It hurt. His eyes hurt. They stung and his body felt itchy. “Soft?” He thought. He was right. Instead of landing in the capital, they were somewhere MUCH worse. Dragon Dunes. Dragon Dunes was a place full of black sand, volcanoes, and oppression. Everywhere you looked there was creeping movement as dragons writhed over each other– blood thirsty monsters, slithering, sensing, salivating in their unending quest for nourishment. The heat crept up against me, as if it were a person. You could also smell the burnt ashes of dead bodies, it reeked. “Eren, Hawk, we should probably get walking since Dragon Dunes is most famous for the weather drop at night.” 

They walked miles before reaching a small, discreet village. The moon was about to fall beneath the horizon as the trio arrived. Cobblestone houses lined either side of the cramped lane, barely distinguishable from each in the meagre light cast by the dim gas-lamps dotted here and there. A small pond sat in the middle of the town with fire frogs hopping about. As Mikasa bent down to touch the glistening water, a voice cried out,” Get down and don’t move!” They were threatening them.