Hike in the desert
Posted: Thu Sep 16, 2021 10:22 pm
Saun 17 720
Arrie wasn’t as excited about the temple of fire as she thought she ought to be. Something with such a simple bland name couldn’t possibly be exciting. She took it as a tourist attraction since no one had told her it was anything other than that. Something of real importance wouldn’t be named after something like fire. It’d have the name of some great person, god, or landmark. Yet there she was with a group of other scholars headed to the temple
“Alright you lot, grab a pack, a waterskin, wineskin, and change your clothes. We have a long journey ahead of us.” Someone important looking had finally shown up out of the blue. A shimmer of light shone onto a pedestal and in an instant someone appeared atop it. He was dressed in robes and he held some kind of device in his hands. He paid little attention to the scholars and instead was busy fiddling with his contraption which was some invention of his.
“What? Are we not expecting to return today?”
“Just how far away is this place?”
“Did he say wineskin?”
“Clothes? I didn’t come all this way to have to go on a hike. I’m out of here!”
The cacophony of voices got on Arrie’s nerves but she stayed silent. She followed her instructions because she knew that there had to be a reward for going through all the trouble. If the other scholars wanted to sit around then they could very well fatten up in their own homes for all she cared. The clothes weren’t even that bad. They were robes that looked like they were designed for desert wear. They were nowhere near a desert which was strange. It got Arrie thinking about if they were really headed for a desert or not.
Arrie struggled to put the desert garb on by herself. There were so many big loopy holes in the clothes that she couldn’t figure out which one of them her head was supposed to come out of. She had it on upside down for a good five minutes before realizing her error. So she struggled some more until she finally righted it only to find out it was backwards. At least that was easy to fix since the bottom was not separated for each leg. All she had to do was pull her arms in and shuffle the robes in a semi circle and then stick her arms back out.
“Phewie that was harder than it looked,” Arrie said. She looked around and saw that many were also struggling to put their clothes on. The ones that had finished were jogging to keep pace with the presumed leader for their journey to the temple who was floating away on the pedestal still lost in thought with his invention.
“Don’t want to get left behind…” she told herself. She picked up the pace and ran to catch up after scooping up a pack, a water, and wine skin. Luckily they were already full. She was glad she had rushed because the leader finally got his contraption working and created a portal into the unknown.
“Everyone in! You have five minutes before the gate closes!” the robed man shouted. That really got everyone rushing. When the portal finally closed at least half of the scholars were left behind. Arrie wondered if they were going to have to catch another portal or if they were just out of luck for the day. That certainly wouldn’t bode well for their status among their mentors. Arrie tried not to think about other people though because she had a whole journey ahead of her!
The portal did in fact lead to a desert. There was sand as far as the eye could see in all directions but north. North had a temple in the far distance unless Arrie’s eyes were playing tricks on her. She scowled at the distance.
“Couldn’t he drop us any closer? This is going to take forever.” She complained to the scholars around her.
“I hear the temple has enchantments on it. This is as close as you can get. Anyone that can’t make it there isn’t worthy. It’s protected rather heavily as well, if rumors are to be believed. Undead and the like walk around and can sprout from the sand at any given moment.”
“That sounds so outlandish. That can’t be true,” Arrie said assuredly. There was no way they would send them to a place where the undead could kill them at any moment. At least, she thought so until someone shrieked up ahead. Arrie pushed her way forwards and saw that a boney hand had shot out of the sand and grabbed hold of a scholar’s ankle. She was so shocked that she couldn’t do anything but stand there in awe. One of the others took the initiative to pull out one of their hammers and smashed the undead’s forearm.
“We ought to be more careful. Let’s make a formation,” suggested someone else. There were a lot of brilliant minds here that was for sure. Arrie felt like a sore thumb out because all she offered was brute force. She had a sword she was handy with and she could use magic but that wouldn’t help her if she got caught by surprise and pulled into the sand.
The scholars all huddled up and those that studied battle strategy were quick to devise a plan. They would have several people out in front and most of them in the middle. Then a rear group and then just a few people on the flanks
If only a simple formation would be enough to mitigate their danger. Arrie found herself in the front of the group just because she had the guts to volunteer for it. She held her hands out which glowed with a magical aura. She was trigger happy and more than willing to zap anything that moved with a bolt of raw energy. Every time skeletal hands pushed up from the ground Arrie shouted in fear and unleashed such a bolt which sent bits of bone shards flying everywhere. Her power was indeed overkill for such small enemies. Several snickered behind her for volunteering for the frontal group.
