Serpent Sand
One
Ella was sat in the inn, she had come straight here after she had arrived. The tow, if you could call it that, was comprised of huts and sheets hung on poles, weathered hide and old blankets. There were no walls or a roof of the inn, no cover what so ever, just rope sectioning an area off. A rough painted sign told the patrons, “None of the good stuff beyond the line.” The red paint was peeling and flaking off. Not knowing why, Ella smiled at the sign, and then decided it was because of the sense of normality it portrayed, even if most of the customers were on the wrong side of the sign.
Ella went up to the bar and sat down. One of the stool legs was shorter than the other and the bar was sticky with beer in front of her. People crushed her either side. She sighed as she sat down, relieved to be off her feet. The barman, noticing her, tucked his cloth into his apron and walked over.
“Wha’ you on luv?” said the barman with a gruff voice.
“Vodka, please honey.”
“Wha’a dear like you doin’ out ‘ere.”
“Travelling,” Ella replied, not giving away any more than that. The barman, noticing she wasn’t up for talking, charged her for her drink, brought it to her and then went back to glass cleaning.
The man to the left of her, a big chap, head full of long flaming red hair, got up next to her, let out a long belch and then left.
The seat remained empty for a long while and then up came a man. With a tip of his hat he sat down at the bar and waved the barman over. Ella glanced at him a few times, and stole a few looks as she pretended to look behind her. He was dressed in old combat pants, desert camouflage. On his head sat an old, worn, ranchers hat. He wore a black neck bandana with a strange pattern on it, he pulled this down and knocked back his drink. The man was covered in the skin of the desert. Something was special about this man, Ella could tell. She couldn’t help looking, it was as if she was drawn to him for a reason she didn’t know. And only her, and she keenly felt a strange power emanating from him, but then it vanished and she could only vaguely recall what it felt like.
The mysterious man looked at her whilst she was stealing a look and met her eyes, he did not take his eyes off.
“Hey there, I’m Brandon.”
“Ella,” she said, and without missing a beat offered him her hand.
Brandon’s eyes flicked down to the guns holstered at her hips, and looked back at her with a smile.
“I assume you’re a Watchmen then?”
“I’m just passing through. I highly doubt this town has a guard, they seem like simple folk. Not big enough for thievery.”
“True.”
Not knowing what to say next she chose to say nothing.
“Well I’ll be seeing you Ella.” Brandon got up and left and was quickly lost in the crowd of the inn.
Ella finished off her drink and headed off to make camp, in the morning she was up early. She would resupply and head off.
Two
Time passes although exactly how much Ella doesn’t know, she lost count of the days a while ago. She has been travelling for what feels like eons. It has been at least three weeks since she was left the hut town.
The sun felt hotter today, maybe this was summer, Ella wasn’t sure. She knew she had to get out of the heat and fast. Luckily about a mile later she crested a small ridge and looked down up a strange sight. It was a house. From her vantage point she saw the roof had collapsed in, but the walls seemed to be standing strong.
She went into the house and let her pack drop to the floor, and a second Ella crashed to the floor.
“Ella?” A voice called to her, penetrating the dark fog of her mind. “Ella?”
All of a sudden Ella was drowning, deep in the ocean, but then she awoke with a start water dripping from her face. Brandon stood with a deflated water skin in his hand.
Licking her lips, Ella’s thirst was reawakened. Brandon hand her a water skin from her pack and she drank lightly, fully aware of what happened when you drank to fast on an empty stomach. After satisfying her thirst she pours a little water into her hands, scrubbing her face, bringing back some of the moisture to her eyes.
“Put these on before you step outside next,” Brandon said offering her some desert goggles.
“Thanks,” she said taking the item, “what are you doing here?”
“Much the same as you I guess, I needed to get out of the heat, saw this building.”
“Lucky you found me, I may have never come back from wherever my mind was.”
She held her hand up so Brandon could help her to her feet, he took her and lifted but she stumbled back and began to fall but he managed to catch her.
“Maybe you should stay sat down for a bit then,” he said as he helped her down. “I’ll brew us some bitter bark.”
Ella nodded weariness suddenly hitting her again after the shock of the water. She laid back and slept.
-
People screamed. Buildings collapsed. A reddish sand blew throughout the city, covering everything. Huge Gateways opened throughout the city. Through the portals came creatures that confused the mind. Human in appearance, but with long slender limbs. They were all the same greyish colour, with not much variance in the tone.
The creatures were attired in battle armour. Swords drawn they charged civilians cutting them were they stood. Men, women and children fell where the stood, fear rooting them to the spot. Even if they could run it wouldn’t do much good. These creatures were fast.
And the sand, it blew faster, more coming through the portals as they opened around the city. The smell of ash stung the nose. Ella was patrolling the park, just recently getting the rank of Sergeant of the police force. She heard the screams over the other side of Royal Park, sprinting towards the sounds she all of a sudden skidded to a halt. She wanted to go aid the people in trouble, not knowing what was going on, but something compelled her to stop. Suddenly sand blew through the park out of nowhere. Ella covered her face, but the sand stung the back of her hand, she could feel it cutting her skin. The suddenly she couldn’t feel it anymore, although she could heard the sand rushing past. She lowered her hand and saw a through the reddish sand a stream of white sand blowing towards her. It didn’t seem to be blown, but to slither through the air.
As the sand got to Ella a sense of peace came over her. The sand wrapped around her, serpentine.
