(c) 2007 - 2008 by LFox
A World Apart
Chapter 10: LOST

In Eden in the streets of Ralion the gang is gathered around Elwyn as she prepares to teleport them out.  Elwyn motions her hands and moments later they appear in the middle of an endless desert of sand which shows no sign of ending in any direction.

“What happened?” asks Nathan.

“This is definitely not the right place” says Jessica.

Elwyn holds a hand to her head.  “I’m, I’m sorry I, I must have lost concentration.  I’ll teleport us to the right…”.  Elwyn’s body suddenly goes limp and she collapses.  Nathan quickly holds out his arms and catches as she falls.

“Are you okay?” asks Nathan.

“I’m, I’m, I’m fine”

Elisha reaches out and puts a hand on Elwyn’s forehead feeling a burning heat emanating from her forehead.  “She’s got a high fever”

Nathan clutches her tightly and looks at her sadly.  “You idiot why didn’t you say weren’t feeling well?”

“I was fine, I just felt a little hot” says Elwyn.

“We better get her back to town” says Elisha.

“Uh, guys.  We…might have a problem”.  They turn around to find Jessica holding a map in her hands with a rather worried expression on her face.

“What’s the problem?” asks Nathan.

Jessica turns a little pale.  “Well…you know how the map shows our location usually?”

Nathan looks at her somewhat worried.  “Yeah”

Jessica gulps down and glances down at the map again.  “It…it doesn’t”

Elisha looks at her oddly and walks over to her.  “Let me see that”.  Elisha looks over the map carefully seeing no indication what so ever of their current location.  “She’s right, it doesn’t show it”

“Well where are we then?” asks Nathan.

Jessica looks down at the map.  “Well, since this is a desert and I don’t see any others closer to Ralion I’d say we’re…here maybe?”

Elisha looks down at the map where Jessica’s pointing, her finger poised over a large area labeled Sands of Despair.  “Sands of Despair that sounds pleasant.  I’d say that’s pretty right though”

“Guys, don’t we have a town portal scroll still?” asks Nathan.

Jessica’s eyes widen.  “Hey yeah, we do”

Elisha pulls out a scroll from the bag on her side and unravels it.  She looks it over briefly then quickly starts to read the words.  As she finishes though nothing happens.  “Nothing happened?”

“Try again, maybe you read it wrong” says Jessica.  Elisha quickly reads over the scroll once more but again nothing happens.  “Give it here”.  Jessica puts away her map and takes the scroll, as she finishes reading over it though nothing happens.

Elisha lets out a heavy sigh.  “Well that’s just great.  I guess they don’t call it Sands of Despair of nothing”

“So we can’t use a town portal?” asks Nathan.

Jessica shakes her head.  “Doesn’t look like it”

“And we have no idea where we are in this Sands of Despair?”

“Yeah”

“Great”.  Nathan picks up Elwyn in his arms and looks in all directions before settling on one.  “Let’s go that way”

The girls quickly follow after him as he begins to walk.  Elisha shakes her head.  “This is nuts you can’t just pick a direction and walk in a desert”

“Well there’s not much else we can do” says Nathan.

Elwyn looks up at Nathan weakly, by now she looks flushed with beads of sweat on her forehead.  “I’m sorry about this.  I can try to teleport us back to town if you want”

“No you just rest” says Nathan.

Elisha looks down at Elwyn.  “No offence but in your condition we’d probably end up in a worse place if you tried”

Elwyn nods her head silently realizing she’s right.  For the next half hour they walk through the endless desert over the boiling hot sand.  Sweat runs down their faces and necks as the heat gathers under Nathan and Jessica’s heavy armor.  And as they walk the girls have to watch their footing every so often as their high heels sink deep into the sand.

At some point through their tireless trek they pause briefly to put Elwyn on Nathan’s back with her white cloak draped over her to protect her from the sun.  Nathan stops on a sand dune and gazes ahead into the distance instead of the blurry blue distance like all the other directions everything is a dark brown mist.

“Please tell me that’s not what I think it is” says Nathan.

“Sorry to say but it looks like a sandstorm to me too” says Elisha.

Jessica gazes at the distance noticing the storm quite literally stretches for miles upon miles.  “That’s a really big storm”

Nathan suddenly rushes ahead.  “Come on we better take shelter quick”

The girls rush after him and the three of them take cover behind a large sand dune.  After only a few seconds a massive gust of wind blows past in all directions carrying thousands of tons of sand.  Nathan quickly holds Elwyn close to his chest and shields her with his arms.

