The wind was whipping through the barren plains of the Sunfall Wasteland, the once lush landscape that was akin to a rainforest was now just rocks and dirt. There weren't many safe places left, so travelers usually had to be quick or be traveling in a large enough group that would ward off attackers.
That made it especially dangerous for Guarn, who was traveling alone. He was traveling light, wearing only a set of reinforced leather armor, and a dark cloak that covered most of his body. Trying to sleep under small rock ledges along the plains. Now though, he was stopped and looking at the Sunfall in the distance.
The once magnificent city used to glow as buildings decorated with Sunglass stood tall throughout. Its green hue would glow like moonlight in the evening, so that the city was always bustling. But now, over the years, those buildings have crumbled, leaving only ruins filled with various monsters and refugees of the Plane Wars.
Behind it stood its namesake mountain, formed the moment a giant burning rock fell from the sky. The moment it collided with the ground, it was as if it turned to liquid. The splash went up into the sky and solidified immediately, creating the unique shape it had. The fires that burned under it burn at such an extreme heat that the things forged there maintained their heat for centuries and were some of the strongest metals made. Those items meant that the Sunfall maintained its power for centuries, until, of course, it was all ruined by people.
Always people who get greedy.
Guarn grunted as he thought about it and adjusted the weight of his traveling gear. It was heavier than normal, as Hendrik had given him gifts for the tribes of the Titan's Desert. He was told not to open it under any circumstances and to protect it at all costs. He held onto his holy symbol, the symbol of Helm, and inspected it, seeing the stamp of the Holy Order on it. Unsure of whose will he was serving at this point.
His concentration was broken suddenly by a scream in the distance. He turned his gaze to see a humanoid figure trying to climb its way over one of the countless rocky ledges, but before they could climb up, Guarn saw the tell-tale claws of a Man-Eater Mantis, a large subterranean beast resembling a Praying Mantis with a midsection that opens like a Venus flytrap, grab the figure and drag them out of sight.
He broke into a run, leaping over rocks and ledges towards the encounter until he leapt over the final rocky ledge to see an elf desperately attacking the beast that was slowly trying to drag him into its gaping maw of a belly. Guarn charged forward with his lance, burying it into the beast's weak spot in its belly. It tried to turn its gaze, but a second strike caused it to collapse on the spear and slump on the ground, bile pouring out of it.
"Well, that was a close one, my elf friend," Guarn said as his eyes were fixed on the beast, making sure it didn't have one final lunge in it. "Tell me, what are you doing out he—"
Just as he was finishing his question, he felt the pain of a shortsword being driven through his back, the tip now sticking out through his chest as he gasped. He roared and spun around, the elf letting go of the hilt as the sword remained through the Paladin. His claw caught the elf in the gut as he stumbled back against the ledge.
Guarn saw the panicked look on his face and then a moment of recognition. Guarn remembered seeing this Elf. He was a guard at the Holy Order. He was stationed at the docks and Guarn would always grab him an extra Steamed Fish Pie.
"You're... Tharivol, aren't you?" Guarn asked as his rage was subsiding. "Why... Why are you?"
"I'm sorry, I have to do this," Tharivol said as he scrambled and grabbed a knife from his cloak. He ran forward and buried it into Guarn's chest as the Leonin slumped to his knees.
"You're.... Of the Order," Guarn said as his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed forward on the ground.
Tharivol crouched next to his body, digging around his belongings until he found Guarn's Holy Symbol and his emblem of rank.
"O-okay, I have these now... They wanted his head..." Tharivol mumbled to himself as he crouched next to the body.
He took out an axe and was positioning it as the screech of a Mantis Man-Eater echoed on the wind followed by several more. Tharivol quickly cut off a large section of Guarn's mane before panicking and running off, leaving him in a pool of blood in the shadow of the Sunfall.