When Samuel opened his eyes, the sky was already bright.
For a brief moment, he lay perfectly still. The stars were gone. Above him, a few pale clouds drifted lazily across the blue sky, as though the night had never existed.
He blinked.
Then he slowly placed a hand against his chest.
Nothing.
No pain.
Not even an ache.
He pressed a little harder.
His heart beat calmly.
Samuel sat up and looked across the small campsite. The cold fire pit was little more than a dark patch among the stones. Just as it had the evening before, the wind swept across the fractured landscape, carrying fine dust dancing over the ground.
Was it all just a dream?
He didn't know.
The voice had felt so real.
Not like an ordinary dream.
It had been... there.
He remembered every single sensation.
That strange presence.
Those few simple words.
Your heart should burn.
The thought alone made him instinctively reach for his chest again.
But there was nothing there.
No wound.
No scar.
Not even the soreness one would expect after the convulsions that had wracked his body during the night.
Samuel rose to his feet. He folded his blanket and carefully packed it away in his backpack. Then he reached for the small cloth bag Vorzak had given him.
It was noticeably lighter now. Samuel pulled out a piece of bread. Beside it were a few of the small oranges. They had grown soft by now, their peels yielding under the slightest pressure.
He peeled one and crushed the fruit over the bread with his fingers. The sweet juice slowly soaked into the crumb. Once, he probably would have looked for something else to eat. Today, he simply took a bite.
It wasn't particularly good.
But it filled his stomach.
And that was all that mattered right now.
As he chewed, his gaze kept drifting back to the rocks. The voice's words refused to leave his mind.
If it really was a dream... why does it feel like someone was actually here?
He had no answer.
A few minutes later, he finished breakfast. He carefully packed away the remaining oranges. There wasn't much food left. It would have to last until he reached the city.
Samuel slung the backpack over his shoulders, cast one last look around the campsite, and continued north.
The morning air was cool. With every step, the rising sun warmed the rugged landscape a little more. Moisture from the night still clung between the gray stones, sparkling in the first rays of daylight.
Before long, Samuel noticed the landscape changing again. The sparse patches of grass that had grown between the rocks the day before became increasingly rare. The ground was now almost entirely bare stone. Loose gravel crunched beneath his boots, and every so often small rocks broke free under his feet, clattering down the slopes.
He had to watch his footing more carefully than the day before. The path had grown uneven. In some places he had to leap across narrow fissures in the rock. In others, sprawling fields of scree forced him to take long detours.
He looked up.
The immense mountain range still stretched beside him, but something about it felt different.
Yesterday, its sheer size had impressed him.
Today, something else caught his attention.
The farther north his gaze traveled, the narrower the peaks became. Broad mountainsides gradually gave way to towering stone spires. Some thrust into the sky like gigantic spears. Others leaned at impossible angles, as though they had lost all stability and were simply waiting to collapse.
Samuel slowed his pace.
This was no ordinary mountain range.
Not even close.
The mountains seemed to grow sharper with every mile, almost as if some unimaginable force were pushing them out of the earth. Wind whistled between the jagged peaks, producing a deep, mournful howl that rolled across the plain.
Samuel stopped for a moment and let his eyes wander.
Then he noticed something.
It wasn't just the mountains that were changing.
The ground was too.
The earth was laced with cracks. At first they had been little wider than his foot. Now they stretched for yards through the stone. Some were so deep that Samuel couldn't see the bottom.
Between them lay enormous depressions.
Craters.
Some were almost perfectly circular.
Others looked as though the earth itself had simply collapsed inward.
The farther Samuel walked, the more of them he saw.
And the same was true of the chasms.
Deep gashes cut through the landscape, separating entire rock formations from one another.
Samuel climbed onto a larger boulder for a better view. Shielding his eyes from the sun, he slowly scanned the land to the north.
Then his breath caught.
The mountains weren't arranged at random.
They seemed...
...to follow a pattern.
Every ridge.
Every crater.
Every colossal fracture.
They looked as though they all radiated from a single point.
Not evenly.
Not perfectly.
