The Tide of Total War

Exiled

Alcred felt the rocky wind hit his eyes as he could barely see anything in the dusty tornado around him. He was only wearing trousers. He was being carried by two men wearing a cloth covering their faces. He had nothing on him except for a knife and a pouch of water. Soon after the feeling of his tongue being as dry as where he was, the men dropped him on the ground, turned, and vanished in the dark yellow and brown mist. He felt little particles on his back, stabbing him.

He got up in the somehow blazing heat with the tornado still spiraling around him. He quickly opened up the pouch and drank just a little of the water, he felt his tongue go back to normal as the cold, mini ocean flooded in his throat. After he regained his conscience, he found out where he was.... In the Lava Barrens.

He quickly started to panic and started to run in the pale brown, blank slate as rocks dug in his eyes and sliced his chest. He could really start to feel the ground burn up, he started going on a full-on sprint mostly just to keep the hot embers from hitting his feet. Soon, after he could even feel his feet anymore, he face planted straight into a stone, it completely surprised him because he couldn't even see past 2 feet. He took the advantage of the stone and hid under the ridge of the rock that was just long enough for him to lay down. He took the advantage of the headache and laid down in the little less scorching sand.

He woke up to a cool shade, and a blue and white sun blaring down on the sand. He was so lucky that he found this rock, even if it had to be the way he found it. He sat up in a cross legged sit and looked at the shadow the rock provided. He was extremely lucky to find this heavenly gift. He ripped his leggings up until they just went up to his knees, and wrapped the cloth around his face, only leaving his light blue eyes uncovered. He did this because he remembered the two soldiers doing the same thing as he was carried towards his demise. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and exhaled out as he prepared to venture out into the lava barrens once again to find something helpful. Almost right when he stepped out, he felt the fire on his feet and immediately started doing a skip like motion just to keep his feet from completely disintegrating. He cried in pain, the sand felt like knives made of fire, as he tried to dare himself to continue further. But, to no avail, he sprinted back to the rock in severe pain in his feet and bare chest. The sand was insanely more hot than yesterday, when he was getting dragged. Probably to the sun exposed now, and now that there is now dust shade, his chest is now feeling like a chicken breast right now. He ripped his pants further down until it grazed his thighs, and tried his best to somehow wrap the cloth around his feet so they wouldn't burn to a crisp.

After he got the clothed tied around his feet, he tried again. The sweet relief of his feet not completely falling off of his legs was great, the normal heat that wasn't the sand was bearable enough to not die in a minute. He did a crisp jog, so he wouldn't feel like a chicken breast in an open flame. He kept on running and running. He couldn't find anything... This was truly a barren. He tried to run in a straight line so he can easily get back to his rock. 

But as he was running in a campfire, he saw a little green pop up for just a second over a hill he was crossing. He got exited real quick and picked up the pace from a jog to a run. As he crossed the large hill, he saw something he couldn't believe. A miniature lake, filled with animals he has never seen before. He went to a full on sprint, the wind on his chest felt amazing, the cloth feeling like a barrel of chipped out ice. He couldn't have been happier. 

As he came up to the little lake, he stopped to enjoy the scene, he felt a nice breeze on his eyes and legs. Surprisingly the animals didn't run or acknowledge him, they were just enjoying their lives on this godsend. He started to walk in the lake, he felt the amazing water cool off his feet like his lakes back home. He could feel the fish nibble on his shoulders, wait, he was already to shoulder length. Must have been a pretty deep lake. But soon he felt the nibbles get harder and sharper, the water get hotter and thicker, the animals staring at him with their mouths open. His eyes were wide open in shock. He took a long blink to see if it was a dream. Luckily it wasn't a dream....

It was a hallucination. He opened his eyes in surprise to see beetle like creatures chomp on his shoulders, blood spilling out, the pain like an actual war. He screamed in pain as he tried to bounce back, but he was wrapped in something. It was a loose pile of sand, he didn't walk in a lake, he fell in a whole with only his shoulders and up exposed to the heat. He struggled to fight back as the pincers as long as a sword dug into his shoulder. He finally bursted his bloody arm free and punched the beetle with all his might, the beetle instinctively backed off, only to start prickling closer, he tried his hardest to get the other arm free, but it wouldn't budge. He started kicking the dirt on his left side to loosen the sand, and by every kick, the sand nudged a little. He yanked his arm as hard as he could with the kick and his arm didn't just popped out of the sand, it popped out of socket. He boomed in pain, he immediately grabbed his loose arm with his right, and saw the beetle like creature inch closer towards him. He tried to pop the arm back into place, but the pain was unbearable, he couldn't do it. He started to swing at the beetle to stop it from progressing so he could get out of here. But the beetle creature learned the pattern and timed his snap perfectly into Alcred's hand and knuckles. He bellowed in pain as blood also spilled out of his hand. The pain was too much, he rolled his head back and stared into the sky. He could feel it, he was going to die. He relaxed his muscles as his eyed started to roll back and he saw a light from the heavens themselves come down to accept him in.