Higher Plain Ch 42: Run To Escape, Faylina To The Rescue!

(Krelzor)

The earth wouldn't stop shaking.

Each step I took felt like running on the back of some sleeping giant that had just started to wake up. The ground rippled under me, throwing up chunks of dirt and stone as I sprinted through what was left of my fields. My lungs burned, every breath filling with smoke and dust. Behind me, I could still hear it— that roar.

It wasn't just a sound. It was a force. The kind that tore through everything—trees, air, and even thought. My ears rang from it, but somehow, I kept running. The fence line that once marked the edge of my property was gone, flattened like a toy under a boot.

I didn't look back—at least, not at first. The glow alone was enough. That horrible purple light that shimmered through the smoke, burning its way through the horizon like a wound.

I tripped, stumbled, got up again. My legs felt like they were going to give out, but I couldn't stop. Not here. Not when the very air felt poisoned by whatever that thing was.

When I finally risked a glance back, my stomach dropped.

The creature wasn't human anymore—not even close. It towered above the trees miles away, its shape twisting and pulsing as if the flesh couldn't decide what form it wanted to take. Wings—great, jagged things like those of a bat—spread wide, each beat sending waves of dust and ash into the sky. Purple light crawled through the cracks in its gray skin like lightning beneath stone.

And even from here, I could feel it. That presence. It made my bones ache, my teeth buzz in my skull. Every plant it passed withered to nothing. The ground cracked open where its feet touched.

It wasn't just destroying—it was undoing.

I pushed harder, lungs screaming for air, when suddenly the wind behind me exploded.

I didn't have time to brace. The force hit my back like a wall, throwing me face-first into the dirt. I rolled, coughing, tasting blood and grit. When I looked up, the world seemed to tilt.

The creature was still far—maybe a few miles—but that didn't make it feel any less close. It stood over the forest like a nightmare given flesh, its silhouette framed by storm clouds and fire. Every time it moved, the trees shuddered.

"Gods above..." I muttered. My voice barely came out.

I staggered back onto my feet and started running again. I didn't have a plan. There was nowhere safe to go. Just forward. Just away.

Then I saw it move.

With a single swipe of its massive claw, the beast tore through the forest. Trees flew into the air like they were nothing but splinters. The shockwave slammed into me before the sound did.

"Ah—!"

The world flipped. I felt myself lift off the ground, weightless for a terrifying instant before slamming down hard and rolling through mud and broken roots. I coughed again, every muscle in my body screaming.

When I finally stopped, I found myself staring back the way I'd come. My jaw dropped.

Where the creature had swung, the land itself was carved apart. Trenches—deep and wide enough to swallow rivers—cut across the valley. Entire hillsides were missing. The air shimmered with heat and dust.

"Wow..." I breathed, half in awe, half in disbelief. "That's... that's not even possible."

The words barely left my mouth when I realized the creature was looking at me.

Its head turned slowly, unnaturally, until those glowing red eyes locked onto mine. I froze. My heart stopped for a second.

It began to move.

Each step was a quake, a rhythmic pounding that rattled through my chest. Its massive wings shifted behind it, scattering cinders into the wind. When it spoke, the air itself seemed to shake.

"Do you even know what you are, little one?"

I blinked. Its voice wasn't a sound—it was a storm. Every syllable rolled through the valley like thunder breaking rock.

"What?" I managed, my voice barely a whisper.

"The blood that runs through your veins," it said, crouching lower, closer. Its face—if it could be called that—twisted with something like curiosity. "Do you even know what ancient thing you carry?"

"I—I don't know what you're talking about!" I shouted back, taking a step away, though what good that would do, I didn't know.

The creature let out a sound like laughter—a low, guttural rumble that shook the trees. "No matter," it said. "Better that you die not knowing... what you are meant to become."

My mouth went dry. I took another step back. Then another.

The creature reared back, wings stretching wide enough to block out the sky. Its jaws split open, revealing a burning light deep inside its throat.

"Oh no..." I muttered, my voice shaking.

The light flared, blinding, and I barely had time to throw my arms up over my head before the world exploded in purple fire.

BOOM!

The sound hit first—a deafening roar that rattled the air in my lungs. Then the heat came, a wave of burning wind that knocked me backward. I braced for pain, for fire, for death.

But... nothing came.

No searing, no tearing, no falling apart. Just the sound. Just the shaking.

Slowly, I opened my eyes.

And my breath caught in my throat.

She was there.

A massive figure, crouched over me like a mountain come alive. Her long hair whipped in the storm, her eyes burning faint gold through the haze. The ground around us had been obliterated—trees flattened, dirt fused to glass—but she stood, unbroken, her body forming a shield around me.

The creature's beam had struck her back. I could see the smoke rising from her shoulders, the faint scorch marks across her armor, but she hadn't moved. She'd taken the full brunt of it. For me.

"Faylina?" I shouted up at her, voice cracking.

She turned her head, just slightly, enough for me to see her face through the dust and fire. Despite everything—the chaos, the destruction—she smiled.

"Sorry I'm late," she said.

And as the smoke cleared around her, I realized the battle wasn't over. It had only just begun.