Karnell felt hot, too hot. He wasn’t even wearing armour or weapons yet but it was already far too hot. He sat among the war camp sweating, listening to the sounds of the other soldiers bustling around. He stared off at the horizon, at the crest far away and watched the sky shimmer in the heat. He could hear his friends talking in their tent but he didn’t want to go inside, it was even hotter in there. So he sat there and listened, he liked listening.

There’d been rumours going across the battalion as they’d marched and there were even more rumours now. Why had the generals ordered them so far away from Lord Farro and his armies? Why just them? Why not any other battalions? There was a theory that circled around, a theory that seemed to be formed from whispers heard from the generals. They were a distraction, they were bait. General Rhine hadn’t mentioned what they were doing, he usually didn’t talk much except to shout orders at them, so they’d obeyed. Karnell wasn’t sure he wanted to obey though, he didn’t want to be bait.

Strangely the scouts hadn’t spotted much following them, just a lone rider who seemed in no hurry to catch up. Karnell wasn’t sure how a lone rider could be much of a threat but whenever it was mentioned to the General his eyes grew wide with fear and he insisted on redoubling their march. Apparently he wanted to reach the old stronghold, Fort Sundrick, before the rider caught up to them. That would be difficult, even travelling as fast as they were, an entire army with all its men and weapons and equipment and wagons and camp followers moved significantly slower than a lone rider on horseback. Karnell was very suspicious of the whole situation, but it was too hot to think much about it. He lay back in the grass and watched the sky.

He started at a thunder of hoofbeats, one of the scouts galloped back into the camp and wove through the tents to reach the generals. Karnell stood up slowly and followed him. While General Rhine was always quiet about all of these things his scouts didn’t seem to care and he’d offered them no good reason to stay secretive. So while Rhine was whispering frantically the scout spoke easily loud enough for Karnell to hear.

“Its the rider,” he said, Rhine desperately trying to shush him. “He’s almost at the crest, he’ll be upon us in a few hours or so.”

Rhine whispered something back and the scout leaned in to hear it.

“I don’t know sir, he must have crossed the ravine up north somehow, he’d disappeared a few days ago.”

Karnell pondered that. Crossing the ravine anywhere other than one of the bridges was difficult, on a horse it was practically impossible. Perhaps there was more going on than he realised. Another terrible wave of heat swept over him and the rest of the camp. Soldiers groaned and complained and many emerged from their tents, searching for fresh air that wasn’t much cooler. Karnell thought he saw a few embers drifting through the air, someone had a fire going in this heat? Madness.

Rhine tugged at the tight collar on his uniform, likely not the best clothing to be wearing in this weather. He whispered something to the scout and then they parted ways, the scout bouncing back onto his horse. Karnell stretched and tried not to let the lethargic heat get to him. He was glad he didn’t have to ride out behind the army, he was glad he didn’t have to do anything right now.

“Karnell!” Rhine snapped and he jumped, his mind had been drifting off. “I want you to take your outriders and ride out behind the army.”

Karnell groaned inwardly. Now? It was so hot though.

“If the scouts are correct you should see a rider in red. Do not approach him! Take him out with arrows if you can but whatever you do keep away from him and lead him away from the army. Lead him to the forest, lead him to the ravine, I don’t care just keep him as far away as possible. Once you’ve shaken him off you can meet back up with us at Sundrick, if all goes well we’ll be there by nightfall.”

“By nightfall?” Karnell’s eyes went wide. “Forgive me sir but that seems ambitious, especially in this heat.”

“You let me worry about that officer, you just focus on diverting that rider.”

Karnell nodded sadly, he was not looking forward to riding anywhere in this heat, even if he didn’t really have to fight anyone. He wandered off and gathered up his outriders. They were a strange bunch, all master horsemen from the east who’d joined the army long before the conscriptions had come. As such they were better trusted than the average eastern soldier but amongst all the conscripts from the Hallowed Realm proper they didn’t really fit in. Karnell didn’t mind, he still had all his old friends from the original army, and there was something funny about being looked down on by conscripts who could barely handle a spear.

