Sand Storm

The last thing she could hear was the sharp grating of the claimed's weapons, as the shadow engulfed them. Violent and devouring, the monstrous beast had finally awoken ensnaring the claimed in its jaws. Avea braced herself, digging her heels into the indigo sand, while the veil raged past her, it vicious roaring filling her ears. She threw her arms out over her face, shielding her eyes from the grains of sand tearing past, leaving scraps against her fair skin. She could've sworn the roaring of the shadows morphed into screams, making her eardrums thrum with agonising pressure.

The screaming finally subsided, Avea opened her eyes to empty coldness, the sand on the other side of the veil had changed. The vibrant hue of the indigo had been leached from the sands leaving behind a dull barren grey. The sands rolling out into neverending dunes, that faded into a pale washed-out horizon that appeared more like a ghost summoned from beyond the grave. The chilling sight of it sent a shudder through Avea, and she found that she couldn't move staring out at the ruins laid out before them, standing in mockery of the grandeur of the Umbratus moon's inner sanctum. The destroyed remnants of what resembled watchtowers, no doubt for the Umbraki scouts who might've stared out that the horizon watching the all of the mystical colours of the Umbratus sky kiss the rolling dunes. Or the dome huts that might've belonged to a family, collapsed against the sands, unsalvageable in their decrepit manner. Standing on the other side of the veil was like staring into a warped mirror, one in which every bit of your surroundings were familiar and yet tainted with wrongness. The sky was starless, the dunes were bleak and even the air that swept past them smelt of decay. Devoid of all colour and life ... the veil was death embodied. Where the darkness was no longer an alluring seductress, but the cold hands of death extending outwards in silent invitation.

That wasn't all, Avea felt her eyes tug upwards to the bare sky. There was a shadow moon was on the other side of the veil too, only it did not hold the same mystical enticement of its sister. Unlike its sister who sat perched in the Umbratus sky, her shadowed face like a crown jewel to which all the stars around her bowed reverently. This moon was too bright, sitting low and ponderous in the starless sky, casting her eerie darkness upon them with a sense of malice glee, waiting to unless whatever horrors lurked in her lair.

Avea heard Kamari hiss a low filthy curse, the claimed had all made it through the veil, standing atop the dunes staring out at the sands. Kamari carried herself like a warrior as she stood surveying the frontlines of their battlefield. Unlike the rest of the claimed who wore loose fitted garments, in order to move quickly through the terrain and blend in with its dull muted tones. The Aurelian claimed wore fearsome armour, with shoulders that sculpted into spikes and a chest plate with striking detailing to create an intimidating silhouette. It was the helmet, however, that caught Avea's attention. Ferocious curved spikes protruding out from her head with layered angular patterns that covered the sides of her face. Resembling a predatory creature, it was as if her ensemble were announcing to the veil that she was unafraid and in fact this shadow domain should fear her.

All the claimed followed her line of sight, and Avea swallowed her gasp, there on the sands were black markings like diseased blotches. Stretching as far as her eye could see, it marred the entire landscape, the shadow like a sickness metasising across the sands."What is it?" Seeger asked, his voice seemed so tiny against the great sickly landscape. Could this have been the secret that Morpheus was trying to hide? Avea thought, staring down at the shadow rot eating away at the pitiful memory of the Umbratus moon. No whatever this shadow rot was it was the cause of a greater evil buried deep beneath these dunes.

"The moros shadow is alive," Tofa said, her jade eye scouring over the sickly shadow rot. The crone had told Avea that the veil was a sickness, a symptom of whatever evil was poisoning the sands. Not a foe that needed to be vanquished, but healed. Avea heard Yume's breath leave her lips in a silent rush, her mouth parting before she could catch it. Her eyes had widened so much that a crescent of white flashed beneath those twilight irises, as she beheld the sight of the dunes. Avea had seen that expression on Yume's face before, back in the secret tomb when she'd watched the vials of the strange hourglass orbit each other with a stricken horror, as though the object itself was haunted. She'd been quiet since then, not a snivelling comment of priggishness had left those pursed lips since. However, staring out at the shadow rot Avea caught the glimmer of recognition in those twilight eyes, and couldn't deny her suspicions that perhaps Yume had seen this before.