Jessica quickly shields her eyes.  “How long do you…”.  She quickly stops talking and starts spitting as sand flies into her mouth.

Elisha shields her mouth and glances at Jessica.  “It’s not very smart to open your mouth in a sandstorm”

Jessica quickly shields her mouth.  “No kidding.  How long do you think this will last?”

“It could last hours that storm looked massive” says Nathan.

The four of them stay bunkered down behind the sand dune as the storm rages on for almost two hours.  By the time it finally ends the four of them are pretty much covered in sand from head to toe.

“Is it over?” asks Jessica.

Elisha stands up and shakes the sand off herself before glancing around.  “It’s past”

Nathan looks down at Elwyn and brushes her hair out of her face.  “Hey you thirsty?”

Elwyn nods her head weakly.  Nathan unhooks the water pouch from Elwyn’s side and gives her a drink.  Meanwhile Elisha climbs up on the sand dune with Jessica following close by.  As they reach the top Jessica’s eyes widen in surprise.  Ahead of them is still a massive vast desert but the shape and sizes of all the sand dunes around them are completely different.

“Wow, is it me or does the desert look different now?” asks Jessica.

Elisha shakes her head.  “No it does look different.  The storm reshaped the sand dunes.  If we got turned around we’d end up walking back the way we came”

Nathan walks up on the sand dune to the girls with Elwyn on his back.  “You guys ready to go?”

They nod and the three of them quickly start walking again.  After several minutes Jessica starts fidgeting as they walk along.

“I think I got sand in my underwear especially in my bra” says Jessica.

Elisha looks ahead of them with stern unblinking eyes.  “So do I”

“It’s really uncomfortable”

Nathan glances back at her.  “We’re all full of sand so quit complaining”

After several minutes of walking silently Jessica lets out a sigh.  “God its soooo hot”

Elisha glares at her.  “It’s a desert what do you expect?”

Jessica looks at her with a tired expression.  “Yeah but you’re not wearing plate armor”

“Maybe not but Nathan is even worse off”

Jessica looks ahead of them at Nathan who has his hair drenched in sweat with sweat running down the sides of his face.  “Sorry, you’re right”

Jessica goes silent again keeping her complaints to herself.  The three of them continue walking on for another full hour without stopping.  Nathan and Jessica pass by a small ditch in the sand but Elisha strolls through it and as she does the ground suddenly quakes beneath her.

Elisha pauses and looks around.  “What was that?”

Nathan and Jessica stop to look around as well.  Suddenly the ground where Elisha’s standing starts sinking rapidly drawing her toward the center.  Just as Elisha looks like she’s about to fall Jessica reaches out and grabs her arm.  As the last of the sand slides away a massive fleshy mouth with giant spiked teeth around the edges becomes visible where the small ditch was.  Worst of all Elisha is left hanging over the edge with her feet hanging just inside the fleshy mouth.

Elisha stares down below her with fear.  “What in the hell is that?”.  The mouth slowly begins to move causing the ground to quake as it closes over.  Elisha screams out.  “Pull me up”

Jessica strains trying to hold Elisha as her heels slide in the sand.  With great effort she slowly manages to pull her up just before her feet are torn off from the creature below.  As they lay nearby on the sand they look down at the giant fleshy mouth.

“What the hell is that thing?  It looks like some kind of mouth” says Jessica.

The ground quakes and sand starts pouring towards the mouth again.  Nathan looks at them fearfully and backs away.  “Get away, get away from it now”

All three of them turn and begin to run.  Nathan makes it away with little trouble as he was further away.  The girls however get trapped as sand flows towards the mouth like a giant ocean current.  With great effort they manage to pull themselves up to the side out of reach of the pouring sand.  They lay staring at the sand silently as it rushes towards the mouth.

“What the hell is that?” asks Elisha.

“Beats me, but we better be more careful” says Jessica.

Elisha nods and they quickly help each other up before going over to where Nathan’s standing.

“You guys alright?” asks Nathan.

They both nod their heads.  Once again they start walking, continuing for several hours only stopping briefly to give Elwyn a drink or take a quick five minute break.  Suddenly Jessica stops and looks in the distance where a small shimmer of green can be seen in the blurry hot distance.

“Hey an oasis” says Jessica.

Elisha looks at her.  “An oasis?”.  She quickly turns to where Jessica’s looking.  “Hey you’re right”

“Great I think we could all use some water” says Nathan.