He mounted his horse, Lorishim, and led his outriders slowly out of the camp. He’d rather not gallop anywhere they didn’t have to in this heat. He’d been with this horse for years, his father had made him catch it on the Eastern Plains ten years ago when it had been a colt and he’d been a boy. He’d named it Lorishim after his grandfather’s horse who’d been named after an ancient eastern word that meant fast or something similar. They didn’t speak that language anymore.

As they walked Lorishim dragged his feet and snorted. He was sweating heavily in the heat and Karnell hoped he’d been treated well by the battalion’s stablehands. Normally he’d look after his own horse but there were so many horses in the army at the moment things had been standardised much to his annoyance. He felt bad when he reached the edge of the camp and urged Lorishim into a canter then a gallop. He could feel him sucking in huge hungry breaths beneath him in an effort to cool down. He sighed as sweat ran down his own skin, they’d just have to deal with it.

They rode for about an hour or so, slowly cresting the ridge. Their eastern horses could run for many more hours, even in the heat, but there was no need. There was the rider, walking calmly toward them down below. As they crested the ridge another wave of heat hit them and a few embers flitted past. Now that they’d stopped Karnell began to notice embers floating about everywhere. The grass below them was wilting too, with all these embers about he worried it might catch fire. The rider below them was just a silhouette at this point, against the wilting grass, wavering and shaking in the heat wave. He was supposed to be wearing red Rhine had said, Karnell hoped he wasn’t the cause of the embers.

“We’ll have to get closer to hit him with anything,” one of the outriders said.

Karnell nodded but nobody moved. It almost seemed to be growing hotter as they stood there and the figure moved slowly closer.

“There’s been a fire,” someone said, indicating the many swirling embers. “A big fire.”

“No smoke though,” someone else replied. “It’s very strange.”

They were easterners, they all knew stories of witches and demons, and everyone had heard about Kulrod, the Sorcerer. But fire without smoke, that was new to them.

“I think we should be extremely careful,” Karnell said. “Try to make the shot from as far as possible.”

“What if we miss?” the first outrider asked, idly watching the embers.

“Don’t,” Karnell replied and spurred Lorishim over the crest. They sped down the hill and swung around to the side, staying out of the rider’s apparent path. Karnell wasn’t a great shot from horseback although he’d practised for many hours, but with all of them together surely they’d hit something. They spread out into a line, giving each man a clear shot and drew back their bows. Karnell’s fingers were slick with sweat and further sweat dripped down into his eyes. He felt the rhythmic movement of Lorishim beneath him, standing up in the stirrups to absorb some of the shock. He fired and the other outriders all followed shortly after. The arrows all soared up into the sky and then dropped back down below the horizon. It was a difficult shot that was certain but they’d all made shots like this before. The arrows flashed down around the rider and one of them hit, he was sure of it. But it was hard to tell exactly with all the air shimmering in the heat.

“Did we get anything?”

“I think-”

Another wave of heat washed over them, far more terrible than any before. The horses whinnied in panic and stepped backward. Still in their stirrups with bows in hand some of the riders nearly fell off, Karnell included. Luckily they all managed to regain their seats and grasp the reigns. Karnell looked about, were the embers moving faster? Almost like they were angry. He felt some bite into his skin as though whipped by a wind that wasn’t there. Then they all heard hoofbeats.

Looking through the shimmering waves of heat and the sweat that dripped into their eyes they all saw the silhouette of the rider bearing down on them. He was wearing red, Karnell saw, he was almost glowing with it.

“Run!” Karnell screamed and wheeled Lorishim around. They started galloping and sure enough they weren’t galloping toward the army. They’d somewhat achieved their mission then, he supposed.

