Rise Up, Stand Together (KingdomCraft Story)

Chapter Twenty-One - Rays of the Sun

---------------- Alpine Kingdom ~ Snowfall Palace ---------------

Lizzie stands on her balcony as a small breeze goes by her. It's the hottest day of the year so everywhere in Alvaria is experiencing a hotter version of their usual climate. The Alpine, Taiga, Corrupted and Birch kingdoms aren't too bad since they're so far up in the North of Alvaria that they're barely effected by the sun.

Lizzie knew that the Desert wouldn't be handling this very well at all. She knew it was also the perfect time to strike the Desert, but she would risk getting seriously sunburnt if she went there.

Joel, Oli and Meghan had some there earlier so they could figure out a safe plan to strike the Desert while all of this is going on.

"The merchants in my kingdom sometimes sell a potion of cold that will keep your body safe from hot climates for up to 4 hours at a time" Meghan speaks, just as Lizzie turns and walks in.

"So, should we go buy some?" Oli asks.

Meghan shakes her head, "Nope, I happen to have 2 of them with me since two different stalls were selling them yesterday!" she says, taking the two potions from her bag.

"That's perfect! But... there's only two, so only two of us can go" Lizzie points out.

"Not really, as long as somebody drinks half of the potion, you'll still have 2 hours of that spell. The Desert is nearly half the size of the Mesa, so the likelihood of us staying for over 2 hours isn't very likely" Meghan points out.

"Fair enough" Joel says, "So, when should we head out?" he asks.

"I say we should probably head out in twenty minutes. We should go grab water and such to keep us cool until we get to the Desert, we can drink the Potions on the border" Lizzie says.

Everybody nods and the 4 of them head down the stairs. Lizzie sees Maddie walking up the stairs with Meri after taking her for a walk. The two sisters make brief eye contact, but don't say anything to each other, and keep walking. Lizzie narrows an eyebrow, but then shakes her head and continues to follow the group to the bottom floor of the Alpine Castle.

-------------- Desert Kingdom ~ Sandshire Castle -----------------

Shelby lays on her bed with the covers off. She was sweating from head to tow and she felt completely sick. She had an ice pack pressed up against her head to keep her cool, but it wasn't doing much to help the sick Desert Queen.

Shelby never handled the hottest day very well.

Shelby groaned and rubbed her eyes as Ross continued to hold the ice pack against his cousin's head. "I don't know how you don't get sick..." Shelby groans.

Ross shrugs, "I'm not sure either, but hopefully you won't be sick for weeks after day again" he says.

Shelby nods, staring at the top of her bed. She was wearing a swimming costume since it won't really make her sweat anymore. Plus, it allows more air to get to her body. There is a fan on in the room too, but that's only doing so much to help.

Shelby didn't know why she had that swimming costume. She's never been swimming.

Everybody in the Kingdom has been told to stay inside unless they absolutely must go outside to get something. Shelby could see Shadow sitting directly in front of the fan, where she would be a little safer.

This day is one of the only things that Shelby hates about the Desert. It's already killed 2 people today. Shelby dreads to find out the number of people who die by the end of the day. She hoped it wasn't a lot. No, she hoped that NOBODY else would die today because of this.