From all the stories, the Anhydrous desert is portrayed as a scorching plain with nothing but empty openness in every direction. The only accompaniment being the blazing star glaring down to the void below attempting to melt down anything and everything into the shifting sands. This is not entirely true though. When the star sets and night comes, the desert becomes a frozen tundra. It is easy to underestimate the strenuous mental toll of having a harshly swaying temperature rashly jumping from overheating to freezing in a matter of a few brisk minutes at every dawn and dusk. The desert also isn’t quite as open and spacious as the stories may have believe. It is not a flat plain that has nothingness stretch out in every direction; It is more of a mountainous maze with massive rolling dunes obstructing view of any escape or oasis. The greatest burden of the desert is knowing that of the thousands of sandy hills orbiting any individual position at any time an oasis could be hiding behind any one of them and there would be no way to tell without climbing each and every individual dune to check. The shifting and tumbling sands make surmounting even one of these hills a trial in perseverance and patience. Water, shade, and firewood could supply a perfect respite for any circumstance and it is all packaged in one nice condensed location somewhere out in the empty hell, but there is no viable way to identify where it lies even though it could be just a few feet away.

The man was covered in many heavy rags in an attempt to keep warm from the chilling night winds. The rags helped hide the bulbous and throbbing blisters on his bare feet created from the weeks of non-stop incessant walking. His face was also completely covered save a small slit for his eyes to peer through. The sand carried by the wind was flung forwards and battered into him. The occasional lucky speck would manage to filter through the slit and rub against his open eyes; it was a horrendously irritating phenomenon which after a few days of similar abuse left his eyes puffy and red. The rags helped bulk up his silhouette, but the truth was that there was not much hidden under those thin cloth sheets. The man was painfully thin, there was no food or drink in the desert, he only had what he brought with him which had quickly run out many days prior. His ribs could be counted through his dried leathery skin.

The man was currently hiking up a particularly tall dune, its peak seemingly infinitely far away. Each step forward seemed to push the peak two steps further. Whenever he would plant his foot down it would squish through the shuffling sand which would eagerly displace so that his foot sunk and slid down the steep incline. The man would have to stand perfectly still as he applied more pressure onto his leading foot until he once again anchored, and he could try for another step. Not every attempt leads to forward progress, but it was this very task which was the trial of the dune.

The man lifted his back foot and thrusted it up the mountain plunging it into the soft ground ahead of him. Some of the sand started to slip and slide which started to drag more sand down with it which in turn dragged more sand; then, in a sudden burst of liquefaction the entire mountain began to race down the hill knocking the man down and carrying him with the rushing current back to the base of the dune.

It was dark, claustrophobic even. Breathing became difficult, and the pressure of the uncountable sand weighed down atop of his buried body. He held back his panic. He closed his eyes and worked on his breathing. Slow and methodical controlled breaths.

Inhale

Exhale

Inhale

Exhale

A green aura centered at his chest began to grow and widen in a uniform sphere around the man. An instantaneous burst of expansion blew all the sand around him. He opened his eyes and looked up to the grand moon nestled at the peak of the tall dune.

The man recommenced his climb upwards, he first had to start with escaping the crater he had created for himself. One step at a time, slowly and carefully, making sure to put all his weight in every step to prevent as much slipping as possible. He kept his focus on his goal, one could not waste any time being bitter over setbacks or failures in the desert. In this infinitely empty desert one had to never be deterred and remind themselves of what they were walking towards, what they were walking for.