A few minutes later the three of them are standing around a lone palm like tree that’s standing in the middle of the desert all by itself.

Jessica’s brow twitches in annoyance as she glares at the tree.  “This is a joke right?”

Elisha taps her knuckles on the base of the tree.  “Well it feels real”

“What the hell is a tree doing in the middle of the desert all alone?  Seriously is that even possible?”

“Don’t forget this is a virtual world.  It’s probably hundreds of thousands of miles of landscape you can’t tell me someone isn’t going to slip a tree in the wrong place at some point” says Nathan.

“This is the middle of the desert” screams Jessica.  She looks around at the sand which stretches for miles in every direction.  “How the hell can you make a mistake like this?”

Elwyn points up at the tree weakly.  “There’s…there’s…”

Nathan looks back at her then glances up at the tree.  High up in its branches are several green sphere shaped fruits.  “Hey you’re right.  Guys there’s fruit on it”

Jessica’s face goes blank and she looks up at the tree.  “Well I guess it has SOME use”

Elisha grabs onto the tree and starts climbing up.  “I’ll get them down.  We don’t need anything to eat but Elwyn does”.  Elisha quickly climbs to the top and perches herself on it.  She draws one of her swords and looks down at them.  “Get ready to catch them”

Jessica holds out her hands in front of her.  “Ready”.  Elisha starts hacking off the thin stalks holding the fruits.  As Jessica catches the last one she looks up at Elisha.  “While you’re up there can you see an end to this place?”

Elisha quickly glances around and shakes her head.  “No and I wouldn’t get your hopes up either.  It takes days to walk between some towns remember”

Jessica quickly turns pale and looks depressed.  “Oh yeah”

“I don’t think Elwyn is gonna last a few days without proper treatment” says Nathan.

Elisha jumps down from the tree and walks over to look at Elwyn.  “How’s she doing anyway?”

Elwyn looks up at them weakly.  Her face is even more flushed than before and her face is drenched in sweat.  As she opens her mouth to speak her words come out dry and hoarse.  “I’m fine, just a bit hot and thirsty”

“I’ll sit you down and you can have something to eat and drink” says Nathan.

He kneels down and gently lays her on the ground so she’s leaning against the tree.  Elisha takes one of the fruit from Jessica and looks it over.

“You know, I probably shoulda asked this earlier but…do you think these are even edible?” asks Elisha.

They all turn to look at the fruit silently.  “I’ll try one just to make sure” says Nathan.

Nathan takes the fruit from Elisha and cracks it open on the side of his sword.  A trickle of green liquid slowly spills out making him quickly hold it upright to keep the juice inside.

Jessica looks at the fruit curiously.  “What is that thing a coconut?”

Nathan puts the fruit to his lips and takes a swig of the juice.  “Mmm, hey this is pretty good.  Tastes a bit like apricot juice”

Jessica looks at him doubtfully.  “Seriously?  Let me try some”

Elisha knocks Jessica’s hand away as she reaches out to grab it.  “Hey hey the fruits for Elwyn.  We don’t even carry food since we don’t need it.  It could be days before we find something else and she’d starve by then”

Jessica turns deathly pale.  “S-sorry”

Nathan kneels down and holds Elwyn’s head gently to help her sip at the fruit.

Elwyn smiles at him.  “This is quite nice”

After drinking the last of the juice Nathan pries it open finding the insides are coated in green semi solid paste.  While he helps Elwyn eat the fruit Jessica and Elisha pour the remaining fruits into their tiny loot bag.  As Elwyn finishes off the last of the fruit Nathan sits down beside her to rest.

“Let’s rest a while” says Nathan.

Both the girls collapse next to them under the tiny sliver of shade the tree provides.

“Have I mentioned how much I hate this place?” asks Jessica.

“No in the past fifteen minutes no” says Elisha.

Jessica lets out a sigh and wipes the sweat from her forehead.  After resting for a while the three of them get back to walking with Nathan carrying Elwyn on his back.  They continue walking for the next few hours passing by several mouths in the sand however unlike before their smart enough to stay well away from any ditches in the sand.  Jessica glances behind them seeing a small mound of sand slowly creeping after them.

“Uh, guys I think we’re being followed” says Jessica.

Elisha glances back without turning her head.  “I noticed that a while ago.  I’ve been keeping an eye on it”

Nathan glances back at them.  “Noticed what?”

“There’s a mound of sand following us”

Nathan looks back to the side quickly spotting the small mound of sand sneaking after them.  “What do we do?”

