The air in the mud trench didn't just warm up; it began to bake.
Within seconds, the damp soil beneath their boots turned bone dry, hissing loudly as the moisture evaporated into thin wisps of bitter steam. The city sized Swarm mothership hanging in the red clouds above was humming, its massive underbelly glowing with a dark, angry crimson light that made the teeth of every survivor rattle.
"We need to move!" Kael shouted, his boots slipping as the clay beneath him hardened and cracked. He turned to Raven, his face streaked with sweat. "Find us a cave, a tunnel, anything! We can't sit in a ditch while that thing charges an orbital laser!"
"A cave?" Raven shot back, a cold, sharp edge in his voice as he checked the nectar grease on his blade. "Are you stupid, prince? A laser that size will melt this entire valley down to the bedrock. A cave won't save you. It will just turn into a very stone oven."
"So we just stand here and get turned into ash?" Megan snapped, her knuckles white.
