Excerpt: Sands of Destiny

It is said that in the days before the elves called the desert sands their home, before their eladrin cousins built their crystal pyramids, even before the first trees took root on the backs of the great turtle-dragons of the sea, the world was ruled by darkness. The mortal creatures cried out for someone to save them from the endless night.

Fortune and Fate sat together in their high tower overlooking the world and heard this plea. Fate pulled embers from the brassier and said to the mortal creatures, “There is naught but one destined to deliver you from this darkness. Who is strong enough, clever enough, fast enough to carry an ember from our brassier across the sky?”

All the mortal creatures sent a champion to the tower gates to see who would be the lightbearer to the world. The first to try was the mighty camel. He was strong, but his steady gate was not fast enough to bring light to the world before the ember grew dim. Next came the sand fox. He was clever, but he could not keep the ember from burning his mouth. Then the desert hawk tried. Her wings were swift, but she was too small to carry the ember across the sky.

One by one the champions stepped forward. One by one, they failed the task until finally, the dark sky was dotted with the tiny glowing remains of those who had tried. Finally, a tawny cat stepped forward. Not wanting to get burned, he tied the white-hot ember to his long tail. His muscles tensed and he began to pull the ember across the sky. His powerful legs carried him so swiftly that only the occasional spark would jump off the ember to singe a spot on his fur.

Fortune smiled at the cat and Fate decreed that he should carry the light for the world. And so it was that the world emerged from darkness.