The midnight wind swept across the rolling sand dunes beyond the sentry line, carrying a sharp draft that sliced through linen tunics.
One hundred paces from the sheltered wagon laager, the glowing embers of the campfires had shrunk into tiny, distant pinpricks of amber light.
The vast canopy of the desert sky stretched overhead in pitch-black splendor, peppered with millions of indifferent silver stars.
Captain Seret stood alone upon the crest of an isolated dune, his broad shoulders hunched against the gale as his woolen cloak snapped in the wind.
The veteran held his unbelted broadsword in his right hand, the tip resting lightly in the soft sand as he stared out into the pitch-black southern expanse.
The faint rustle of shifting sand grains announced the approach of footsteps, causing the older officer's weathered brow to tighten with instinctive vigilance.
