(B2) One: Across the Plains
Blood oozed between my fingers, dripping down my mail and onto the floor.
Every breath was agony, and yet I knew I couldn’t stop. Not now, not when I was so close to my goal. My HUD flashed a warning as my vitality slowly drained away. I gritted my teeth and pressed on, my boots leaving bloody footprints back the way I had come.
Ahead, the great gilded door stood before me. Runes of power pulsed and hummed along the edges of the stone. The power was palpable - a weight in the air that made the hairs on the back of my neck rise.
It was madness, I knew. But I refused to turn back now.
Pressing my shoulder to the door I drew my sword with my free hand, chest rising and falling against the pain.
“This ends now,” I growled into the cold air. And then I stepped within.
*** [Present Day]
The heat of the burning plains was relentless and unforgiving.
I tore a piece of monster jerky off in my teeth and chewed, grimacing at the taste.