“If you don’t like how I’m doing you can do it yourself!” Arrie snapped. She turned around and pointed at the giggling girls behind her and went on, “I don’t see either of you up here killing these skeletons!” Arrie would have went on but the looks on their faces didn’t quite make sense. Either Arrie was really scary or they weren’t scared of her, but something behind her. A boney hand on her shoulder told her that she wasn’t the one they were afraid of
“It’s right behind me isn’t it,” Arrie said nervously
They nodded.
“GRAAAH” shouted a man next to Arrie. He brought a hammer down on the skeleton’s head but that merely beheaded it. It still had a fully functional body and it drug Arrie into the sand slowly but surely. But the time Arrie’s peers had beaten it into submission the poor woman was knee deep in sand with cuts on her shoulders. The cuts hurt a lot more than one might have thought because the bones were so sharp in odd places.
“For god’s sake someone get her some bandages,” called someone from the back. Not too long later a short statured man ran up and lathered her shoulders with cream. “The name’s Pog. This will heal you right up but don’t push yourself. You should probably sit in the middle with most of the others for now. Doctor’s orders!”
The trip so far had put Arrie in quite a sour mood. There was nothing quite like being the only person who’d managed to mess up, even if deep down she didn’t accept full responsibility because her so called ‘peers’ had laughed at her in the first place. It was times like this that she wondered why she ever grouped up when she was always fine on her own.
“I’ll show them. I’ll go off on my own and get there without any of their help.” Arrie thought to herself over the next half hour. When they took a break to rethink their strategy Arrie slipped away.
Going solo wasn’t the worst idea in the world because the large group made it easy for the undead to know that they were there. The pressure on the sand, the vibrations of their chatter and equipment clanking around. It all made for easy pickings. Arrie on her own found that she didn’t have any trouble walking through the sand. She conjured an umbrella and some water to keep cool and happily strolled through the desert. She was nearly half way to the temple and when she looked back the group of scholars hadn’t even made it a quarter of the way.
“I knew this was a great idea!” she complimented to herself.
She continued to trek through the sands until she came across a large glyph on the ground. It looked magical in nature because she could feel the magic when she touched it. It hovered just a few feet off the ground and from what Arrie could tell it was a protective barrier. If she wanted to pass she was going to have to trigger whatever protections the area had.
“What is the worst that could happen?” she asked while confidently pressing her palm at the center of the glyph.
TBC….
Arrie wasn’t as excited about the temple of fire as she thought she ought to be. Something with such a simple bland name couldn’t possibly be exciting. She took it as a tourist attraction since no one had told her it was anything other than that. Something of real importance wouldn’t be named after something like fire. It’d have the name of some great person, god, or landmark. Yet there she was with a group of other scholars headed to the temple
“Alright you lot, grab a pack, a waterskin, wineskin, and change your clothes. We have a long journey ahead of us.” Someone important looking had finally shown up out of the blue. A shimmer of light shone onto a pedestal and in an instant someone appeared atop it. He was dressed in robes and he held some kind of device in his hands. He paid little attention to the scholars and instead was busy fiddling with his contraption which was some invention of his.
“What? Are we not expecting to return today?”
“Just how far away is this place?”
“Did he say wineskin?”
“Clothes? I didn’t come all this way to have to go on a hike. I’m out of here!”
The cacophony of voices got on Arrie’s nerves but she stayed silent. She followed her instructions because she knew that there had to be a reward for going through all the trouble. If the other scholars wanted to sit around then they could very well fatten up in their own homes for all she cared. The clothes weren’t even that bad. They were robes that looked like they were designed for desert wear. They were nowhere near a desert which was strange. It got Arrie thinking about if they were really headed for a desert or not.
Arrie struggled to put the desert garb on by herself. There were so many big loopy holes in the clothes that she couldn’t figure out which one of them her head was supposed to come out of. She had it on upside down for a good five minutes before realizing her error. So she struggled some more until she finally righted it only to find out it was backwards. At least that was easy to fix since the bottom was not separated for each leg. All she had to do was pull her arms in and shuffle the robes in a semi circle and then stick her arms back out.
“Phewie that was harder than it looked,” Arrie said. She looked around and saw that many were also struggling to put their clothes on. The ones that had finished were jogging to keep pace with the presumed leader for their journey to the temple who was floating away on the pedestal still lost in thought with his invention.
“Don’t want to get left behind…” she told herself. She picked up the pace and ran to catch up after scooping up a pack, a water, and wine skin. Luckily they were already full. She was glad she had rushed because the leader finally got his contraption working and created a portal into the unknown.
