The storm had passed over the mountains, but the valley below still burned. Trees collapsed in ash, rivers boiled from the heat, and the ground itself groaned like a wounded beast. The air reeked of iron and smoke, thick enough to choke any mortal who dared approach.
Amid the ruin, the survivors crawled. A broken handful of soldiers staggered through the haze, armor cracked, faces hollow. They whispered prayers that no one heard. Their banners had burned hours ago. Above them, the sky flickered red and white as something vast and unseen moved in the clouds—a clash that made the earth tremble.
A blade cut through the air like thunder. One of the soldiers looked up just in time to see the horizon split apart. Two figures—once men, now monsters of power—collided again. The force threw him backward, his bones rattling as light seared across the sky.