But clearly enough for Samuel to recognize it.
Like ripples.
Only these ripples were made of stone.
Slowly, he turned around. The farther his gaze traveled south, the flatter the landscape became once more. To the north, however, the earth seemed utterly torn apart.
Samuel swallowed.
"There's no way this happened naturally."
Back on Earth, he had watched documentaries about earthquakes, meteor impacts, and volcanoes.
But none of them looked like this.
This looked...
...as though someone had struck the ground itself with unimaginable force.
A single blow.
So powerful that it had forced the earth upward for miles.
For a long time, Samuel stood in silence, staring across the devastated landscape.
"If these really are the scars of a battle..."
His eyes drifted across the razor-sharp peaks.
Across the immense chasms.
Across the craters stretching all the way to the horizon.
"...how powerful must they have been?"
The thought alone sent a chill through him.
He had seen mages.
He had watched them conjure fire and reduce entire houses to flames.
Back then, he had believed magic could hardly become more powerful than that.
Now it seemed almost insignificant.
If this landscape truly was the scar left behind by a battle...
...then those beings must have wielded powers beyond anything Samuel could even imagine.
A gust of wind tore him from his thoughts.
He jumped down from the boulder.
There was still plenty of daylight left.
The city lay somewhere ahead.
And the sooner he reached it, the better.
Samuel recalled Urag e'Zogtar's instructions.
The old orc had explained the route several times.
"When you reach the third rock spur that looks like a split claw, keep to its western side. Don't try to pass between the spires. Stay around the outside. Otherwise, you'll lose your bearings."
Samuel looked up.
Countless stone spires now rose before him.
Some were slender.
Others broad.
Many looked remarkably alike.
"The split claw..."
He scanned the landscape.
But the longer he looked, the more alike the formations became.
From one angle or another, nearly every other spire resembled a claw.
Samuel frowned.
"Was it taller than the others?"
He couldn't remember anymore.
The wind picked up, carrying fine dust between the rocks.
At last, Samuel chose one of the larger formations.
"That has to be it..."
With that thought, he continued on.
At first, he stayed close to the rock face.
The terrain grew more treacherous with every step. Massive stone slabs lay tilted atop one another, as though someone had carelessly thrown them into place. Again and again, Samuel had to use his hands to climb over ledges or carefully balance across fields of loose scree.
The wind grew stronger.
It whistled through the stone spires, producing a deep, haunting howl that echoed back from the mountains. At times it sounded like some distant beast. At others, like the slow, heavy breathing of something enormous.
Samuel pulled the collar of his shirt a little higher.
He looked toward the mountains again.
The closer he came, the more unreal they appeared.
Some of the spires were scarcely wider than a tree trunk, yet towered dozens of meters into the air. Others twisted upon themselves, as though the stone had once been soft and only hardened long after taking shape.
It simply didn't make sense.
Nothing about them resembled a natural mountain range.
Samuel stopped once more.
The sun had climbed high enough to strike the jagged cliffs from the side, casting long, serrated shadows across the ground.
Slowly, he turned in a full circle.
From up here, he could see a vast stretch of the landscape.
Everywhere he looked, the same image greeted him.
Needle-like mountains.
Deep craters.
Narrow chasms.
Everything seemed to radiate outward, like the shards of shattered glass.
Samuel narrowed his eyes.
The longer he looked, the stronger the impression became.
It was almost as though something had struck the world somewhere far to the north.
Or...
...as though someone had delivered a blow with a force beyond anything Samuel could comprehend.
He slowly shook his head.
"If someone really was that powerful..."
He left the thought unfinished.
The very idea was terrifying.
He continued on.
His eyes constantly searched the surrounding rock formations.
"A split claw..."
Urag e'Zogtar had explained the route more than once.
Samuel had listened carefully.
At least, he thought he had.
But now that he stood among the mountains, almost every formation looked distinctive in one way or another.
One tall outcrop resembled a finger.
The next looked like a tooth.
Another like a broken spear.
And beyond them stood a formation whose peak really was divided into two narrow prongs.
Samuel stopped.
"That has to be it."
