The unnatural, suffocating eclipse that had swallowed the Beastworld sun did not immediately unleash a rain of hellfire or a horde of demons.
Instead, it simply hung there, a massive, bruised shadow painting the rugged mountain passes in eerie, twilight hues.
But inside the Matriarch's carriage, the apocalyptic weather was entirely, deliberately ignored.
Kaelen had designed the rolling fortress to be impenetrable, but inside, it was a masterpiece of Warlord pampering. The floor and walls were lined with half a foot of pristine, enchanted dire-wolf pelts. Several glowing, floating orbs of swamp magic, courtesy of Syris, provided a warm, ambient light and a heavily purified, perfectly humidified atmosphere that completely negated Roxy's lingering morning sickness.
Roxy was practically wrapped in bubble wrap. She lay reclined on a massive pile of velvet cushions, completely swaddled in a crimson blanket.
