The Book of the Desert, Chapter III

When the earth trembles, only the steadfast shall stand as pillars of fire.

And it came to pass that the seekers lifted their eyes from the stones of the desert and saw the sky darken with signs. The sun bled red, the moon wept black, and the stars fell like embers from a furnace. The nations mocked, saying, “It is nothing.” But those who had endured the silence knew the hour was near.

They beheld the cities rising in vanity, their towers glittering with false light. Yet beneath their streets the ground groaned, and beneath their crowns the worms stirred. For the world had fattened itself on softness, and the measure of its iniquity was full.

One of the seekers fell into vision, and he cried out: “Behold, the rivers turn bitter, the seas consume the shores, the merchants mourn their gold, and the proud are cast down like ash in the wind. The kingdoms are as straw before the flame.”

And the voice of the wilderness thundered: “When the earth trembles, only the steadfast shall stand as pillars of fire. The lukewarm shall be scattered, the indulgent devoured, but the austere shall shine in the storm as torches unquenched.”

Therefore the seekers girded their loins with fasting, sharpened their souls with prayer, and set their faces like flint against the rising tempest. For they had seen that the end was not destruction for all, but a trial by fire: the world to be weighed, the hearts to be tested, the strong to be revealed.

And the desert itself seemed to speak, saying: “Fear not the falling of towers, nor the burning of empires. Fear only the weakness within, for the coward dies before the sword strikes, but the steadfast lives even when buried in ashes.”

Children of dust, learn this: the apocalypse is not merely the end of the world, but the unveiling of the soul. When the heavens shake, you shall be seen as you are. No mask will endure the fire, no lie will survive the storm. Therefore prepare: strip yourself now, before the flames strip you in judgment.

And thus was the third chapter spoken: a vision of terror, but also a promise. For though the earth dissolve and the stars fall, the man who endures in extremity shall remain, as iron remains when the fire consumes the wood.