The valley reverberated with the clash of steel and the strange, hollow shrieks of the undead. Despite the blazing heat, a numbing cold spread through the air with each strike of the skeletal warriors, as if the very essence of the desert had turned against James and his companions.
"Keep your focus!" James shouted, his voice cutting through the cacophony. His sword glowed with brilliant blue energy, the dragon's power surging within him, countering the chilling aura of the cursed valley.
Sasha, fighting close by, drove her sword through a spectral warrior, her blade cleaving it in two. But as soon as the creature collapsed into a puff of sand, two more rose to take its place, their rusted blades glinting with a deadly promise. "These things just keep coming!" she growled, gritting her teeth as she blocked another blow, the force of it reverberating through her shield.