The desert bride: Trapped between the sand and storm.

Chapter 1 (

She walked out hurting all over, chained like a prisoner, and drag into the hall that was colored red with blood and with body parts littered everywhere that made the air hard to breathe. The hall was so silent that one could hear a pin drop. All eyes were on her as if she were a criminal but she wasn't, the truth was that she was the one being wrong but no one cared, all they wanted was her gone.

Finally, she stopped in the middle of the hall. Before her was her only family who was on her knees with a knife on her throat, her life was at the mercy of the man behind her who won't hesitate to end her. She's just a child she screamed as she was the blood that trickled from the small wound the sharp edge

of the knife caused.

Standing not too far away was the only person who helped her through all this hell, looking all bloody and bruised. Large droplets of tears began pouring down on her cheeks. He didn't deserve this. Now the Queen came up together, with the alpha who had just killed half of their kind without remorse.

"She is the one, take her," she said pointing at the girl who didn't know what was happening.

The alpha looked at her from the crown of her head to the soul of her feet with dissatisfaction.

"Is this all you have to offer?" he said with his voice colored with mockery.

"You can also take the younger one," The Queen said coldly.

"No, she yelled at the top of her voice, trying to break free from the strong grips that held her back. you can't do this to her she's just a child, she screamed but all her struggles were all in vain. With her own eyes, she watched as her little sister was taken by those beasts. Her sister yelled for help but no one could, no one dared to. Anger ran through her veins as she shot the alpha a deadly glare.

She swiftly removed the sword that was fasted by the side of one of the warriors who held her and swung it to the alpha.

" Die,"

"Few hours back"

"Rainer, Rainer," 

A deep but soft voice called out to her. It was very close, yet very far. She stood in the middle of the desert in a wedding beautiful dress that danced in accordance with the wind, with no shoes, looking for the voice that kept calling out to her, her husband. The cold midnight air that touched her face gave her a strange sense of serenity and joy to once again be able to meet with her man. 

She kept on wandering through the desert looking for him, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find him. She wanted to go home but she couldn't because she had lost her way, but strangely, she felt safe—safer than she had ever been.

Her eyes swept through the land, and finally, her eyes met with a pair of gray eyes that were looking right at her with a smile on his face, he was teasing me. She reached out to him, and so did he and finally they were together in each other's embrace.

" Mine," he said bringing her hands up to his lips as he placed a gentle kiss on her ring finger as he peaked at her through his long lashes. He then went to her neck and paced another gentle kiss that made her shiver on her neck that had his make on.

"Rainer, let's go home," he said holding her small hands in his large one.

She didn't know exactly where home was but she followed him despite that. The storm was getting stronger and it became more harder to see but he held her firmly, not wanting her to get lost in the storm but the storm kept on growing and growing. she began to feel a force that was pulling her away from him, she tried holding on but she let go and was consumed by the storm.

She closed her eyes due to all the sand that had entered her eyes, but she could hear the whispers of voices all around her. Consumed by fear she opened her eyes to see smoke-like shadows with red dots as eyes swirling around her saying things that could not be understood.

She began to feel burns on her skin as the shadows made contact with her. She was scared, she closed her ears with her hand and kept her head on the ground, as she whispered a name.

All of a sudden the whispering stopped as everyone looked up at the huge beast that made the ground tremble as it walked. its eyes were like a bright ball of light that chased all the darkness away. And finally, everything fell silent. The beast's eyes changed to a beautiful shade of golden, no, flames or lava from a volcano.

It began walking towards her as gracefully as ever and soon it was standing right before her looking down at her. She wrapped her hands around its neck, feeling his soft fur on her skin. But soon she heard a loud and annoying sound that felt so close to her. And in no time everything began to crumble right before her very eyes. The ground split and she began to fall into the darkness. She could see the light from above leasing by every second before finally it all went blank.

Rainer gasped as her eyes snapped open. Her long, dark hair clung to her face despite little to all her sweating. She quickly picked up the paper and pencil that were lying on her table, closed her eyes, and quickly began to sketch the beast and the man she just saw in her dream a moment ago. But as usual, she couldn't remember all the details. All she remembered about the man were his gray eye, the scar on his left eyebrow, and his raven dark hair, and all she could recall of the beast were its white fur color and golden eyes.

Rainer sighed as she was defeated once again by her own dream. She had had this dream more than a hundred times, but anytime she tried to recall the dream, she always got the same result. 

With a defeated spirit, she got up only to see her bed full of sand. Well, that was her normal. She dusted her bed and quickly cleaned and packed the sand. She was glad she didn't have a roommate, or else life would be even harder.

Rainer stayed in a boarding school that is meant for witches; no one wanted to share a room with her because she was weird even her own sisters refused. The school is one of the best, and it isn't easy to go there, but somehow she got in, even though she wasn't as strong as the other witches.

She can't even cast a spell without her spell book, despite all her effort; she just couldn't cast a spell without her mini spell book. It's not like Rainer is dumb; in fact, when it comes to reading, studying, and physical combat, she takes the cake, but sadly, those things aren't valued in the kingdom.

Already running late, Rainer quickly went to the shower, washing away all of the sand from her body. After a long, well-deserved shower, Rainer made her way to the dresser and got dressed.

