The Burning Plains
The wind howled over the Burning Plains, carrying with it the stench of ash and the bitter tang of smoke. The sky was a dull orange, thick with haze that blurred the sun. All around, the land stretched desolate and cracked, the earth scorched black by firestorms of ages past.
Kaelen wiped soot from his face, squinting into the distance. His shoulder throbbed where the Stonekin had grazed him, but he ignored the pain. Somewhere ahead, beyond these charred lands, lay the Spear — and perhaps their only chance at ending this nightmare.
Beside him, Selene moved like a shadow, eyes sharp, senses alert. Aelira rode a slender, battle-scarred mare they'd stolen from the Stonekin camp in the chaos of Moon's Gate. Her golden hair was dulled by soot, her face set in a mask of determination.
Kaelen couldn't help but glance at her now and then. Aelira carried herself with quiet strength, but he could see the sorrow in her eyes. Eryndor's betrayal had cut her deeply.
"Are you alright?" he asked softly.
Aelira gave a small, sad smile. "We can grieve later. Now we survive."
Ahead, the land rose into broken ridges of blackened stone, jagged and treacherous. Selene signaled for them to halt. She crouched, studying the ground.
"Tracks," she said. "Heavy. Dozens of them."
Kaelen knelt beside her, seeing it now — the crushed earth, the scorched prints of clawed feet.
"Ashspawn?" he guessed.
Selene's jaw tightened. "Worse. Hellspawn. The Dragon King's warbands. They're hunting."
Kaelen felt the burn of his scar, the low thrum of power he barely understood. He clenched his fists. "They're hunting us."
Aelira dismounted, drawing her slender blade. "Then let them come. I will not run."
A distant roar split the air, echoing across the plains. The ground trembled beneath their feet. From beyond the ridge, shadows moved — shapes vast and terrible, winged and scaled, eyes burning like coals. A pack of lesser drakes, their hides black as obsidian, their jaws dripping flame.
Behind them marched a host of Hellspawn — twisted, armored creatures wielding cruel blades and black spears.
Kaelen's heart pounded. They were too exposed here, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.
Selene's gaze darted around. "We hold the ridge. We make them choke on their own blood."
Kaelen nodded, drawing his blade. The scar on his arm blazed, the heat of it spreading through him, filling him with fire. He felt the pull — the hunger — of the Spear, though it was not yet in his grasp. His destiny loomed closer with each heartbeat.
The first drake came at them with a shriek, wings beating the scorched air. Selene leapt aside, her daggers flashing as she struck at its eye. The beast howled, veering into the rocks.
Kaelen charged, meeting a Hellspawn head-on. Their blades clashed, sparks flying. The creature was stronger, but Kaelen's fury drove him. He ducked a strike, stabbed low, felt his dagger bite into the thing's gut.
Aelira fought with deadly grace, her blade dancing like sunlight on water. She felled one Hellspawn, then another, moving as if in a battle trance.
The ridge became a storm of fire and steel. Kaelen lost track of time, of the number of foes. He moved on instinct, the fire in his blood guiding him, lending him strength he didn't know he possessed.
A drake crashed down, its claws tearing the earth. Kaelen faced it, breathing hard. The beast reared back, flame building in its throat. He raised his blade, knowing it wouldn't be enough.
Then Selene was there, leaping onto the drake's neck, driving her daggers deep into the soft flesh beneath its scales. The drake thrashed, screaming, and collapsed in a heap of smoking ruin.
"Kaelen!" Aelira's voice rang out. She pointed toward the horizon.
More Hellspawn. More drakes. An endless tide of fire and death.
"We can't hold here," Selene gasped, blood running down her arm. "We have to move."
Kaelen's mind raced. He could feel the Spear calling — feel it as if it were just beyond reach. "There's a canyon," he said. The words came to him from nowhere — or perhaps from the scar itself, from the destiny branded into his skin. "A canyon beyond these plains. If we can reach it—"
"Lead the way," Selene said, already moving.
They fled the ridge, weaving between blackened stones and charred trees. The Hellspawn gave chase, their roars shaking the air. The drakes took to the skies, hunting from above.
Kaelen ran until his lungs burned, until his legs felt like lead. But the pull of the Spear — of his fate — drove him on.
At last they reached the canyon — a jagged wound in the earth, deep and narrow. Without hesitation, they plunged into its shadowed depths, the sound of pursuit echoing behind them.
The Hellspawn did not follow.
Kaelen slowed, breath ragged. "Why did they stop?"
Selene looked up at the canyon walls, her eyes wary. "Because this place is cursed. Even the Dragon King's beasts fear it."
Aelira sheathed her blade, wiping sweat from her brow. "Then let them fear. We'll use it to reach the Spear."
Kaelen nodded, though unease coiled in his gut. The canyon was dark, and the air smelled of old death. But beyond it lay his destiny. And nothing — not Hellspawn, not dragons, not the shadow of his own doubt — would stop him now.
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🌟 The plains burned behind them. But ahead, the fire of destiny burned brighter still.
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