“Everyone in! You have five minutes before the gate closes!” the robed man shouted. That really got everyone rushing. When the portal finally closed at least half of the scholars were left behind. Arrie wondered if they were going to have to catch another portal or if they were just out of luck for the day. That certainly wouldn’t bode well for their status among their mentors. Arrie tried not to think about other people though because she had a whole journey ahead of her!
The portal did in fact lead to a desert. There was sand as far as the eye could see in all directions but north. North had a temple in the far distance unless Arrie’s eyes were playing tricks on her. She scowled at the distance.
“Couldn’t he drop us any closer? This is going to take forever.” She complained to the scholars around her.
“I hear the temple has enchantments on it. This is as close as you can get. Anyone that can’t make it there isn’t worthy. It’s protected rather heavily as well, if rumors are to be believed. Undead and the like walk around and can sprout from the sand at any given moment.”
“That sounds so outlandish. That can’t be true,” Arrie said assuredly. There was no way they would send them to a place where the undead could kill them at any moment. At least, she thought so until someone shrieked up ahead. Arrie pushed her way forwards and saw that a boney hand had shot out of the sand and grabbed hold of a scholar’s ankle. She was so shocked that she couldn’t do anything but stand there in awe. One of the others took the initiative to pull out one of their hammers and smashed the undead’s forearm.
“We ought to be more careful. Let’s make a formation,” suggested someone else. There were a lot of brilliant minds here that was for sure. Arrie felt like a sore thumb out because all she offered was brute force. She had a sword she was handy with and she could use magic but that wouldn’t help her if she got caught by surprise and pulled into the sand.
The scholars all huddled up and those that studied battle strategy were quick to devise a plan. They would have several people out in front and most of them in the middle. Then a rear group and then just a few people on the flanks
If only a simple formation would be enough to mitigate their danger. Arrie found herself in the front of the group just because she had the guts to volunteer for it. She held her hands out which glowed with a magical aura. She was trigger happy and more than willing to zap anything that moved with a bolt of raw energy. Every time skeletal hands pushed up from the ground Arrie shouted in fear and unleashed such a bolt which sent bits of bone shards flying everywhere. Her power was indeed overkill for such small enemies. Several snickered behind her for volunteering for the frontal group.
“If you don’t like how I’m doing you can do it yourself!” Arrie snapped. She turned around and pointed at the giggling girls behind her and went on, “I don’t see either of you up here killing these skeletons!” Arrie would have went on but the looks on their faces didn’t quite make sense. Either Arrie was really scary or they weren’t scared of her, but something behind her. A boney hand on her shoulder told her that she wasn’t the one they were afraid of
“It’s right behind me isn’t it,” Arrie said nervously
They nodded.
“GRAAAH” shouted a man next to Arrie. He brought a hammer down on the skeleton’s head but that merely beheaded it. It still had a fully functional body and it drug Arrie into the sand slowly but surely. But the time Arrie’s peers had beaten it into submission the poor woman was knee deep in sand with cuts on her shoulders. The cuts hurt a lot more than one might have thought because the bones were so sharp in odd places.
“For god’s sake someone get her some bandages,” called someone from the back. Not too long later a short statured man ran up and lathered her shoulders with cream. “The name’s Pog. This will heal you right up but don’t push yourself. You should probably sit in the middle with most of the others for now. Doctor’s orders!”
The trip so far had put Arrie in quite a sour mood. There was nothing quite like being the only person who’d managed to mess up, even if deep down she didn’t accept full responsibility because her so called ‘peers’ had laughed at her in the first place. It was times like this that she wondered why she ever grouped up when she was always fine on her own.
“I’ll show them. I’ll go off on my own and get there without any of their help.” Arrie thought to herself over the next half hour. When they took a break to rethink their strategy Arrie slipped away.
Going solo wasn’t the worst idea in the world because the large group made it easy for the undead to know that they were there. The pressure on the sand, the vibrations of their chatter and equipment clanking around. It all made for easy pickings. Arrie on her own found that she didn’t have any trouble walking through the sand. She conjured an umbrella and some water to keep cool and happily strolled through the desert. She was nearly half way to the temple and when she looked back the group of scholars hadn’t even made it a quarter of the way.
“I knew this was a great idea!” she complimented to herself.
She continued to trek through the sands until she came across a large glyph on the ground. It looked magical in nature because she could feel the magic when she touched it. It hovered just a few feet off the ground and from what Arrie could tell it was a protective barrier. If she wanted to pass she was going to have to trigger whatever protections the area had.
“What is the worst that could happen?” she asked while confidently pressing her palm at the center of the glyph.
TBC….
