Stepping into Evil Wind Ridge, a wave of heat mixed with a stench of decay rushed at them, making it feel as though they had walked straight into the belly of a giant beast. Yellowed, withered weeds grew flat against the ground, their leaves coated with waxy black scabs that flaked off at the slightest touch. In the distance, the mountains appeared an eerie indigo, their rock faces riddled with honeycomb-like holes that periodically oozed a dark brown slime, winding across the earth in twisted veins that left absolute barrenness in their wake.
Grayish-black mist hovered between the peaks, as thick as stirred ink, from within which came the occasional sound of dragging iron chains. Withered ancient trees lay scattered at odd angles, their trunks covered in claw marks, while faded cloth strips hung from their branches, rustling softly in the wind like the low weeping of countless wronged souls. Halfway up the mountain, a bottomless ravine split the earth, dark red liquid slowly seeping from it. The rising heat was tainted with a sickeningly sweet, bloody odor, and deep within the fissure, faint green phosphorescent fires flickered like countless pairs of watching eyes.
The group carefully continued forward along the mountain path. Evil Wind Ridge was bizarre in the extreme; giant birds occasionally beat their wings among the ridges, instantly stirring up fierce gales and bone-chilling cries. From time to time, strange, deafening roars of alien beasts echoed through the air. Y…
Chapter 247