There was only one chance left to save SegeFord.
So, we took it.
Without wasting a breath, we headed straight toward the abandoned cremation ground.
The merchant had told us it was an ancient site, untouched for generations. The place was once sacred—a holy ground where bodies were sent off in flame and prayer. But no longer. The jungle surrounding it had thickened over the years, and beasts now roamed freely in its silence. People stopped going there, not just out of fear, but because the tradition itself had died.
Back in a different age, a divine age, it was believed that fire could release the soul—free it through ritual and smoke. When gods still walked the land, when divinity was alive in the blood of every living being, the cremation grounds were sacred. But not even the holiness of that era could stop the world from rotting.
And if that divine time couldn't hold back the decay… what hope did this crumbling world have?
So people changed. Traditions, too. The sacred became forgotten.
But the place we were headed… no one knew how it looked now. No one dared to go close.
A long time had passed since we left the outpost.
We followed just one clue:
"North of Valemire... until everything falls quiet."
I know what that means. I know, what the "quiet" means.
"It's already past early noon… When will we reach there!?" Miya asked.
She'd calmed down by now, but her eyes hadn't. SegeFord still rested in her lap. I caught her looking down at his face — half-bloodied, barely conscious — and her expression made my chest tighten. There was fear, yes, but also something deeper. Love. A kind of desperate love that wanted to keep him breathing, no matter what.
SegeFord's condition was worse than ever. Every breath from him was a small war. His chest trembled. I could almost hear the pain. How long would he last? A day? Less? If he made it till nightfall, it would be a blessing.
But not for him.
He was suffering. Unimaginable pain. The kind that made you beg for silence. All we could do was watch. Pity him.
"I've never been this deep into the jungle," Liam replied to Miya, guiding the bull-cart carefully. "But this is our only chance… I'll do everything I can. Don't worry."
I said nothing. Neither did Terren. We both sat still, eyes on SegeFord, as if staring at him might keep him alive.
Then—
RAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWR—
A roar.
Sudden. Violent. Like the earth had opened.
Terren jumped to his feet and leapt from the cart before I even blinked. I was right behind him.
"Drake," Liam said. Calm. But serious. "Be careful. It's dangerous."
A Drake.
I'd never seen one in my life — only heard the old men whisper about them during winter. Abominations. Scaled giants. A mountain on feet.
The trees ahead shook, then trembled. Something big was coming. The earth didn't rumble — it flinched. Something enormous was crashing through the canopy, pushing aside the jungle like tall grass. Birds scattered overhead, screaming as they vanished into the sky.
"I'll take the initiative," Liam said. He stepped off the cart and unsheathed his blade. "Miya, guard the rear. Terren — handle the cart. Kael—"
He looked at me.
"You stay with SegeFord."
It was the right plan.
But—
"I want to fight," I said. "I've been training. I'm ready."
He didn't even blink.
"Yes. You'll fight. But not on the front line."
His gaze burned into mine.
"Every line of defense matters. Yours is the last one. That means you can't break... no matter what."
That silence after… it wasn't hesitation. It was understanding.
I nodded.
I climbed the cart again.
Terren took the reins, guiding the bull. Miya, with her half-dead eyes, pulled her bow tight. There was something terrifying in her silence. Her eyes didn't blink. They didn't shake. They looked like they could kill a god.
Liam started walking in front of the cart, keeping a distance—like bait. He was calm. Dangerous. Like he was waiting for the world to explode so he could punch it back into place.
We kept moving...
Then—the cart stopped.
The bull was shaking. Trembling violently. Breathing heavy through its nostrils like it had seen something primordial.
And then, with a sudden jerk, the bull reared up and thrashed, nearly knocking the cart over.
"Pull the shades!" Liam shouted.
Terren moved fast—pulled the shade blinders over the bull's eyes.
Blinded, the beast calmed slightly, still growling, still uneasy—but no longer trying to run.
"Take stance... It's here." Liam muttered.
Terren jumped down and drew his blade.
And then—it appeared.
A wide, rotting mouth. Emerging from the tree line like a nightmare unraveling from the woods.
Its tongue flicked like a serpent's. Venom oozed from its fangs. Thick saliva soaked its own face and burned into the ground like acid. The creature looked like an infection in motion. Like the woods had coughed up something sick.
It was massive. Easily twice the size of our bull.
We didn't move.
It was dangerous. But not breath-stealing. We had seen worse.
Still, the moment hung like a held breath...
Then—it charged.
It moved fast for something so big. Dirt kicked. Trees snapped.
