The wind above the broken land carried a strong smell of iron and ash.
The Devouring Blood Tree continued to grow slowly, its branches stretching wider across the dark sky. Feathers, fur, and strands of hair moved like leaves in the cold wind. The trapped bodies fused into the bark no longer struggled much.
Their strength was draining away, feeding the tree that now stood like a monument of flesh and bone.
Cain sat quietly on one of the highest branches.
His red eyes looked toward the distant horizon.
Something was coming.
He could feel it.
Not one creature.
Not two.
Many.
A deep rumbling sound began to spread across the ground.
At first it sounded like rolling thunder far away, but soon the earth began to tremble with stronger force. Dust rose in long clouds across the wasteland.
Then shapes appeared.
Large.
Tall.
Covered in burning red scales.
A group of creatures marched toward the tree with loud footsteps that shook the ground.
