by Trevor Booth
Antastus leaned down and got right in the face of his soldiers; they stared him in the eyes. “Find the boy,” said Antastus. The men instantly set off, trudging through the snow.
***
For days, Te’oma, Julius and Ariana had scaled the peaks and valleys of the mountain range on their way to the Yen-Gyle Forest. They were exhausted and they still had a long way to go. Their muscles and bones ached all over. They had barely eaten, and the thought of chewing on more ice was more than they could bear.
But, at last they had reached a major milestone, the Desert of the Dead. This was no ordinary desert. Although it rarely rained there, it was so cold that the sand had sealed over with a glass-like substance. It was stunning to look at. The glassy dunes rolled off into the distance and the sunlight danced off the surface, creating illusions everywhere.
“It is said that if you enter the Desert of the Dead, you never come out,” said Ariana as she stood on its edge.
“You’re always full of good news, aren’t you?” said Te’oma, smiling at her. “Well, we haven’t come this far just to stop.” He walked out onto the desert and onto the first ice dune. He made it halfway up, when his feet slid out from under him and he fell back down the slippery glass-like dunes. Julius and Ariana chuckled to themselves. “Well, come on then. Let’s see you do it,” said Te’oma, as he lay on the ground.
Julius and Ariana smiled at each other. “First one to the top wins,” said Ariana. The two ran out onto the dunes as fast as they could, but just like Te’oma, they got halfway up before sliding back down.
“Not so easy, is it?” said Te’oma, with a smug sense of satisfaction.
Julius reached into his backpack and pulled out the gloves that Xerxes had given them. “That clever old man. I think these make sense now.” He put a pair of the gloves on and started climbing the dune on his hands and knees. With a bit of grunting and groaning he reached the top of the dune. “It works,” he said.
Before he knew it, Ariana and Te’oma had scrambled up the dune next to him. “That works great,” said Ariana puffing and panting. Then she sighed as she looked out at the seemingly infinite number of dunes, rolling into the distance.
“Look on the bright side,” said Te’oma. “Every time we go up, we get to do down,” he said, as he slid down the other side of the dune at a fantastic speed. It was so fast, in fact, that he got nearly all the way up the next dune.
Ariana and Julius quickly slid after him. “This might not take so long after all,” said Ariana, “And it’s fun, too!”
They climbed and slid their way through the day, up and down the dunes, always looking back at their tracks to make sure they were not going in circles.
After hours of sliding and climbing they realised that they were never going to make it all the way across in just one day. But none of them wanted to stop in the middle of the desert. Julius had told them stories of what happened there at night. Even when he was a boy, his people had told stories of the Desert of the Dead and those who dwelt there.
Nevertheless, they had to rest. Te’oma’s arms and legs ached in ways he never thought possible. He was so exhausted that he literally fell down on the ground. As he did, the glass below cracked. Te’oma quickly turned around to see the crack, and curiosity got the better of him. He pulled at the glass, breaking a chunk off.
Underneath the glass was a yellow sand so bright that it almost shone. He reached in and touched it. To his surprise, it was quite warm.
“Hey, feel this,” said Te’oma excitedly.
“Last time a man said that to me it didn’t end well for him,” said Ariana with a smile.
“Just come here,” said Te’oma.
Ariana and Julius quickly put their hands in the sand and smiled as its warmth brought life back to their frozen fingers. Te’oma had a wonderful idea. He started to rip more and more of the glass off the dunes, until he had pulled back enough for them to lie comfortably. The three wasted no time and quickly snuggled into the sand, the warmth spreading across their whole bodies, relaxing them so much that they all drifted off to sleep in no time.
As the sun faded below the horizon, the warm sand beneath Te’oma, Ariana and Julius started to shake ever so slightly and slowly disappear. Then, very gently, the three were pulled under the sand by an invisible force so subtle that they did not wake from their sleep. The glassy surface above resealed itself as if no one had ever been there.
***
Te’oma was violently woken from his sleep. His arms and legs were freezing cold. He lay high atop one of the dunes.
The sun was starting to rise in the distance, but fog obscured its light. He got to his feet and shivered in the cold. He looked around, confused, how did I get here, he wondered to himself.
“Hello!” screamed Te’oma at the top of his lungs. The sound echoed around him, but no one replied. He slid his way down the dune and up another but, with the fog so thick, he couldn’t see more than five metres in front. “Hello!” he screamed again as he started to panic. “Hello,” he heard on the wind, but he couldn’t distinguish if it was someone calling him or if it was his own voice echoing.
“Hello,” he heard again. This time he knew it was not his voice, but he did not know which direction it was coming from.
“Ariana! Julius!” yelled Te’oma.
“Over here,” replied Julius.
“Where? I can’t see anything,” said Te’oma.
“Just stay there. I’ll come to you,” Julius replied.
Te’oma strained his eyes, looking for Julius.
“This is hopeless,” said Julius. “I can’t see a thing.”
“Julius,” called Te’oma, “lay down on the ice and put your ear against it.”
“Ok!” he yelled back.
Te’oma leaned down to the ice and took a metal cup out of his backpack. He tapped the cup on the ice and the sound reverberated across the dunes until it reached Julius’s ear.
