As concerned as they were about the Ravenguard following, none of the passengers truly understood the risks of crossing the Barren Waste. The autocart that carried them through the grassy fields and into the red rock desert was powered by electro-magnetic sciences, a development in the recent years of the war since the few remaining Arcanists declared neutrality or went into hiding. Magic had a cost, and to use it recklessly–as in times of war–would only invite ruin. While the western civilization blossomed with people, trade, and industry, the people east of the Barren Waste declared–generations ago–that there would be little to no such developments in the wildlands. “The old ways must be preserved” is the most common excuse that came back, and up until the rebellion began in the past year, there was little travel–mercantile or otherwise–between the two regions.

Of course, when the cart began to slow, sputter, and crackle with failure, none of them were thinking about that. The vehicle stopped less than ten minutes later, and all the passengers abandoned it once the surfaces began to shock them on contact. The sun was approaching its zenith in the cloudless sky, as the four of them stood watching the metal and wood autocart–by appearances, untouched the night before–rust and rot before their eyes. Electricity arced out in growing extensions, prompting the group to back further away, before the audible buzz of the power cells grew into a loud crackling of energy. “Get down!” Claudia shouted, and the four dropped prone on their stomachs just as the energy discharged.

Crick-k-k-crack!

Claudia lay in the dirt a moment longer, her arms still covering her head as best they could in the moment. Peeking out from the cracks between her limbs, she took a quick breath before hesitantly getting up to her hands and knees to observe the damage. The others were still face down on the ground, spread out between her and the wreckage of the vehicle. She coughed a bit from the dirt and dust in her mouth, but managed to call out, “Rosa?” There was no immediate response, but by the time she got to her feet, her confidant’s shape began to stir. The groaning of a man in pain nearby gave her a rush of relief that the others were still alive, if possibly injured. What the fuck just happened?

“Rosa, what the hell was that?”

The former spymaster got to her feet and brushed off the dirt from her clothes, inspecting them for damages. “I haven’t a clue. The thing was in perfect condition, so far as I could tell.”

Ahead, Vincent kept coughing harsh and wet, and when he stood up Claudia saw his face half-covered with blood from a head wound somewhere past his hairline. He managed a thumbs up while still trying to get his breathing under control. He looked around at the area, spots of black marking the contact points from the discharge of the machinery. The dust had settled or been blown out by the breeze flowing through the area. Vincent saw an enormous, charred and blackened mass of stone between him and the wreckage. Continuing his gaze around the area, he finally managed, “Anton, you good?”

Claudia and Rosa approached, also looking around for their fourth. The first thing that registered was the smell. Meat cooked past the point of edibility that had the slightest hint of spice prior to being burned to a crisp. Rosa gave off an audible gasping choke of her breath before she turned around and vomited. Claudia watched the smoking mass a few paces in front of them while Vincent asked after Rosa to see if she was really okay. “I’m okay,” she said, breathing heavily as she tried to regain her composure. “I’ve seen a lot in my time, I’ve done a lot of things to people, but I’ve never seen something like that.” Vincent finally looked back at the mass a second time, the shape of it finally falling into place. It was Anton, or his blackened corpse, electrified and burned, fused to the stone from the heat of the discharge. Vincent turned aside before falling to his hands and knees, throwing up sick all over the red rock, spots of blood dripping into the mess from his still fresh head wound.

Claudia remained on her feet, her breathing steady, her eyes narrow as she stared at the remains of Anton’s body. “What the hell is this place?” she asked to herself more than the others. Claudia tried to make the pieces fit from what she could remember. The Ravenguard brought horses and the autocart. Did they know this would happen?

A single howl broke the relative silence of the area. Rosa was back on her feet, looking for the source of the sound and deliberately avoiding the site of Anton’s charred remains. Vincent slowly got back to his feet again, breathing heavy, his face a scowl as his eyes looked around the area. “Wolves?”

“No,” Rosa said definitively and pointed. “Something much bigger.”

