Aetherian(Part 1): A War Begins

Julien

 "Guys, I'm telling, you something's here," Julien promised. "It's here, but we just can't see it."

"Right," agreed Blake. "I don't know what could be going on. How did the Fae hide an entire temple?"

"Maybe, it's just gone," suggested Tessa, and she began to walk back towards Dragonbarrow. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Kara needs me." Suddenly, she stepped on a hunk of metal in the sand. Julien, Blake, and Tessa all looked down at what she stepped on. It was a circle of iron that was engraved with the symbol of a flower that had thorns on its stem.

"What is that?" asked Blake.

"Isn't that a Fae symbol, or something?" said Tessa.

"A rose," answered Julien, then he cursed "Damn it."

"What?" said Blake.

"Alright, the rose is a symbol of defense to the Fae," Julien started. "This place, wherever it is, was meant as a defensive fortification, and not an apothecary." The Fae didn't build their cities, they grew them, and hid them whenever they left them. Of course, the Fae were all gone now, and their ruins with them.

"Well, we might still find what we're looking for," assured Blake. "A fortress would usually have a medical center, right?"

"Right," agreed Tessa. "So how do we get in the place?"

"I think I have an idea," said Julien, then he ignited his golden lightsword, and stabbed it through the piece of iron. For a moment, nothing happened, and Julien could feel his face blushing red.

"Not that way," he said, but then they could suddenly feel the wind blowing faster, carrying sand with it.

"Wishful thinking, but maybe it's just the wind," Tessa hoped, but a strange aura soon followed the sand, similar to the one that the hidden Fae temple gave off. More sand flew from the desert, and the strange aura grew stronger. Suddenly, a roar shook the sky above the Sandlands. When the wind died down, letting the sand fall back to the desert, they were all met with a dreadful sight. A monstrosity that stood at thirty feet tall, standing on two lizard-like legs, with a slim body, a long beak with a pointed crest sticking from the back of its head, giant spear-like claws on its fingers, and enormous bat wings stood before them.

"Woah," whispered Tessa, drawing a large pistol.

"What the hell is that?" asked Blake, igniting her silver lightsword.

"I think it's a giant beaked bat," Julien answered, trying to keep himself calm.

"Biologists aren't supposed to creatively name animals, are they?" asked Tessa.

"Well, this isn't an animal, it's a monster," Julien corrected. "It's actually called a tichaski." The monster opened its serpent head and unleashed an ear-piercing screech through the air.

"How do we kill it!?" screamed Blake, as the tichaski flapped its wings, lifting itself into the air.

"Ripping out the heart!" shouted Julien. "That's how you kill every Fae construct!"

"Well, first things first," said Tessa, pointing to the tichaski as it flew into the sun. "We have to get it to the ground."

"Which will be easy," complained Blake, with sarcasm.

"Actually, all we have to do is keep it on the ground," Julien corrected, as he spotted the Fae construct zooming down from the sky, pointing its beak down with its wings folded. It was falling faster than anything they had seen, and coming straight for them.

"Scatter!" Blake screamed. They dispersed as the tichaski crashed into the ground, burrowing into the sand. For a moment, the sand was calm, but Julien could suddenly feel the ground sinking under his feet, and felt the monster's aura rushing towards him from beneath the ground. He jumped to the side as the tichaski burst through the sand. The Fae construct hovered in the air for a bit, flapping its wings to keep itself up. Suddenly, it dived at Julien. He tried to block an attack from its claws with his lightsword, but it scooped him and some sand in its giant hands, dragging him into the air as it flew upwards.

He could hear Blake scream "Julien!" as the tichaski flew higher and higher, hanging by the foot from its claws. The monster threw Julien into the air, opening its beak. Right before the tichaski's beak was about to claim him, Julien ignited his golden lightsword and took off its entire upper jaw. He grabbed onto its tail as he fell further towards the ground, and as the tichaski stumbled to the sands. Julien desperately held onto its tail as tightly as he could, and when the ground rushed up at him, he flashed a blue light around himself, and appeared in the sand, unharmed, while the Fae construct crashed into the sand twisted and mangled, both of its wings torn off. Its aura was gone after it crashed. It must have smashed its heart when it hit the ground. When Julien put away his lightsword, he suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to Blake's bare hand slapping him across the face. Julien rubbed his face as he felt a throbbing pain in his cheek.

"What the hell was that for?" Julien demanded.

"You scared me!" Blake shouted, putting her gauntlet back on her hand.

"Sorry," said Julien.

"Don't be," Blake promised. "I'm just glad you're alright."

"Guys, look," said Tessa. Suddenly, the wind began to pick up again, kicking up a blinding sandstorm. Julien covered his face with his tattered cape to keep the sand from going into his eyes and mouth, but the storm stopped as suddenly as it began, returning the sand to the ground. The aura from the hidden Fae temple grew stronger as the sandstorm died down, and when it cleared, a small jungle stood in the desert.

"That's a temple?" asked Blake.

"The Fae didn't build their cities, they grew them," Julien reminded.

"Doesn't look like a fortress," Tessa observed.

"That's the point," said Julien. "We're not out of this yet." The jungle didn't seem like the most defensible place in the world at first, but as they stepped toward it, sand from the ground was suddenly thrown at them, and a huge wall of vines that were all covered in blue thorns rose from the ground.

"Well, now what?" Blake complained.

"We go through it," Julien answered. "We're not getting to that fortress any other way."