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Sighing deeply, I march forward toward the open entrance of the cave. Miles and miles of endless sand stretch out before me, still awaiting my travel.
I have to do better this time. I don’t know what I’ll find, and that terrifies me.
But anything is better than this.
4
PELIEL
Nothing is hidden from my many eyes.
Each creature below, from the skittering rodan to the proud wild equu flee from my shadow as I drift over the vast desert below. I can feel the heat of my fires burning in my chest, threatening to engulf the world entirely.
I let it sizzle at my fingertips as I feel for the vibration of the caravan ahead.
They are moving towards a camp, where they intend to erect a more permanent settlement with their tools and resources. “That willnothappen,” I swear to the bitter wind and the rising sun, my only companions this high up. “I will educate them on the folly of trespassing in my domain.”
But there is so much movement that I find myself surprised.
A rare notion.
The orcs and elves have become complacent on the outskirts of my territory, so that even my cleansing fire will be hard pressed to scour evidence of them from the landscape. It ignites a fury in me to dwarf the first light of day.
I master it on a billowing exhale, letting more of my eyes fly open, the earth becoming a panorama of endless velvet predawn. I spot my first interlopers marring the desert’s windswept plains. They are a simple troupe of humans, trailing towards a slave camp.
It is not pleasure that finds me when I descend upon them.
They are barely able to turn when the air crackles with heat, blistering the air and turning the sand to glass beneath them. They are caught in my luminous ray and vaporized on contact. When the dust of their bones dissipates in the wind, I tilt my head.
“Too fragile,” I lament with a frown, scanning the surroundings for another target.
The humans of the camp do not rush out to see what could have caused such a sound. Even the rare pavo goes quiet in my presence, shielding its young from my gaze with its feathered body. A lone child cries in the silence, and a woman hushes it.
A guard emerges between two tents but does not look up.
My fingers twist, and I rouse the fire in him that sears his insides before the explosion spatters the surrounding tents in his blood. "You're fragile, too."
That is when they notice my presence.
Several humans peek out to find their guard in many more pieces than I found him, and they finally look up at me. Terror dawns on their expressions, but it is too late for them to forget what they’ve seen.
Someone’s scream pierces the air.
My dark laugh goes unheard by those who lay witness to me, blood pouring from their sockets as their eyes melt from their heads. They clutch their faces as more humans emerge, made frantic by the sudden assault.
I spread my arms wide.
"Witness me," I murmur, reveling in the cacophony of cries that swell from their tragedy. Light flickers under my skin, glowing brighter with each passing second. I am the morning that comes before the dawn, the light that sweeps away the imperfections of this world.
All my eyes flare open then.
None can avoid my sight as a brilliant pulse spreads from my core like a blast of thunder, the sound making all mortal beings that hear it go deaf. The light sears them where they stand, leaving permanent shadows as fire rains down on them.
Some try to fight back, their skin sliding off muscle.
Several try to flee up a dune, and I catch them in a whirl of fire, lifting them up from the ground and sending them reeling across the desert. Their bodies convulse before curling up like crushed insects, landing hard and scattering into a dozen roasted parts for the karasu to pick at once they cool.
The whole of the camp has awakened at this point, a few brave souls attempting to organize while tripping over their fallen comrades. Men are still digging at their empty sockets as if they will find anything but gore, and others are still trying to keep their skin from falling off.