As the man began to make progress once again, as he marched passed the human shaped indent marking where he last fell, the wind began to pick up. It refuted his movements, his growth, it pushed and screeched, a raging torrent whose shear force could push the man back if he relented any strength. With the rising winds also came a growing collective of dust devils and angry sands which would attack and sting the man with almost sentient like precision. The world itself was pushing the man back, pressing down on him. Every inch was an arduous battle that he fought with great dedication and will power. He was crawling on all fours by this point. Clawing at the ground to carry on forward. The sand funneled into and stuffed the gaps between his fingers and nails. The mass flow of sand created a torque against his nails causing an agonizing pain. The dryness of his skin from days of dehydration allowed it to be easily cracked and cut, any open wounds would quickly be clogged and patched with the flying sand which would get stuck on his sticky blood. Regardless of all his aches and pains, regardless of his body begging for him to just let go and give in, he continued his climb. Closer and closer, the wind got louder as he began to escape the protective cover of the smaller dunes. The noise of rushing air overwhelmed all, as far as he could tell; he had no breath, he had no heartbeat, he was but an organic machine pressing against the engine of nature. But now he was in the final stretch. He slithered up with his entire body, waves of sand swam above and through him. The wind assaulted with greater force than it ever had before, the sandstorm stronger and rougher than imaginable. The sand was carefully dissecting him as it poured into one orifice and out another, creating its own orifices to enter through weaker skin and exiting by rupturing out from the inside. All of these deterrents meant nothing against how close he was finally getting to the peak. He pressed on and the world pushed back harder. He would slip just a little and he would reclaim the lost ground again. He spent what felt like hours seemingly at a stalemate, making and losing the same inch over and over again. He could nearly touch the edge, almost, it was palpable. He couldn’t hear his own desire under the thunderous shrieks of wind. No matter how slow, he was moving forward he was getting there. The sand at his hands began sliding with greater velocity carrying more sand with it. He held on with the greatest might he possibly could. The wind bellowed with even more power, as if a solid wall was driving down on him. He clenched his fists and dug in his toes, some nails were swept away and carried down with the rushing landslide. He shouted at the top of his lungs as he brought every muscle to its limits, but his voice could not even be heard to himself over the wailing winds. One more step: and he slipped.

An instantaneous burst of green expansion revealed the sky once again. Back in his crater he gazed up towards the starry night sky. The moon now hidden by the dune made the night so dark that the man couldn’t even see his own hands before him. He had to take a few moments to dry heave all the sand out of his system. The rags that once covered him were sheared and torn all about the mountain base revealing the vulnerable naked body of the man so weak and frail one would not be blamed for assuming him to be a walking corpse. His battered and bloody skin dried to jerky opened and made way for the occasional muscle to peer out to the wide world. He looked up to the dune peak: and began walking.

With his vigor and motivation undeterred he tried again, passed where he first fell and upwards further, passed where he fell the fourth time and upwards further, passed where he fell the fourth time and upwards further. He dry heaved some sand from his mouth. A green expansion revealed the night sky, he marched passed where he fell the first time, he marched passed where he fell the fifth time, he dry heaved some sand. He walked past where he fell the twentieth time, a green expansion revealed the morning star. The wind howled stronger than before, the sand started sliding again, a green expansion revealed the noon sky. He dry heaved some sand, another nail was washed away, the sandstorm raged with more ruthless raw fury. He fought for an inch and lost an inch, he dry heaved some sand. He crawled, so near to the peak that he could practically touch it. A green expansion revealed the beautiful moon nestled at the peak of the mountain. Again, again. It was dark, he closed his eyes and focused on his breathing. He dug his hands deeper into the dirt. He dry heaved some sand. A green expansion revealed the scorching star practically eating the sky. He focused on his breathing. He climbed. He fell. A green expansion, a tumble, a climb, a moon, a star, a peak.

The top. He stood. The wind quieted finally relenting to his perseverance and patience. His respectful bout with the dune was never hostile, but the tranquility was relieving. At the top of this dune greater than any other as far as the eye could see revealed what was around him. Rolling dunes stretched out forever in every direction. No forest, no river, no city, no oasis, just sand. Surrounding him forever, never to leave.

With the wind calmed he could finally hear once again, his breath, his heart, a bell. A pink rhombus suddenly grew out of thin air next to the man atop the peak. It did not remain as a rhombus for long as its body continuously morphed and shifted into different shapes, growing and shrinking. Eventually the shape grew large enough to press against the sand. The sand shifted making way for the growing object; the sand fell down the dune and dragged more sand with it, and more sand, and the man.

It was dark, claustrophobic even. The man was not going to allow the panic to overcome him. He closed his eyes and remembered his breathing. Stay focused on the breathing. Slow and rhythmic.

Inhale

Exhale

Inhale

Exhale

Inhale

Exhale

Inhale

Exhale

A green aura centered at his chest began to grow and widen in a uniform sphere around the man. An instantaneous burst of expansion blew all the sand around him. He opened his eyes and looked up to see a small glowing parchment slide down the smooth sandy hill next to the man. The man took the paper and read it.

You have been invited to The Tournament You are the Loner