He studied it for several moments.
It looked like a split claw.
At least...
...he thought it did.
He nodded to himself.
"Yeah... this has to be the one."
He turned west and followed the slope.
At first, everything seemed to match Urag's directions.
The path remained difficult, but it gradually led him between the larger rock formations.
Samuel took care not to walk too close to the sheer cliffs. Small stones constantly broke loose and rattled down the slopes.
After about an hour, however, he realized something was wrong.
The mountains ahead of him weren't getting lower.
Quite the opposite.
They were becoming denser.
Narrower.
Taller.
In places, the towering stone spires blocked out the sky entirely.
Samuel stopped once again.
He turned around.
The path behind him suddenly looked exactly like the one ahead.
The same gray needles piercing the sky.
The same fields of scree.
The same shadows.
"Wait..."
A slow frown creased his brow.
"Have I been here before?"
To his left stood a large boulder with a single withered shrub growing from its top. Samuel thought he'd seen it already.
Or was he imagining it?
He looked around again.
No trail.
No landmarks.
No sense of direction.
Nothing but stone as far as the eye could see.
An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of his stomach.
"No..."
He reached for the strap of his backpack.
"I've been following the right path."
...Hadn't he?
Samuel tried to remember Urag's instructions.
Third rock spur.
Pass to the west.
Don't go between the spires.
Slowly, he lifted his eyes.
Ahead of him lay a narrow passage between two towering stone needles.
He froze.
Then he closed his eyes for a moment.
"Damn it."
He'd gone through the passage.
Without a second thought.
Without even realizing it.
He opened his eyes again.
A quiet sigh escaped him.
"Fantastic..."
He ran a hand through his hair.
Turning back seemed pointless now.
He no longer knew exactly where he had come from.
So he chose the only course of action that still made sense.
Forward.
Maybe the path would lead back out on its own.
Maybe he could get his bearings again later.
Samuel continued on.
With every passing minute, the landscape grew harsher.
The stone spires stood so close together now that hardly any sunlight reached the ground between them.
The wind howled through the narrow gaps with tremendous force.
More than once, violent gusts threatened to knock him off balance.
The ground had become nothing but loose rock.
Small pieces constantly crumbled beneath his boots.
Sometimes he could hear them falling for several long seconds...
before the sound finally disappeared somewhere deep below.
Samuel stopped.
Slowly, he became aware of just how unstable the ground beneath his feet had become.
Cracks now crossed nearly every step he took.
Some were narrow enough to step over.
Others stretched several yards across, forcing him to climb, jump, or make long detours.
Even so, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was venturing deeper and deeper into a labyrinth of stone.
The wind howled without pause.
No birds sang.
No insects buzzed.
Nothing but the endless whistle of air threading its way between the rocks.
Samuel felt the loneliness beginning to press down on him.
He looked up.
Ahead, the path seemed to continue straight for several hundred yards.
He let out a relieved breath.
Finally.
No scree field.
No sheer cliff.
He quickened his pace.
Twenty yards.
Ten.
Five.
Then he stopped dead.
The world ended in front of him.
The ground simply... vanished.
A colossal chasm yawned at his feet.
Instinctively, Samuel stepped back.
Loose pebbles slid from beneath his boots and disappeared soundlessly into the abyss.
He edged forward again.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
He looked down.
His breath caught.
The chasm was impossibly deep.
Dark cliff walls plunged almost vertically into the darkness. Between them, a raging current of air thundered through the enormous fissure like a river made of wind.
The bottom...
...was nowhere to be seen.
Only darkness.
And then...
...something moved down there.
Samuel narrowed his eyes.
At first, he thought it was just a shadow.
The wind constantly swept dust and tiny fragments of stone through the chasm, sending debris swirling endlessly between the cliffs.
But then the shadow moved again.
Not one.
Several.
They glided silently between the towering rock walls before disappearing once more into the darkness below.
Samuel took another cautious half-step forward.
The wind struck him with such force that he had to raise an arm to shield his face.
He could barely see into the depths.
Then suddenly, one of the creatures shot upward from the abyss.
