The desert stretched endlessly in every direction, an ocean of pale-gold sand dunes that rose and fell like the breathing of some ancient beast. The silence was crushing, broken only by the whisper of wind and the crunch of boots sinking into powder-soft grains. At night, the desert was no gentle place—it became a realm of sharp cold, where the air bit through layers of cloth and the vast emptiness pressed against the chest like an invisible weight.
Kira marched with the squad, her boots leaving faint imprints that the wind hurried to erase. The column of soldiers moved in a thin, cautious line, shadows elongated and skeletal under the pale spill of moonlight. Their breath puffed in faint clouds, quickly shredded by the breeze. Red glimmers from equipment lights flickered intermittently, like restless stars dragged along the sand.
For all the vigilance of her body, Kira's mind was far away.