Julius quickly picked up which direction the tapping was coming from. “Just keep tapping,” said Julius, as he put his ear to the ground again to get his direction. He moved quickly across the sand dunes until he reached Te’oma.
“That was brilliant. How did you think of that?” asked Julius.
“My father and I used to do that when we were playing hide and seek,” replied Te’oma.
“Well, it worked great. Where’s Ariana?” Julius asked.
“I thought she’d be with you,” said Te’oma.
“Ariana!” the two yelled, squinting their eyes, trying to see through the dense fog.
“This is no good,” said Julius.
“We can’t just leave,” said Te’oma.
“What if she comes past here?” continued Julius. “She’s a smart girl. She’s probably walking across the dunes right now, trying to get out of here, and that’s what we should do too.”
“Sounds great, but there’s just one problem. How?” said Te’oma.
“I was hoping you had some thoughts on that,” said Julius.
Te’oma and Julius sat on top of the sand dune for a good half an hour, staring out at the fog. They were bereft of ideas; every direction looked exactly the same, until it finally dawned on Julius. “Of course. It’s so simple. Ariana would kick me for being this stupid,” he said, getting to his feet. “You see the sun through the fog?”
“Barely,” said Te’oma, standing up next to him.
“Which direction does the sun rise in?” asked Julius.
“The east,” replied Te’oma.
“Exactly,” said Julius as he slid down the dune. “And that’s the way we need to go!”
For hours they walked across the icy dunes. The fog lifted and the full extent of the dunes came into sight. They pressed on, determined to get out of this giant maze, all the while keeping an eye out for Ariana.
The edge of the desert was slowly but surely becoming more visible on the horizon. They could tell, because the reflective surface of the dunes in the distanc
e gave way to the white fields of snow at the base of the mountains.
With his feet aching, Te’oma sat down at the top of a dune. “I need to stop for a minute,” he said, as he ripped his shoes off and massaged his feet. His mind was occupied with thoughts of Ariana. He hoped desperately that they hadn’t left her in the middle of the desert.
Julius stood on the dunes, looking out at the mountains that lay beyond the desert.
“Have we done the right thing?” asked Te’oma.
“What do you mean?” said Julius.
“Leaving her out there, alone,” said Te’oma.
Julius smiled as he spotted something in the distance. “I think we did exactly the right thing.” He grabbed Te’oma by the hand and pulled him off the ground. “Quickly,” he said.
He slid down the dunes as fast as he could. Te’oma tried hard to keep up with him. The two went up and down dunes at a dizzying speed, all the while Te’oma wondering what the rush was.
Finally, they reached the last dune of the desert and, there, lying asleep, was Ariana. Julius and Te’oma looked down at her. “We’ve been worried sick and here you are, having a nap,” said Julius. But Ariana did not reply.
A terrible cold chill ran down Te’oma’s spine. He looked across at the snow and saw the three Sentari hybrids that had been sent by Antastus, walking towards Ariana. The veins in their strong, muscle-bound legs and arms pulsated with blue ice. Their eyes had a white, glazed look about them and their skin was pale blue.
Te’oma and Julius quickly dashed to Ariana’s side. Te’oma leaned down and tried to wake her, but she did not move.
The hybrids walked closer to them, their eyes firmly fixated on Te’oma. They waded through the deep snow with ease, cutting through it like it was butter. As they walked, they purred like cats, only with a much deeper tone.
Te’oma and Julius held their ground as the hybrids walked right up to them. The hybrids looked down at them from their lofty height and snarled. Julius stepped up to one of the hybrids and tried to push it away. It grabbed Julius by the throat and tossed him back into the dunes. Julius landed with an almighty thud, smashing the ice.
The three hybrids gathered around Te’oma. They were not interested in Ariana. They didn’t even notice her waking up. She rubbed her eyes, then was startled as she looked up at them. She scrambled away from them and saw that Te’oma was surrounded. She broke a piece of ice from the dunes and held it in her hand like a knife. She quickly leapt to her feet and stabbed one of the hybrids in the leg.
It looked back at Ariana, showing no sign pain. It knelt down next to her and put its ugly face against hers, ripped the glass out of its leg and threw it away. The hybrid grabbed Ariana by the throat and started to squeeze. It squeezed with such force that Ariana could not breathe. The hybrid stood up and lifted Ariana off the ground. She scratched and clawed at its arms but it had no effect. Te’oma ran over to the hybrid and started kicking its leg. It threw Ariana away and looked down at Te’oma with anger.
Julius and Ariana lay on the ground in pain. The hybrids regathered around Te’oma. For some reason they had not killed him.
Without warning, one of the dunes shattered into millions of pieces. The sand below whipped up into a tornado and spun high into the air. The tornado spun faster, sending sand flying in all directions. Then it stopped, and the sand fell to the ground like soft rain.
Standing in the middle of the sand was the Desert Queen, a creature thought to only exist in myth and legend. She floated gracefully above the sand. She was ten feet tall; her long black hair ran down to the ground. She wore a thin, black veil to hide her hideous face, and a dark dress that covered her whole body.