“I’m not sure.  I thought it wasn’t out to get us but it hasn’t stopped following us so I’m not so sure anymore” says Elisha.

Jessica draws her sword.  “I say it’s best to be prepared”

“I suppose so”.  Elisha unhooks her bow and holds it in her hand.

Suddenly the mound of sand explodes and a massive orange colored sliver flies toward Jessica.  Just as it’s about to take off her head Elisha fires an arrow at it.  Inside of hitting it though the sliver’s body turns to sand which lands as a puddle around Jessica’s feet.

“What the hell just happened?” asks Jessica.

“I think that was a sliver” says Elisha.  Elisha turns to Nathan.  “Get her out of here now.  We’ll handle this”

“Are you sure?” asks Nathan.

The sand from the sliver around Jessica’s feet slowly sinks into the ground.

Elisha waves a hand and yells.  “Just go damnit”

Nathan turns and runs a few steps.  A rush of sand suddenly explodes in front of him and a sliver tackles him to the ground knocking him down and sending Elwyn skidding across the sand.  Just as the sliver’s about to tear into Nathan an arrow flies out at its head.  Once again instead of being hit the sliver’s body turns to sand and lands in a puddle on the ground.

Jessica quickly runs over to Elwyn and looks her over worriedly.  “Are you okay?”

Elwyn looks up at her and nods weakly.

Nathan stands up and looks around.  “This is bad”

Elisha’s eyes dart across the sand scanning the area.  “It looks like they can change back and forth between sand.  Magic would probably work but…”

Nathan glances at Elwyn and shakes his head.  “That’s impossible”

Suddenly sand explodes near Elisha.  A sliver leaps out of the ground so fast and slashes her in the left side that by the time she feels the pain it's already back in the ground.  Blood quickly flows out over her hand as she grips her side in pain.

“Son of a bitch” says Elisha.

“Are you okay?” asks Nathan.

Elisha nods.  “Bleeding, but fine”

Small mounds of sand rise all around them and begin to circle them slow at first but then start going faster and faster and faster.

“Whadda we do?” asks Jessica fearfully.

Nathan readies his sword and shield.  “We fight”

Suddenly the ground quakes heavily all around them causing them to almost fall over.

“What the hells going on now?” yells Jessica.

“Earthquake” yells Elisha.

“We’re in the desert god damnit”

No more than a dozen feet ahead of them a tidal wave of sand erupts from the ground as a massive brown fifty foot worm springs forth from the ground.  The worm wiggles around a moment then turns down towards them and opens its mouth revealing thousands of large spiky teeth.

Elisha stares at the giant worm’s mouth in utter amazement.  “You gotta be kidding me”

The massive worm rises upright seeming to go even higher into the air before turning over and speeding towards the gang with its mouth open.  The slivers around them suddenly burrow further into the ground as they speed away from the worms intended target.  Nathan runs over and grabs Elwyn and the four of them dive out of the way landing mere feet away from the worm as it crashes into the sand again.

Jessica stares at the worm as it sinks in the ground looking quite terrified.  “Is anyone else starting to really dislike this place?”

Elisha nods.  “Yeah, yeah I am”

The ground quakes and the sand beneath them starts bouncing around wildly.  Nathan stands up with Elwyn in his hands.  “Oh god.  Let’s get the hell outta here” says Nathan.

The girls stand up and the three of them start running.  Just as they get out of range the massive worm shoots up into the air behind them.  As they continue running the worm bends over and lunges at them.  Missing them it starts sliding along the sand after them.

“Is it behind us?” squeals Jessica.

“What do you think you idiot?” screams Elisha.

“Just don’t stop running” yells Nathan.

The three of them continue running as fast as they can.  All the while the giant worm chases after them.  It dives underground and comes up in front of them, it slides along behind them trying to scoop them up and even dives directly at them from overhead.  After almost twenty minutes the worm disappears from sight completely for several minutes.  Thinking it’s safe they all slow down to walking to catch their breath.  Elisha clutches her side and stifles a groan of pain.

Nathan looks at the bloody streak beneath Elisha’s hand.  “You okay?”

“I’m fine, it’s nothing serious” says Elisha.

Jessica gazes at her wound intently.  “Mmm we should really put a bandage on it”

Elisha glares at her.  “You really wanta stop now to do that?  We just got away from that worm”

Jessica turns pale as she remembers their long chase.  “Uh I guess it can wait a while”

After about fifteen minutes of walking Jessica stops and looks at the distance with a hand at her forehead to shield the sun.  She squints her eyes and looks deeper confirming a patch of green in the distance.

