Aspects of Sand: The Beginning

Every night, the same dream.

“Who are you?”

“I am Zefra.”

“And what do you do?”

“I am a shrine keeper in the city of Ehram.”

“And are you virtuous?”

This is how the gods judge the dead. I know it well. The answer is reflexive, written in my heart.

“Yes.”

But the next step goes wrong.

“Then why does the shrine go unvisited?”

I can only stammer. “Because-”

But Akkun does not care. “The people of Ehram have rejected their duty. They are not alone. Throughout Ehlil few serve the old ways.”

“I know.”

“Because of their treachery, I say to you:

They will tear each other to pieces

And they will gnaw on bones.”

I shudder. “But surely there are enough who are righteous?”

Akkun does not respond. I wake from his dream. The cold night air bites at my skin as I sit upright, my nerves forcing me to look for a danger that isn’t there.