Chapter 17: The Desert of Shattered Suns
January 18, 2026 at 10:09 AM
The desert stretched endlessly before them — a sea of golden dunes shimmering beneath a blistering sun. Heat waves rippled across the horizon, distorting the world into a wavering mirage.
Flora shielded her eyes. “This place feels… wrong.”
Aestus nodded. “Because it is. The Desert of Shattered Suns is cursed. Time behaves strangely here.”
The dragon landed atop a dune, sand swirling around its claws. Flora and Aestus dismounted, their boots sinking into the scorching ground.
Aestus unrolled the map.
The silver ink shifted, forming a glowing path that cut straight through the desert.
Flora frowned. “That’s too easy.”
“Nothing about this place is easy,” Aestus said. “Look.”
He pointed to the sky.
Three suns burned overhead — one golden, one red, one pale white. They moved independently, crossing paths in unnatural patterns.
Flora shivered despite the heat. “How do we navigate this?”
Aestus dipped his fingers into a small flask of water. Ripples formed, swirling into a vision.
He gasped. “Flora… something’s following us.”
Flora spun, flames igniting in her palms.
A shadow moved across the dunes — tall, thin, gliding rather than walking.
It stopped.
And spoke.
“You should not be here.”
Flora’s breath caught. “Who are you?”
The figure stepped forward, revealing a humanoid shape made entirely of shifting sand. Its eyes glowed like molten gold.
“I am a Sentinel of the Suns,” it said. “Guardian of the path to Oblivion.”
Aestus swallowed. “We seek the Sword of Vengeance.”
The Sentinel tilted its head. “Then you seek death.”
Flora stepped forward. “We seek justice.”
The Sentinel’s eyes narrowed. “Prove it.”
The sand beneath their feet erupted.
And the desert swallowed them whole.
