Higher Plain Ch 41: A Worsening Problem, Krelzor In Danger

(Krelzor)

I braced myself against the porch railing again as the ground rolled under my boots, the boards creaking like the whole farm might tear loose from the hillside. The trembling hadn't stopped for hours now—ever since those two titans showed up beyond the horizon.

From where I stood, I could just make out the tree line, the forest bending with each distant quake. Above it, the sky churned like a boiling pot—dark clouds twisting together in a massive spiral that pulsed with a strange, unnatural glow.

"So this is what happens," I muttered to no one but the wind. "When two Xylarions enter our plane of existence..."

I'd heard the stories, sure. Most people had. Stories about god-sized women who walked between worlds, who crushed mountains by mistake. I'd never believed them. Now I wished I still didn't.

A flash cut through the storm—bright, violent, purple.

I squinted against it, my heart stuttering in my chest. The light swelled, splitting the clouds apart, and something came tearing down from the heavens. It wasn't lightning. It was solid—burning. A streak of violet flame falling straight toward the forest miles away.

"What in the—"

The impact hit before I could finish.

A boom like the world itself splitting in half tore through the valley. The trees rippled like waves, birds exploded out of the forest in every direction, and a wall of dust rolled outward, swallowing the landscape. The blast reached my farm seconds later, nearly knocking me off my feet. I grabbed the porch rail again, coughing as dirt and leaves whipped around me.

"What's happening?!" I yelled into the chaos, though no one was there to answer.

The wind howled louder, pulling at my shirt and hair, making it hard to breathe. And then—through the swirling dust—I saw it.

A shadow.

At first, I thought it was just the shape of a mountain, maybe one that had risen from the impact. But mountains didn't move. Mountains didn't breathe.

The shadow shifted.

The storm itself seemed to bend around it as it straightened to its full height. My knees went weak. My hand gripped the rail until my knuckles went white.

Then came the sound.

A roar. Deep and sharp enough to tear straight through me. The boards beneath my feet rattled, windows shattered, the chickens screamed from their coop and then went silent. I ducked, pressing an arm over my head as the shockwave hit the farm, blowing dust and debris past me so hard it stung.

When the air finally cleared enough to see, I looked up—and I wish I hadn't.

It wasn't a woman this time.

Towering above the tree line, standing in the ruin of the forest, was something else entirely. A titan, yes—but not like the ones that had been fighting beyond the horizon. Its skin was charred gray, cracked like burnt earth, and from those cracks ran rivers of glowing purple light that pulsed like veins. On its back spread wings—black and leathery, like a bat's, still dripping with smoke from wherever it had come.

And its eyes... gods, its eyes burned red. Not like fire—more like hate.

It stood there, swaying slightly, injured maybe, but alive. I could feel its presence in my bones, in the way the air buzzed and the ground refused to settle. Every instinct I had screamed at me to run, but I couldn't move. I just... stared.

"By the gods," I whispered.

Then the thing's head tilted. Slowly. Deliberately.

Its gaze fell right on me.

My breath caught in my throat. My whole body went rigid.

It saw me.

And in that moment, as those burning red eyes fixed on my tiny farm and the pathetic man standing on its porch, I knew exactly what I was—nothing but an insect at the foot of a nightmare.

***

(Faylina)

The land still trembled beneath my feet. Each breath came heavy with dust and heat as I stepped toward Kaelira, who lay half-buried in a crater of her own making. Her armor was cracked along one shoulder, steam rising from the impact site where the creature's beam had struck her.

"Kaelira," I said, lowering myself, my knees sinking deep into the dirt. The tremors were strong enough that even the earth groaned under my weight. I reached down, curling my fingers around her arm, and gently pulled her up from the shattered ground.

She blinked hard, her expression twisting in pain before her eye focused on me. "What happened...?" she asked, voice low, strained. "Where's the creature?"

I swallowed, my throat tight. "It escaped," I said, hating the sound of the words. "I was just about to go after it when it—flew off. It's gone."

Kaelira's jaw clenched, the light in her eye narrowing to a dangerous glint. "Then the situation is worse than I thought," she muttered. "Much worse."

I frowned, brushing a strand of hair from my face, trying to read the look on hers. "What do you mean?"

"Our presence here," she said, her tone grim. "The moment we crossed into this plane, the balance was broken. The seal that bound the Vorlith—it's weakening. The creature's corruption is proof of it." She looked down at the scorched ground, her fingers curling into fists. "The living things of this world are being twisted by its hate... by its power."

Her words hit me harder than I wanted to admit. I didn't respond right away. Instead, I just stood there, staring at the deep cracks running through the forest floor, the trees burned to stumps around us. I could still feel the heat from where I'd fought the creature, the scent of scorched bark and smoke heavy in the air.

All of this...

My doing.

I lowered my gaze. "If I had known this would happen," I said quietly, almost to myself, "I never would have come down here. I thought I could help. I thought I could fix something." I exhaled sharply, shaking my head. "All I've done is make it worse."

Kaelira glanced at me, her expression softening only slightly. "What's done is done," she said. "What matters now is stopping it before the corruption spreads any further." She turned, scanning the sky with her good eye. "Which way did it go?"

I hesitated. The air still shimmered faintly with purple light in the distance, the path of the creature's flight scorched through the clouds like a scar. I followed it with my eyes, my chest tightening as I realized where it led.

"It went..." My voice trailed off.

Kaelira turned to me. "What is it?"

I felt the pit of my stomach twist. My heart began to race. I knew that direction—too well. The farmlands, the quiet hills beyond the valley...

Krelzor.

"It couldn't be..." I whispered, almost in disbelief.

"What?" Kaelira asked again, her tone sharper this time.

But I didn't answer right away. I stared out toward the horizon, where the clouds still glowed faintly purple. My thoughts were already racing ahead of me—past the shattered forests, past the broken mountains—to that small human farm I had once watched from afar.

He'd been safe until now. The battle had stayed far from him. I'd made sure of that.

But now—

"Oh no..." I breathed, the words slipping out before I could stop them.

Kaelira's brow furrowed. "Faylina?"

I met her gaze, my voice breaking as I said it. "It's heading straight for his lands."

And for the first time since I set foot on this fragile world, true fear took hold of me.