snapped Ben. Our choices are death by boulders or death by a cursed, buried city. Wonderful.” Privately the king was thinking the same thing, but he couldn’t let anyone know it. “Tell me more about the specific dangers,” he said. “We … do not know,” said Shalia. “It is, as Ben says, a cursed city. The sandstorm that devoured it came so suddenly that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of innocent people died in a few hours. No one has ventured there in centuries. It is said that the spirits of those who died are angry and will bring any living thing into their doom with them.” “So,” said the king, “it might just be nothing more than sand-covered ruins, as far as you know. This could all be legend and superstition.” “Legends like sirens?” Ben said archly. “Shan, what do you think? You grew up with the stories about this place.” Shan looked as if he were about three seconds from sheer panic. Kalin placed a motherly arm around him. “I … Majesty, please do not ask me to advise you on this!”
