The Ground Awakens
And then—BOOM.
Out of the center of Starlight Duchy, flame tore the heavens asunder. A blinding pillar shot upward, curling like a spear flung by the gods, before exploding into a monstrous mushroom cloud that engulfed the sky. Morning's soft light fell beneath the shadow, the firmament smeared with fire and smoke as if the world had been tried and sentenced to death.
The shockwave arrived a heartbeat later. It pushed outward in a ferocious tide, pitching warhorses back upon their haunches, sending armored men stumbling as steel clanged against bone. The air itself became malevolent. It burned lungs, brought the metal taste of iron and ash, harsh and bitter, as if the blood of the earth had been pulled and ignited. Soldiers gasped, swore, teeth rattling together from the rough jolt, some falling to their knees as if the heavens had slammed into them.
