Around the same time...Ralzen Empire's southwestern territory, just east of the new border wall...
A gruff-looking, man in his 50s scans the surrounding scene, a grim expression on his face. Ahead, a nearly 15 meter-high grey, stone wall dominates the skyline, stretching endlessly in either direction. At its base, directly before him, the obliterated remains of a small horse-drawn cart are scattered about, interspersed with a variety of herbs. Amidst the wreckage lies the back half of a horse's corpse, its entrails spilling out towards the wall, where a red streak climbs its surface towards the sky.
The man's eyes flicker away to an area nearby, his jaw tightening faintly. Two people lie there with glassy eyes, their bodies contorted unnaturally, legs folded over their backs past their necks, leaking a vile mix of tissue and fluids. A man, about his age, and a boy, no older than thirteen, both dressed in simple, tattered clothes.
"Captain."
The man turns away from the gruesome scene, his gaze landing on the early 20s man who just called out, wearing standard Empire-issue armor.
"Lieutenant...tell me." (Captain)
The Lieutenant nods, looking down at a piece of parchment in front of him.
"Seems it was a small commoner family. They were heading into the nearby woods to gather some herbs to sell back in town, when...this, happened. Bodies are the father and son, who seem to have died from a high fall. The mother apparently got caught up in whatever this was as well, but managed to land on her feet. Still, poor woman shattered both her legs. We only found them so soon because she managed to crawl all the way back to town." (Lieutenant)
The Captain purses his lips for a moment before nodding towards the massive wall.
"What have we learned?" (Captain)
Glancing at the wall, the Lieutenant grows hesitant.
"Not much, sir...the mother died from her injuries shortly after making it back to town. There were some witnesses who spoke to her briefly, but..." (Lieutenant)
He trails off, uncertain how to continue. The Captain's brow furrows.
"But?" (Captain)
The Lieutenant's posture straightens.
"Sorry, sir, it's just...by all accounts the woman was practically hysterical. I'm not sure anything she said is reliable intel. Especially when it's secondhand from a bunch of bereaved civilians." (Lieutenant)
The Captain's eyes sharpen, his tone becoming a little bit more forceful.
"What exactly did she say, according to these bereaved civilians?" (Captain)
The Lieutenant hesitates for only a second more before sighing helplessly.
"She...said it was a dragon, sir." (Lieutenant)
The Captain's eyes go wide, his voice quietening slightly.
"A dragon...?" (Captain)
The Lieutenant nods, seemingly less flustered by the claim.
"Yes sir. To be specific, a green dragon big enough to blot out the sun tore through the air above them so fast that the wind flipped their entire cart, and the earth trembled like it was being split apart, right before it erupted upward into...well..." (Lieutenant)
The Lieutenant glances pointedly at the massive stone wall. Hearing the account, the Captain feels his throat go dry.
In truth, something like this is way above his pay grade, doubly so if even half of that account is true. Captain is only one rank up from Lieutenant, the basic soldiers in the Empire's army, and he only has that rank as a formality. In small border towns like the one where they're stationed nearby, the Empire likes to send groups of five soldiers for basic law enforcement and protection. According to protocol, the oldest soldier is given the rank of Captain to officialize chain of command and put the civilians at ease.
He looks back to the Lieutenant, more concerned by the minute.
"What about the wall itself? Structure, scale? When did it get built? Has anyone from the other border towns shared intel on this?" (Captain)
The Lieutenant consults his notes once more, nodding absentmindedly.
"No reports from other settlements yet, sir, but this incident suggests the wall was constructed two days ago, and civilians traveling out of the town in this direction confirm as much. It wasn't here three days ago, but it was two nights ago. The wall itself seems to be solid stone, about seven and a half Belmods tall and one Belmod thick. As for scale...unknown, sir. At least a full day's travel in both directions for a fast rider on horseback." (Lieutenant)
Hearing the sheer magnitude and speed of construction implied, the Captain swallows involuntarily.
"Get one of our men to send a summary of this to the Major by bird immediately, per protocol. Tell another one to prepare our fastest horse for me with three days' worth of supplies, and have it ready within the hour. I want you to write up the full report of everything we have, every detail. Have it on my desk in the same timeframe. I'll ride for Rodsgard today – the General needs to hear this in person, as soon as possible." (Captain)
The Lieutenant's eyes widen, briefly frozen in shock from the suddenness and severity of his orders. Once he comes to his senses, he stutters out an affirmation to the Captain before taking off running towards the horses nearby.
The Captain turns the other direction, taking one last look at the massive wall, his stomach sinking like it's just been filled with stones. The Lieutenant may not realize just how serious this situation is, but he's been stationed here in the outlands for decades. Since wild beasts are the majority of the threat they face, he's made it a point to know which ones to look out for. It's that experience, paired with his military training, that makes him sure of two things.
One. Neither the demi-humans, the Empire, nor the eastern kingdoms could have made this wall, making the dead mother's implication of a dragon their best lead. Two. The clean design of this wall, it's scale, it's location just outside their official border...it speaks to something far beyond the power or intelligence of a minor dragon.
That means, if it is a dragon, it'd have to be an Elder Dragon. And if it's an Elder Dragon...since this wall would clearly be a type of earth magic...it can't be just any Elder Dragon. If he's right, this just might be the work of Nedonera, the Elder Dragon of Earth. Or, as she's known to the historians of the Empire...
The Calamity Dragon.