Lost in the Sand: Alustriea
As the winds died down and the sands settled, the brilliant sun once again baked the silent dunes that seemed to roll on forever beneath its majesty. One of these dunes had an odd bump atop it that was wriggling as something fought to extricate itself from its sandy imprisonment. A tender hand thrust up from below as if seeking to grab onto a ray of light to haul its owner from the gritty grave. Soon a second hand appeared as they worked to dig themselves out of the dunes.
With a great spray of sand a coughing lithe figure emerged from its confines, wheat colored hair, stained and matted with a crust of sand fell free of a disheveled head wrap. Alustriea glanced around the sea of nothing, coughing and spitting more sand from her dry, parched lips. Her emerald eyes winced under the brilliance of the storm free sun shining high above. Her head twisted back and forth, shaking away the sand as she struggled to free her legs from their buried state.
Crawling and sliding in the loose sand she unsteadily rose to her feet, her boots felt like they were full of lead, sand having wormed itself into every available nook and cranny on her person, both clothing and otherwise. Looking around frantically she saw she was alone, atop the dunes she could see for what looked like unending miles in each direction, yet no sign of her companions was revealed by her worried searching, even the dunes she herself was buried in lacked their presence.
Shaking slightly she checked her person then dug back into the dunes to extract her canteens nearly forgotten. Lifting one to her lips to wash the grit from her dry lips and rid herself of the taste of sand. She had water, but her friends were missing, at first glance she wanted to search for them, the storm had rearranged the dunes landscape considerably but they should still be near by... Lifting her hands to frame her mouth she shouted into the distance...
"XING LEI!"
"OSILLIAICE!"
"WHERE ARE YOU?!"
Lowering her hands she scanned around the horizon, the merciless sun beating down on her uncovered brow as her long ears twitched, hoping to hear even the fainst shout back from one or both of her missing comrades, yet only the sound of shifting sand faintly tickled her long ears. She turned this way and that thinking to look but then recalled Xing Lei's last warning, if they did separate they needed only to seek the port, they'd meet up again there, to go randomly searching the desert would just end them getting lost.
Gritting her teeth... and spitting more sand from her mouth as she felt it grind between her teeth... she covered her eyes and tried to see which way the sun moved but just feeling that oppressive heat barking her face she chose a direction and started trudging along, hoping it was the right way. After a few hours, what felt like days to the elf, she could finally gauge the suns likely path to the horizon, shifting her course a full one eighty and trekking back south from the random north she had started on...
As open as the desert was, the silence closed in on Alustriea. Left to her own company her mind was working in overtime wondering why she was alone? Why had she been buried? Did Xing Lei and Osilliaice think she had died and left her behind? Worries piled up in her heart as she readjusted her head wrap for what seemed the thousandth time, sand still falling into her eyes from its dirtied folds making her curse loudly. She'd already torn it off, shook it out and recapped a dozen times yet still sand kept spontaneously appearing in the cloth.
Looking into the distance, the endless sea of sand stretched on without measure. Was there really a port to the south? She'd not even seen hide nor hair of a coast line yet! Grumbling and kicking at the sand under her boot she gave a startled yelp as the dune suddenly collapsed under her, tossing the mage heels over head down the cascading slope. Tumbling down the incline she settled at the bottom, the burning sand pressing against the back of her robe, her face again caked in sand. Her voice lifted in a venomous curse, tears streaming from her eyes as a feeling of injustice rose in her breast.
Why did they come to this lifeless waste?! She was an adventurer sure but she wanted an inn and a bath! She wanted to scrub all the sand from every unmentionable place on her body. She wanted food that likely wasn't giant scorpion stew! She wanted cool breezes and sweet smelling flowers not this coarse unforgiving sand! Beating her fist against the burning grit beside her, tears of frustration leaked from her eyes at just how unfair it was for her to be yet again in this situation. All she needed...
"Ho lads what have we here?!"
As if reading her mind, fate answered. Shifting her blurry eyes to the crest of a nearby dune, a trio of camel riding soldiers sat watching the wretched feeling elf. Even with blurred vision it was not hard to see the lecherous looks in the men's eyes, nor how they gawked and made light of finding a wayward female tumbled down on the sand. Her gaze looked to the sky and cursed inwardly, the gods be damned gates were surely laughing at her.
Goblins, orcs, petty elves now humans, all just wanting to turn her into some bound, robe ripped, sex slave right fate? Alustriea grit her teeth as she pushed herself to her feet watching the approach of the mounted men, her emerald eyes narrowing as one in the back started unwinding a length of rope. This was always the way wasn't it fate? Separated from her loved ones, bound up, stripped down and humiliated...
