"Run!"
Elara screamed the command, her voice cracking under the strain of exhaustion and sheer terror. She slammed the butt of her spear into the ground, bracing herself against a massive boulder.
The earth trembled.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Heavy footsteps echoed through the narrow canyon, vibrating through the soles of her boots. It wasn't the rhythmic march of soldiers, but the chaotic, earth-shattering stomp of monsters.
"Elara, I can't… my mana is dry," Mira gasped, stumbling behind her. The mage's robes were torn, revealing skin scraped raw by their desperate flight through the thorny underbrush. "I can't cast another barrier."
"Just keep moving!" Kaelin, their scout, hissed. She was limping, clutching a side wound that oozed dark blood between her fingers. "If we stop, we're dead."
