Towards the Parazon

The ship that Shen, Kelly, and Felix had taken from the rebels sailed through the waves for three long days, heading south toward the shores of Exilia. The land felt strange when they finally got there. The sea air here didn't smell like salt and life like it does at home. Instead, it was dry, thin, and hot like a furnace. In Exilia, the sun was a cruel dictator, scorching huge, dry deserts. The heat was so bad that it felt like it was taking the strength out of your bones before you even stepped on the sand.

The waterfront was eerily quiet. There were a few sad vendor stalls on the docks, and the people who owned them watched the ship come in with blank eyes. There were no crowds, no busy trade, and no life. The few natives they saw on the pier looked very tired and worn out. The Emporia Empire had been a plague on Exilia for years, draining it of all its resources. The empire had cut off the country's trade routes and taken over its land, leaving it alone and poor. Hope had faded in the intense heat, and many Exilians had already left in search of a future that their home country could no longer provide.

When their boots hit the wooden planks of the dock, Shen took in the deep silence. It was very different from the busy ports they were used to. Kelly and Felix could feel the sadness in the air next to him, like a shroud.

Kelly took a long, dusty breath and looked out at the hazy horizon. "Cunbo and Parazon," she said in a low voice, more to herself than to the others. "The two cities are to the east, but they're very far apart. We don't have a week to check them both.

Felix covered his eyes to block out the light, and his brow was furrowed with worry. "We spent too much time at sea as it was," he said quietly. "The Empire isn't going to wait for us to catch up." A few days' delay here could mean failure.

"Then we will split up," Shen said, his voice cutting through the thick air with clear authority. He pointed to a faint, winding path that led away from the beach. "Go to Cunbo by the high road, you two." I'll go through the desert to get to Parazon.

Kelly's head turned quickly toward him, and her face showed both shock and fear. "Across the Dead Sands?" By yourself? "Shen, that's suicide," she said, her voice tight with worry.

Shen's eyes were fixed on something, and they sparkled with fierce determination. "It's the only way to save time," he said, his confidence a rock in the sea of their doubt. "We'll meet back here at the harbor in two days." We hope that by then, one of us will have found what we're looking for.

Kelly and Felix looked at each other for a long time, and then they nodded slowly and reluctantly. They rented three camels from a local trader whose posture showed that he had seen better days. The man had said that this was the only reliable way to cross the Exilian wastes. So, as Kelly and Felix started their journey along the high road, Shen turned his horse toward the shimmering sands and rode off by himself.

He rode for hours while the sun looked down on him with evil eyes. The sky was a huge, cloudless blue that didn't help with the heat that was baking his skin through his clothes. He was pushing through an endless ocean of dunes that seemed to go on forever. Sweat ran down his face, and he was so thirsty that it hurt his throat.

He saw it late in the afternoon: a dark bruise on the horizon that was getting bigger too quickly. A storm of sand. A huge wall of swirling dust and sand was racing toward him, quickly blocking out the sun's light. Shen's camel let out a deep, guttural cry and dug its feet in, refusing to move another inch when it sensed the danger.

Shen knew it was pointless to fight the animal because it was so scared. "Then stay here," he grunted as he slid off its back. He pushed on foot, leaving the beast to its fate. He put an arm over his face as the storm hit, a loud, blinding storm. The wind howled in his ears, and grains of sand hit his bare skin like a thousand needles, making it hard to see more than a few feet in front of him. As the storm got worse, he felt like the desert was trying to swallow him. Each step was a huge effort against the wind.

Then, through the deafening roar, Shen heard something that didn't belong—a voice, so faint and unnerving it was almost lost in the wind, a whisper that seemed to call his name.

"Shen."

He stopped moving, and his body got tense. He looked around at the chaos that was swirling around him, but the moving curtain of sand showed him nothing. He squinted against the storm and looked for the source, but there was only the storm. This time, the voice was clearer and colder, making him shiver all the way down his spine.

"Shen."

It was a quiet, scary sound that seemed to be coming from right next to him, like it was being breathed into his ear. His arm hair stood on end. He turned around and looked, but he was all alone. The voice spoke again as the storm raged on, this time with a threatening tone.

"Shen, you don't have much time left."

His heart raced against his ribs, and his breathing got rough. Was the voice real, or were the heat and the storm playing tricks on his mind? Fear started to seep into the cracks in his legendary calm.

"Shen, hell is waiting for you."

The words were sharp and poisonous, cutting into his ears. Shen put his hands over his head in a desperate and useless attempt to block out the sound. The storm got worse, and the sands swirled into a confusing vortex that made it impossible to tell which way was which. He was completely lost.

And then, out of the mess, came the effect. A big piece of debris, thrown by the storm's rage, hit the side of his head with a lot of force. In a flash of white-hot pain, the world fell apart. When it threw Shen to the ground, he screamed. He lay there, confused and in pain, with a sharp pain in his head. The edges of his vision started to fade into darkness, and the world around him started to spin away.

The storm kept attacking, but Shen was already losing his mind. The sand began its slow work of burying him as his body grew still, and the struggle stopped. The last thing Shen heard before he gave in to the void was that same horrible whisper, which echoed triumphantly in the ruins of his mind:

"Shen, hell is waiting for you."

The vast desert swallowed up his world. His body was still, but his mind was stuck in the void. The sands of Exilia had taken him for now.