Boots hammered stone. Armor scraped. Breath tore at lungs already raw from ash.
Marwen ran with her squad tight behind her, ten brave warriors reduced to a line of panic threading through broken streets. The city they had memorized no longer existed. Walls were gone. Streets ended in pits. Corners led into open air or piles of crushed masonry.
The girl who had dropped her spear kept close to Marwen's right, fingers clawed into the captain's cloak as if it were the only thing keeping her upright.
"I-it's 'him,'" she whimpered between gasps. "Isn't it…?"
Marwen did not slow.
"Yes," she said. The word felt heavy in her mouth. "Only one entity fits the description of what we've seen."
The girl's already pale expression went icy. "The Primordial Villain…"
Marwen nodded once. Her jaw locked as they vaulted a fallen beam and splashed through foul water that pooled where a street used to be.