The heat was unbearable, he felt it pounding in his head, making his fingers struggle to grip the reigns, his legs struggle to hold him onto Lorishim, his brain struggle to think. He could only wonder how the horses were doing. He spun around to look back and saw the rider approaching them. Usually eastern horses could outrun most others over long distances but if this horse wasn’t affected by the heat he wasn’t sure that was true. He didn’t recognise the horse, it was difficult to see much detail at the distance they were at. Was it some sort of desert horse, bred for these kinds of temperatures. He doubted that though, these were not normal temperatures. The man was even harder to see. It almost seemed like all the heat was coming from him and as such he was wrapped in a curtain of shimmering air. He was wearing red though, that was clear, it seemed to glow through the shimmer, much like embers.

Karnell looked around, there was nothing but rolling hills and then ahead of them, the ravine. They could follow the ravine in either direction but if this rider had some way of crossing it quickly he might be able to catch up with them if they did that. It wasn’t straight, the ravine, twisting and winding its way through the land. There didn’t seem to be many options.

“Kill him!” Karnell shouted, his voice hoarse, his throat already dry. He spun around in the saddle again, loading his bow as he did so. His body and mind were both weak with the heat but his muscles remembered what to do. He turned Lorishim with his legs, they were now heading toward the ravine but he didn’t care, he’d deal with that later. He put himself side on with the rider and fired. At this distance he couldn’t possibly miss, he didn’t.

The arrow skewered right through the shimmering, glowing haze and exploded in a burst of fire and ash and embers, there were so many embers. Part of the rider exploded with it and now he just glowed more, the glow emanating from the embers within. Karnell’s eyes grew wide with fear, the rider hadn’t slowed down at all. More arrows slammed into him with similar results, explosions of embers sprayed the wilted grass. Some of it caught.

With all the riders whirling around to shoot him the rider picked one at random and gave chase. The fire blazing behind him. Some other riders were heading for the fire and their horses shied away from it. They struggled to gain control and in that time the pursued rider was trapped between the rider in red and the ravine. Karnell shot him again but it did nothing. The outrider stopped and tried to turn away but he was cut down as the glowing, shimmering haze collided with him. The man in red made no attempt to slow down, cutting through the outrider in a burst of sparks and fire and heading straight for the ravine. Karnell brought Lorishim to a stop further down and watched as the horse jumped. No horse could possibly jump that far, surely they would both plunge into the ravine and die. But they didn’t. The horse crashed down on the other side, sparks exploding from its rider. Then they wheeled around and started to run back. Preparing to jump right at him. He wheeled Lorishim around and ran, but not away from the ravine, along it. He had an idea.

The rider changed direction to intercept him when he jumped. Karnell didn’t care, he just needed a good angle to shoot at. The horse reached the edge of the ravine and bundled its muscles to jump. Karnell fired, but not at the rider. As he fired he decided that it was probably a terrible idea, what if the horse was just made of embers as well? What if it did nothing? But he had to try, he had to try something to keep himself alive. The arrow went straight through the horse’s skull and it stumbled. He didn’t know if it was dead but he didn’t care because it stumbled right into the ravine. The rider let out a scream and fell, tumbling away into the chasm. Karnell leaned over the edge and watched the explosion of sparks as he landed on the bottom. Would that kill him? He hoped so. As the man fell the heat began to fade and Karnell smiled as he felt fresh air on his face once more. His joy didn’t last long.

“Karnell!” one of the other outriders shouted. He looked around and saw the fire that had been started earlier when they’d been shooting the rider. It was now a roaring blaze that stretched from one corner of the ravine to another. All the other outriders had gotten onto the other side but he’d been busy on this side shooting the rider. He was trapped.

