The Thief of Cataros: The Tyrants Gem

Chapter 4

I could feel the sand in the air strike against my face during the roaring winds. My weight slowly began to lighten as I felt my stomach begin to ache. Hunger was killing me, silent death and slow. I could see illusions of those I loved and I saw Kafar, Father. I looked up at him and he approached me. "My son, lay down. Rest and fulfill your stomach with this bread." He said as he held a loaf of bread.

I stared at it, tempted and mesmerized. But I remember what the deserts of Cataros does to trap souls within its belly. It can create illusions and cause the sands to sink and devour anything that wet the ground. I caught the drool that came from my mouth and wiped it on my arm. "You are not my Father, you are nothing but a trick made from the desert. I will not be deceived!" I shouted. "Leave me be!"
The desert continued to send these illusions but I wasn't going to allow them to open the mouth of this forsaken beast. "Thy shall not shed innocent blood." The words surrounded the winds. Curse you Zalm, curse you and your bloodline. I screamed in the air, standing my ground. "You left me here to die and rot for eternity! Why would you do such cruel things? I had served you with my sister and Father while my brother mocks you! So why have you abandoned me?!"
The gods gave their answer, a howling wind of sand and it brought me to the ground. As I felt a sharp rock hit my arm, blood leaked from the wound and hit the sand. This was my death, a fools death. I accepted it and let the sands cover me. I soon blacked out from exhaustion. "Get up Dusan, awake from your slumber and rise." A voice spoke.

I opened my eyes and saw the gods stand before me. Palmazio kneeled and looked at me. "We did not abandon you Dusan. In fact, we want to give you your vengeance." She said, holding her mighty scepter above my head. I realized I was shorter than I was and I moved around only to learn it is just my head they see. "Do not struggle, it will hurt more than less."
I stare at Gnave, Weki, and Lin. They looked as if they were on a mission. "We know of such suffering you had witnessed. We all know it and we wish to help you." Weki spoke. Weki's skin was made from the trees that filled the jungles of Cataros. Both beard and hair were made from the vines that give the wood it's clothing.
"You see, Zalm had been a trouble to us. He destroyed our altars and pillaged preachers of their offerings. We need our vengeance." Gnave spoke. His skin was the magma that filled the volcanoes that fill Cataros and heats it. His eyes and mouth was full of lava and glowed like it as well. The clothing on him was made of rock and obsidian.
"You also forgot how we're still missing Palmazio's crown too. She needs it in order to maintain our powers." Lin said. Her skin was as blue as the waters and her presence feels colder than wind. Her clothing was made of snow and her hair was icicles. "We believe we had punished the wrong person, our sister." I looked at Palmazio, her skin was gold and her hair was bronze.

Her eyes are emerald and her clothes were made from the finest silk of Cataros. "So, we decided to make you our champion. We bear you gifts, tools that you'll need to exact our vengeance and yours." She spoke, kneeling down and grabbing me by the head and lifted me out of the floor. "We will need you dressed, it is very humid in the desert." Gnave held a pair of daggers that look as if they were put in fire. "These are the fangs of the Vulcan, a powerful beast that can burn the sun itself. Use them when you believe you'll need them most." He said.

Lin then walked to me and held a bow made from ice that felt cool to the touch. "This is the bow from the frostarians, a demonic race who's breath can freeze the very seas. Anyone you strike with this, will cool their bloodstream and stop it from flowing." She said as she handed me the bow. I appreciate the gods for doing this, these gifts were something no ordinary human could handle. Weki walked to me with a pair of boots. "These are my boots, they will climb any surface when you need to." He said, tossing me the pair.
Finally, Palmazio looked to me and gave me clothing and smiles. "These are Suva's garments, they will hide you from those who will harm you and hide you when you must strike." She said. "We have given you the equipment you need in order to kill the serpent. Avenge us." I felt the ground swallow me and I awake in the sand.