the sun burns (2)

The ruins lay ahead, their jagged silhouettes barely visible through the shimmering mirage. Legends whispered that these crumbled stones held secrets older than the sand itself, secrets that might save a world teetering on the brink of collapse.

But legends were fickle things, and Nadia’s faith in them was as fragile as the crust of salt that coated her lips. “The sun burns,” her mother had once said, dragging her inside from the midday heat.

“And it burns those who are foolish enough to challenge it.” Nadia had been foolish then, a child chasing mirages on the horizon, convinced she could outpace the sun.