Quaz'hawad

"My god! What must have happened here?!" someone cried in disbelief.

"It must have been a disaster!" another answered.

"A cataclysm!"

"An apocalypse!"

"Uh, guys," Alicia spoke up, "actually its supposed to look like that. My city was built in the middle of a desert. My people are kinda partial to having sand underfoot."

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh," all the voices joined in embarrassed unison.

All the voices but one that is.

"Crap," Synizn grumbled with disgust.

"What's the problem?" Fred asked.

"Do you have any idea how far away we are from the Southern Caves?" Synizn responded with exasperation.

"Well, no. What desert is this?" Fred said, turning to his wife.

"The Arabi," she answered.

"The Arabi?" one of the others said. "I thought the Arabi was an imaginary place, where children flew on magic carpets and genies lived in lamps."

"Oh no," Alicia said with a smile, "it's just as real as the Kingdom."

Fred and Willian nodded together. "It lies past mighty mountain ranges to the east of the Great Kingdom," Willian recited from memory. "Its great caravans carry the spices and silks of the Far West to the lands of the Merchant Barons. And from there to the royal houses of the Kingdom. I've always dreamed of traveling here one day. Though I can't say that this is what I had in mind."

"What is the name of this city, Alicia?" Fred asked.

"This is Quaz'hawad. Or atleast what is left of it," she answered. "It is the city of my birth."

While the others discussed the fabled city of the Great Sultan, Synizn was busy inspecting the slipgate platform that lay half buried in the desert sands. "What do you think went wrong?" Ananka asked him. Synizn turned, a sour look on his face. "I have no idea. I'm no Alantean, but I think it best I spend my time trying to find some answers. I have no desire to trek across thousands of leagues of desert and mountain to reach Minestus' lair."

Suddenly Fred felt the green crystal hanging round his neck grow warm. But just as suddenly, its magical glow died and the stone became as cold as a rock. But Fred had no time to wonder at this because just then Willian yelled out, "Look! At the gates, someone was standing there!"

1. Into the City of Quaz'hawad

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