“Is that another single tree in the middle of nowhere or is that actually an oasis this time?” asks Jessica.

Elisha stops and looks in the distance with a hand shielding her face from the sun.  “It looks like an oasis this time”

The three of them rush ahead and quickly come to a massive oasis with lush green vegetation, large trees and in the center a large pool of fresh drinking water.  Nathan gently puts Elwyn down against a tree and collapses in the shade.  The girls immediately race for the water and plunge their faces in to drink.  After drinking for almost a full minute Jessica pulls away and gasps out.

“Oh that’s much better” says Jessica.

Elisha pulls back and gasps out.  “God I needed that, my mouth felt like a mound of sand”

“Let’s treat your wound”

Elisha sighs out and relaxes against a nearby tree.  “Fine”.

She lifts off her top revealing a massive bloody streak at least twelve inches long on her side.  The cut looks so deep that it’s actually passed through her outer flesh and the entire surrounding area is drenched in blood right down to her thigh.  If not for the fact that the blood actually clotted and slowed the bleeding dramatically she probably would have passed out from blood loss.

Jessica quickly rushes over and kneels down to look at the cut with wide eyes.  “Christ I thought you said it wasn’t serious”

“It’s not”

Jessica glares at her angrily.  “Well you outta recheck the definition of serious”

Hearing them Nathan walks over to take a look at the cut himself.  “She okay?”

“I’m fine” says Elisha.

Jessica reaches out and presses a finger down on the wound making Elisha stifle a cry of pain.  “Fine huh?”

Elisha glares at her with vicious eyes.  “Do that again and I’ll kill you”

Jessica glances up at Nathan.  “I’ll bandage her up you better get Elwyn something to eat and drink”

Nathan nods and walks off to tend to Elwyn.

Jessica turns her attention back to Elisha’s cut and takes out a healing potion from the bag on her side.  She pops the top and looks at Elisha almost sympathetically.  “This is gonna hurt”

Elisha looks away, a moment later she stifles a scream as Jessica beings pouring the red liquid over her wound.

“Fuck that hurts” says Elisha through gritted teeth.

“I know, don’t forget I had this done” says Jessica.  Elisha begins to breath heavily as she forces herself not to scream.  Jessica holds up the half empty vial in front of her.  “Drink the rest”

Elisha snatches the vial from her hand and downs it in one gulp.  Jessica quickly takes out some bandages and carefully starts to apply them to Elisha’s wound.

“I think we better log out briefly and call our parents to tell them we won’t be home tonight” says Elisha.

Nathan walks over to them again to see how their doing.  “I guess so”

“I think we it’s also best if we log out to check on our bodies.  We probably all need to go toilet and maybe grab something to eat”

Jessica ties the bandage off and sits back to look at her work.  “Alright that should do it.  At least until we get to a town”

“You two go I’ll stay here” says Nathan.

Jessica turns to look at him.  “Alright but when we get back you can go”

Nathan nods silently.

Several moments later Elisha and Jessica are in the real world taking off their VR helmets.

Jessica sits up on her seat with a defeated expression.  “We are so screwed”

Elisha lets out a heavy sigh.  “I know, but don’t say anything to Nathan.  Hopefully we can make it to a town before Elwyn gets any worse”

Jessica pulls out her mobile and stands up.  “I’ll call Nathan’s parents and mine”

“Alright and I’ll call mine”

After calling their parents and informing them they won’t be home tonight they head downstairs and make a quick stop at the restroom before heading to the fast food court on the first floor.  Down there they find a single male employee standing behind a counter with signs plastered up on the walls for half a dozen different food chains.

Nearby are dozens of tables and chairs and a short distance from that are lounges facing TVs.  Nearby up against the wall are half a dozen monitors on stands that can be browsed via touch screen for information on the Eden world.  A few moments later the girls sit down at a table both with a meal pack consisting of a large burger in the shape of a long bun, a large soda and a large pack of chips.

Jessica takes a huge bite out of her burger and chews it happily.  “Those injections help with hunger but nothing beats a good burger to fill your stomach”

“You said it” says Elisha.

“So, any ideas on what to do?”

Elisha shakes her head sadly.  “No.  The best thing I can think of is we keep heading in the same direction but…it could be days before we reach a town”

Meanwhile in Eden Nathan kneels down next to Elwyn.

“How are you feeling?” asks Nathan.