It would be no surprise that the discharge attracted unwanted attention. The creature moved on all fours, it’s paws softly padding into the dirt and stone as it approached, growing larger. It was alone, walking towards them steady, with purpose, not at a full run. The brown and grey fur on it’s body rustled stiffly as the wind blew over it, while the black, bony protrusions on its face and limbs distinctly marked its otherness alongside its unusually large size. It stopped its approach about fifty paces away, cocking its head to one side then the other as its muted blue eyes stared at them. Moments passed in silence, and neither the creature nor the group moved.

“Mistress?” Rosa asked, fear trembling her voice. “Ideas?”

Claudia stared at the thing, trying to process its hesitation. It could kill the three of us no problem, why wait?

“I’ve got an idea,” Vincent said as he stepped forward. He brandished the flintlock pistol, shouting at the thing, and it cocked its head again in curiosity. Angry, wounded, and exhausted, Vincent continued walking towards the creature, belligerent in his threats. Halfway there, the creature bowed, its limbs tensing as if to leap, a snarl growing along its snout, revealing rows of sharp teeth. After all his shouting and threats, the last thing he managed to clearly say is, “…and then we’re gonna eat you!” as he leveled his arm and took proper aim with the weapon.

They brought horses. Claudia thought about this a second further. The firearm was stowed away. She called out to stop him, but it was too late; the creature had leapt for him and he pulled the trigger.

---

It had only been an hour since the confrontation with the desert creature, but Claudia didn’t want to think about lost time. The thing was wounded, but not so much that it wasn’t able to run off. Vincent, meanwhile, lost his arm up past his elbow. Rosa managed to stop the little bleeding that remained, the mangled stump of his arm burnt and charred to the point of staunching most of the blood from the initial wound. While Rosa tended to Vincent’s wounds, Claudia finished scavenging the wreckage and surrounding area. When she returned to the others, Rosa spoke without looking up at Claudia. “He’s still breathing, even if he’s under, but I don’t think this heat is doing anything to help him.” She finally looked up at Claudia. “What now?”

Claudia’s head dropped and she took a deep breath. “We have to keep moving.”

“Are you saying we leave him here?” Rosa asked, appalled.

Avoiding eye contact, Claudia looked to the eastern horizon, hazy shadows blurring behind the heat waves of the rocky desert. “As long as he’s breathing, he stays with us.” She consolidated as much as she could into a couple of bags and slung them over her shoulder. “I’ll carry the supplies, but that means you have to carry him.”

Rosa stared at the side of Claudia’s face, trying to will her attention to change. “At least help me get him to his feet.”

Claudia paused a moment before dropping the bags and getting to the ground to help. She took the wounded side so Rosa could position his good arm over her neck to carry him. It took another hesitant moment, but they gathered themselves and started walking.

---

It was early evening by the time they reached the canyon and carefully made their way down to the floor. An alcove gave them a natural shelter to rest, and the growing shadows of the canyon offered respite from the heat beating down on them since they started their hiking hours earlier. Vincent had managed to wake long enough to drink some water, boosting their morale a little, knowing that he was in better shape that they thought. While Rosa checked his bandages, Claudia offered to scout ahead. “I don’t know that we’ll get much further before nightfall as it is, and this is a good place for camp.” Rosa kept silent, her mouth a flat line, but she nodded in agreement.

Fifteen minutes into her trek, Claudia had managed to find the eastern exit of the canyon, spilling out onto a flat, barren desert of dried up dirt and rocks. The sun was still bright in the cloudless sky, but approached the horizon slowly as if fighting off the approaching darkness itself. As she surveyed the way forward, Claudia took stock of the other directions, noting distant mountains in the south, and a much wider range even farther north. The east was speckled with the edge of a tree line in the distance, but how far out was difficult to tell in the vanishing light. She pulled out her map and scribbled some notes on the right hand side. If we’re near the north end of the canyon, we should be a straight shot to the tower in a day or two. “If.” She looked west to the sunset, the burning yellow disk making contact with the flat, black horizon, as shadows fluttered and shifted. The thunderous sounds of galloping hooves echoed through the air as she realized how much closer those shadows truly were. Claudia’s green eyes widened at the realization of exactly how much time they had lost.

They come for you, child.