“We are The Fated,” she heard in head, “and we run.”
-
“Ella!” She was instantly awake, hand on gun. She heard a commotion outside. Getting up she ran to the doorway and saw Brandon, rifle in hand aiming at…nothing. Looking closer to where he was aiming she noticed a slight shimmer on the air, the like the heat shimmer of a hot surface. But she knew what this meant, The Fated were about to come through. Just as she realised what was happening, the haunting, high pitched, ululating noise followed by thrumming, filled the night.
The air was ripped open and out blew sand, followed by five of the long limbed, grey creatures. A roar of rage burst out of Brandon and he fired his rifle taking out two of The Fated in one shot. Damn he was good, Ella was impressed. The creatures used their flitting ability and appeared to almost vanish, or so they thought, they didn’t know Ella has been Infused and she could move as fast as them.
What did surprise Ella though is that Brandon had the ability to. She drew her pistols and shot down one of the creatures. The two remaining enemies split, one after Brandon and one after Ella. The creature took a swipe at Ella but she dodged back and took a shot, killing the creature before it even regained its balance. Brandon made short work of his combatant, killing it a second after Ella finished up.
Brandon stood over its body and fire into the back of the skull. A look of madness was in Brandon eyes, she could feel that strange power emanating from him, but as before it vanished just as she become aware of it, and the madness faded from his eyes. Looking down at corpse, seeing the gore he had just created, Brandon looked appalled.
“I think we need to have a chat,” Ella said, “now.”
Three
Brandon recounted his story of the arrival of The Fated, over a mug of the bitter bark he brewed. He happened to be in the same city as Ella when it happened, it also turned out that white serpentine sand also engulfed him, imbuing him with the powers, not unlike Ella but he could do some things Ella couldn’t and vice versa.
This was a huge relief to Ella, she thought she was the only one it happened to. In the two hundred years since the attack she hadn’t come across one other person like her. Because she was so long lived she kept moving, never settling down so no-one noticed.
The human race abhorred The Fated, and she was scared that if anyone discovered her abilities she would be shot dead. To find someone like her, was a huge relief.
They skirted around his violent outburst during the attack, although she was deeply offended. When they became Infused, they also understood the nature of creatures that destroyed this world, and she sympathised with them. The fact that Brandon must have known this information too and yet he could do something like that shocked her. She hated killing them, but when they came through in a violent state like that, it was self-defence.
She also discovers they have the same destination in mind, they are travelling to Va’Lohren, the city that The Fated have claimed as their own. They hope to find some kind of kinship there, being distant from their own race.
They travel together for just over a month before they get close. They have been following a valley with the sand ending over a week ago. Ella has heard tales of huge expanses of land that escaped the wrath of the sand, but since the attack she has not seen grass, or even a tree, just dry shrubs. They travel along the valley, taking in the sights of the plant life, and the smell of moist earth.
But eventually the grass is replaced with red sand again and the smell of the earth is replaced with the dryness of desert. Up in the sky a black cloud blows towards them, promising more rain then has fallen for years. But it soon becomes clear that the cloud is in fact smoke as the smell of burning fills both their nostrils.
That night as the sun sets the sky is a glow. Calling on their powers they flit the last few miles and stop a mile off the city. Under better circumstances Va’Lohren would have been a sight to behold, but the spires and turrets of buildings just gave the impression of chimneys as smoke billowed out of the city centre. Ella had been planning for ages what she would say to the guards at the gate when she finally reached her goal after decades of exploring. But all those plans went to waste because no-one manned the wall.
The duo ran to the middle of the city, directing themselves by listening to the commotion, the strange cries and calls echoing around the city. In the middle of the city stood a square, the buildings around the edge and deeper into the city were ablaze. Strange bodies littered the floor, neither human or belonging to The Fated. In the middle stood a huge podium, a stone ramp leading up to the centre. Flanking either side of this huge construction were two immense poles, made out of a material that she had never seen before, almost like metallic leather. A Gateway stood proud between the two poles.
But it was unlike anything Ella or Brandon had seen. Usually you could see straight through unimpeded, like looking through a window to the other side. But in this instance colours crackled across the surface, the surface rippling like water. Ella’s hair started to stand on end.
Groups of The Fated stood around, paying no attention to Brandon or Ella, focused entirely on the portal. A group of Fated stood at the base of the portal, hands raised, chanting something that sounded strange yet familiar to Ella.
The portal started shrinking in size, but the rainbow lightning that was arcing across the surface picked up growing in fury. All of a sudden a huge arm appeared through the portal, its skin matching those of the bodies on the floor. Ella knew, just from looking at its forearm, which was still coming through, that this thing was colossal. Sensing it wouldn’t get through the thing retracted its arm.
The chanting grew louder as they struggled with the portal but then, suddenly, the chanting stopped, the bodies of the chanters hitting the floor. The portal hung still for a second than out of nowhere the pressure seemed to drop on this side of the portal, everything that wasn’t secure to the floor shot through the portal, as the power of the suction grew, screams arose as they realised what was about to happen.
“Run!” Ella grabbed Brandon’s arm and tried to drag him away, “come on, it’s so unstable.”
Ella knew they wouldn’t make it away in time even if they employed all their powers but she started to run anyway.
Just as she turned the portal opened again to its full height and sucked her, Brandon, and everyone else that hadn’t got away in time, through in an instant and the crashed back together as if made from elastic, snapping shut with a devastating explosion.
