Branches whipped at Scarlet's face as she sped through the forest. Her horse kicking up dirt and leaving deep hoofprints as it jumped over tree roots and avoided the dense trees.

Scarlet followed the direction of the sun as she kept urging her horse forward. She thought to herself, "I should be getting near the general's camp now."

As Scarlet continued to race through the forest, she smelled a faint trace of blood that grew stronger as she neared the camp. She finally broke through the clearing and gasped.

In front of her were dozens of burning tents and dead bodies were strewn around on the ground. The smoke mixed with the smell of blood, creating a nauseating smell that gave people the urge to throw up.

Scarlet jumped off her horse and paced through the burning site cautiously. She clutched at her small dagger on one hand and her earring on the other. Suddenly, Scarlet jolted as felt a hand grab her ankle. She looked down and saw the owner of the hand was covered in smoke. She made out a lean figure but the smoke covered his entire face, save for his eyes.

Scarlet furrowed her brows and said, "What happened here?" She picked him up and supported him with her arms as she began to help carry him onto her horse.

She heard the man, in a weak voice, reply to her, "Fire magic. A large sea of fire came down from the sky and burned everything it touched. It is even stronger than what the legends said about the founder of the empire's magic from eons ago."

Scarlet nearly dropped the man and said yelled in surprise, "Fire magic?"

She thought, "Stronger than my ancestor's?" She shook her head, "That's impossible. Magic has been lost ever since the red eclipse a few generations ago! The only magic left in this world is contained in artifacts. That kind of magic should be really weak now as the mana stored within it slowly seeped out." (A/N: Think battery powered item)

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

The soldier coughed violently and said in a shaky voice, "See for yourself. Find the general, we are only the reinforcements sent to him. We must warn him."

Scarlet shook her head and had a determined expression, "We can make it to the general tonight."

The soldier coughed and his arm shakily pointed in the direction of the general's camp. "Road's blocked now."

Scarlet saw the beaten dirt road covered by burnt, dark trees that collapsed onto it. The trees created a sort of wall with extremely thorny branches lying on the ground. Scarlet shook her head, "We have no choice now. We must warn the general no matter what."

She turned around when she heard no reply and saw that the soldier has already fainted from the pain and exhaustion.