A thunderous impact.
A three-beat pace.
A pause.
Then another clatter.
And... another pause.
It was like the rhythmic beat of a distant drum.
Alden blinked.
His eyelids slowly fluttered open.
Immediately, he realised he was no longer inside the dim cell.
…And what he saw made him pause.
In front of him, a vast, rocky plain stretched forth endlessly. The firmament rumbled from above, glowing behind a dense mass of black clouds. Rain fell from the sky and the wind was razor-sharp.
However, that wasn't what caught Alden's eye.
No, it was the rider... in front of him.
They sat atop a beautiful steed - a dark, matte, lustrous coat covering the creature's body - with broad shoulders accentuating a stalwart frame. Alden had never seen - or heard of - such a good-looking steed, and not just because horses were very rare to come by in Arkanis. The Great Collision had culled their numbers to a great degree, with only a few left in the employ of the Four Clans.