But we had something faster.
Liam.
He vanished from view—then reappeared at the creature's flank.
THUD!
He struck its right leg—hard. A clean hit. But it bounced off with a sharp clang.
No damage.
"Left! Terren!" Liam barked.
Shirk—
Terren's blade pierced just beneath the drake's belly, where the scales thinned.
RAAAAAAWWW!
The beast howled and whipped its tail—CRACK!
Terren was thrown like a doll, slammed into a tree. Blood flew. He wasn't moving.
Then—
"Miya..."
Swoosh.
Her arrow sank deep into the drake's left eye.
It screamed—one eye blacked out, pouring darkness down its face like oil.
It thrashed wildly. Staggering. Tearing the earth apart in pain.
Then—it stopped.
It looked at Liam. Dead-on. Like it had understood.
"Everyone, brace!" Liam shouted. "We're in deep shit!"
It dashed again—this time not toward him...
Not toward Terren...
But toward the cart.
Toward me. Toward SegeFord.
"No—you lizard shit!" Miya screamed.
She fired arrow after arrow, but they bounced off—worthless against that armored hide.
So she unsheathed her twin daggers—longer than most—and threw herself between the cart and the drake.
The beast charged. Mouth open.
Miya raised her blades—ready to die.
Then—CRACK.
Wind slapped my face as the drake's jaw snapped to the side.
It stumbled—blood erupting from its mouth.
"Piercer," I whispered.
Liam.
The drake staggered.
And Miya drove both daggers into its open mouth.
She didn't get them in deep enough—
"Couldn't get them deep enoug—"
But before she could even turn her head to speak—
CRACK.
The tail hit her full-force.
She flew into the trees.
Silence.
I couldn't hear her anymore.
The beast turned to Liam.
It was close—half a meter. Its broken jaw dripping venom and blood. It hissed directly into Liam's face.
Then it moved.
The claw struck fast—Liam didn't dodge.
SCRATCH.
His back tore open as he hit the ground.
My heart stopped.
No. No. No. Not him. I wouldn't lose another.
I jumped from the cart, blade drawn.
"HEY! You fuck!" I roared. "Come here, you shit!"
Its massive head turned.
I had its attention.
My legs moved before my thoughts did. I sprinted to its side, toward the back—
Maybe, just maybe—
SWOOSH.
Darkness.
When I opened my eyes, I couldn't breathe. My arm was numb—maybe broken. My ribs screamed. Blood poured from my mouth and nose.
I was in the trees. I had been thrown like the rest.
It was too early to be heroic.
"You FUCKING idiot!" Liam barked at me from somewhere ahead.
He was on his feet again.
Bleeding. Battered. But alive.
But, now.... He was the only one who could fight. And that lizard was not looking like it would go down just now... It was hopeless.
If only I could do something...
The drake was dragging its torn mass toward Liam, whose back was scraped raw, breath broken, blood dripping from his jaw.
He stood up anyway.
Liam took stance—one I hadn't seen before.
The blade was lowered, pointed sideways, and his left side faced the beast.
I knew from the stillness of his arms, from how the wind dared not move—
It was that moment.
"Kill, or be killed."
And then—
from somewhere behind us, from somewhere a voice cut through the woods.
And then...
"Bhasmam bhavh"
I heard a single word.
And with that single word—
RAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWW—
The drake screamed. Not in rage. Not in hunger. But in pain.
A pain I could smell.
It reeked—like rotting meat wrapped in smoke, like burnt skin peeling from bone. My nose curled, and my eyes began to water.
I looked up.
And what I saw made my body freeze.
The drake was burning.
Not from the outside.
From within.
Its scales blistered and split open, black fire leaking from every wound, every breath, every inch of its monstrous form. Its tail flailed helplessly. Its claws tore into the earth—not to attack—but to escape itself.
And then—
A silhouette stepped from the treeline.
A man. Or what once was.
His body was streaked with ash—not smeared, but painted—in patterns that looked like they belonged to a forgotten age. His hair was matted into thick knots, falling in ropes to his chest, and decorated with bones, feathers, and black pearls that seemed to absorb the light.
His eyes were closed. Yet I felt them on me.
His bracelets were made of something I didn't understand—like old stone that had once been alive.
He wore no cloth, no armor. Only the symbols—on his skin, around his neck, hanging from his wrists—marked his presence as if he walked straight out of the era of gods.
I was not concerned about the drake anymore.
I was concerned about this being who burned it with a single utterance of a word.
Who is this man!? Or rather.... What is he!?