Michael and Gaya walked across the scorching sands, the twin suns beating down on them with an unforgiving intensity. The pagoda, their destination, shimmered in the distance, its long shadow the only respite from the relentless heat. There were no snakes, scorpions, or a life of any kind. Just sand, rock, and the oppressive silence of a dead world.
"This place looks fucked up," Gaya remarked, wiping a bead of sweat from her brow. "Like some god's abandoned sandbox."
Even as gods, they felt something. The heat, perhaps? Or maybe it was just the emptiness. The utter lack of anything.
"Why aren't we flying?" Gaya asked, after another hour of slogging through the sand.
"Conserving energy," Michael replied, his gaze fixed on the horizon. "And we don't want to attract unwanted attention. If there's anyone or anything in that temple we don't want to announce our arrival."
