For the second time within thirty minutes, Ivan lay buried under a heap of concrete. What surprised him was that despite the reckless power Raina had unleashed, he had suffered no damage.
He felt something heave him out of the rubble. Once clear, he saw that he was in a levitating, translucent sphere. He was dropped onto the rubble-ridden rear plaza. Raina was nearby, on all fours, desperately gasping for air. There was nothing Ivan could do to help; she had to recover on her own. This was the result of stress from expending too much power, combined with the injury she had suffered from the energy beam.
The sound of agitated concrete drew Ivan's attention. He saw six more golden, translucent spheres rise up from under the rubble. These spheres were much bigger than the one that had lifted him out and contained more people—thirty-four in total.
The spheres vanished, carefully placing the rescued victims on the rubble-ridden plaza.
