The Ash-Walkers didn't move like living things. They skittered across the dunes with a sickening, disjointed grace, their elongated limbs clicking like dry wood. There were dozens of them, a sea of white bone and glowing green eyes emerging from the sulfurous fog.
"Stay back!" Valerius roared.
He didn't draw his sword immediately. Instead, he slammed his fist into the ground. A shockwave of pure, molten energy erupted from his contact point, the sand turning to liquid glass in a perfect circle around them. The closest Ash-Walkers were vaporized instantly, their shrieks silenced by the roar of dragon-fire.
But they kept coming.
Valerius unsheathed his blade—a massive slab of black steel that hummed with a low, predatory vibration. He moved like a blur of shadow and flame, his sword