Elwyn looks at him weakly.  “Tired, hot, I’m so sorry about this”

Nathan smiles warmly at her.  “It’s okay”

“Can I have some more water?”

“Sure”

Nathan takes the pouch off her belt and helps her drink from it.

Back in the real world Jessica lets out a loud burp and pats her stomach with a content look on her face.  “That was great”

Elisha stares at her hardly seeming impressed by her behavior.  “You’re a pig.  You’re just lucky they got a discount for gamers with a hardcore account”

Jessica pouts.  “Hey two fifty for a meal with a burger, fries and a drink that’s just great value”

Elisha smirks.  “Not to mention a great way to get fat”

Jessica grins broadly.  “Only if you eat it too often, which I don’t”

Elisha finishes the last of her burger then gets up and goes over to one of the monitors by the wall.  Jessica gets up and stands to her side watching as she flips through the screens on the monitor.

“What are you doing?” asks Jessica.

“They got the Eden Handbook on the consoles here.  I’m gonna check the area we’re in” says Elisha.

Jessica looks at her blankly.  “Mmm what for?”

“So we know what other things we might run into”

Jessica sighs.  “To tell you the truth I think we already met them all”

“Probably but it might have some help on killing them”

After ten minutes of silently watching Jessica finally opens her mouth again.  “So, anything useful?”

Elisha sighs.  “Well we’re in an S grade zone where maps, compasses, scry crystals, teleportation and portals don’t function.  There’s also slivers, sand worms, anubi warriors, a bunch of others but also my personal favorite, screamers”

“Screamers?”

“Small little creatures that glide around in the sand at up to fifty miles per hour and let out shrieks so loud they literally make your ears bleed”

“Oh my god”

“It gets better though these little critters jump out of the sand and slice off your limbs.  By the time you realize you’ve lost your hand they’ll already be in the sand again circling around to get you again”

Jessica shudders.  “Please tell me we’re not going to meet THOSE things”

“Well they live pretty much everywhere in the Sands of Despair it’s actually a miracle we haven’t encountered them yet.  I think it’ll be just pure blind luck if we actually make it out without encountering them at all”

“O-kay anyway any useful tips to deal with those slivers and such?”

“Magic is the most helpful tip although the most useless for us.  The slivers can be frozen and shattered or you can catch them before they turn to sand.  Aside from that dealing with all the other creatures involves magic or some pretty badass combat skills”

“Well it is an S grade zone.  I guess there’s a good reason they have them ranked”

“We should probably be getting back to Eden”

A few minutes later Elisha and Jessica arrive back in Eden to find Nathan sitting by Elwyn.  Elisha’s footing weakens and she grips her side as she groans out in pain.

“You okay?” asks Jessica.

Elisha nods.  “I’m fine, the pain just surprised me”

Jessica turns and smiles at Nathan.  “Your turn”

Nathan stands up and looks down at Elwyn.  “Take good care of her okay?”

Elisha glares at him looking rather annoyed.  “She’ll be fine, now get going”

Nathan nods and quickly logs out.

Elisha goes over to Elwyn and kneels down next to her.  She places a hand on Elwyn’s forehead gently finding she’s still incredibly hot.  “You’ve still got a high fever”

“How are you feeling?” asks Jessica.

Elwyn smiles weakly.  “Okay I guess”

The girls sit down next to Elwyn and wait patiently for Nathan to come back.  After about half an hour he comes back as the sun disappears from the horizon and the stars begin to come out.

“She okay?” asks Nathan.

Jessica smiles.  “She’s fine”

Elisha gets up and starts walking off.  “I’m gonna look around a bit”

Jessica gets up and races after her.  “Hey wait I’ll come with you”

The two of them walk around the oasis slowly looking around the area which luckily isn’t inhabited by any creatures.

Suddenly Jessica calls out a distance away.  “Hey guys look at this”

Elisha runs over to her as does Nathan.  When they get there they find Jessica standing in front of a small shelter built out of large leaves and wood.

“Looks like someone else got stuck in the desert too” says Nathan.

Elisha walks closer to the shelter and inspects it, glancing inside at one stage.  “It looks like they’re not here anymore or have been for quite a while”.  She rests her hand on a nearby tree then turns and looks at her hand.  She pulls her hand away and stares at the tree where a crude map has been carved into its base showing several landmarks such as the oasis and at the top a town which has carved below it 1 Days Walk.  “There’s a map here”

Jessica looks at her blankly.  “Seriously?”

