text: \*Just a little disclaimer for good measure, this piece contains topics of Religion and bodily harm. Feel free to be as critical as possible, it'll help me to become a better writer! Thank you guys! The sun beat down on his bare back as he crawled through the rough, hot sand. The wind blew slightly, not enough to subdue the pain of his burning and peeling skin but enough to toss some sand into his already dry eyes. He was stranded, placed there not by accident but to die. With him dead so too would die his sins, and the truth. The blisters on his back, arms, legs, and face were unbearable, however that pain was now his existence. As he crawled he could feel his hands melting into the sand around him yet continued, he had nothing more to lose and so would not give up. He muttered to himself. “Please god... please dear merciful lord if you are there, protect me. Shelter me. Save me.” But nothing. The wind continued to spit sand in his face mockingly, as the sun watched on unblinking. He crawled for ten more days, he wondered when the night would come but it never did, the sun frozen at its zenith in the sky. He prayed once more. “Lord, I beg of you please end my suffering. I crawl for days and days and yet I do not die. I starve, I burn, I melt, I beg dear Lord, please grant me a peaceful rest.” As he spoke he felt the sun burn deeper into his back as if it were right against his flesh. He screamed and wailed in anguish, but his cries fell upon deaf ears. He tried to move forward, however his frail arms gave way to the weight of his body. He was far too weak to continue. “Damn you! You cruel, evil creature! You abuse the power you possess! You do not deserve it! You are not my Lord!.... Please... someone... anyone... “ In the distance, through the waves of heat that surrounded him a figure rose from the sand. Tall, thin... too thin... as if it only existed in one dimension. Like a black string connected from one planet to another, it continued to stretch into the sky until it vanished in comparison to the blinding light of the desert sun. As he stared toward the entity something became clear to him, a voice rang out in the center of his mind. “I bring your salvation, child, be lost no longer. You are found.” He felt something swell up inside him, something deep within his chest. A chill. A freezing cold began to bite at his heart and crawl through his veins He felt a strength unlike any other as he stood for the first time in what seemed like years. His focus then returned to the string, he kneeled as he spoke. “Thank you-praise you my Lord. My will is yours, tell me what would you have me do?” He watched as the string quickly slithered under the sand and began to move. The man followed as its trail stopped at large sand hill. The sands shook and parted revealing a small cave. Inside the man saw nothing but darkness as well as two small blue eyes that stared toward him. The entity held out a burned and withered had, the man took it and slowly entered the cave. “What happens now, Lord?” The man asked the pair of sparkling eyes. “Now we prepare, my child. Now we prepare for war.” The sands fell back in place as the two walked deeper into the darkened cave. Free from the burning light, and into the cold embrace of what lies deep below.