Lost Sands

Chapter 1

The man stumbled through the darkness, finally having escaped the dark forest. Clutching his side he held his stomach in agony. His tears fell loosely to the ground as it rumbled beneath him. He turned to the sky, seeing a clear dawn before him, a glimpse into what was the closest representation of heaven.

The rumbling quieted, and for a moment, he felt like he was a part of those heavens above him. He closed his eyes, drawing in the peace of this moment within the chaos. A final breath, a draw of a sword, and a final farewell to the world. The hunter sliced thinly through his neck, confirming the loss of life. The hunter sheathed his sword, and closed the eyes of the unfortunate man, placing his arms by his side, and placing a fresh white hyacinth in his hands.

He looked to the sky, his stark brown eyes facing the same scene the young man before him saw. With a voice full of regret he spoke, with a shaking voice.

"I'm sorry, Zaytri."
He repeated the name... Zaytri, Zaytri, Zaytri...

———
"Zaytri!"
"Wh-what..?"
A booming voice awoke her from her sleep, she sat up rigidly, her hands rustling the papers beneath her, some now soaked in drool. They were simply scrap paper, thankfully, had they been her sketches or paintings, she would've been incredibly dissapointed. Although, by the sound of the voice calling to her, her day was going to get worse very shortly.

"Sleeping on the job again huh? Wouldn't the High Priestess just love that, although, since it's you nothing will happen" Abborece said, voice filled with spite as usual.

The temple guard with too much time on his hands, coming to spoil her day as usual, she missed the days when he'd simply been indifferent to her, before she was just a simple scholar that meddled just a little bit too often. But since the incidents in the kitchens, he'd resented her.

Honestly, in her opinion it wasn't even her fault, she wouldn't have been caught had he not ruined her plans, all she wanted was to take one of the tall cups from the dining halls for her paintbrushes, the ones they gave her just didn't work well. I mean sure it was when she was supposed to be sleeping, yeah, and she's not supposed to be out of her room after 10:00, but in all fairness, it wasn't really a problem until Abborece walked in and scared her, making her fall off the chair she'd been standing on and making her drop the glass she was holding.

The high priestess was mad like more mad then Zaytri had seen her in a long time, she couldn't quite figure out if she was angry at her or at Abborece, but, in the end she managed off with a light punishment, likely because she had already been hurt by the whole situation (She was knocked unconscious! Not fun.) But he, on the other hand was dealt quite the punishment, cleaning the kitchens every night for three weeks, and being removed from additional missions during that time.

Even though that was months ago, he's still been spiteful towards her, always looking for ways to get her into trouble with the High Priestess, though his plans never worked much, which in Zaytri's opinion, just added fuel to the fire.

"Hey! Are you even listening to me?" With every word he grew more frustrated.

"Huh? Oh yeah, what's up Abborece?"

"Oh the usual, taking care of the pests. Speaking of, now you're entertaining the company of vermin too." He laughed angrily and gestured to a pillar, which, at first she was confused, until she saw the ears of a hairless cat peeking out from behind a corner.

"Awe, he's cute, but I've never seen him." She spoke carefully, anything out of the ordinary she said, Abborece would pounce on. She continued.

"Is that all you came for Abborece? To discuss the native wildlife?"

He glared, understanding what underlying message she was conveying, if anyone looked at the two of them, he was clearly slacking on his work. Realizing the same could be said for herself, she grabbed one of her sketching pencils, she began to draw out the scene from her dream... though, she wasn't exactly sure she could call it that, with the imagery. In fact, she had never seen many of the things in that dream, the trees looked unfamiliar and the green ground beneath them was more lush than she'd ever seen. It's almost like it came from someone else...

"The High Priestess wants to see you tonight, don't know why, just be there at sunset."

"Got it! I'm uh- gonna go back to this now, bye" She shut down any possibility of future conversation, thankfully he took the hint. He scoffed and walked away in the direction of the temple. It loomed grandly in the distance, the large halls and structures evident and clear even from a distance.

She glanced at them, a faint smile on her face, but quickly returned to her work, the last thing she needed was the High Priestess to be frustrated with her. She reached across the patch of wall that she'd chosen, sketching the tall trees and the sky above that she'd seen alongside the dead man.

She felt a twinge of sadness thinking about it, but the least she could do is materialize that memory give it new life, within this mural. Just when she was about to grab her brushes, she heard a meow and felt something brushing up against her leg.

"Oh! Well hello, I didn't know you stayed!" She was happy to see her not-so-furry friend, and she was surprised to see that he'd been outfitted with a small satchel that went across his body. So he must have an owner, she thought. Maybe I could make them a little something, see if it reaches them.

She decided to grab her pencils once again, this time using a bit of scrap paper that was not drooled on. The cat seemed to understand what she was trying to do and laid directly in front of her, grooming himself lazily. She got to work and within an hour she had captured the cat in all of his feline glory. She showed the cat, and he meowed back to her, seemingly in approval? Or at least she hoped so. She signed the paper and wrote 'Hey!' on it.

She placed the sketch in his small bag, having to sadly fold it so it would fit.

The cat looked at her, and then at the sky, and she noticed that it was nearly sunset.

"Oh no! The High Priestess, sorry friend, but I'm gonna have to leave now."

She left quickly, half-running, half-walking. She was soon a small dot in the distance.