“Uh...” he muttered feeling other heat waves wash over him. They weren’t quite as bad as the first ones but he’d still rather avoid them. He supposed there was only one thing for it. He urged Lorishim into a gallop at the fire. It was just grass, it shouldn’t be creating such huge flames, hopefully whatever magic was about wouldn’t make him and his horse catch fire so easily. The smallest part of the fire was right next to the ravine so he headed for that part. It grew hotter and hotter and he groaned as the roaring flames approached him. Getting most horses to jump through that would have been difficult but Lorishim wasn’t most horses, he hoped.

They sped through, the fire licking at his boots and emerged on the other side, the ravine still there, the fire still blazing behind them. Lorishim screamed in pain and Karnell looked down to see his leg still wrapped in flames. Panic rose in his throat at the sight of his horse like that and he instinctively reached down to try and staunch the flames. Later he would think what a stupid idea that had been, he couldn’t even reach his horse’s legs from where he was. But in all the panicked thrill of the fire he wasn’t thinking, merely reacting. So he reached down, throwing himself completely off balance for when Lorishim bucked in fear and panic. He sailed off his horse and over the ground. He’d been thrown before, many many times. It happened, he was used to it. But he’d never been thrown into a ravine before. The ground disappeared and he fell onto the side of a cliff. He bounced and hit something, then something else, then more and more as he rolled down the side of the cliff.

Up on the edge of the ravine the other outriders caught Lorishim and staunched the fire on his leg. Then they all ran to a safe distance and watched the fire burn out. Karnell did not emerge.

Down in the ravine he groaned as pain filled him. Then he felt dread as a wave of heat washed across him and he heard footsteps approaching.

“You hurt my horse,” a voice said, completely lacking emotion.

Karnell tried to turn his head but his neck was stuck at an awkward angle and even trying to move brought on waves of relentless pain that brought tears to his eyes. The footsteps drew closer and the heat grew worse. He could see the glow now, even without looking at it, and he felt the angry embers begin to bite into him again.

“Wait wait please...” he begged. “I... don’t...” He didn’t know what to say, he didn’t know anything he could do other than blabber pathetically at this monster. “I... I... don’t know... what you are...?” he settled on, he’d like to know that before he died.

The monster stopped walking forward. He evidently hadn’t expected that, Karnell hadn’t either, it had just fallen out. “Neither do I,” said that emotionless voice.

Karnell seized on this desperately, still lying in his twisted agonising position. “There is a witch, a witch I know very well, she’ll know what you are,” he lied, he wasn’t a very good liar.

The rider in red remained quiet. Karnell lay there in pain, fear, and sweat for what seemed like far too long a time, how long did it take this monster to think?

“Why should I work with you? You hurt my horse.”

“I... I... I can fix your horse... I know a lot about horses...”

The rider thought for another very long time. Karnell lay there, unable to do anything about it. Then the footsteps drew closer and the heat grew ever warmer. He felt hands grab his shoulders, hands that burned his skin even through his clothes. Panic rose in him and he couldn’t hold back the tears. The monster had decided to kill him, he was sure of it. The monster spun him over and laid him back down on the floor of the ravine. Now he was looking up and he saw its face. It was a man, just an ordinary man, he wasn’t even wearing red, just ragged brown clothes, the clothes of a conscripted soldier. But where he was wounded glowed embers and they glowed brightly. Brightly enough to make his clothes look red from a distance. His eyes though, were different. They blazed orange like great bonfires screaming down at him and those, combined with his emotionless expression, made him seem like the monster he was.

“Um...” Karnell stuttered looking up at the terrible eyes, unsure of what to do next. The man wasn’t, with far more purpose than seemed reasonable he ripped out one of his own eyes, tearing a great hole in his face that showered sparks down on Karnell. He flinched as the sparks landed on him but that only caused more pain. The eye still glowing through his fingers, the man pressed it to Karnell’s chest and held it there. It was warm, but not warm with the terrible heat and brutal power of the heat waves. It was a comforting warmth, a warmth that spread through his body and washed away his pain. He didn’t know how long it took, it could have been seconds, could have been hours, he was just revelling in the comfort of that warmth. But when the man took away the eye and put it back into his head all the pain was gone.

