The Unseen Threat

No sun had risen yet, but Red woke as if from a nightmare and couldn’t fall back asleep. Maybe it was the earthquake they’d felt yesterday afternoon – strong enough to rattle even the Outskirts. Or maybe it was what had caused it: a huge chunk of land that tore free and shot upward with frightening speed, vanishing into the sky so fast it had almost gone unnoticed. If she hadn’t been on watch at the Turning Tower, she wouldn’t have seen it either, just like the rest of Tarlmere.

Still… something gnawed at her, a heavy unease that wouldn’t let her rest.

She got ready as she always did, pulling on her uniform, strapping her warhammer across her back, and stepping outside. The world was still dark, the air sharp enough to draw a shiver from her. She took the main road downhill to the corner where the inn stood, then followed it left toward the lower gate. Not a single soul was out. Only the guards stood at their posts at both gates. Even the market – usually alive with noise – lay quiet, waiting.

When at last she reached the gate, the guards startled to see her.

“Good morning!” they called.

“We’ll see…” she muttered in reply.

The first faint light of the day was starting to show, enough to reveal Tarlmere wrapped in mist.

At the stables she found a bay horse with a black mane and tail. She stroked its neck and whispered softly to it. The horse flicked its ears as if it could feel her unease. Its name was Kestrel – her truest companion in this city.

After tending to him, she led Kestrel outside. Once they passed through the gate, she mounted and addressed the guards.
“If we’re not back by noon, seal the gates – and keep them that way until further notice.”
Then horse and rider slipped together into the forest.

♦♦♦

They had been in the water for only a few minutes when Elias dragged Fawks out of the water and onto the shore of what seemed to be another far off part of the Outskirts, probably. Dawn had broken.

“Fawks!
Are you alright?!
Fawks!”

Fawks began spitting water from his lungs and finally drew a much-needed breath… then broke into heavy coughing. He looked as miserable as any shipwrecked soul could be, and worse—so exhausted from his desperate effort to hold back their fall in the air that he seemed ready to collapse again.

“Here, take this!” Elias slipped a red Dral into his mouth. Fawks began crunching it between his teeth, still struggling to breathe normally.

“We made it,” he tried to say, but his voice was so faint it was barely audible.

“Thanks to you, my dear friend,” Elias said, resting a hand on his shoulder.

At last the Dral cracked in Fawks’s mouth, and from its core poured that sweet, refreshing juice that made his eyes spring open again.

“Oh, wow!” he gasped. “I suddenly feel so much better!”

“Nice, isn’t it?” said Elias. After giving Fawks a hearty pat on the back, he pulled him to his feet.

Fawks turned to look out over the sea and the rising suns at its far end. In the middle of the bay, far off in the water, stood a tall rocky isle ringed by jagged reefs–the remnant of the floating island that had brought them here.
“This must be the sea I’d heard rumors about–the one said to exist in the Outskirts, on the far side of the Common Ground,” Fawks declared.

“That would mean if we go that way–” he pointed inland “–at some point we’ll reach the core of the Common Ground.”

“Makes sense… the island must have carried us across a good part of the land all this while,” Elias agreed.
“So, what do you say we get going? Can you walk?”

All around the beach stretched thick jungle, the kind you’d find in tropical climates.

Fawks’s stomach rumbled. “Let’s have some breakfast first,” he grinned.

“Alright… I also need the toilet,” Elias admitted, darting toward a cluster of trees near the shore.

Meanwhile, Fawks scanned the canopy for fruit. In a flash he took off into the air, and before long he’d gathered several strange fruits–purple like watermelons but glowing with golden-yellow flesh. He tore into them hungrily.

“Elias, you’ve got to try this!” he barked.

Just then Elias emerged from a small outhouse that hadn’t been there moments before.

“You made a privy?!” Fawks laughed. He hadn’t expected that.

“I sure did!” Elias replied, adjusting his clothes. “Boy, wouldn’t that be useful in real life,” he muttered.

As he slowly walked back across the sand, his gaze turned inward, thoughts drifting toward his old life.

“Here,” Fawks handed him half a fruit, then noticed his mood. “What’s troubling you?”

Before Elias could answer, a powerful, unknown roar split the jungle. The ground trembled faintly beneath their feet, branches rattling as if something colossal had exhaled from the deep green.

They both froze, staring into the trees. For a long moment, the jungle held its breath—until birdsong crept cautiously back into the air.

Elias raised the fruit and took a bite. “That’s what’s troubling me,” he half-whispered.

Fawks forced himself to keep chewing.

Then another roar sounded–different this time, even louder–followed by a cacophony that suggested a clash of titans.

“Better get moving!” Fawks urged.

More roars followed.

“This way,” Elias pointed, choosing the path that would take them away from the dreadful noise.

♦♦♦

Despite the many shifts and turns that often occurred in this part of the Common Ground, there was something about yesterday that Red simply couldn’t ignore. She didn’t know what it was… but she meant to find out.

They had gone deep into the forest, following roughly the same direction Fawks and Elias had taken the day before–though on a wider path.
“I wonder what became of them,” she murmured aloud.
Kestrel answered with a low whinny.

Only a few paces later, he stopped. Just ahead, not many yards away, the path seemed to open into a small clearing. Yet Kestrel balked, refusing to move forward.

“What is it, boy?” Red slid down and stroked his cheek gently. He snorted and tossed his head in a way he almost never did.