She looked at her reflection in the mirror, touching the silver and golden-like tattoo that looked like a blooming flower on her neck. It was no doubt beautiful, and it matched her hazel eyes, but it was still strange how she got it. She was born with a golden and silver ring-like tattoo on her ring finger. As she grows up, she sometimes sees strange marks that keep popping up out of nowhere on her body. They are nice, but it is becoming difficult for her to hide them from everyone.

She quickly got dressed in her uniform; she wore her jacket, which covered all her marks except for the one on her neck. She let her dark hair fall in waves, coveting her make the way it could, and with that she was ready. 

She walked out of her room towards the main hall, where all final-year students would go to get and complete their last assignment as witches before graduation. Tony Rainer's best and only friend was leaning outside Rainer's hostel waiting for her to come out.

He is one of the school's most handsome guys, who every girl wishes to have; he is undeniably a playboy, but he really cares for Rainer, as there were childhood friends. 

All the girls who passed him saw him and wished that they were the lucky ones that he was waiting for, but unfortunately it wasn't so, all the girls cursed Rainer for being close to Tony but it wasn't her fault.

Finally, Rainer walked out of the hostel. She knew that Tony was there, but she just chose to ignore him. Tony, on the other hand, was already used to Rainer's morning grumpiness, so he just did what he always does, which is to annoy her even further.

"Good morning, beautiful," he said, but Rainer was already immune to his annoying self, so she did what she did every morning: ignore him. It was just like a morning routine.

Tony kept on trying his best to get a reaction from Rainer, but she was not going to give him that satisfaction. Rainer saw her little sister Mindy, who was talking to her friends cheerfully, and seeing her that happy just made Rainer smile for the first time that morning.

Mindy, who felt someone's gaze on her, turned to find her big sister staring at her. She quickly ran towards Rainer, totally abandoning her friends. When she got closer, she gave Rainer a tight hug.

"Morning Rainer,"

"Good morning, Mindy,"

"Good luck with your final assignment; I know you'll get it."

"I hope I do,"

"Of course, you will, umm, Rainer pleads if you have the time to see Grandma, please do. She has been calling for you since last night."

"I will. Is there a problem?" Rainer asked with a voice full of concern, Mindy shook her head with a smile on her face, 

"No problem, you know, grandma, you should go now; you don't want to be late." Mindy hugged Rainer one last time before running off to meet her friends, leaving Rainer thinking, 

"We should go now, beautiful." "I don't want to be late for class," Tony's annoying voice broke Rainer from her train of thought. Rainer just glared at Tony before walking out.

They finally got to the hall, which was already filled with final-year students. They went to write their names on the attendant list nearby. They were late no doubt, which caused them to sit at the back roll. A few students who sat in front saved a seat for Tony, but Tony simply declined because Rainer wasn't invited, so he and Rainer sat at the back together.

"I knew you were an idiot, but I never knew you had graduated to this leave," Rainer scoffed, folding her hands in front of her chest while rolling her eyes at Tony.

"Finally, she has spoken, it took you long enough." And to make this clear, I didn't refuse that empty seat for you; I just did that so I could have some time to catch up on my sleep."

"Let me guess you were busy with your new girl throughout the night."

"Yep, now someone's getting smart," Tony replayed in a sing-song voice, as he leaned back. Rainer sat there, not able to shake the words Mindy said out of her mind. Why did her grandma want to see her so urgently? Did her stepmother do something bad to her, or was her health deteriorating even more?

Her grandmother was a very powerful woman at her time, but after the war that took place between the witches and the desert, she was never the same. Mindy's mom didn't want her living in her house, and neither did her grandmother. When Rainer got to the school, her grandmother cried night and day pleading to be with her grandchild, and since Rainer's stepmother is the principal of the school, she gave her a place in the school where Rainer can always visit at any time.

Rainer, Mindy, and Tony are the only ones who go to meet the old lady, while Rainer's older sisters couldn't care less.

A lady in black walked out and began to introduce herself and also explain the history of the game and its founder, in a nutshell, she explained the entire history of the school before starting.

She watched as a lady with silver hair wearing a long black gown conducted the exercise. She calls out students according to the names on the attendant list. Then another lady in white would take the student into a room where they would be given their final assignment, but only a few came out from the room. Theyost have teleported out, she thought.

Rainer watched how Tony slept comfortably on the well-polished wooden bench. She knew that they would not give her any significant tasks like the others because of her level of strength. Whatever it was, she just wanted to be done with this school and go to the human realm with her grandmother and Mindy and start on a fresh slate.

"Tony Stark,"

Tony was next, Rainer asked herself a little surprised with how fast the whole thing went. She was a little nervous, but soon it vanished when she realized that she shouldn't. This was her last test and she would do it and leave this kingdom.

"It is your turn now, Tony." "For Pete's sake, get your ass up from here, your next," Rainer elbowed him, as she kept her face to avoid getting caught. Tony's baby blue eyes snapped open; they were a striking contrast to his sleek blond hair. He let out a big yawn as he stretched his body.

"Thanks, Rainer, you're the best." 

He said combing his hair with his long finger as he walked into the room. Rainer kept a cool expression as she waited for her turn. Tony soon walked out, heading towards the other door that led to the exit. Other students didn't need to leave through the door as they could teleport, but Tony used the opportunity to give Rainer an encouraging smile before vanishing. Rainer could only smile at his thoughtfulness.

"Rainer White," the lady in all black called, breaking Rainer from her thought.