Karnell stretched out his limbs and stood up, he was completely healed. The man had healed too, his ember wounds sealing up. His skin still glowed though less brightly, looking closely it looked like under his skin were the embers of a fire, still hot, still glowing. But the fire was out now, the terrible heat that had emanated off him was gone though he was still very warm.

“Um...” Karnell mumbled. “Thanks...”

The man ignored him and strode off through the ravine, Karnell followed him. They found the horse which was in a similar state to Karnell, broken and twisted on the bottom of the ravine. The arrow he’d shot through its head didn’t seem to be there and looking closely he quickly figured out why. There was a horn, or the remains of one, buried away in the fur on its head.

“A unicorn?” Karnell asked and the man shrugged. Karnell looked over the horse, it was twisted and ruined beyond any form of healing, although he'd been that way as well.

“Can you heal it? The same way you healed me?”

The man nodded. “But her leg is twisted, it will heal wrong.” He pointed and Karnell looked, all the legs looked twisted to him but this one was particularly bad. He could straighten it though. Then a thought occurred to him.

“Were my legs twisted so they’d heal wrong?”

“Could have been,” the man mumbled.

“Did you care?”

“No.”

Karnell shrugged, at least he was honest. He bent down and talked softly to the horse. A unicorn with its horn broken, he hadn’t even been sure he believed in unicorns until now. He stroked the leg gently to get the horse used to his touch. It nickered softly but didn’t seem to be able to move. He moved his hands carefully into position, feeling softly where all the breaks were. He’d done this before, he’d had to use splints and weeks of rest to heal the legs though, now it seemed he had access to glowing eyes, much more effective.

“Easy,” he whispered to the unicorn. “Easy.” Then he snapped the leg back into place and the unicorn screamed, it lashed out at him and he jumped nimbly away. It didn’t scream long though, it was too broken for that.

The man didn’t acknowledge him and stepped wordlessly forward, performing the same trick with his eye that he’d used on Karnell.

“What’s your name?” Karnell asked him. “I’m Karnell of the Eastlands.”

The man replied first with one of his long silences as the horse healed before their eyes. “Duren,” he said eventually. “Of Raharus.”

“And how is it that you can heal with your eyes and explode into flame when you're injured?”

Duren shrugged, he didn’t answer.

“And why is it that you’re following our army?”

He shrugged again, he did answer this time though. “To kill you all.”

“Oh,” Karnell said. “Why do you want to do that?”

Duren stepped back and the unicorn shook out its mane, slowly standing up. He turned to look at Karnell and pressed his eye back into his head. It was hard to tell with those glowing eyes and his almost completely expressionless face but he almost looked sad now. “I have to kill someone,” he said, leaving his eye to heal into his head. “I was already fighting your army before, I may as well keep fighting them now.”

“You have to kill someone?”

Duren nodded.

“Why?”

“The fire makes me.” He jumped onto his horse. “Now leave, before I kill you!” Karnell stepped back and watched as he turned to ride away then realised he was in a ravine and there wasn’t really any way to ride.

“There’s a staircase at the Ryfold Bridge, you can ride a horse out there,” Karnell said. Duren nodded in acknowledgement and galloped off south to Ryfold. He wasn’t sure why he said it. He tried to tell himself that Duren would have found it anyway so it didn’t matter. That if he hadn’t told him he’d have been killed. But he didn’t think that was why he’d done it, he hadn’t been thinking about those things at the time. In truth he decided he felt sorry for him. He felt like the fire really was making him do all these things. That would explain why he was following them so slowly, because he actually didn’t want to fight them. Hopefully that would mean Karnell could rejoin the army before he caught up with them. He could warn them.

He started the long, slow and painful climb out of the ravine. By the time he reached the top it was night and he was exhausted so he slept on the grass and he dreamed of fire.