C253 The Chessboard

Under the blazing sun, the parched earth was devoid of even a single drop of water.

The hot wind swept through, occasionally revealing gnarled, dead trees stretching their limbs skyward, with the ground itself blanketed in gravel.

Amidst this scorched and barren landscape, a brownish-yellow earthen city rose from the sands.

A brown eagle, stirring up clouds of dust with its powerful wings