The Endless Desert

The mountain loomed over them like some shadow of doubt. Dorn had been walking for years, following this man who called himself their leader. In truth no one had swore fealty to him. The sun shone high upon their backs. Dorn could feel the burning light penetrate his shirt. Looking up he saw their leader, Khan, motion for the rest of the group to rest.

Sitting on a rock Dorn looked about himself. There was desert everywhere. What he would have given for a glimpse of a single blade of grass. Ever since the Ancients had ignited the second sun, the entire world had become desert, or so Dorn had heard. The elders hinted at how the pollution turned the Ancient’s dream into a living hell for all beings. Dorn had listened as the elders talked about the maddening effect the heat had on the world’s leaders. He had seen it himself, the madness. Some said that those who went mad were being taken to another world where there was green as far as the eye could see. Others said the madness was a punishment, sent to purge the race of men of all sinners.

Then there was their leader Khan. Who had left him in charge? Dorn had been following him for years. Why? Out of nowhere, Khan had simply appeared claiming to know where the Green Land lay. Dorn could feel something stir inside him. As he looked up and saw the grin on Khan’s face he became enraged, the anger overwhelming him. He turned to Khan and lunged at him, a rock in his hand. The two of them struggled for a while, but slowly Khan got Dorn on the ground, a rock held high above his head. Dorn quickly came to his senses, but before he could utter a word Khan brought the rock crashing down on his face. Dorn almost cried in the few moments before his death. Now he lay crushed on the desert ground, yet another victim of the madness. Khan wept, for he had just crushed his only son to death with a rock, such was the curse of the madness.