The Sea of Sand (IV)
You step forward, looking straight at the strangers. “Let us take the trial.”
The man glares down at you; you can sense that he is perturbed. This was not within his expectations – perhaps he had expected that you would leave obediently. “Do you speak for yourself, or for your women?”
“Wait, trial? Don’t volunteer us for something we have no idea about!” protests Sophie.
“What’s the matter, is poor little Sophie too yellow?” Elizabeth is quick to mock her, flapping her hands like a bird. “Are you a chicken? Bawk?”
“I swear, Elizabeth, you have been growing terribly uncouth these past few days. Wait till your father finds out how you’ve been speaking!”
“If I ever see my dad again. Who knows what can happen tomorrow?” shrugs Elizabeth. “Anyway, I’m in. And I don’t think they’re going to let you wait here while we do whatever it is they want us to do. Well, they might, but you would be all alone anyway…”
“Oh, fine, but if anything goes wrong remember that I told you so!”
“They’ll come along,” you say to the man.
After a while, he nods. “You have courage, if nothing else. Very well.” The other tribespeople begin murmuring to one another, while the child who had spoken out earlier glares at you, saying something you don’t understand. The man barks out something to them, and then turns to you.
“Come.”
You stay where you are for a while, wary of his motives.
“If you want to follow tradition, come. If you doubt, then why did you ask?”
He is right. It would be pointless for you to challenge the trial while being suspicious of them. The nomads do not lead you far – you find yourself waiting just right outside the oasis. Having you and the girls stand close together, they draw a circle around you in the sand. Small metal braziers are placed all around you at regular intervals. While chanting, they light up the braziers. A fragrant smoke rises into the air – it is almost suffocatingly sweet, and you feel slightly faint upon inhaling it.
“What do we have to do?” you ask.
“Just wait. The trial begins soon.”
The tribe continues to perform their droning chant, dancing in circles around you.
“I suppose the trial is to resist falling asleep from boredom?” whispers Elizabeth.
“If that’s the case, you would definitely fail. I’ve never seen you keep your eyes open for even an hour during Sunday school,” retorts Sophie.
“Oh my, you paid attention to me? I’m flattered. I thought you only had eyes for Andrew. Right, Wrinkly?”
“Why are you bringing him into this?”
“I agree with Elizabeth,” you say quietly. She is, from your personal experience, correct about Sophie’s behaviour whenever Andrew is around.
“You too?” Sophie sounds rather aggrieved.
At that moment, you feel something change beneath your feet. The sand seems to be… sinking. You look down, and find that your ankles are already buried. Yet, you are unable to move. Your legs, your arms, even your neck - they are all frozen, unable to move even the barest inch. You cannot hear anything except the droning chant, which has grown gradually louder without you noticing. As your body continues to sink, deeper and deeper into the sand, your eyes meet that of the man. He looks back at you impassively, his gaze expressionless. It remains the same even when the darkness takes you, as the sand flows over your head.
***
The darkness gives way to meagre light, and you find yourself lying on cold stone. You sit up with a start, fully alert and taking the measure of your surroundings. Elizabeth and Sophie are nowhere to be seen, and you are on a platform of some sort. Peering over the side, you find nothing but endless darkness.
It seems that you are currently in a massive cavern, large enough to fit multiple Scotsfields many times over. At its centre, right in front of you, is a gigantic pyramid of black stone, connected to your platform by a single, decrepit arch. The only illumination in this place comes from cracks above where the sun’s light shines in, the beams shining across golden rivers of sand that are – somehow – flowing upwards into the ceiling. Motes of golden dust flicker across your eyes, sparkling in the light.
Opening your book, you find it blank. For some reason unbeknownst to you, the mapping Astra is not functioning. As such, you have no idea where you are in relation to where you were. For now, there is nothing to do but to advance. You begin your trek across the arch. The stones are weathered and slippery, and the path narrow. It takes you all your concentration not to slip and fall. After some slow and painstaking progress, you finally clear the arch without any mishap, and find yourself standing before the pyramid. This close, the structure is massive – you cannot even see the top from where you are.
The entrance of the pyramid is open, like the wide open maw of a beast inviting you in. Within, you can see flickering torches lining the corridor. This is unlike the ruin you explored back on the 20th floor; that much is certain.
***
As you prepare to step inside, you feel concern for:
A. Elizabeth. She might be headstrong, but she is still a normal girl with no experience in the wilderness. Her recklessness might get her into danger if she is all by herself.
B. Sophie. You wouldn’t call her fragile, but she doesn’t seem to have taken to the adventure particularly well. Besides, she is the girl you have spent the most time with this past six months, even if it wasn’t particularly amiable.
C. Rain. Perhaps you should never have gone to the ruins if it meant leaving her alone for so long. You wonder how she is doing, and pray that she is fine.
D. Yourself. You might do some reckless things, but throwing yourself into danger day after day is not how you expected life to be. You hope that your streak of good fortune continues and that you will keep on surviving.
E. Nothing at all. There is nothing to think or to worry about except doing what you have to do in the moment.
***
