//------------------------------//
// Barrens 
// Story: Exile 
// by Forceful Will 
//------------------------------//

	Each step Jinx took sent a plume of dust up from the arid soil. Within minutes his legs were coated so thoroughly that the alternating pattern of his fur was masked entirely by the grey earth. The air was quiet. His steps made little sound, being swallowed up by the emptiness. As he walked, Jinx watched for any signs of life even as he was sure nothing could possibly survive in these conditions. The sun cast the entire expanse in a bleached tone. There was no movement apart from Jinx’s, nothing to distinguish one spot from another. Even the air seemed dead. The shifting breezes he had gotten used to on the plains entirely absent in this place.

Looking back, Jinx was surprised at how little of a trail his passage had made. It seemed that the dust kicked up by each step also served to cover it once it settled. He experimented with stepping with deliberate force to leave an impression, but soon realized that doing so would slow his pace considerably and leave him exhausted. By the time the sun reached its zenith, Jinx had walked far enough into the barrens that he could no longer see the hill he had climbed down to enter, but he also still saw no end to greyness. He stopped for a few minutes to rest his legs and drink some water. He took off the heavy cloak and tried to stuff it into his already-filled saddlebags only to settle on folding it and draping it over the top of them. Perhaps after he went through a good portion of his food supply he would be able to stow it properly.

Rising to his hooves once more, Jinx continued in the same direction as before, at least he hoped so. With the sun directly overhead it was impossible to be entirely certain. Jinx shuddered at the thought of becoming lost in the barrens. It was entirely too possible. He had seen no landmarks, and could perceive no end to it in any direction. If he ever did lose his bearings, it would be far too easy to wander endlessly in circles. He picked up his pace slightly, hoping that doing so would let him find the far end of the barrens before nightfall. Jinx didn’t want to have to spend the night in such emptiness, though he knew he would have to rest at the end of the day. He couldn’t continue traveling through another full night.

In the distance ahead of him, Jinx thought he saw the shape of a hill rising above the rest of flat, arid landscape. Just as he realized it wasn’t a trick of his imagination, he noticed that the ground beneath him had begun to slope upwards. The incline was slight, but enough to make it more of an effort to walk at the same speed as before. A sudden, hot breeze came from the hill, carrying an acrid odor Jinx couldn’t place. The air grew several degrees hotter as he approached the hill, and the sharp smell grew stronger. Jinx paused at a point where the slope dramatically steepened. He hadn’t noticed it before, but the top of the hill shimmered with heat, as did numerous small mounds surrounding it.

Even as the sun began to set, there was a faint glow emanating from the top of the rise. The ground around him was relatively flat, and after laying the cloak and blanket down, it was even comfortable. The late-fall chill was warded off by whatever the source of the ambient heat was, but Jinx knew discovering just what was causing the increased temperature could wait until morning. He doubted it would change in any significant way while he slept. He set the saddlebags on one corner of the blanket and curled up to rest.