Chapter 250

He kept running, but it was like sprinting through a bad dream. Everything looked the same no matter where he went—smoke hanging low, debris scattered like someone had taken this place apart piece by piece and then lost interest in cleaning up. There were no landmarks, nothing to guide him. Just more destruction in every direction.

The wolves kept coming. Each time they lunged at him and he braced for the hit that would tear him apart, but it never came. The moment they got too close, they were gone—like stepping through steam that looked solid until you touched it. He'd fall hard every time, scraping his hands on the ground as if the impact might wake him up from whatever this nightmare was.