“It doesn’t look like a complete map but, it’s something”.  Jessica and Nathan quickly walk over to take a look at the map.  “It looks like if we head in that direction”.  Elisha points off to the side.  “We should end up in a town within a day”

Jessica looks at the map questionably.  “Yeah but, should we trust a map we found on a tree?”

“Well we don’t have much choice.  Elwyn’s getting worse” says Nathan.

Elisha turns to them with a serious expression.  “We could camp out here for the next few days but, there’s no telling if she’ll get better on her own.  Personally I think it’s best if we walk to the town”

Nathan nods.  “So do I”

“I vote we stay” croaks Elwyn.  They turn around to find Elwyn standing up leaning against a tree weakly.

“You shouldn’t be up” says Nathan.

“We’ll stay here”

Jessica shakes her head.  “I think its best we try for the town”

Suddenly Elwyn loses her strength and begins to collapse.  Nathan rushes over to her and catches her.  Elwyn looks up at him weakly.

“Stay, don’t walk.  I’ll be okay” says Elwyn.

Elisha glares at Elwyn angrily.  “The decisions been made we’re walking.  Besides you may say your fine but your definitely not.  If we stay here chances are you WILL die”

Elwyn goes silent knowing she can say nothing to change their minds.

Jessica yawns and stretches.  “I take it we’ll be sleeping in Eden tonight?”

“Well we can’t risk leaving Elwyn all by herself.  Besides we’re gonna continue on in the morning anyway” says Nathan.

Elisha suddenly shudders and rubs her arm.  “Is it me or is it getting cold now?”

Jessica nods.  “Yeah now that you mention it, it’s a lot colder than it was”

Nathan sighs.  “Well I guess that’s not too surprising.  Boiling hot in the day and freezing cold at night”

Jessica grins.  “Just like Australia”

Elisha whacks her on the back of the head with her hand.  “This isn’t a time for jokes”

Jessica holds her head in pain.  “Owe”

“Well let’s get some rest”

Nathan picks up Elwyn and carries her over to the shelter then gently lays her inside.  “I’ll sle…”

Elisha cuts him off by kicking him on the ass with her heel.  “Get in there”

Nathan stumbles forwards almost falling over and turns to look at her.  “But…”

Elisha glares at him angrily.  “Just get in there”

Unable to object Nathan silently crawls in the shelter beside Elwyn.  Elisha grabs the top of the shelter and slides herself in beside him.

Jessica stands there silently looking at them.  “Uh, I don’t think it’s big enough for all of us”

Elisha glances up at her.  “It’s fine if you don’t mind being close together”

Jessica glances away then silently goes over to the shelter and slides in next to Elisha.  Elisha grabs her and yanks her close so she isn’t crushed up against the side and their more or less spooning.

Jessica glances back at her.  “Hey what do you think you’re doing?”

“It’s too small in here for you to be shy” says Elisha.

“You expect me to sleep like this?”

Elisha smirks.  “What you’d rather spoon me?”

Jessica groans out and turns around mumbling.  “Never mind”.  Jessica blushes as Elisha’s hand comes to rest over her.

In the morning Nathan wakes looking at Elwyn.  As he wakes up he quickly realizes she’s covered in sweat, flushed and panting heavily.

He quickly puts a hand to her forehead feeling the burning heat.  “You’re getting worse”.  He crawls out of the shelter and looks to the sky noticing a brilliant orange color as it slowly turns to day time.  He glances back at the shelter and sees Elisha cuddling Jessica who happens to have a strand of drool running down the side of her mouth.  “Uh, guys, time to wake up”.  Jessica sits up and yawns while Elisha gets up rubbing her eyes.  “You two sleep okay?”

“I guess, Elisha was spooning me all night though” mumbles Jessica.

Elisha yawns.  “Well it was cramped in there”

Jessica glances at Elwyn.  “How’s Elwyn doing?”

Nathan shakes his head.  “Bad, she’s getting worse.  We gotta find a town quick”

Elisha crawls out of the shelter and starts walking off.  “I’ll try to find some more fruit its best if we keep a good supply”

Jessica grabs the water pouch and crawls out of the shelter.  “I’ll go refill the water pouch”

“I’ll stay here and keep an eye on her” says Nathan.

After about ten minutes the girls come back.

“She should eat something before we get going” says Elisha.  She reaches into the loot bag and takes out a fruit which she throws to Nathan.

