Elena
*****Beyond the Gate — Unknown Territory*****
The world snapped back into place with violence.
Heat slammed into me first, thick, choking air that burned my lungs and tasted like ash. The ground beneath my feet wasn’t soil or stone. It was blackened rock, cracked and glowing faintly red as if fire lived just beneath the surface.
I staggered forward, knees nearly buckling.
Lucian caught my arm before I could fall.
“Stand,” he ordered sharply. “This place feeds on weakness.”
I forced myself upright.
The gate behind us dissolved into smoke, sealing with a sound like bones snapping. There was no going back. Not until we finished this.
Ahead of us, a city rose from the wasteland.
Tall black walls. Towers carved with runes. Banners dyed deep crimson fluttered in the hot wind. I f