Samuel flinched.
It climbed along the cliff face with astonishing speed, never beating its wings even once.
The wind itself seemed to carry it.
Only when it drew closer did Samuel make out its shape.
His first thought was a hawk.
Its body resembled a bird of prey—sleek, muscular, built entirely for flight.
Then he noticed the differences.
Beneath its two enormous primary wings was a second, smaller pair.
They beat independently, giving the creature an unnerving agility.
Samuel frowned.
"Four wings...?"
The creature banked into a tight turn.
Now Samuel saw its head.
His breath caught.
Six eyes.
Three on each side.
They were arranged in two vertical rows, each moving independently of the others. While two eyes remained fixed on Samuel, the rest seemed to scan the surrounding landscape at the same time.
Slowly, the creature opened its beak.
Or rather...
...its beaks.
The horn-like beak split into three separate segments that unfolded like the petals of a flower.
Between them flicked two slender, pitch-black tongues.
Samuel felt his stomach tighten.
"What... is that?"
The creature let out no screech.
Only a low, vibrating growl.
It echoed between the towering cliffs before fading into the depths of the chasm.
For a brief moment, the creature hovered motionless in the wind.
Then it folded its wings slightly...
...and plunged back into the abyss.
Samuel slowly exhaled.
His heart was beating faster now.
He had no idea whether the creature had even noticed him.
Maybe they simply lived here.
Maybe...
Another shadow shot past him.
So close that he felt the rush of air against his skin.
He spun around and caught sight of a second creature streaking across the chasm at tremendous speed.
It was slightly smaller than the first, but flew far more aggressively.
Several times it rolled almost completely onto its side before allowing the wind to lift it upward again.
Without thinking, Samuel took a step backward.
A loose stone slipped beneath his boot.
He heard it tumble into the depths.
Instantly, both creatures reacted.
Their heads turned toward him in perfect unison.
All twelve eyes locked onto him.
Samuel froze.
For a long moment, neither creature moved.
They simply circled above the chasm.
Slowly.
Silently.
While the wind howled endlessly between the cliffs.
Carefully, Samuel took another step back.
"Easy..."
"Just... back away. Slowly."
He turned his body slightly sideways.
No sudden movements.
One careful step after another.
The larger creature suddenly pushed off against the wind.
It shot straight toward him.
"What—?!"
Samuel ducked instinctively.
The creature tore over his head with incredible speed, missing him by mere inches.
The blast of air nearly ripped the backpack from his shoulders.
Samuel stumbled.
Barely managing to catch himself.
The creature was already banking into another turn.
"It's attacking me!"
Samuel ran.
Not back the way he'd come.
Just away from the chasm.
Behind him came a deep, piercing shriek.
This time a second answered.
The wind carried their cries for miles through the shattered landscape.
Samuel didn't dare look back.
All he heard was the beating of four wings.
Closer.
Closer still.
Suddenly, something slammed into his back with tremendous force.
"Ugh!"
The impact threw him forward.
He crashed onto his knees.
Sharp stone tore open the palm of his hand.
Before he could react, the creature swept past him again.
It hadn't attacked him with its claws.
It had simply clipped him with its shoulder.
Samuel scrambled back to his feet.
"Why didn't it just grab me?"
He ran again.
The second creature came in from the side.
Instinctively, Samuel threw up his arms.
At the last instant, however, it pulled upward, its wing brushing against his shoulder.
Not hard.
Just enough.
Samuel staggered.
He took two uncontrolled steps—
straight to his left.
Toward the chasm.
He stopped abruptly.
Less than three meters separated him from the edge.
The wind tugged violently at his clothes as icy air surged up from the abyss.
And then Samuel understood.
"No..."
They weren't trying to tear him apart.
They wanted to...
He looked up.
The first creature was already circling high above once more, while the second slowly drifted into position, cutting off his retreat—
like hunters driving their prey into a trap.
Samuel swallowed.
Carefully, he took a single step away from the edge.
Immediately, the larger creature folded its wings.
It launched itself straight at him again—
this time aimed directly at his chest.