Pounding Sand..

Morning came all too quick, after sleeping, the tree had born fruit again. Errit decided against picking all of them, leaving more than half for the other villagers.

Strapping on the Armor after it had been washed, Errit used a dagger to scratch away the insignia. Eventually, he was left with a matted and scratched portion of the leather. Resurfaced, it soon started to look like something fresh and newly made.

Errit followed the river south, as the Elder had instructed. It was a smart plan, it was also along the same route he had to take to reach the final battleground of the bird and scarab rider.

"These look good." A bush with some tender leaves gave off the familiar smell of Lavender. He gathered a few good samples and moved on.

'follow the river south, past the valley's edge before crossing into the East.' The Elders words replayed in his head. "This is gonna be fun." Dipping his feet into the water, his sensations fired, a tingling sensation. He felt revitalized, recharged. The Other side of the river was a dry sand bed that stretched out into the distance for what looked like several days travel. '... more sand.'

A storm loomed overhead. Errit watched it fly straight past him at incredible speed. 'That's not a storm.' A frightening sharp screech pierced into the skies and carried along the desert.

Fire.

It rose and fell, repeatedly, a spark then a flame, then cinder. Then it would repeat. 'Heat lightning?' There wasn't much time, it was about to be upon him. Errit pulled the Korel'ssen hide out from the ring and dug at the sand as fast as he could. Using it as a shroud, he covered himself and wrapped up tightly, except for a small hole to exchange air from time to time.

'Wow, this is a crazy sand storm' Buried in the sand, he waited, occasionally popping the edge open to bring in fresh air. The shade from the swarming dust and sand didn't stop the heat from buffing the outside

It took almost 4 hours to pass. When Errit finally stood up, he saw the sand being swallowed down river and the forest behind the rivers shake their leaves free of sand like dogs. '.. did i miss something? those trees just moved.'

The Suns were still out, it was hotter than he expected. The Korel'ssen hide had been sanded greatly, tempered by the edged wind that passed overhead. Its aura had changed. Errit kept it above his head, like an umbrella. It worked to keep the sun off his face, that was good enough for him. There were still several days ahead of him and nothing was in sight but sand.

Creatures would have been nice to run across occasionally, but throughout the first day he saw nothing, just hot wind. On the upside, he hadn't run across any birds.

A trail, something like what a snake would make could be seen in the landscape. It had to be huge, at least several meters long and weighing at least a few hundred pounds to have made such marks. The ruts along the sand were tidy and neat, rhythmic and without end. Errit tried to move in the other direction, but he found himself surrounded by tracks. 'I must be near its nest.'

There were no birds, no insects, no animals in the area. The only trail he could see were the sloops and ruts left by the slithering patterns of what was probably a snake. 'If a snake is this big, there must be something that it eats.. something besides sand.' Errit pushed aside some rocks that looked like they were covering a cave. 'what's this?'

The last rock was easier to move when he used the hardened spear as a lever. He hid inside and used the smaller stones to hide the entrance. There were cracks along the caveway, light poured in from small holes. 'This must have been some old camp' Passing through what looked like a carved hallway, he found an old stump. It had been cut and carved into what looked like a table, its large exposed roots stood like stools. Behind it, markings on the wall told a story.

'Flames in the sky marked with rays to the sand.'

'A Snake with three heads. An army, spears, and another beast lay at its feet'

'A purple colored man, he sat on a severed snake head.'

'White wings, a Tail'

'Bloody hand prints and a dagger'

'A Tree sitting on an island'

An Arrow was lodged in the wall, aged, it looked delicate. It was decorated, swirls of strange metals were in the shaft. It was bent. 'Its metal?' He pulled it out of the wall with some effort and started to examine it.

'Maybe if I push here.' Errit just had a feeling, he tried bending the shaft back in place. It quickly retook its original shape. 'weird,' He set the arrow on the table and looked to see if it would roll, it was a perfect cylinder.

'This is a damned good arrow.' He took a closer look at the head, its barbed tip guaranteed its target would have to tear it out. It was a weapon of pain, a weapon meant for fighting.

"There must be more settlements, maybe I can find my way from there." Errit waited till nightfall in the cave, its cooler temperatures would make walking that much easier. Looking through the Cave, he found several items, he took them all, including the Stump Table and Arrow.

Nightfall was inescapably beautiful in comparison to the Daytime of the Desert. Life decided to come out. Large birds looked like streaks in the sky, it was much more dramatic than Errit had anticipated. He felt small.

Herds of what looked like a form of Cattle started to dig at the sand, exposing a nearby underground water source. The Underground river was perfectly hidden from sight, if it had not been for his mask, he would not have been able to see the river and its flow. Animals that walked over deeper parts of the river were easily consumed by it.

'Better walk around' Errit looked for a thin spot to jump across, he couldn't find one and gradually found himself walking downstream.

Streaks of light, different colors, different auras and strange howls filled the desert nightlife with excitement. The surface heat was still subsiding, but the cooler breeze made the walking part much easier.