Nathan catches it and goes to the shelter to feed Elwyn.  Once she’s eaten they set off again in the vast desert.  After several hours of walking another massive sandstorm hits forcing them to take shelter behind a sand dune.  After the storm they continue on without interruption only stopping briefly to feed Elwyn.  In the late afternoon as the sky turns orange and begins to grow dark the gang stops and looks into the distance where the vivid blurry outline of a town can be seen.

“Oh my god anyone else see that?” asks Jessica.

Nathan smiles.  “I sure do”

“God pinch me so I know I’m not dreaming”.  Elisha pinches Jessica sharply on the arm.  Jessica squeals out and rubs her arm with a hand.  “Owe it was a figure of speech damnit”

Elisha smirks.  “You still see it?”

Jessica looks into the distance while still rubbing her arm.  “Well yeah”

Nathan suddenly dashes off ahead.  “Let’s get Elwyn some help quick”

The girls dash off after him and as they get closer they get a better look at the town.  The town looks like a small village with large clay houses, walls and heavy stone roads with a large gate on the side their facing.  As they close in suddenly a loud ear splitting never ending shriek erupts from around them.

“What the hell is that” yells Nathan.

“A screamer we gotta get to the town QUICK” yells Elisha.

As the loud shrieking continues around them dozens of small mounds of sand start speeding around the area.  Suddenly one of the creatures bursts from the sand, it just barely misses Jessica’s head and disappears into the sand before she can even react.  As the three of them sprint toward the town the gate suddenly opens and a pair of humans dressed in heavy robes with large spears in their hands rush toward the entrance.  As the three of them sprint through two screamers fly out of the ground taking off the two guards heads.

The gates quickly close behind them and a short distance from them two ugly little silver creatures covered in thousands of razor edges scurry around for a moment before attempting to burrow into the stone ground.  Several people quickly dash over and start hacking the screamers to pieces with shovels, rakes, spears and swords before they can attempt to escape.

Nathan turns to one of the nearby guards.  “Is there a place we can get medical attention?”

The guard points into town.  “The chapel the priests can help you”

The three of them run past and go into a large clay chapel.  As they come into the hall a priest notices them and quickly runs over to them.

She takes one look at Elwyn before motioning a hand.  “Quick bring her into the back”

They follow the priest into the back to a room filled with beds.  Nathan lays her down on the bed and the priest throws the blanket up over her body.  She then rushes over to a medicine cabinet and grabs a small purple vial out of it.  She uncorks the vial and holds it to Elwyn’s lips.

“Drink this” says the priest.

With the priests help Elwyn manages to drink down the medicine.  Afterwards the priest quickly puts her hands on Elwyn and begins to use restorative magic on her to restore her energy and help heal her.  After almost fifteen minutes the priest pulls away.  By this time Elwyn looks much better, she’s no longer sweating or panting heavily.  The priest wets a cloth in a nearby water basin and wipes off Elwyn’s forehead.

“I think she’ll be alright.  She’ll need to rest a while and take the medicine a few more times to be sure but she should be alright” says the priest.  They all thank her and she’s about to leave when she suddenly notices the bloody streak on Elisha’s armor.  “Are you hurt?”

Elisha looks at her somewhat surprised.  “Uh, it’s just a scratch”

The priest grabs Elisha’s arm and starts to drag her off.  “Come with me”

“Hey, I told you it’s just a scratch let me go”

The priest ignores her protests and drags her off to be treated.  Nathan and Jessica take a seat near Elwyn to watch over her.

After several minutes Elisha comes back muttering.  “Pain in the ass”

Jessica grins at her.  “So did you get some healing?”

Elisha glares at her.  “Like I had a choice.  Well the cuts gone completely now at least”

Nathan smiles down at Elwyn.  “How you feeling?”

Elwyn smiles weakly.  “Much better.  I’m sorry I put you all through so much trouble”

“It’s okay but next time tell us if you’re not feeling well” says Jessica.

Elwyn nods silently.  The three of them sit around Elwyn silently as they rest.  Eventually Jessica stands up and stretches herself.

“Mmm I better be getting home” says Jessica.

“Me too” says Elisha.

Nathan looks up at Jessica.  “Hey Jess can you tell my parents I’ll be a little late?  I want to stay here a while”

Jessica smiles.  “Sure”.  She turns her gaze to Elwyn.  “You take care and get some rest okay?”

Elwyn smiles and nods.  “I will.  Tomorrow I’ll teleport us back to Ralion”

With that Elisha and Jessica log out leaving Nathan sitting by Elwyn’s bed to watch over her.

To be Continued

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