Altha'ari: Burning Sands

Chapter 10

                                                                      To Kill a God

Altha'ari awoke in a haze. His mouth and hair full of sand his chest felt heavy and his eyes were groggy. He looked around to find three other bodies laying in close proximity to him. He recognized them. Khasiran. Alshija'. Overwhelming emotion. Tears filled his eyes as he watched Tara sit up scratching her head and shaking sand off of her. He flew to his feet and tackled her back to the ground in a warm embrace, and to his own shock the wound the knife had left what seemed like just moments ago was no longer there.

" My love. I thought I'd lost you." Altha'ari exclaimed.

" That's no way to talk with the most important moment of your life just seconds away, oh great warrior of Alexandria." Tara returned.

" The most important moment in my life passed me weeks ago my sweet." Altha'ari stated.

" What? How so?" Tara questioned.

" The most important moment in my life was the night i first felt you." Altha'ari answered.

" Altha'ari..." Tara started, her eyes getting low.

Altha'ari had recognized this look as soon as it flooded her face. It was the same look that had come across her face the morning she told him they could never be together. Why was this look here to overtake her beautiful face again he wondered. Had he upset her by interfering when she attempted to sacrifice her life at the sarcophagus? Was she having second thoughts about her promise to start over with him after this was over?

Groans from the other two were heard now as they too awoke. Each looking around and making eye contact with each other it started to become clear what was going on. Tara's sacrifice was the key to getting them to the underworld. The group was now quite literally sitting in hell. A shudder went down Altha'ari's spine as he looked around.

The floor was covered in the whitest sands he had ever seen in his life. The walls were made of massive limestone blocks, but they each seemed to be alive to the touch. The ceiling gave off a faint red glow at each one of its edges and every little crack did the same. Once every few moments the ground would vibrate, giving off a deep slow rumble. The cries of the damned could be heard, but always sounded like they were very far away.

The group got to their feet. It was time to find death himself. They were on a time limit, and like it or not they had to confront the contortionist of reality or be trapped here forever. The faint red glow of the large chamber they found themselves in gave off enough light that they did not need torches, and they could see a corridor at the end of it. The corridor was immense, many times taller than any buildings they had ever seen. They had no idea what they would find inside but they knew it was the only way out of the chamber.

" We need to get moving." Tara stated.

" Agreed, getting stuck in oblivion isn't exactly at the top of my list on things to do today." Khasiran joked.

The group started across the chamber, each step was quite labored as the sand was so fine it caused their feet to sink to their ankles with each individual step. They entered the corridor with much caution, anticipating the arrival of their foe, or any of his underlings with every passing second. After a while their path became much more labored, as the sand seemed to get even more loose.

The sand suddenly took an odd change. It got thicker, and darker to an almost orange color. They continued to walk on, but slower now observing the changes coming beneath their feet. It was slightly less laboring to walk now with the new consistency. It suddenly started to get warmer, and they all noticed it. It got hotter and hotter until there was actually a serious threat that the sand would burn them. They started to move faster and faster until they were all sprinting down the corridor.