Worms and Riddlers

    ...The Prophet seemed to shine above, but this was only an illusion. He looked away and ahead. The sun glared down at everything below. Sunlight flooded the desert, and rays peeked their way past the clouds. The animals hid in the shade and drank from puddles. Thousands of footprints led toward the mountain. All remnants of the Prophet. David followed them. He winced as the heat beat on his back, blinked from the sand around his eyes. Below, the sun-baked mud cracked with every step and the scents of cooked clay filled his nose. Sweat dripped off him and onto the ground. Lush forests full of animals once stood here. Blue rivers had run through these stones. But now, in its place, a dry, isolating, desert had buried paradise, with the ground crumbling beneath his feet, and heat streaming in the air and wavering in blurred lines. David used his crusted hands to push through the sandy winds and squinted to look at the sky. Yesterday's winds had stopped, as sand had swept through h