Claudia turned around to the voice, and immediately fell backward from the surprise. Ten paces away, a figure stood towering before her. Three times the height of a man, this was a giant, but not like the Geth; the figure was more closely proportioned to that of a human, though any actual sight of its skin was obscured in the armor it wore. Head to foot, the armor and clothing was black as night, though the distinguishable details of the metal shone with a dull gloss compared to the muted matte black of the fabric and leather. The hooded mantle draped over its shoulders swayed with fur while the length of the shadowy fabric flowed with the passing breeze. Heavy and wide as the hood was, it did not obscure the face; an expressionless mask of genderless guise filled the space. As it stood there, its hands rested on the pommel of a runed greatsword standing on its point, the blade itself twice as tall as Claudia. For all of this spectacle, Claudia noticed there were no insignias of any kind adorning it, no motifs, no decoration, aside from the runes along the black blade. The wind picked up a brief moment, and as it did, the figure seemed to fade in and out of existence.

“Who.… what are you?” she asked from her place on the ground.

They have other quarry, your quarry, but when they happen upon you, they will delight in their revenge.

She watched silently, the towering figure did not move, standing statuesque as it continued to speak in its gravelly, bass tone.

I have guided them this far.

Claudia’s eyes narrowed. “So you’re their heathen god,” she spat. Getting to her feet, she stood upright, staring defiantly back to the expressionless mask. “You’re everything I’ve fought against my whole life.”
Her breathing grew heavy as she fought back tears. “You’re everything wrong with this world!”

Everything you have ever done has led you, inevitably, to me.

“Good,” she snarled.

Its head tilted ever so slightly.

Such arrogance before a being you cannot begin to comprehend.

The mask straightened once again.

But what good are your chances of killing me without your brother?

Claudia stiffened and swallowed hard. “If I don’t kill you, he will,” she managed, her bravado significantly stifled.

You misunderstand our presence here, child.

“You’re here to burn the world!” she screamed in defiance.

You forget your own importance, Claudia.

The sound of her name from the voice of this being made her skin flush with warmth and sensation. Not fear…hope? Despite this, she snarled with hesitation. “What do you want from me?”

Nothing, child. I am here offer you a gift.

“I don’t need anything from you,” she growled.

I offer you revenge.

“So, you’ll just die and disappear? Is that it?” she countered. “What good is that for all the people that are dying because of your followers?”

Accept, and I will relinquish my hold on them. They will disperse.

“And they just go back to their lives? Like they had nothing to do with the murder of thousands in your name?”

If you will it, they will suffer for their crimes.

This caused the greatest hesitation on Claudia’s part. She took a long moment to consider exactly what that would mean. “What kind of revenge…this gift…what is it?” she asked, confused and concerned.

I offer you power, my child. Do you accept?

---

The sun had long set as Claudia made her way back to the camp on the canyon floor. A bonfire was roaring, the light of it a beacon in the dark as she approached. Emerging from one of the darker shadows of the red rock, Rosa, Vincent and a number of others startled at her appearance. “You’re back!” Rosa called out. “Just in time, too. We have some other travelers joining us.”

Claudia remained silent as Rosa came over and walked her back to their supplies.

“I was hesitant at first,” Rosa said quietly. “They’re obviously from the ‘guard, and they didn’t deny it. They claim to be deserters.”

They will disperse.

“But then a couple of them offered to clean Vincent’s wounds and set new bandages. They’re legitimately helping.” She turned to the side and whispered, “Though I wouldn’t be surprised if this was all a ruse, so don’t let your guard down.” Rosa’s head tilted a little bit. “Mistress, what happened to your eyes?”

Claudia stepped forward. “Where are all of you travelling to?”

“Anywhere but the west, really,” one muttered. “Just trying to get away from all of that.”

If you will it, they will suffer.

One man started sobbing, rocking back and forth in his place. The first man spoke again as he looked over. “We’ve done things we’ll never live down, but some of us still hope for redemption.”

Claudia looked over each of them, the light of the bonfire giving a soft glow to her now two-colored, red and blue eyes.

“We seek the Champion of Three,” she offered. “You can start your redemption by helping us find him.”

But first, she thought, and the voice answered inside her mind,

Roth.