Desert Wings

I Can Run

I had found it again, not sure if I was lucky or what but I had found the dragon cave again, or at least a dragon cave. I march into the cave, sword in hand, fully anticipating a fight only to not need to. I find the she dragon sleeping soundly upon her golden mound, a small clutch of eggs mostly hidden under her wing. I creep forwards, tucking away my sword away as I cautiously climb up to her. Eventually I reach the top and curl into her tail which lay coiled at her feet. Good luck finding me here Death. I think to myself as I drift into sleep.

Apparently I had been spotted by the dragon as I had climbed the gold mound last night. She was calmly watching me, a glittering iris swirled gold and red, other metallic shades occasionally making an appearance. I freeze, What do I do?
I felt her tail shifting below me, bringing me closer to her calm eye, she kept shifting me, gently examining my wings in particular. Eventually I just spread them, unfurling them to their full feathered length.
"Hello." I whisper softly to her,"I am Kara." She doesn't even blink in acknowledgement. I fall silent again watching her watch me.
You run from what you say you desire. Why?
"Is, is that you?" I ask her in response to the voice in my mind.
Yes. But why run winged one?
"I fear. I don't want to die."
That is how you leave this land you call infernal.
"No, there is another way. There must be."
Not yet.
"You said yet."
I simply record history, that is all we do, record not write. That is for your kind.
"So everyone has been saying that there is no way to leave besides leaving life as well as a trend of history?"
To put it simply, yes.
"Simply yes? What about in a complex way?"
Well, she sighed in my mind No one else has lasted this long, made it this far. So far everyone else has died, fallen, left the Desert. No one else has killed as many as you, natives or those with wings. That is another variable, especially since Fate is one of the fallen, your fallen. Your chapter of history shall be interesting Kara, your short life will not go unnoticed. Already you are sending ripples across the universe, the dimension. The multiverse just might follow.
"So you don't know. Okay."
I don't know but I also do not not know.
"That makes no sense."
She shifted around a bit, apparently upset, I cannot read the future Kara, I can only examine the trends of the past. Take the smallest details and examine them. This is one way we learn.
"Okay..."
Why are you here?
"Oh, I'm hiding."
Who from?
"Death."
She rears her head back, You dare lead him to this place?!
"Hey, he can't exactly kill you without like reason."
Nor can he you. But rules break. Why does he seek you?
"So, wait don't you know this? Since you record history and all?"
Only some.
"Okay then. Well so I bet you know who Simon is... was. Anyway he wanted to take control of the White Desert from me but I didn't want that mostly because I thought I would need to die for that to happen. So we fought, it was a pretty quick fight and silly silly me feeling merciful decided to let him have his last words. He starts with his 'Simon says' thing and when I question him he lies about it being a thing he does when stressed. I buy his lie and he does the magic 'Simon says' telling me to leave the White Desert. I kill him, Death comes and is after me, I freak out, run and end up here." I complete my short narrative and wait for her reply.
So there is a bounty upon your head.
"Not exactly..."
No, it's a bounty.
"Okay."
Many will be hunting you soon, desiring to turn you over to Death.
"They'll be the ones he takes with him. I'm running on borrowed time, I'm starting to think I have been for a while."
This is true enough. Not all this time is truly yours. He will take you with him though. Eventually.
"Yeah," I sigh,"I know. I can run though, so I'll do that while I can."
I cannot shelter you eternally. He only has so many distractions.
"Yeah and I don't expect you to. I had just needed a place to hide for the night."
Good luck then Kara, may good fortune be your guide.
She unwrapped her tail, letting me go, "Thanks! You to!" I call as I run from the cave.

That day I catch a few rabbits before I make camp in a quite glen, I decide to stay in the mountains since they in a way offered me slightly more cover. That and the advantage of having climitized to the thinner atmosphere. The next day I think I am near Fate' s palace, I avoid the place like the plague so I change direction again, picking a new path every day. I could run so run I did, making an odd sort of water container from animal skins and a strap so I could keep my hands free. Later I created another bag so I could carry more supplies. Death had declared rather stereotypically that I could run but I couldn't hide. So run I would.
It took a little under a week for the first of them to find me, the dragon had been right. I fought off the tall man with ease, he had been unprepared for the mountains, for me. I leave him for Death to find, not waiting for him to show up like I used to. Before he was hunting me. I couldn't chance it now, I had to keep moving, keep running. Now I was starting to wish fewer people would likely hold a grudge against me, that I had more freinds.
Then I remembered that freinds would also turn you in, probably. Almost anyone and anything can be bought, so I cast those thoughts aside and forged ahead, caring only to survive, to spite the Desert with my defiance of Death. So I survived, day after day. I hunted and forged for food constantly moving, choosing my path randomly for the most part, only maintain direction when I needed to go somewhere. Mostly just to look at the view or if I thought I saw smoke from a camp fire. People in the village used to tell you to live each day like it could be your last, to never let go of the moment. That only is good sometimes, running from Death has the perk of giving you a sense of perspective on life. I found it also gave an almost permeate sense of unease, living like each day will be your last because it literally could be can do that to you though I would think.

I started to move at night to make it harder to see me, I made fires when the light was poor enough to hide the smoke but bright enough to hide the fire light. I never stayed in one place for more than a day, no travler crossed my path and lived. A trail of destruction once again followed me, showing where I went.
Then the storms came.

At first there were light rains each day, washing away any tracks I left. Then the storms intensified, lighting arching from the sky, one day I stumbled across a tree warped and burnt from a strike. I didn't linger by the marvel of nature's power long before continuing on my way. Thunder rumbled and echoed in the mountain valley, fear of rock slides and other such occurrences entered my thoughts without warning but frequent lightning kept me on the ground. Then came the winds. My wings, if spread at all became sails in the fierce gales, almost carrying me into the skies. The next hunter I came across claimed that it was because I lived still, walking freely in the Desert despite Death hunting me. I ignore her and keep going, finding caves to sleep in at night and moving quickly in the day. I no longer had to fear being seen the constant downpour of rain and thick clouds blocked most light from reaching the ground.

I begin to wonder if the hunt will end, if Death will ever catch me, if he can be killed or if I will be the one who doesn't walk away. Eventually I find the hidden meadow from so long ago, the place I killed Malum and most of the wolf pack. I decide to spend the night in the sheltered place, feeling less fearful than I had in a while, this land was known to me, giving me a small advantage over Death. I wake to the sound of rocks sliding across one another, a rock slide had blocked my only exit from the meadow since the winds had yet to die down.
Since I was stuck I figured I was now hiding from Death instead of running.
Can anyone get down here?
How long do I have until someone finds me?
How many must die in my battle with Death?

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This isn't the end yet. I promise this story will hopefully get a lot longer.
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