chapter 1: black sand

Arash awoke in the broiling heat of the desert sun that was bearing down on him. His skin was a light, reddened brown and his loose locks of wavy black hair clung to his forehead. He could barely move. He was soaked to the bone as his blood was boiling from the sun's heat.

He sat up, rolled over, and hacked up what water was left in his lungs. As he did, he winced in pain. He looked down to see His well-toned torso was now ripened with large, purple and black bruises.

He continued a cycle hacking and convulsing and then, after a few minutes, managed to lay on his back. though, it was likely because his stomach was now devoid of even the slightest remnants of food or water. He stared into the bright blue sky as the rays of heat bared down onto his skin.

He thought the sky was beautiful despite his predicament. The perfect amount of fluffy white clouds dotting the immense blue sky that spanned above the world of mortals.

Arash winced a moment. Not at the pain ripping at his torso like a wild animal, but at a much worse pain. The memory of his beloved Amazo.

He felt a sharp stab at his soul and forced the memory back into his mind. It hurt far too much to think about, and he could not get distracted.

After taking another moment to prepare, Arash lifted himself to his feet. He could feel the pain spread across his body and he held back the urge to scream, puke, or pass out.

Arash knew the cruelty of Amoneshu the goddess of nature and wisdom. She created the circle of life and governed all things that drew breath or gave it. She believed that the strong fed on the weak and made it law, no exceptions. So he must be strong.

He continued to push himself onto his feet. As he stood, even though the pain blurred his vision he could still tell where he was. The desert of Monena. It was made obvious by the sand. Rather than a normal pale yellow color, it was a dark black and stayed unnaturally still despite the wind.

Due to its color, this deserts sand is known to ignite any living creature to set foot upon it. Legends say that forata, the goddess of the underworld, uses this desert as a gate to the over-world and that the evil of the underworld that seeps out through the hell-gate flows through the sand and devours all that steps foot into its domain.

Arash was amazed that he had not already been turned to ash. He could even, if he concentrated, hear the whispers of the damned beckoning him toward oblivion. Then his eyes lit up with a revelation, the river.

Water could not be tainted by evil, so as it flowed across the barren, blackened desert it consistently held back the tidal wave of evil.

Arash now had only one option, as he could not head back, and he could not step past the wet sand, he had to follow the river.

----

Arash had been walking for what felt like days but he knew it had only been a few hours. He often stopped, taking a few moments to cool himself in the river and drown out the voices of the damned from his mind.

However, he had nothing to protect his bare back from the sun and large boils and welts began to form on his shoulders. Though, still, the pain of his heart outweighed all physical pain.

He could no longer hold back the thoughts. The evil in the sand somehow knew him and was constantly whispering his every sin.

"You couldn't protect them!", Said a distant voice, "You failed them, they died because of your incompetence."

Arash was, at first, able to ignore these voices, but the longer he walked the louder they grew.

"NO!!", Arash screamed into the void of sand, "I did my best!! I tri-"

"But that wasn't enough.", The voices hissed, "You killed your own brother. And yet, you still could not save them."

"Damn you demons!!!", Arash seethed as the memories he had tried so hard to cage came flooding back.

----

On the night of his banishment his family, his home, his life, everything was stripped from him. He had gone hunting for his beloved Amazo.

He had been gone from the time the sun was highest in the sky to when it was nearly obscured by the mountains that surrounded the jungle. When he returned home everything was silent. Far too silent.

As he reached the door to his hut he saw the doors lock was busted. He burst into the hut. As he did his gaze settled on the beaten, naked corpse of his beloved wife.

His brother stood above her, his eyes were darkened with hatred, and something else.

In a blind rage, Arash had unsheathed his knife and slaughtered his brother. Soon after, one of the town guards investigated the commotion and saw Arash, standing over the corpses covered in blood, in his panic he fled.

---

Arash felt his heart drop like a stone once again, "No... I tried to save her... And... I had to..." He stopped.

Arash kept going back over that moment in his mind. It was his fault. Had he gone hunting the day before or even just gotten back early enough this could have been avoided. So he decided.

"If I couldn't save my family then I don't deserve to be here, I don't deserve to live"

He walked over to the edge of the damp black riverbank and stared at sand ahead.

He raised his foot. Ready to end everything and give into to the sand.