Toward the Valley

With every step they took, the sounds in the distance seemed to grow louder — thunderclaps, blasts, and rumbles that shook the very earth itself.

These were not the sounds of battle, Arran thought. They were the sounds of disaster. What he heard were storms, earthquakes, and landslides, all come together in a deafening cataclysm under a sky that was lit with fire and lightning.

Although they were miles away from the battle, the shockwaves and blasts of heat coming from the south could be felt even here, and several times, house-sized chunks of rock flew from the direction of the battle, crushing hundreds of Iron Mountain recruits where they landed.

With the destruction extending this far, Arran could not begin to imagine what the actual battleground would be like, but he had little doubt that it would be a terrifying scene — one with little chance of survival for anyone caught nearby.