The clouds roiled in piercing line, like the wake of an impossibly fast speed-boat. Faster than human perception, the missile exited the clouds and struck the city. A light brighter than anyone who lived there had ever seen illumined dark alleys, hidden stairwells, and even the darkest basements, but the only witnesses were already gone.
The wave of destruction traveled out beyond the city limits, the pressure of it's wind blowing down old barns and flinging sheep and cattle into the air.
Cities all over the world, some sunny, some cloudy, some ancient, some new, were one by one being vaporized, leaving the shadows of men, women and children etched onto the pavement.
It was over.