Rayu stood rooted to the spot, the overwhelming sense of insignificance utterly engulfed him as his mind struggled to to process the enormity of the towering city that lay before him.
Impossibly tall spires rising up from the red mist of the desert to penetrate way beyond the thinning layer of cloud looked like they could pierce the sky itself. The evening sun cast gargantuan shadows that would dwarf any city he had seen before.
He had been travelling for what seemed like a lifetime and as he stood there with the wind blowing gusts of dry stinging sand onto his exposed weather beaten hands and face he realised that a single tear ran down the parched landscape of his cheek.
The myth he had gambled his whole life on had turned out to be true……..unless what he saw before him was some kind of mirage or hallucination brought on by lack of food, water and sleep he had found the fabled desert city.
With this realisation setting in he wiped the tear from his face with a dry cracked hand and dropped to his knees and began to laugh. Relief flooded his body as he ran his fingers through the gritty sand, his journey was at an end. Slowly his laughter turned to weeping, softly at first but soon sobs wracked his entire body.
Scooping up handfuls of dirt he threw his head back and let out a long tear soaked howl.
…………He had arrived.