The Queen let out an ear-splitting shriek that even the hybrids found intolerable. Te’oma, Ariana and Julius dropped to the ground and covered their ears.
The hybrids turned their attention to the Queen and walked towards her. The Queen looked at Te’oma. Her gaze pierced through the veil and put Te’oma in a trance. In his mind, he heard her voice. “You must leave now. Run. I will hold these beasts for as long as I can.”
“Thank you,” thought Te’oma.
“Complete your journey, so that I may one day rise again,” said the Queen.
Te’oma ran over to Ariana and Julius and grabbed their hands. “Quick. Let’s get out of here,” he said.
Te’oma got no argument from them. Terrified, they quickly ran into the snow, as fast they could, not once looking back to see if they were being followed.
They reached the tree line at the end of the snowfields and dropped to the ground in exhaustion. In the distance, they could see flashes of light coming from the desert.
“Must be one mighty fight going on over there,” said Julius.
“I’m just glad we’re not there to see it,” said Te’oma.
“Me too,” said Ariana.
Te’oma suddenly dropped to the ground and put his head in his hands and winced in pain. His ears rung loudly. In his mind, Te’oma could see a vision of a very old oak tree. The tree sat alone on a small island in the middle of a lake. He could hear the Queen’s voice, “Find the tree. You will need the treasure it hides,” she said. Then, the vision stopped, as did Te’oma’s pain.
In the distance, a giant beam of red light rocketed up into the sky. The hybrids screamed in agony and the light disappeared.
Ariana leaned down and put her hand on Te’oma’s shoulder. “Are you alright?” she asked.
“Yes,” said Te’oma getting to his feet.
“What was that thing?” said Julius.
“Whoever she was, she was helping us,” replied Te’oma.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t want to stay around here for too long,” said Julius, as he set off into the forest. Ariana and Te’oma followed closely behind him.
Te’oma did not speak of his vision. He didn’t want the others to think he was crazy or, to be more accurate, he didn’t want Ariana to think he was crazy.
***
For days they bashed their way through the dense, ancient forest. The forest floor was wet and muddy. Camping each night was made extremely difficult with no clear, dry ground.
The three spoke very little. They were becoming weary and the purpose of their journey was beginning to be lost on them. Te’oma’s mind was fixated on the vision of the old oak tree. It drove him to keep going.
Ariana and Julius lay on the damp forest floor and fell fast asleep. Te’oma sat alert, running the vision over and over in his head, looking for clues. He looked up at the sky through a small gap in the trees and, just at that moment, the clouds parted and the night sky became visible. Sparkling above, in all its glory, was the Star of Alentia. It shone like no other, glinting like a beacon. Te’oma stared at it. There was something about that star that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Then a memory came flooding back. Te’oma had been here before.
Te’oma and his mother and father had sat not far from that very spot, many years before. They had gazed upon that very same star. More importantly, the spot where they had sat was on a small island, with a large oak tree in the middle. Excited, Te’oma leapt to his feet and reached for Ariana to wake her up. But, before he did, he realised what time it was and decided it would be best to wait until morning.
Te’oma sat back down on the ground. His heart was pounding as he smiled. Happy memories of his family were few and far between, and he was grateful to remember this one.
The morning sun started to peek its way through the trees. Te’oma was already packed and ready to go. Ariana and Julius slowly woke from their awfully uncomfortable night’s sleep. Ariana looked at Te’oma, who was beaming with a smile from ear to ear. “What are you so happy about?” she asked, yawning.
Te’oma smiled back at her. “Nothing. We’ve got a long day ahead of us. We’d better get going. I’ve got a good feeling about today,” he said, tripping over his words in excitement.
“How is it any different to every other
day in this awful place?” a less enthused Julius wanted to know.
“Come on. You never know what we might find,” replied Te’oma chirpily.
“I don’t know how you woke up on the right side of that bed but, please, it’s too early to be that happy,” said Ariana as she struggled to get to her feet.
The three walked through the forest, just like they had for the last few days, except today Te’oma walked at the front, setting a cracking pace. All day they walked, with few stops. Ariana and Julius were not overly happy with Te’oma’s newfound enthusiasm.
At the end of the day they felt no closer to their destination. Ariana dropped her bag to the ground. “Here is as good a spot as any to stop for the night,” she said.
Te’oma turned around and picked up her bag and handed it to her. “Just a little bit further,” he said with a smile.
“Ok, but I’m getting sick of that smile,” said Ariana.
The three walked a little further until they reached a clearing and there, sitting in the middle of an old swamp, was the big oak tree from Te’oma’s vision.
Surrounding the oak tree was soft, lush, green grass. Te’oma smiled at Ariana and Julius.
“Now, that’s what I call a bed,” said Julius happily.
“Yeah, but how do we get out there?” replied Ariana.
Te’oma hadn’t thought of that. He could remember spending the night there with his parents, but he couldn’t remember how they got through the swamp.
“Easy,” said Julius, as he threw his backpack across the water and onto the grass. Julius hopped across the water, landing delicately on tree roots all the way, until he reached the grass on the other side.
