The group made it down to the edge of the sand storm curtain. In the morning light, Tad could see more definition. The sand looked like it boiled in front of them, then some of it would shoot skyward into the clouds to fold back out of sight.

Tad looked at Lamruil, "Do you see the energy? What do you think about this? "

"I've heard of curses that could do such as this if the being who made it invested enough energia it the curse and tied it to a flow. Do you think there is a mana flow inside all of that? " asked Lamruil.

Tad looked at the curtain of sand again. It curved off to his left and right. One giant wall, he wondered if it was a dome.

Tad held his staff in both hands, " Galadinidú, what do you think of this? "

"There is a pool inside. Much mana flows through this place. Do you want to open the way? " asked Galadinidú.

"What do you mean? You can open that? " asked Tad in amazement.

"The barrier is shielding what is behind. Behind, I sense a large pool of magic. I can open a way through if you carry me into it. " said Galadinidú.

"Ok, but what about that sand there. Is it going to swallow us up? It looks like it's boiling. " said Tad looking at the edge where the barrier touched the sand.

"I can not affect the sand," replied Galadinidú.

Tad looked at the others who had dismounted. Three dwarves were still mounted, circling the area looking for any dangers. The air was starting to heat up from the morning sun.

" Galadinidú thinks we can enter this barrier here, and there is a mana pool somewhere beyond. We just need to find something solid to walk across. "

Nico looked at the wall of sand, "I thought it was cursed, Tad. You want to enter something that is cursed. Before you convince us all to do it, I'd just like you to know that I do not like this plan. "

Lamruil tilted his head towards Nico's direction, "I would like to second that thought. "

Tad looked at Zanna, who still had Bubbles circling her, "Is this like the pool we found on that wasteland world? "

Tad nodded, "I think so. I do not see any water, but we know a pool will have some water. Let us see if we can find a way across the bubbling sand there. Galadinidú said he could open it for us. "

"Then we should at least look," said Zanna.

"Ok, let's see where this goes," said Tad walking towards his mount.

The group traveled along the edge of the cursed sand southeast. They stayed several hundred yards away from the edge of the barrier. It curved east for three miles then it started to go back around to the west. The sun was upon the right as the group's mounts moved swiftly across sandy ground. Tad thought perhaps they were almost opposite of where they had started when the group rode up to a cliff edge. The wall of cursed sand cut a deep ravine through it and out into the air as it continued to circle back to the west.

Tad looked down from the cliff, and he saw a foggy valley that snaked from the base of the cliff a half-mile down. He could hear the rush of water and saw a dark muddy waterfall that disappeared into the misty river area below. He looked at the dirty water with his magic sight and saw the golden motes of life mana turn almost black as they fell into the fog. What in the hells was this thing.

Barardaek shouted over the noise of the sand and falling muddy water. "That is the river down there. I've never been this far, but I have been given orders not to go into that fog. I recommend you do not either. The Hold has lost thousands in there. It is not worth the risk. "

Lamruil shouted, "I see the water falling out there, so there must be coming out of something. "

Tad looked at the large crevice of sand churning. He thought there should be stone if that were a waterfall, but it was just a long crevice of bubbling sand that swirled up where it left the cliff's edge. Can someone climb into that?

Tad moved his mount closer to Barardaek, "I think we should check the other side of this. We will have to go all the way back around. How many hours before the heat gets too dangerous? "

"If the other side is the same, then we can do it before the sun is high. If we hurry now, that is," said Barardaek.

Tad looked at the other dwarves who had also ridden up and were looking down into the misty valley snaking into the canyons below. Farther to the east were more cliffs and sand.

"Let's get moving, " said Tad turning his mount back the way they had come.

The group made it's way north again to the edge of the cliffs, then continued around. Tad was certain this was a circle now. They followed the edge, which looked much like the other side. The sand was Flat sand leading up to the curtain of sand, a few yards into the cloud of dust; the sand churned as if boiling or tumbling.

