, the Lord of Sunlight stepped forward as our Sixteenth Ascendant. And what an ascension it was! A blazing, glorious entrance into the new cycle unmatched by any cycle. Our King began his reign by saving our world. Some of my pessimistic peers call it a dark omen for a new cycle, but I see it as an auspicious precedent. We have among us a King who can pull our very world from the brink of total annihilation, a King who would dive into the depths of the void to save one of us, and, most importantly, a King who can defy all odds.
What do I mean? It's obvious from how he emerged from the wreckage of the Agamanthion. Well, wreckage might be too generous a word. Nearly the entire structure of the Agamanthion had been obliterated. Only the void rift itself remained floating in the forlorn skies of Elys. We searched for His Majesty desperately, though none of us dared to approach the void rift save for Her Majesty.
I must admit that, during that bleak time, even my faith in His Majesty wavered. It seemed that I was going to publish my last writing on his illustrious life with his final sacrifice to save us all being the last chapter. What an easily swayed fool I was! I cannot help but laugh at myself whenever I remember that time when my mistaken despair was proven so wrong in the most spectacular way possible.
The void rift was a hateful thing, a reminder of the horror visited upon our beloved Eternal Herd. When we found no trace of His Majesty, we turned our attention on the thing, to close it for good so that it may never blight our heavenly realm again.
I was among the first to notice it, and I was certainly the very first to let out a cry. From the darkness of the void past the rift, a lone speck of golden sunlight shone through. I was caught in a paralyzing jolt of hesitation; should I back off to make way for that approaching light, or dive in to greet it joyously? I doubt I was the only one to be trapped by that moment.
Ultimately, I did neither. As did all the others. There wasn't enough time.
His Majesty flew through the rift, and into the heavenly realm he was destined to rule. He survived being at the very core of that tremendous blast, and the unknown hostile blackness past the void rift. His glorious return was appropriately accompanied by a scintillating burst of radiance that could very well rival the Flash in the Grove. In that instant, the void rift was closed, and the Eternal Herd was well and truly free of the horror of the Agamanthion.
The sharpest-eyed among us spotted the very faint outline of Turbo Pinnae's diminished form, gently floating away from His Majesty to safely rejoin the Herd. I am truly more sorry for him than angry. The Herd will be hard on Turbo Pinnae upon his restoration, though I suspect it won't be as hard as he would be on himself. More sadly, he has missed his close friend's cycle, and the wonders of it.
We were all awestruck by the sight, many could not help but genuflect already, myself included, and we had yet to witness the true wonder of what was happening.
For you see, after the Agamanthion was destroyed, the Eternal Herd no longer in danger of tearing apart. The Fifteenth Ascendant was finally able to rest, and reflect. He removed himself from the Throne, bringing the Fifteenth Cycle to a rather ignominious end. I mean no disrespect, but to close the cycle by being on the verge of total destruction, and to have your chosen heir fall so far, is a grim affair. They say that the Fifteenth diminished before he could even completely leave Throne's Rest. We cannot be sure if he had designated His Majesty as the next ascendant, or if he diminished heirless, leaving the Throne itself to seek a worthy ruler. If the latter were true, and I would like to think that it is, then His Majesty will be the second to be chosen purely by the Throne since the First Ascendant.
Regardless, the Throne was vacated while all of us stared on, and later cheered His Majesty's successful rescue of Turbo Pinnae. While we cried victory, it bathed His Majesty in a nimbus of light, and transfigured him before all of us. Thus, lo and behold, rising from the destruction of the old, the Sixteenth Ascendant came to be.