"So much for the nocturnal jewel of the octave" Thessian scoffed, those white wings tucked tightly as though afraid those diseased markings may stain them."Why don't we find the gateway then if the sight is so offensive to your delicate sensibilities" Neomon hissed through his clenched jaw, clearly struck by the insensitive remark. Thessian's wings ruffled in indignation, but he remained silent. "He's right every second we wait the veil gets closer to destroying the Umbratus moon," Lazarus replied, Avea hadn't noticed him during the parade, but now as he stalked towards her, she could see he'd replaced the stiff military attire for a more loosely fitted one, billowing layers of cyan blue that almost glowed beneath the draping across his torso, as well as accents of silver cuffed to his limbs. Those piercing eyes staring at her with an icy crystal pale glow that made Avea feel that he could see every thought that she tried to hide. A thin veil concealed his face from view, he yanked it down to reveal those sharp canines peeking out from his bottom lip.

That stare, however, diverted right past Avea to Tofa who stood directly behind her. "We have a way to find the gateway, show them..." he said, and Tofa reached into her sleeve, pulling out a vial of shimmering black sand.

"Where did you get that?" Yume shoved past Avea her voice barely a whisper. It was the sand from the hourglass, Avea immediately recognised the shimmering black grains sitting idly in its glass vial."Morpheus told us that it would guide us through the null" Tofa replied. "So we're trusting Morpheus?" Kamari asked, unable to mask her disdain. It would seem Avea and Neomon were not the only ones who didn't trust the duplicitous galad. The black sand sat unmoving in the glass, while eight pairs of curious eyes stared intently at it, urging it to move.

The sand shifted slightly, then it began twitching. Until suddenly it began thrashing against the glass vial, threatening to break out. Tofa opened the vial and the black sand leapt up swirling over their heads before fluttering out like a trail in front of them. The claimed gasped and shifted back a pace as the black sand shimmered faintly, urging them to follow. A deep sense of foreboding filled the quiet air, as the claimed hesitated, none of them able to ignore the incessant dread that this was a bad omen luring them to their demise.

Despite this unspoken instinct, they all set off behind the shimmering black sand, trudging through the eerie dunes. Refusing to let their minds linger on the destroyed remnants that lay half buried beneath the sands, to think of whatever atrocities had occurred to the owners of these lost belongings.

Lazarus charged ahead those keen canine senses honed in on the black sand, his pointed ears twitched with every echo, his hand resting on the hilt of his weapon while his elongated strides were hard to keep up with in this terrain. The rest of the claimed stayed close behind, climbing over the dunes until their legs began to cramp, fighting against the mindlessness of a never changing landscape. That sense of unease didn't leave Avea, the inherent wrongness of this inverse mirror. She thought she could faintest sounds of pained cries being carried on the winds and the shuddering beneath her as though the desert itself were quaking in fear. All of it felt like a warning to her to turn around and abandon this quest. She knew she couldn't, the cool moonstone still pressed against her chest, a constant reminder of what she had to lose.

The hourglass sand was taunting them from ahead, a constant reminder that every grain that rose in the hourglass was another inch taken by the veil. Despite the wide expanse of the dunes that appeared to be boundless, the air was stifling, closing in around them. Yume had only grown more pale the further they trekked through the null, her eyes grew distant and her mind kept drifting to somewhere entirely unreachable. "I am so sick of sand!" Kamari cried out after they'd been walking for an excruciating amount of time. Kicking the sand into a cloud in front of her, Avea could feel the frustration mounting between the claimed. The unspoken truce slowly waning against the tension, on the verge of cracking. "The hourglass sand is getting us nowhere we need to change strategy" she said. Lazarus halted in his tracks, those keen senses turning to face her. "How are we supposed to find the gateway without the hourglass sand?" he growled, his patience clearly thinning. Everyone of the claimed halted, they'd all been thinking the same thing that this hourglass sand had been misleading them, wasting the precious seconds they had to save the Umbratus moon.

