361 The Worrying Dragon

Barren lands near to a desert, South of the Empire.

A searing wind blew across the sparsely standing vegetation, curling the already-yellowed leaves. A river in the distant resembled a silky belt sparkling in with silver under the sun's rays. It streamed towards the distance, past several small towns, towards an unseen end.

It was mostly desert over the horizon—the quiet sand-fields that separated the territories in the center of the Empire and the southern fortresses. With the obstruction of natural formations such as valleys and mountains, the damp air of the South could never reach that small piece of flatland. 

That, and the shifting of the underground water veins, made the once lush plains a silent wasteland.

Above the land was a huge steel object that surged steadily through the sky, throwing a long, stretching shadow over the land.