The town of Notta loomed ahead like a silent graveyard. As Mara approached, the stillness struck them first—a silence so heavy it seemed to press against her eardrums. The once-thriving settlement was now a skeleton of its former self. Charred wood jutted from collapsed buildings, and the acrid scent of ash lingered in the air. Blackened skeletal remains, twisted and frozen in grotesque poses, hinted at the horrifying final moments of the townsfolk. It was clear: the Harvesting had come here, just as it had ravaged Orden.
Rosemary knelt by a shattered well, her fingers running over claw marks etched into the stone.
"We need water. It's a rough desert ahead," she said, her voice hushed but firm.
Finn nodded, already scanning for intact barrels or containers. The group spread out, but their search yielded little—the few puddles of water they found were tainted with soot and poison. Eventually, they managed to gather a small amount that looked drinkable, their spirits weighed down by the futility of their task.
Mara gave one last look at the ruins of Notta, her heart heavy with sorrow.
"Forget it." Rosemary said, placing her hand on the healer's shoulder. "Let's move."
The desert stretched before them like a vast ocean of silver sand, the dunes shimmering under a sky painted in blood-red hues. Massive skeletons of dragons dotted the landscape, their colossal forms nothing more than the prisoners of death. Each bone bore the scars of time, etched with cracks and faint traces of ancient magic. Mara paused before a skull as large as a carriage, its empty eye sockets staring into eternity. She reached out to touch it, her fingertips brushing against its weathered surface. The air around her vibrated faintly, as if the skull remembered its own fury.
"Don't linger there," Rosemary said, her voice tight. "The magic here is old and unstable. It's better not to disturb it."
Mara stepped back, her gaze lingering on the dragon's remains.
Amazing… Such beauty...
She trailed off, unable to finish her thought. The eeriness of the graveyard pressed against them, their footsteps the only sound as they trudged forward, their shadows stretching long behind them.
The heat baked them like an oven, only sparing their breath by a few degrees. Mara's lips cracked, and her skin burned despite the fabric shielding her. The stone-carver boy stumbled, his face pale with exhaustion.
"It's hot, isn't it?" Mara asked him as they paused for a moment's rest. "You've barely spoken, and I haven't got your name yet."
The boy panted, then muttered, "Thorne."
"Thorne," Mara repeated. "We'll get through this together."
Thorne gave a weak nod, but the weariness in his eyes remained. Before they could continue, a sudden gust of wind howled through the desert, kicking up a storm of silver sand. The world around them vanished into a swirling chaos.
"Stay together!" Finn shouted, his voice barely audible over the roar of the storm. He wrapped his cloak around Thorne, showing a sliver of unusual empathy, the healer thought. Mara pulled Rosemary close, the two of them crouching low as the sandstorm battered them. When the winds finally subsided, they emerged from the storm covered in grit but thankful to still be alive.
Night brought little relief from the desert's torment. The crimson sky darkened, the red hues giving way to swirling shades of black and the darkest maroon. Small orbs of red light appeared, floating aimlessly above the sands. They pulsed faintly, like embers drifting on a breeze.
Finn reached out and caught one, holding it carefully in his palm. The orb glowed brighter for a moment before he gulped it down his throat.
"What are those?" Mara asked, eyeing the orbs warily.
"Dragonsoul Orbs," Finn explained. "They're remnants of the dragons' energy. It's a quick way to replenish Solqi. Have one if you wanna live."
Solqi? As in, the form of energy? Where have I read that before?
A passage from the Infernal Grimoire danced before her. Solqi was the energy present in all but varied from being to being. A superior dragon, like the one whose remains rest in Stone Dragon Hill, for example, contains enough to destroy mountains if harvested properly, but they are not quite as pure as other sources. Even humans too have Solqi in limited but pure amounts. Some have more than others. When harvested in large portions, they can even rival that of dragons or a powerful demon. Demons, on the other hand, boast the largest and purest form of Solqi known.
Mara hesitated at first, but Rosemary gave a nod of approval. "It will help heal the damage the desert has done. You'll need it. Trust me, even I didn't like it at first, but once you start, it's really hard to stop."
Reluctant as ever, Mara reached out and caught one of the red orbs. As it throbbed on her palm, she peered at its glow, hypnotized by it. Without a second thought, she swallowed it whole. The sphere flowed as smoothly as water. She felt a surge of warmth flood her body. Her vision sharpened, her strength returned, and the searing thirst that had plagued her vanished. It was intoxicating. A bit too intoxicating. She quickly grabbed another, then another, gorging on the spheres of energy as her veins bulged.
"Enough," Finn warned with a glare.
"Enough, I said!" He warned again, this time his hand shot out to stop her. "Too much can cause Soul Poisoning. Be my guest if you wanna die."
Panting, Mara nodded; the aftermath of the feast made her hands tremble. She lay down and closed her eyes, her body finally finding some semblance of peace.
The morning brought new challenges, if she could call the newer shade that trickled over the sky to be that of dawn. After a long, grueling course, they reached the base of the towering volcano. The jagged obsidian surface glinted like shards of broken black glass, a deadly obstacle to their ascent. Thorne knelt and placed his hands on the ground. Stone shifted and rose, forming a disc large enough to carry them. With a gesture, he sent it upward, carving a path through the treacherous terrain.
The climb was not without danger. Rocks crumbled beneath them, and more than once, falling boulders forced them to duck or shield themselves. When they finally reached the summit, their exhaustion was palpable, but so was their relief.
At the summit stood the golden ring, embedded in the mouth of the volcano like a crown atop a king. Mist and steam billowed from the volcanic depths, the air thick with heat and the acrid scent of sulfur. The giant ring's surface was inscribed with palms, with eyes etched in their center, like those of the back in Stone Dragon Hill. They glowed with a faint glint, their image haunting Mara of the past she left behind.
"Where does this lead to?" Mara asked, her voice barely cutting through the rising steam.
Finn's gaze was steady. "To Devala, of course."
Mara's heart skipped a beat. She stepped back, almost wishing she'd do anything except leaping into her doom, but Rosemary placed a reassuring hand on the hesitant healer's shoulder.
Before Mara could reply, Finn's hands were on her back. With a sudden push, she was sent over the edge. The steam soon clogged into a lump that flattened out into a black, large tile and secured her from falling to her demise.
As the platform plunged into the mist Mara laid flat on her back. The heat intensified with every passing moment. She felt her skin beginning to crack and the pain was excruciating as if acid was burning through her flesh. She clenched her teeth, fighting the urge to scream, her focus narrowing to the distant glow of the golden ring above.
Her vision blurred, her body feeling weightless and formless as the pain reached its peak. And then, all at once, everything went dark.
Any moment now!
In a minute, or maybe three, Mara thought, the tile jerked to a halt. She found herself in the mouth of an arching tunnel lined with glowing orange spikes. Light seemed to drip from their tips and vanish into thin air. The spikes hummed and cast warm light over the smooth, iridescent walls. She sat up slowly, her body feeling strange. Whole, yet altered. She couldn't make sense of what just happened, but there she was in flesh and bones, experiencing the wicked twists of reality like she never expected.
The skin on her hands bore faint traces of palms, their glow subtle but unmistakable. She touched her arms, marveling at the strange transformation. In a blink or three, as they slowly disappeared, Rosemary arrived beside her, bearing similar marks.
Then came Thorne and lastly Finn, whose gaze met Mara's, steady and resolute. "We made it. Now stop staring at me and get on your damn feet already."
Mara nodded with a hint of irritation. She stood, and her resolve hardened. Whatever awaited her in this strange new realm, she would face it head-on. The tunnel stretched before them with hollow voices riding in the air.