The infinite sands of the Infernal Desert spread from horizon to horizon, undulating so slightly that only a trained eye could sense their formations. Above, six suns burned with deathly radiance, filling a yellowed sky with heat that could slough flesh from bone.
Below, a thin trail snaked its way across the sands. Heavy dire camels, their tufts of heavy fur immune to the heat, dragged carts filled with casks of precious water. Runes of cold glowed on each cask, keeping the heat from sublimating the water instantly. The camel-drivers trudged alongside their charges – curious, squat figures, swathed in robes that made their true forms uncertain, prodding their camels with sticks, marching tirelessly across the interminable plain.
A litter rode in the centre of the caravan, conspicuously distinct from the plain carts surrounding it. Rich red curtains wafted about its length, drawn upon the back of four dire camels, and more runes of cold shielded it from the deadly suns.
Within sat three figures. One, a knight in black armour, charred and battered with battle, his plumed helm resting in his lap, with an obsidian greatsword at its sat. Beside him, a girl of startling beauty, naked except for a silver collar and a girdle of white gems. Across from them, a man in robes inscribed with arcane sigils, his thick grey beard protruding from under a pointed hood.
"How big did you say this desert was?" said the knight, looking out of the litter at the unending sands.
"Infinite, Sir Alharazed," said the bearded man, extending his arms. "But, in certain places, water lies beneath the earth, and there the Under-Cities lie. Those who dare to trade the rare spices of the Deepwell are amply rewarded."
"Good to know," said Sir Alharazed. "How many times have you made this journey, Sirial?"
The wizardly figure called Sirial stroked his beard. "I stopped counting at one hundred," he admitted. "Perhaps ten times that number, by now."
"You must be pretty old."
"Yes, I imagine. I stopped counting years at a hundred also... and that was so long ago that I hardly remember it."
"It's very kind of you to guide us," said Sir Alharazed.
Sirial bowed his head. "The quest of Sir Alharazed is well known. To aid in that quest, in my own modest way, is the greatest honour I could wish for."
For many hours they rode in this way, crossing the endless sands, until a cry rose up from the hunched camel-drivers outside.
"What's that?" said Sir Alharazed.
Sirial frowned.
"Bad news, I'm afraid," he said. "Dustwalkers."
"Dustwalkers?"
"Yes, indeed. It is said that they feed on the sand itself, and steal the bones of those who tread on it, leaving them to dessicate under the blazing suns, until the bones absorb the endless fire that dwells within, and become dustwalkers themselves."
"Grisly."
"Very," said Sirial. "Only nine times have I encountered dustwalkers on my desert crossings, and each time my caravan was obliterated, leaving me to crawl to safety. Were it not for my arcane arts, I would be dead nine times over."
Sir Alharazed put on his helmet. "Do your thing on me," he said. "If you don't mind."
Sirial smiled. He leaned forward and, muttering some incantation, painted a rune on the knight's helm. It glowed bright blue – the colour of frost, antithesis of the burning desert.
Sir Alharazed stepped down from the litter. Across the desert came six skeletal figures, clad in clouds of dust, their empty sockets burning with fire.
Sirial looked at the naked girl. "Forgive me my impertinence," he said, "but how is it that you came to travel with Sir Alharazed?"
The girl smiled.
"We're old friends," she said.
In the sands outside, the camel-drivers cowered as the obsidian greatsword flashed in the air. The dustwalkers were shattering one by one, their bones returning to dust as the majestic blade flashed with ancient light.
*
The Under-City of Kravasse looked, from above, like a tiny pinnacle of rock in the eternity of the desert. Beneath the rock, a pit opened, and worn stairs led to a sandstone cave. In the cave stood a rickety wooden elevator, large enough to admit a cart and its driver.
They left the litter above and descended in the sprawling cave beneath. Sir Alharazed sighed with relief as the cool air of the underground washed over him, and looked down at the torchlit city clinging to the cavern walls.
"Cool stuff," he said.
"Tonight we rest at my favourite inn, the Blue-Eyed Dancer," said Sirial. "Tomorrow, I will show you the passageway you seek."
"Good."
At the Inn of the Blue-Eyed Dancer, Sirial took a room in the back with a girl and a full bottle of blackwine. Sir Alharazed and his consort took a room with a window and looked out at the clinging city.
"I think we're nearly there, Sofia," he said.
Sofia smiled and lay on the bed, spreading her legs invitingly.
