He makes it through the pass. He's not really sure how, only that it's been two days and he's somewhat surprised to come out on the other side alive. The Guard surely won't follow him this far, not for a street rat that only ended up consorting with the criminal leaders by accident.

Kirin clutches at the pendant at his throat and forces himself upright again. He hates the wide, flat valley he's exited the pass into. Kirin's more than willing to admit his preference for cities, for houses and streets and a thousand thousand hiding places and people. His people. But he hadn't minded the mountains, not in all of their harsh beauty and jagged edges. Easy to conceal his tracks, at least, even if he'd rather be with his makeshift little family.

If only he knew how to hunt.

At the end of the valley rise trees, a forest so tall and dark he could almost believe another small mountain looms before him. With any luck, he'll be able to find refuge there, or at least something to eat. He wants to make it to Jadet, but that will take weeks at foot, at the least, and without a horse or a guide or any supplies at all, he won't make it nearly that far.

He's not starving, not really--Kirin knows what that feels like, and he has about a day yet before the weakness starts to weigh upon him too heavily to continue, even at his current energy expenditure. With a resigned sigh, he picks his way forward, forcing himself to continue putting one foot in front of the other.

He's almost reached the boundary of the forest when the world explodes.

It's the light that hits him first, a bloom of brilliance that stretches to the sky and fills the horizon. The rumbling thunderclap of sound is next, a roar that passes through everything it touches and leaves Kirin deaf as well as blind. Finally, as Kirin swipes blindly at his eyes in the hopes of regaining a semblance of vision, the shockwave hits.

When he comes back to his senses, he finds himself curled on the ground in a shallow depression, the landscape around him looking nearly sandblasted. Trees bend away from the source--those that escaped being flattened completely--and even the grass and low scrub have been mostly destroyed. In front of him, a massive column of smoke is rising to the sky, lightning flickering around the edges and flaming red tinging the lower half.

Kirin sits for a moment, stunned.

This is history that’s just been made. Is being made?

He’s not sure, but he needs to get closer. There are people in that forest.

Kirin staggers upright, gritting his teeth, and forces himself to move forward. Quickly, he thinks, quickly.