Elian's POV
*****
Kyren didn't wait for them to answer. He stepped through the obsidian portal like it was just another doorway in his home, crimson cloak flaring like liquid flame.
Lucian and Elian exchanged a single look—no words needed—before running after him.
The moment Elian's foot crossed the portal, it felt like stepping into the heart of a furnace.
Heat blasted his skin. Harsh desert winds clawed at his face, gritty and wild. Red sand whipped up in spirals around them, and the world stretched open into the endless wasteland known as the Dark Lands.
Even Lucian winced at the scorched air. Farrell cursed under his breath.
The entire ground shook beneath them, shifting and rumbling like it wanted to swallow them alive.
Elian's mana core trembled slightly.
And then he saw it.
An excavation site out in the open.