Lamruil spoke loudly, "I see stones ahead. "

Tad nodded. Stones were a good sign, perhaps.

As they neared, Tad saw six large stones about his height. They curved slightly inward on themselves at the top. He dismounted and got closer and realized they were giant stone fingers, and the palm was just visible above the sand line. Tad sensed no presence of a creature here and saw no magic, and he tapped it with the end of his staff.

Galadinidú spoke, "You have found a divine. "

Tad backed away a few steps, "A what?"

"When a god dies, one of the outcomes can be this," said Galadinidú.

Tad looked at it with his magic sight. No mana or energia existed in or on the stone fingers. Well, he thought they were stone.

"Lamruil do you know anything about a divine?" asked Tad.

Lamruil had dismounted also and walked over, "They are dead gods. I've never seen one, though. "

Nico and Zanna had come up now, leaving their mounts in the care of two dwarven guards.

"Zanna do you know anything about Divines," asked Tad.

Zanna looked at him, then looked at the hand with its six large fingers pointed at the sky. She walked up to it and tapped it hard with her fingernail. "Divines are found in the astral or void planes. You rarely find them on the ground unless they die in combat. This one turned to stone which means it was an earth god of some sort. It's incredibly hard to kill a god, Tad. You would have to completely kill or convert every one of their followers to kill one like this. If you can find one that isn't stone, then demons or other creatures can consume it and gain power. This one, though, is worthless. " She tapped it again.

Tad just blinked at her for several seconds as she stood there with Bubbles circling her.

"Kettle, what do you think?" asked Tad.

"I think you better not let Zanna near any dead gods Tad. On second thought, you might want to kill her now before you try to enter there, " said Kettle.

"KETTLE, I am not killing anyone," projected Tad loudly at the bracer.

"You did ask me what I thought. I told you exactly what I thought," said Kettle.

"What do you think about the fingers and the divine Kettle? " said Tad.

"Oh, they are all over the place, really. They never age, and that stone is almost indestructible without magic applied to it. She is right, though. If a creature were to devour a dead god, it could gain all kinds of powers and magic abilities. It would also become quite insane because the god's personality will almost always reside in the flesh. Like an echo in a large cavern, it just reverberates. If a cult forms around it, it could come back to life even though it will change. This divine is beyond that, though. It is solid stone, and it is still here because it can resist the sand storms. " said Kettle.

Tad projected a smile, "Now that is a much better answer, and It didn't involve me killing my friend. Good job, Kettle. "

Nico shouted over towards the sand storm barrier, "Tad, I think its arm extends into the storm there. " He pointed at the spot where he had rubbed the sand off what looked like a forearm that might lead to an elbow inside the wall of moving sand.

Nico said loudly, almost shouting. "I still think this is a bad idea. "

Tad looked at the sand near Nico. There was a calm section of sand at the base of the wall right where a large arm might be buried. "Nico, I'm running out of ideas. Let us try this. "

Tad nodded to Nico leaving the edge of the cursed sand, " Barardaek, I need four days' worth of supplies here. The four of us will be entering at this point. If we are not back out in one day, I want you to leave for the Hold. I will relay instructions through Kettle. If something terrible happens, he will also know that. I do not want anyone waiting here. Check back twice a day, dawn and dusk. Also, leave any rope and a shovel. "

The dwarf guard nodded and rode off to talk to the other dwarves and get the supplies from the lizard mount carrying the extra food and water.

A half-hour later, the four companions were standing next to Tad on the now visible forearm of the divine.

" Galadinidú, we are ready. Open the way, " said Tad.

A shield of light projected from the staff around the four. Tad could easily see through it, but he recognized the shield from the staff. Tad walked forward slowly as his companions stayed close inside the circle of protection.

As they entered the moving sand, the forward part of the shield cleared away, there was still some fine dust in the air, but they could breathe. The divine's forearm was easily visible as the shield exposed it in the storm.

Tad shouted over the noise, "If this arm bends or curves, we will keep following it. " Each of them had a large double bag over their shoulder, and tad was taking it slow.

