He stood here

[Patrick]

He had stood here, his footprints still showing in the windswept sand. A hero, a real one. He gave his life on this ever moving dune of sand, his bones destined to serve as a landmark for travelers of a future he made possible. A future that he would have no part in.

Pera wiped sandblown tears from her eyes. She had never really liked the man who died here less than a bell past, but even she had to admit grudging respect for what he had accomplished in the face of adversity.

Her knife still glistened with his blood, a reminder she did not need. As her town had not needed heroes. The man had done what he'd been hired for, nothing more. His death ensured that...