Bowing her head she felt the tears rushing back in, the helplessness of always being the damsel in distress that needed protecting and rescuing sinking heavily on her shoulders. She could hear the men laughing at her, commenting on how docile she was being. There would be no last minute rescue this time. There was nowhere for Xing Lei or Osilliaice to burst from at the last minute to protect their weak elvish friend.
As the men approached the lone straggler they were shocked when her head lifted and her emerald eyes bore into them, harsh words in a language they had never heard were screamed at them, her first act of defiance but also all she needed as lances of ice hurtled between the short space skewering the first rider, his dark andnlust filled eyes widened in shock before the light of life was snuffed from them. Thankfully, his trip to the afterlife was not a lonely road, his two comrades soon appeared on the road to the afterlife in short order, equally bewildered at how their easy capture had suddenly called upon blades of ice to end their lives.
Shaking their heads the trio marched off into the cycle as a frayed elf was busily stripping their bodies of valuables before wrangling their camels, using the third mans rope to bind them together. Strapping their weapons, armor and food stuffs to the extra saddles Alustriea mounted up and kicked her camel into a slow trot, continuing her way south. As she rode she tore into a piece of dried meat, chewing it slowly as her aching belly rumbled. She tried not to think about the men she left behind to be picked clean by vultures.
Rather, her eyes hardened. Fate always delighted in abusing her, humiliating her. Forcing her friends to pull her out of trouble. No more. She'd had enough of dates cruel joke of always having her a damsel. She wanted to be an adventurer, a hero for her people but she constantly fumbled around following others courses, and for her kindness she was always taken hostage, duped and treated like a weak willed sap. This time SHE was going to be the saviour, SHE would save THEM!
Sitting taller in the saddle she chewed the jerky with determination as she flicked the reigns, for the first time feeling like the adventurer she originally had set out to be, the mistress of her own destiny, the captain in her ship of life. Smiling to herself she wondered if Osilliaice would feel proud her friend had finally decided to stand up for herself? How shocked would Xing Lei be when they reached the port and found her well established and not needing their timely intervention!
Laughing to herself she was nearly thrown from her camel as the sand behind her erupted, the rope lead sheared straight through as the camels right behind her own vanished into the gullet of a huge sand worm. The towering behemoth coiled above the sand surface looming over her with a maw that spread impossibly wide, any sign of the camels having disappeared into its depths as it hung over her like an executioners axe.
A primal scream rose up from her throat, all thoughts of her re-established bravery and self reliance thrown to the wind as she snapped the reigns, though her mount had long ago decided for her that it was getting the hell away from the monstrous worm, already running full tilt across the dunes as fast as its four legs could carry it and it's stupid rider. The worm itself gave a screech that seemed to echo for miles before diving into the sands and giving chase, a large furrow of sand streaming after the wildly running camel.
Alustriea clung to the saddle, fresh tears streaming from her eyes as she felt her seat grow uncomfortably moist as her body lost control in the fear and shock. Still, she hung on for dear life cursing the gods, cursing her life, cursing fate for being such a bloody gods be damned bastard. Gritting her teeth she flicked the reigns trying to make the camel run faster, and who in fact, really didn't need the prompting. Its fellows becoming a quick snack having already triggered its flight instincts and was already running for the life that depended on keeping ahead of that chasing hill of sand.
Alustriea trembled as she simply hung on, glancing around for either a timely rescue or some means to shake the ravenous monster off her tail. This time fate seemed to want to be a little kinder as she saw more camels further ahead, soldiers like the ones she'd killed patrolling and none the wiser that death was rushing their way. Softly whispering a prayer she raced by the surprised trio who flicked their reigns to give chase, though in short order the angry shouts became panicked screams. The monstrous roar of the worm drowning out their words as she raced on determined to put as much distance as she could between herself and the beast.
Several hours later, under a quarter moon saw the lovely sight of a naked elf submerged in an oasis washing the grit and grime from her lithe body. Her robes hung against a tree drying after she had cleaned up. Her canteens were full again and the cool wind of the eve was relaxing her as an unamused camel watched the solitary figure. Alustriea laid back in the water and sighed, her confidence had returned after the threat of death had waned, she really couldn't help but laugh at herself. To curse fate and have it not retaliate? Such a silly thought.
Looking to the moon she whispered prayers for Osilliaice and Xing Lei, hoping they would all meet up in the southern port, by the time she rejoined her friends she wanted to reinvent herself, to be more dependable and helpful on their quest for strength. She'd put more into being a strong companion over always being the young elf maiden needing rescuing from every goblin, orc and beast.
Well... at least beasts much smaller than a sand worm, that she still would want alot of help with!