Despite what excitement had come from the previously discovered glowing runes, the following artifact, and the pestering pleasant encouragement of the dream visitor inside Amaris’ head, the adrenaline of their journey was finally plateauing. And with that steady decline of once-harnessed energy, Amaris could now begin to feel the weight of his exhaustion riddle his bones and dampen his spirits.

The desert was still as hot as ever, burning what had felt like holes atop his back as his silver fur all but sizzled in the midday heat. Were it not for the artifact he and his group had found, Amaris doubted he would have ever traversed toward this scorched strip of earth. But then…was it always this hot when their world was not dying?

He presumed he would not have known.

Still, his paws propelled him forward, guiding his wavering spirit as he searched for any plot of land that promised a moment of sanctuary. Shade, cover, greenery—he would not be picky.

A tongue lolled from his mouth, a futile attempt to dispel the heat as he continued to trek across sand and stone. His body was not accustomed to or bred for this type of weather. If anything, he was meant to live in the shadows of the forest, in the peaks of the mountains, and beneath the steady glow of a comforting moon.

Not beneath the sun.

Not in this heat.

Disgruntled albeit slightly, Amaris trekked forward until the heat of the sun sent ripples across the horizon, and the steady portrayal of steam did a number on his perception. Was that a body? Or a mirage?

The moonlit man couldn’t tell, but it did not stop him in the slightest from investigating. A steady ‘boof’ erupting from his lungs as he cut the distance between them.