Chapter 23 – The Light’s Purge

Kaelen remained prostrated for what felt like an eternity.

The heat of the sun was no longer an annoyance.

He could feel the grief even before death came for his people.

I was a fool! Kaelen thought, his claws digging into the hot sand.

If he had known that brief conversation yesterday would be his only chance to beg the Sovereign for help, he would never have fled like a frightened hatchling.

Now, the silence of the Ziggurat felt like a final decree.

“Kaelen… please. Let’s leave.” One of the scouts behind him whispered hoarsely, his throat dry from all the shouting. “The Sovereign heard us yesterday and allowed us to live. If we stay longer, the next answer will be death…”

Kaelen did not reply. He was about to give in, to rise with his exhausted body and lead his group back, when a sound echoed out.

Creeeeeaaaaak—

It was the familiar sound of the colossal gates moving—heavy, deep, and ancient.

The entire group froze.

Kaelen snapped his head up, a painful spark of hope igniting in his amber eyes.

It was opening.

Kaelen fixed his gaze on the widening gap in the gates, expecting to see the small silhouette of Pippin and his crooked top hat.

He was ready to thank him—to cry with relief before the little servant who had promised help.

Bzzzzzzzzzz!

But the first thing he heard was a strange buzzing. It was a sharp, vibrating sound that seemed to slice through the heavy desert air.

Kaelen frowned in confusion; the noise kept getting louder, a constant frequency that made his teeth vibrate.

Could that little servant make a sound like that?

Before Kaelen could continue the thought, what emerged from the shadows of the Ziggurat answered his question, making the air freeze in his lungs.

It wasn’t Pippin.

Three figures emerged from the darkness within, walking out of the Sovereign’s domain with terrifying calm.

The figure leading them was a mountain of crimson metal. The armor was thick, made of overlapping plates that looked fused together, with no visible gaps at the joints. The helmet was smooth, with a narrow horizontal slit where no eyes could be seen—only a deep void.

In one hand he carried a massive tower shield, and in the other, a broad and heavy sword.

Behind him followed a humanoid mass of gray flesh and crude stitches.

The creature was disproportionate, with arms far too long and a wide torso where the skin appeared crudely patched together with dark thread.

It wore no clothes—only exposed muscle tissue and the bulging scars that held its body together. Its face was a mask of stitched fragments, its jaw clamped together by metal staples that kept it frozen in a permanently rigid expression.

Hovering above them, beating its wings so fast they were almost invisible, was the source of the buzzing.

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ—VRRRRRRRRRRRR!

The sound shifted from a steady buzz to a violent vibration.

It was an insect of grotesque proportions, with a long segmented body encased in a rigid black exoskeleton.

Four long translucent wings kept the creature hovering almost motionless in the air, while six legs tipped with hooked claws dangled beneath it.

Its eyes—dark globes reflecting sunlight in a distorted way—watched the group with sudden, twitching movements of its head.

Kaelen took a step back, the relief dying in his throat.

THUMP!

The sound of metal boots hitting the sand was muffled by the violent beating of the insect’s wings, compacting the ground with each step.

The crimson-armored figure advanced like a war machine, every plate of his armor gleaming beneath the sun as he walked toward Kaelen.

THUMP!

Even though the Cindralisks were tall creatures, nearly two meters in height, the knight leading them was an aberration, easily reaching three meters tall.

And the stitched flesh monster behind him was no smaller.

THUMP!

The sound grew louder with each step, the metal plates of the knight’s armor clashing softly against one another as Kaelen’s heart began to race.

He couldn’t move. Panic replaced his joy in the span of a heartbeat.

He sent us to die.

That was the only thought left.

Kaelen should have understood the message of the silence. His insistence had offended the Sovereign, and now the executioners had arrived.

His legs simply refused to obey. He stood frozen as the crimson knight approached.

THUMP!

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With each heavy step, the sand sank beneath the weight of the massive armor.

Finally, the figure stopped in front of him.

The giant’s shadow swallowed Kaelen entirely, blocking out the sun. Kaelen had to tilt his head all the way back just to look at the knight’s faceless helmet.

He swallowed hard.

His legs began to tremble.

Damn it… not again!

A sudden anger rose within him at his own weakness—the same weakness he had felt before the Sovereign. He was an elite warrior of his tribe, yet before these beings he was nothing more than a grain of sand.

Kaelen closed his eyes without saying a word, waiting for the final blow.

Waiting for that massive figure to crush his skull and end it quickly.

“Lead us to your nest.”

The voice that emerged from the armor was deep, metallic, and devoid of any human emotion.

“The Sovereign has decreed your protection.”

Kaelen remained still.

What?

He slowly opened his eyes, staring stupidly at the chest of the red armor. Kaelen had expected a brutal death. The word protection refused to register in his mind within such a scene.

“P-protection…?” Kaelen stammered unconsciously, his voice fading.

The Sanguine Knight did not repeat the order. He simply stood there—a wall of crimson metal—waiting for the lizard to move.

Behind him, the massive stitched creature arrived. The Sutured stopped like a patched block of stone, releasing a dry metallic odor. Above them, the Dragonfly Hunter descended in a low flight, hovering only a few meters above the ground.

The powerful wind generated by its four translucent wings sent sand flying wildly around them, forming a vortex that blinded anyone who tried to approach.

Kaelen and his companions were forced to step back, their feet dragging through the soft sand as they struggled to keep their balance.

He squeezed his eyes shut, bending his body and raising his arm to shield his face from the violent gusts that carried grains of sand.

“The Sovereign… he heard us?” Kaelen shouted over the buzzing, peeking through his fingers at his companions, who were just as stunned and hunched as he was.

“Hurry.”