Prologue -- Shifting Sands

A lone shaggy goat munched nonchalantly on a mouthful of tough, tasteless grass by the side of the small murky pool. It glanced with indifference at the rest of the herd standing on the opposite side of the water, and with mild annoyance at the small, dark goatherd waving his arms and shouting. The scruffy Arab man approached the goat rapidly, shooing it back towards the herd. The goat reluctantly trotted around the edge of the pool, pausing to take a drink of the lukewarm oasis springwater as the goatherd continued shouting and swatting at it with a long palm frond.

The goatherd looked out into the desert with concern, squinting at the enormous beige wall of sand approaching the small oasis. The wind began to pelt him with grains of sand, even here, within the relative shelter of the trees. He knew he could never drive the herd the remaining few miles to town before the sandstorm washed over him. His best option was to coerce his herd beneath a rocky overhang that protruded into the ankle-deep waters of the pool, and hope the natural stone wall would be enough to protect him and his livelihood from the fiercest winds.

The ragged man’s increasing panic had little effect on the goats, who largely ignored his efforts to drive them into the pond. As the howling of the wind grew, the desperate goatherd resorted to pushing the goats with all his strength through the water. Gradually, and with much difficulty, the goats slogged through the pool and stood at the base of the rock wall. The goatherd slumped against the stony surface exhaustedly, drawing his robes closely around his face as the sand began whipping through the oasis. He sat upon a rock at the edge of the pool, clutching the goat’s reigns tightly, and prayed.

The wall of sand swept across the oasis. The goats huddled close to the ragged man, their heads bowed against his as he clutched at their reigns, hoping against hope to prevent them from bolting in terror. He risked peering through forcefully-squinting eyelids, glancing up at the unreal brownish dusk that had swiftly and terrifyingly settled upon the oasis. He felt a trembling in the ground beneath him, and was suddenly overcome with awe at the power of the storm. A motion caught his attention; at the edge of the oasis, a shadow was emerging from the air thick with dust.

Some unlucky man has not secured his tent, he thought as the shadow grew closer.

A pair of round, silvery lights appeared in the gloom near the top of the shadow. The goats bleated in fright; and the man dropped their reigns absently. An enormous figure emerged from the sandstorm and strode through the oasis, and the goatherd shrank against the rock wall as it trampled across his fleeing goats without missing a step.

The sandstorm raged on, and the giant figure disappeared into the darkness, the ground trembling beneath its feet, marching through the desert towards the little town. The goatherd closed his eyes again, and did not open them for a long time.

Next Chapter: Chapter 1 - Sanstorm