The ground split open ahead with a violent crack, spilling molten light that cascaded into a chasm that had not been there moments before. Heat rolled upward, thick and suffocating, warping the air until even Ren's vision blurred. Shadows recoiled briefly from the intensity before tightening around him like a second skin. The calamity was shifting, reshaping itself as if the land itself were aware of his progress.
From within the fissure, shapes began to rise. The first was a creature built of obsidian and flame, its torso twisting like liquid fire caged inside brittle stone. It dragged itself upward with clawed arms that shattered rock on contact, and its molten core pulsed with every breath it took. Another followed, this one winged, its feathers dripping sparks that hissed out as they touched the ground. Above them, the storm tightened its spiral, lightning descending not as bolts but as chains, lashing the plain with strikes that left scars of fire in their wake.
