• "Grandma, why do you visit me only one day of the year?" A small girl asked her bright ember eyes seemed like giant balls of consuming fire, wanting everything and burning what was behind her.

    The old blue haired lady sat next to her grand child on the wooden swing outside in the elegent porch of the castle. "Well my little Arielst child," she answered. She has stopped to take a quick cough because of the pollen blowing, she continued in her simple white clothes, "I shall tell you a story of something that happened many decades ago. During the time where our family lived in deserts for many, many generations." She touched the little girl's nose and smiled, "Even before you were born. Are you ready to listen with your tiny little ears?"

    The little girl nodded in silence, her body was adorned in bright colored clothes. Some where basic primary colors while some of the adornaments that trailed across her dress were not colors could not be described, they were almost heavenly. Her tan face was staring intently, she was entranced by her grandmother's words.

    Her grandmother's mouth opened, and the story began.

    Many years ago in the land of Azterin, the land was nothing but sand and water. There were many wars but they could not survive on what they each held away from each other.

    The sand needed the water and the water needed the sand. The had a balance that only god should have been able to mess with, but man did. The sand needed the water to both take out the salts and bring in the nutrients for a healthy black silt. The water needed the salts to bring forth many fish and cause a bounty of good foods. But when man entered the world, they acted like the elder gods, claiming what was not theirs.

    Now my father was a great man, a powerful and great man. In fact, he was the son of the man who was first to claim the clear waters. He controlled all the rivers and was considered all powerful. While, at first, he started out as a powerful man, greed and vanity wrapped around his fragile heart and choked his spirit out of him. He grew corrupt, and became nothing but a withered man with a pruney face and a tiny, obsidian heart. He began grabbing the waters in his hand and would tax for entry in his lakes and tolled for transport across. But his people loved him, for they remembered the good days of when he was young and loveable. So no matter how much he burdened them, they loved him. Unlike the owner of the sands.

    Florten, the owner of the Sands was a young and foolish man and did not tax his men, but his land was not rich in nutrients. The sand could only be burned into a clear glass which was vaulable, but not as priceless as the salt needed to be mined and watered for. The people under his power despised him and one day after a long war he asked my father, "What keeps your men truely happy? You treat them with a cruel hand and make there lives burdensome, how can they love you?"

    My father, even though corrupt and vain, always spoke the hard truth. He looked at the owner of the Sands and before leaving back unto the waters he answered unto him, "Because foolish one, I make there lives feel of some worth. You make them feel as if you do not love them, so they bring their hatred toward you for all their troubles."

    So, the grandson of the original owner of the Sands, he worked with his citizens and made them feel more honored. Eventually, the hearts of his people were softened and they were able to dwell in peace with each other, and with a spitful hatred toward one another (with my father's people). This was all while I was a child, and as I grew so did the tension of the two owners.

    An ancient priestess brought forth a theory about what would happen. She was not an oracle but a priestess was generally the wisest in all the land, this certain priestess was the first of them all. She walked through the house's of both the owner's and shouted about to them saying in her educated tongue, "Ye! Ye are cursed by the god, ye have broken the balance and the earth shall curse you until your children have grown and shall have forgotten what you have fought about! There is no doubt unto any of these men that ye are cursed!" They laughed at her crazy ideas and continued fighting in their wars with one another.

    But they were wrong to laugh at the priestess, because a disease rode across the land and had brought many to panic about the death's of their fathers, mothers, sons and daughters. The ones that were healthy were brought to the castle and inhabited with our family in the house of my father.

    My foolish self and my many followers eventually began to understand the seriousness of this disease when my dear friend Yalza had contracted the deadly sin. Her skin had gone from a desert tan to a ivory white in a matter of seconds and she fell into a deep sleep walking and attempted to murder her own personage. My father had caught sight of this and threw her into the house jail were she rested not hurting upon herself.

    My remaining healthy friends stared at each other and knew of the contagiousness of this disease and began straight away to find the wise priestess.