Chapter 16: The Sand Whispers
The desert looked endless.
Waves of golden sand rolled across the horizon, glowing under the burning sun.
The wind blew hot and dry. There were no trees. No rivers. Just heat.
Kael wiped sweat from his forehead.
"This is worse than fire training."
Serin smiled faintly, riding beside him on a sand lizard. "You'll get used to it. Maybe."
Lira pulled her hood lower. Her earth shard glowed lightly, reacting to the sand beneath her.
"This place feels… alive. But not in a good way."
Corren, at the back, was silent.
His shadows seemed thinner in the harsh sunlight, but he still watched everything carefully.
They were traveling toward Solkara, the desert kingdom that had sent the emberlight message.
By sunset, they reached the edge of a small oasis village: Mirash.
Palm trees grew near a pool of water.
Stone buildings leaned against each other, sun-bleached and quiet. But something was wrong.
No people. No sound.
Kael stepped down from his lizard. "Where is everyone?"
Suddenly, the wind shifted.
Serin's eyes narrowed. "Sand magic. Close."
Then — the ground shook.
A creature burst from the sand.
It had the body of a serpent, with golden armor fused to its skin, and four glowing blue eyes. Symbols were carved into its back, pulsing with ember energy.
A sand guardian.
Kael shouted, "Spread out!"
The creature struck fast — its tail smashing the ground as it roared.
Lira raised both arms. Stone walls shot up from the sand to block its path.
Serin summoned a blast of wind, pushing it back.
Corren vanished in a flicker of shadow and reappeared behind it, slicing through its armored flank with a blade of pure darkness.
Kael ran forward, flames spinning in his hands.
"Let's heat this snake up."
He launched a fiery blast at the creature's face. It roared and vanished beneath the sand in a swirl of dust.
Silence returned.
Kael looked at the scorched ground. "What was that?"
A voice spoke from behind them.
"That," said a tall woman in golden robes, "was a Watcher of the Deep. It guards something ancient — something that should never wake."
They turned. The woman's eyes were lined with glowing symbols.
"I am Raeh, guardian of Solkara's temple," she said.
"And if the five of you are here, then the seal must be breaking."
Kael stepped forward. "What seal?"
Raeh's voice dropped.
"The one that holds back the Sun-Tyrant. A god made of fire and rage.
Banished beneath the sands long ago."
Serin clenched her staff. "Then we need to stop it."
Raeh nodded slowly. "Then follow me.
The desert will test all of you… in ways you cannot imagine."