A Broken World

Nim looked down the valley and finally saw at least part of what they had done, at the same moment the wind came up and the smell of smoke and rot filled her sinuses. The sticky sweet scent lingering there in a way that made her want to vomit. It clung to her throat.

Only one thing could smell like that.

Nierwae’s fortress had possessed that same horrendous odor.

The scent of death and demons.

A village in the distance emitted too much smoke to be from hut fires. There were spots of smoke in various directions that looked the same.

Once they walked a bit down the hill, they came down the backside of the rise, she found the whole valley bottom was covered in bark like darkness. It looked like rotting tree roots with spots of pus and splitting boils. Twining over the ground.

From this vantage point, it was apparent that the nearest village was abandoned. Long since, torn to shreds.

“How long were you gone?” Disseus look