Wind Warrior
Page 19
The Fire Warriors walked through the dense undergrowth of the woods, pushing aside clinging tree limbs. The trail of burnt ground and foliage was obvious as it cut a swath through the forest.
Leaves were curled aside from the heat. Limbs were blackened overhead and embers on the ground still smoldered red hot beneath their quickly cooling white exteriors. The woods were silent as all the animals had fled ahead of the fire.
The warriors crested a shallow ridge and found the valley consumed in thick, black smoke. They slid nimbly down the muddy slope on the back side of the ridge and entered the heart of the small forest fire.
The flames burned in a ring, consuming brush and tree bark in waves of crackling fire. In the wake of the flames, the ground was charred black. The warrior’s boots shattered burnt plants as they stepped through the forest fire and into the soot-filled aftermath.
In the center of the burning ring, a man lay prostrate, his face buried in the ash. More soot and ash filled the air around him, settling over his naked form.
The closest Fire Warrior removed his cloak and placed it carefully over the burnt man, concealing the twisted and scorched skin underneath. At the touch of the cloak, the man stirred and opened an eye.
Slowly, the man pushed off the ground until he was standing on mangled legs. He looked up at the evening’s sky through his one good eye. He huffed at the stars that were emerging as dusk settled over the valley.
“General Abraxas,” the Fire Warrior said.
“Did you follow them?” Abraxas said through lips that had partially fused together in the flames. “Did you find them?”
“We lost them when they flew out over the ocean.”
“But?” the General said dangerously.
“But the fishermen around the shore remarked that there has been strange weather far out in the ocean. We’ll find them there, I’m sure of it.”
“You had better be,” Abraxas said. “Your life depends on it.”
He closed his hand into a tense fist. “We’ll find them, then I’ll have my revenge!”
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