The Riches of Power

The Pit

POV TARA

We all held hands looking around the circle eyes teared, but determined and we jumped in...

I gently stirred, a raw soreness vibrating through me. Cold... its very cold. A small breathe through my nose tickled as I inhaled small particles. My eyes flickered open and I realized that all I could see was red. I inhaled quickly sucking in a pile of sand. I coughed out what I could, swallowing what stuck to the walls of my mouth and grimaced at the grittiness that remained. I sat up quickly, rubbed my eyes, but all that remained was the textured red. It took me a moment to realize I was looking at a dusty sky. No, not dust, smoke. I took a moment before pushing myself up. My weight pushed me down onto my knees for a moment, before I could stand on my feet. 'How long was out' it could have been only a second, or an hour. We had gone through the portal, I remembered. So this was hell? My nose stung with a cold numbness. I guess I expected something a little hotter. I looked at the ground, at closer inspection it was a rocky surface with a layer of red sand. While unconscious I must have drooled, and as I wiped it away I realized that there was a smear left on my hand, not like sand. I rubbed at my bare arms, yes there was some sand, and I had an idea of what the smearing was. I bent down, a burning in my thighs. I put my hand on the red ground, rubbing it across, and pinching it. There was some sand, but this could almost undeniably be ash, though it was red and frosty. I lifted my fingers to my nose and inhaled the burnt smell, though it was very different from the ash of campfires or even cigarettes. Feeling very hellish, I remarked to myself with a tone of dry humor. I dusted my hands off in the Smokey air that had been slowly suffocating me since my arrival. 'Lung cancer, seemed very likely now' I sighed to myself helplessly at the thought. Dramatically sighing seemed like a painful idea, so I sufficed with an inward sigh at my inability to sigh. My hands automatically moved to my neck and held onto the crystal, for it was the only thing that seemed to produce any amount of heat.

I looked about me. ' okay so barren desert this direction, Smokey desert in this direction, oh look here more desert this way' I think sarcastically. I turn in the last possible direction and dismiss it as more desert before I see a glimpse of something in the blowing billows of smoke. Identifying what it was, wasn't going to be possible but it seemed better than ashy sand. I began my trek hugging my arms to my chest. As I walked I searched for some source of the smoke, but it seemed to simply be rising from nowhere. There was no warmth in the smoke unfortunately. Had my toes been numb since I woke up ? I wasn't sure.

Well there wasn't anybody in sight and I couldn't help but feel a pit in my stomach as I trudged on. I allowed my head to swivel, searching the horizon for my friends. All I could see in the smog, was well... smog. My teeth were chattering now I wished these armor sets came with an extra set of clothing, and not just a single thin super layer. A strong gust of air felt as tho it spiraled right down my throat and I erupted into a dry cough.

I walked until I had seen what could have been anything except nothing. I hadn't been able to make it out, and there were many times that I had thought that I had lost it all together. I walked hesitantly until there would be a break in the wall of winds and I could catch a glimmer of whatever it was that stuck out of the cold sandy wasteland. Hours had gone by as I continued in even strides. The longer I walked the more I craved the sweetness of water, and I dreamed of being inside in a heated building. It was only when I felt like I had been walking for what felt like days and that there was no change in distance from me and the object, that I became frustrated. I focused on the object, it was still there. That was undeniable. I had made such progress in this direction, hadn't I? I laughed at the thought of me actually turning around, to what.

I licked my chapped, cracked lips, tasting the ash and salt in the air. Breathing in too little felt like I was suffocating, and taking in a deep breathe felt like I was burning my lungs and made me choke. For a moment I saw the hint of the object only a few minutes walk away in the ash storm, and then the next moment It is farther than it has ever been. That is when I stood still, I looked out towards the object perplexed, blinking. It was still a small gleam of a structure, some grey material, most likely stone or perhaps steel. Did it really move or is this dust playing tricks on me? It was out there, I was sure. I took in a painful breathe and forced my body to start running towards it. My eyes widened as I watched the structure seem to get closer at an extreme rate. It grew bigger in my eyes still unidentifiable in the smoke, but much larger and closer. Till it was only a few strides away. My sprint turned to a jog which turned into a walk, and as I slowed the object shrank back into the distance. I growled in frustration, my throat burning from my the agony, and my hands move to my throat as if I could soothe the inside of my esophagus by holding it. I need something, anything, or I am going to die.