Warlord

When Shen opened his eyes, he was on top of a tall dune, and the soft sand under his feet was different from the stars that shone in the wide sky above. The only sound was the crackling of the fire. As Shen tried to get his bearings, he looked around and moved his arms to feel for wounds. He was still tired, but he was in better shape than he had been before.

A man was quietly stirring a pot of soup by the fire. When the man saw that Shen had woken up, he smiled.

"You're awake," he said in a deep, calm voice.

Shen looked around him after a moment of doubt. "What happened? "Where am I?" he asked.

"Because of the heat, you fell down," the man said. As he stirred the kettle, he looked at Shen judgingly.

Shen could still see the sandstorm in his mind. He felt like he was being swallowed whole. "But there was a sandstorm... it all felt so real," he said with a frown.

The man shook his head softly. He said, "That was a hallucination caused by the heat." "The desert tricks the mind." You were lucky that I was passing through.

The man put some soup in a bowl and held it out to Shen. "Drink this right away. The desert gets very cold at night. This will help.

Without thinking twice, Shen took the bowl. He said "thank you," and the warm steam rose to his face, taking away the last of the cold from his body for a short time. He took a sip of the soup and thought it was very good, even though it was salty and had some spices in it. He closed his eyes and slowly let the warmth in.

The man moved his body just enough to let the light hit the badge on his shoulder, which showed a very faint but clear military rank. He spoke again, this time to Shen. He saw the emblem on Shen's shoulder and said, "It's brave to try to cross a desert this big by yourself." "Especially for a commander who thinks things through."

Shen gave a slight nod. He said, "I'm here for an important reason."

The man nodded as if he understood. There was a hint of experience and a hint of irony in his voice, as if he knew a lot about what it was like to be a soldier. He went on, "Every mission is important for soldiers in the kingdom."

Shen spoke slowly as he looked at the flames. "I have to go to the city of Parazon," he said. "I'm looking for important information there."

The man held out his hand and pointed toward the horizon. He said in a calm but serious voice, "You don't need to go any further." "Because you're already there."

Shen slowly put the empty bowl down and stood up. He was shocked, and his eyes got bigger when he looked in the direction the stranger pointed. The moon's weak light shone on a city that was almost gone. Parazon, which had once been a great place to live, was now just a pile of rocks under the sand.

"How is this even possible?" Shen asked, surprised. "What happened to this city?"

He went on, "The empire," with a hint of sadness and anger in his voice. They tore this place down years ago to show how powerful they were and take charge. I wasn't strong enough back then. I couldn't protect my family. For years, I thought it was my fault. But now I know that strength alone wasn't enough.

As he listened closely to what the man had to say, something about him caught Shen's attention. He didn't have the usual soldier's badge on his shoulder. Shen looked more closely and saw that it belonged to someone with one of the highest military ranks in the realm. This guy wasn't like most nomads. Shen turned to him and asked, "You... are you the Warlord?" in a low voice with a lot of feeling.

He answered, "Yes," with a cold, sure tone. "I am the Warlord. Did the king send you here with a message for me?

Shen's face grew serious. He stopped for a second and then spoke directly. He said in a harsh and direct way, "The king was almost killed."

The Warlord didn't seem surprised, but his eyes hardened when he realized this. His face showed a brief flash of thought, but Shen kept going. "He made it," Shen said. But I came here to find the person who tried. The plan was carried out very carefully.

The Warlord's voice was serious as he turned to Shen. You won't find what you need here. In years, I am the only person who has been to these places.

As he thought about what the Warlord had said, Shen opened his mouth to speak again. But something unexpected happened before he could. A loud explosion came from the hills where Felix and Kelly had gone, breaking the quiet of the night.

A jet of fire suddenly lit up the sky, and even from a long way away, the light could be seen.
Shen turned to look at the thing that had caused the destruction, his eyes growing wide with fear. The boom echoed through the desert, bouncing off of every rock and crevice in the barren land.

A huge ball of fire rose above the mountains in the distance. Shen couldn't believe what he was seeing and couldn't hide how anxious he was. "What was that?" he asked in a hurry.

The Warlord's face was unreadable as he kept looking at the flames. "An attack," he said in a calm but firm voice.