*Rhys*

The smoke danced away on the wind, revealing the scars it left on the earth. The green fields that used to surround Egoren were no more than a memory now, replaced by blackened soil and the still forms of those who would never rise again.

I stood there, my breaths coming in labored gasps. My dented and scratched armor, a once-shining protection, was now marred by the violence it had absorbed. My sword hung heavy at my side, its blade dark with the blood of the ...