“Okay. Now what?”
She sat silent for a few moments, listening as the whooshing sound of the blazing inferno seemed to dissipate and was replaced by a distant guttural roar that echoed through the sky and shook the ground. S’varkas repeated a few breathing exercising, first in through her nose and exhaling through her mouth, hoping to slow her racing heart and calm her nerves enough to climb out. She’d never considered herself one to cower away from anything, but this was different. This was literal hell coming for a visit.
Her arm pushed up on the hatch above her head, and as she peeked out through the small opening, her eyes widened with fear and awe by the spectacle around her. Most of the trees, once standing tall, thick, and strong, were reduced to nothing but blackened hollowed shells. Lush vegetation that fed not only the wildlife but the people of the region had turned to ash, swept away by the warm sulfuric breeze blowing through. She widened the opening more, and looked in all directions for her machine, the golem of metal and magic, but she caught no sign of him anywhere in the destruction. Her countenance fell at that moment, and hopelessness weighted heavily, knowing there was nothing she could have done to save the construct.
The roar came again off in the distance, this time louder and more vibrant. S’varkas climbed out of the bunker fully, and stood to see the large horned four-legged beast that could easily be the size of a mountain had she been closer. But from her vantage point, it was enough to worry about.
“That is one big dog.” She mumbled, staring at the behemoth with wonderment, as such a creature had never made it through the portal in her lifetime, and now she’d wished it never did.
“How many are there though?”
The ash floating around lessened visibility, making it that much more difficult to gauge if any other creatures had made it through. Her better judgement gave way to curiosity, and the girl found herself quickly heading toward the area where the beast was, trying to stay close to what was left of the tree trunks and large boulders. As the cloud of ash and dust began to clear a bit, she saw the three figures standing before the great beast of fire and brimstone.
“So, I suppose you are the ones who summoned this…thing” She whispered to herself, before casting the spell in which to camouflage her presence.