Story Shorts: Sands of Serica

Sands of Serica

Far east of known territories, the Sea of Dunes stretches endlessly—an ocean of golden sand, untouched and uncharted. For centuries, those who ventured into its vastness were never heard from again. But tales persisted of Serica, a legendary city said to rise from the sands, glowing with an ethereal light and laden with treasures beyond imagination.

Rowan, a cartographer's apprentice, is obsessed with the legend. Armed with an ancient compass that supposedly points the way to Serica, and a diary of a sailor who claimed to have glimpsed the city's spires, he sets out on a perilous journey across the dunes.

The desert, however, is not empty. Rowan encounters nomads who glide over the sand on wind-powered sleds, gigantic sandworms that tunnel beneath the dunes, and mirages that can drive a man mad. But among these wonders, he also finds Lila, a runaway with her own connection to Serica and her own reasons for seeking it.

Together, they uncover the truth about the desert's mysteries and the fabled city. But Serica, with its glowing walls and shifting sands, is not just a city. It's a living, breathing entity, and it has been waiting for them.