Moon Chasers: Into the storm [Finished]

Chapter Twenty-five: Sleepy discovery

They walked for four days and found the second town, the people here were a bit less friendly but they managed to get their rations and set out again without resting for a night. The townspeople must have believed they were crazy to go out in the wild at such hours but truth be told, the beast accepted them generally better than the people did.

They walked again for days and nights following the few stars that pierced through the heavy curtain of dust and ash. They had never gotten lost in their entire life but it's not because it never happened before that it won't now, so they keep a vigilant eye to the sky.

Around the third day rain clouds started to gather above their head, it is then that they appreciated not taking a shower, it would have been wasted anyway. The dark clouds became thicker by the minute until the point where no more sunlight could come through. It was night in the middle of the day, they couldn't help but pester against the weather. They had just left the everlasting storm just to be drenched in water again some days after. Honestly it wasn't a good deal.

The rain was dirty and lukewarm, like it always is. It's a real curse, the water carries a good amount of this dirt with it and when it run down it leaves a thick coat of it everywhere. Nothing was clean in this world but after the rain it was worse. At least for the things on the ground. If they were lucky, the cloud would vanish relatively fast after the shower and they could enjoy a clearer sky than usual.

They were indeed in luck, the sky reappeared a soft blue color. A blue seldom seen in this realm. They stopped for a while, just enjoying the warmth of the sun rays and the light but soon the dust returned, and so did they return to their task. They had not yet even covered half of what they had to, but there was no way that they'd go through the desert again. Ain't no chance.

They wanted to circle around the desert from a distance sufficient to still see it but never enter it, it was a memory to fresh in their memory. On their way to their objective they had believed themselves adept enough to just barge in and cross it without harm. Turns out that they did cross it without getting hurt...but only physically. The desert had other means to keep you there forever, and the first thing it did was to get inside their brain.

A normal desert would be a terrible maze at best, but Fool man's end was also cursed, so on top of the "I really don't know where I am or where I come from" you can also add "I swear that if the desert change itself once again in plain sight I'll kill me myself".  They had their fill of terrible desert for a life time, one sea of sand is enough, I have been there no need to get back, thank you.

After a day or two of just walking around it next to it's border, they started to feel a bit tired again. To rest so close to the desert was perhaps a bit foolish considering its nightmare inducing capacities but they never sleep for long anyway. A nightmare was at least going to wake them already in fight mode. That saves time.

They found an old lamppost and leaned against it, their cape gathered around them in a protective blanket, with a long sigh they started to calm down enough to start to feel sleepy. They must have fallen asleep because the next thing they know they are jumping back up.

"What is that noise?" they asked themselves completely awake

And indeed there was a strange noise that could be heard, getting louder, like the crackle of lightning except no storm clouds loomed above. the sound became deafening, crackles and zaps and then light followed. A ray of colorful and blinding light appeared in the sky and started to fall at high speed through the sky. It flew over their head lighting up the sky some small remnant flares trailing behind it. 

Those flares had not even had the time to die down that they were running after the strange shooting star. It was obviously much faster than them but it mattered not, it was as if another person had taken control of their body, giving them the energy necessary to rush after it. The night was lit up by blue, yellow or even pink flames, flares of pure energy, unlike anything they had ever seen.

They ran through the rust colored desert, the sand flowing under their feet, but never managing to make them trip. They ran as if they had become the wind itself, almost flying above the sea of waste.The dust and ash sticking to their skin and clothes they ran and ran and ran. The desert had never looked so beautiful, the grain of sand seemed to remember they could reflect a bit of the light. The dunes were suddenly dressed in the same vibrant colors the sky was.

For a long moment, curses, pain and grief left that place. And for as long as it lasted they ran, glided and slidded down dunes. The crackling sound had not stopped but the light was gaining distance. They pushed forward with all the willpower they had. up until the foot of a gigantic dune, they started to climb it when a loud explosion occurred. The top of the dune was blown away by the sheer force of it. They climbed the rest of the distance.

In front of them four silhouettes were laying, remnants of light and colors emanating from them, behind was the strangest thing they had ever seen. Like a blooming flower made of the strangest dreams, light shifted folding and unfolding in and out of existence and with another loud boom it finally blinked out of existence.

The four people where laying in a perfect circle of dirt all the sand had been blown away. A gentle breeze came and started to cover them in dust again. They walked down their dune in a blood freezing silence. The only thing disturbing this eerie stilness being them and the sand rolling uder their steps.