“Kestrel… what?” she asked, meeting his eyes with sudden seriousness.

The horse dipped his head twice to the side, then back, as if clearly telling her to turn around.

“I see…” she whispered, slipping the reins back over his mane.
“Stay here.”

Then she stepped away from him, moving slowly, carefully, keeping her weight soft on the damp earth, toward the faint glow leaking through the opening. The mist made the light dim and strange..

Beyond Kestrel’s uneasy snorts, the forest was utterly silent. That silence unsettled Red. She pulled her warhammer into her hands.

As she drew closer, the air pushing through the gap grew stronger. It carried with it a foul tang she didn’t recognize. The gusts came in surges, rushing over her like waves, howling as though funneled through a mountain gorge.

And then–just for a heartbeat–she thought the sound wasn’t wind at all. It was like… like… war-cries.

♦♦♦

Elias and Fawks began climbing up the right-hand side of the beach and soon pushed into the jungle. The slope grew steep quickly, forcing them to battle uphill, sweating with the effort. Their goal was high ground: a ridgeline they had glimpsed from below stretching to the far end of the bay.

The fight in the distance grew more savage with every passing moment.

“How much farther?” Elias groaned. His legs felt like lead, but the threat behind them left no room for rest.

“Not too much further, I’d guess…” Fawks answered. “The tricky part will be that rocky stretch beneath the ridge. Might take some climbing–well, from you at least.”

Elias eyed Fawks’s tail, once again wrapped tightly around his waist like a belt.

“Why do you keep it coiled like that?”

“Because if I let it swing, it tires me out,” Fawks replied.

“Oh, I see.”

They climbed for quite some time until they reached the base of the ridge. The ascent was steep but not sheer, so even Fawks managed the climb alongside Elias.

By then, the distant commotion had gone eerily silent. Most likely, one beast had bested the other–and was now feasting on its kill. A shiver ran through Elias at the thought.

At last they reached the summit and collapsed, gasping for breath.

The view was breathtaking: the entire bay lay spread beneath them, waves glittering in the sunslight, whipped high by strong winds. From here, the newly-formed island was clearer – its peak already covered with blue-needled trees. And faintly, hidden among them, they spotted the outline of a crumbling dome.

“The Blue Lake!” Fawks gasped.

“That’s odd,” Elias frowned. “That’s the one part that never came crashing down into fragments…”

They stared in puzzlement for a while, until Fawks pushed himself upright.
“Well, I’ve seen enough! Shall we continue toward the heart of the Common Ground?”

Before them stretched a vast expanse of jungle, rough and uneven, with sharp rocky peaks jutting up from the canopy.

“We’ve got a long way ahead,” Elias observed.
“Come on – let’s cover as much daylight as we can. With this kind of terrain, I doubt we’ll reach the mountains by nightfall,” he nodded toward the distant range rising on the horizon.

They followed the ridge for a while, then found a gentler descent into the jungle. Beneath the canopy they picked a direction and trudged onward over tangled roots, uneven ground, and trickling streams.

♦♦♦

The moment Red stepped to the edge of the opening, she realized it wasn’t a simple clearing at all. The forest had been split apart in a jagged tear that stretched out before her, plunging into a vast depth.

And to her horror –spread across much of that gaping hollow– was a colossal, shadowed army.

Every so often they hurled unintelligible cries into the air, and more of them seemed to be emerging, pouring out of something at the very center.

Her eyes went wide. She couldn’t believe it. Her heart pounded hard, fast.
What was this? What was this vast army – this new threat?

Until yesterday, the Outskirts had been wild, dangerous because of their unpredictability, because of the lurking hazards… but this – this was something else entirely.

Behind her, Kestrel reared, shrieking with panic and striking the ground with his hooves.

At once, a massive beast lunged upward from the chasm. It looked like a black dragon, bursting forward with such sudden force that Red stumbled back in shock – they had seen her.

Instinct kicked in. She swung her warhammer in a desperate arc. The dragon jerked its head aside with ease, the blow missing by inches. Red scrambled to her feet, trembling, taking up a guarded stance.

Behind her, Kestrel was already galloping.

The dragon let out a deep, rumbling snarl, locking its enormous eyes onto hers. At once, an unbearable wave of hopelessness crashed over her. Her chest seized. Tears welled. Fear gripped her body so completely she couldn’t move a muscle. She was stunned.

Kestrel, charging with reckless courage, slammed into the beast’s side. Claws tore into his flank, but the strike broke the dragon’s gaze.

The spell loosened. Red blinked, gasped, and found her horse bleeding but standing between her and the monster.

The creature lunged to finish him–

–but Red, desperate, swung down with all her strength. Her warhammer crashed between them, the impact forcing the dragon back a step. She grabbed the saddle in the same motion as Kestrel wheeled to flee.

The two of them bolted, barely escaping the beast’s claws as a roar followed them – an awful, shattering sound that must have carried for miles.

The dense forest slowed the dragon’s pursuit, and for a moment it did not follow.

In one practiced motion, Red hauled herself into the saddle. She risked a glance back.

The beast hadn’t moved to chase them on the ground. Instead, with a shudder, it unfurled two enormous wings she hadn’t noticed before, folded tight against its body. With a few thunderous beats, it began to rise.

Red snapped her eyes forward again, leaning into Kestrel’s neck, driving him on. She patted his side twice, whispering almost through clenched teeth:

“We must warn the others.”