Good job. I especially like your last two sentences. You have that talent of painting images in the mind, and they tend to be moving, live images. I, like the other reviwer, am not sure what the purpose is but think that it is about overcoming adversary. A comma is needed in the first sentence; "Far beyond mountain ranges to the east, beyond the desert, lies a small village."

Hmm... stand up for what you beleive in and you will be rewarded? Or mourning does not change the future? Darn... I'm not so hot with these things. :)