The group moved forward to the elbow that looked like an armored piece of stone melded to the form. They followed the arm as it ramped up and off to a slight angle now. They reached the shoulder, and Tad expected to cross the chest at this angle. The divine was laying on its back with the right arm out, which they had used to get this far. As the group continued forward, a ragged drop went down below the lower part of the shield. This divine had its chest ripped open and exposed. Tad moved around it towards the neck and exposed a portion of the chin. It was below them as if the divine's head was back.

" Galadinidú, can you make the shield larger for a few moments? " asked Tad.

The shield went out farther. Tad could feel the extra energia leaving the staff. He didn't think it could hold this long, but he saw what he wanted. The face of the god was angular. Almost as if it was carved. To perfect and horrifying as the group saw the rictus of pain on the divines face.

" Galadinidú, you can make it smaller now," said Tad as he led the four across the shoulder of the dead god into the light of day on the other side.

***

Valley of Statues

Tad and his three friends stood on the edge of a cliff above a large valley. The curtain of falling sand was behind them, and it appeared semi-arid, but huge clumps of green vegetation stood out around the lake in the center.

The north head of the valley starts in a canyon with a cataract of water flowing over the top of the cliff from a narrow gorge into a series of terraced waterfalls, forming three complete drops into pools. The last is much larger than the above two, with the edge spilling in a wide ribbon fall descending hundreds of feet below into a large stream bed full of talus under the waterline.

Several large pieces of rock stuck up before the water entered the valley lake in a rush. Giant clouds of mist appear around the bottom, with several clumps of large vines growing along the cliffs near the water. On either side of the waterfall, the cliffs which rise a few hundred yards were sheer with a slight outward lean from top to bottom. Giving an appearance in some areas that it might actually fall over if it wasn't solid rock.

Through the center of the valley, the water formed a bottomless lake that was roughly one and a half miles in diameter, shaped like a bean pod with the water coming in at one end and leaving in a river at the other.

The shore was made up of a steep cut off dropping four to eight feet to the waterline.

Little sandy shore existed until the middle of the lake, at which point a series of canals were cut into the rocky edge of the water to form channels that ran into several large flat areas that might once have been farmed but now appear to be overrun with large trees and reeds. None of the canals were free of overgrowth, and some were full of sand. The fields seemed to be square, with a few having rounded edges to conform to the face of the valley's lower cliff edges.

The cliffs themselves are made up of various granite from Red granite with its rich red hews when wet, starting near the upper falls to a lighter grey granite as it extends towards the desert and lower river.

All around the valley, the cliffs formed a natural barrier that merged with the rocky mountain area at the bottom of the lake. The valley was a natural bowl that overflowed into a slow-moving river that ran out into the desert.

This last waterfall leaving the valley was much wider than the above ones but not as deep. It fell several yards then cascaded to the river bed below through the curtain of sand, picking up a dark brown appearance along the way.

Below them, Tad could see tall, thick pillars of stone perhaps twenty to thirty feet wide. With conical, dark red-pointed tops. Like carved stakes pointing into the sky.

The sight of the river is lost as it falls off into the sand storm edge.

Out in the middle of the lake is a large island with ruins spread across it. Tall columns sat next to ones that were broken and jagged. Tad thought he saw a few buildings with portions of their roof still intact from this distance, but most had fallen into the ruins. A small strip of land dotted with bridges to span out to the ruins led to the island. The bridge had many broken pieces, but Tad thought it might still be useable.

Tad saw another larger ruined city on the shore where the bridge ended on this side of the lake.

He looked out across the valley's ruins and fields. He saw sizeable dark humanoid statues made from granite or marble standing or walking almost at random.

Tad used his magic sight, and the whole lake sparkled with life energy, and a Torrent of Life mana flowed through the valley from the northern waterfall and sank into the ground where the island rested like a giant snake eating its prey.

Kettle yelled into his mind, "Tad, your Quest updated! "

***