[VOLUME 16: THE FIRES OF GENESIS][ARC 1: THE ASHEN WAR]
The jagged, suffocating walls of the dead-magic canyon swallowed them, offering a brief, desperate reprieve from the roaring inferno of the Flaming Mountains.
Here, in the deep shade of the monolithic black rocks, the parasitic drain of the primeval fire weakened just enough to let them breathe.
Elara hit the canyon floor hard, her chest heaving as she spun around. A fraction of a second later, a massive, bleeding shadow crashed into the dirt beside her, followed by a streak of fading, erratic silver light.
"Aldren! Li!" Elara dropped to her knees, scrambling over the sharp rocks.
The Sovereign of Shadows was leaning heavily against the canyon wall. His dark, impenetrable armor was gone, leaving his chest exposed to the searing air. The flesh across his torso was violently blistered, weeping a mixture of red blood and dark, abyssal matter where Kaelen's holy blast had connected.