 Avea's eyes kept darting back to Neomon who'd lingered at the back, refusing to lead the claimed through the veil despite being the Umbratus's claimed. Neomon's face strained and jaw clenched as his violet swathes of shadow swaying along the ground, cloaking the grey sand from his sight. They needed to find a way to sneak off to find the Obscurous, and they were running out of time. Thessian and Tofa had joined in on the argument, the group now divided between abandoning the hourglass sand and using their rationed uri to find the gateway. "I say we split up" Yume suddenly spoke in what felt like eons. "That's a sure way to get us all killed" Lazarus growled, "I agree" Kamari said, the two foes suddenly unified against a common enemy. Why would Yume suggest something so rash? Avea thought. An argument broke out amongst the claimed, and as the vicious words were hurled out there were enemy lines being drawn.

 Suddenly a low haunting whistle blew out across the dunes, a soft melodic note. All the claimed went deathly still, everyone holding their breath. "Nobody move" Lazarus whispered. A shudder quaked beneath their feet, throwing them off balance. "What was that?" Seegar asked, just as another violent shudder passed through the dunes, sending them crashing into each other. "Sand storm" Thessian cried out, sure enough in the distance a wreckoning of sand was coming towards them. "Runnnnnnnnnnn" Avea screamed and all the claimed turned running as fast as their legs would carry them. Scrambling over the sands, catching and tripping over their own feet, dragging the the ones lagging behind as they all tried to outrun the wave of sand rampaging over the dunes, devouring everything in its path. "Faster" Kamari screamed, as she grabbed Seeger whose webbed feet were struggling to keep up. Hoisting him onto her muscular back and running with his weight on top her. Avea however couldn't think beyond the burning in her legs and the heaving of her lungs, as she ran across the dunes, fighting against the urge to collapse onto the cool sands and let the storm swallow her whole. Neomon stayed close to her right, and he kept turning his head to see the storm right on their heels. "Dive" he shouted, his voice barely heard over the roaring of the storm. Neomon, reacted instantly throwing his shadows towards the claimed who all dove to the sands, anchoring themselves to the surface, while he morphed into a shadow disappearing into the sands.The shadows shot like spears of darkness tearing through the air outpacing the storm, before splaying outwards and cocooning themselves around the claimed. Shielding them as the storm caught up with them. Avea landed roughly against the surface, as Neomon's shadows wrapped around her. The roaring gusts of sand were rapidly approaching while Avea's body laid cocooned in Neomon's shadows, pressed against the cool sand, her nails digging into its grain and heart thundering loudly in her ears as the reckoning of the sand storm tore past with wild reckless abandon.

Suddenly the roaring stilled and everything went silent. It wasn't until she could only her own breathing, as the small grains of sand flitted away from her mouth. That she sat up, her limbs struggled to move as she raised her head. Avea coughed sputtering out sand, she tried to blink out the sand that had blinded her eyes. Glanced around after the sandstorm had subsided, it was hard to believe that a cataclysmic storm had just broken over the dunes. "Is anyone out there?" she managed to croak out, sputtering even more. She managed to get to her feet gaining a better vantage point, covered head to toe in sand, there was sand spilling out from every orifice. "Anybody out there?!" she screamed again. There was an excruciatingly short pause and then she saw shadows peel away hiding Neomon beneath them.

 "You're not dead."

"Neither are you."

"Ugggh" she groaned back, "where are the others?" Avea asked. Trying to rub the sand out of her eyes, "we've been separated," Neomon replied. Sure enough blinking away the sand, her vision cleared to see all of the claimed had indeed vanished, blown away by the sand storm. "That couldn't have been a coincidence," Avea replied. Neomon strolled towards her, unhurried in his movements. Despite also being swept up in the sand storm, he didn't appear dishevelled. There were no layers of sand clinging stubbornly to his skin, not a hair out of place on his head and moved without any sort of urgency that one might expect after being blindsided by a storm.

"We need to find the Obscurus we don't have much time."

"Where are the others?" Avea asked, slightly more firm. Craning her neck, still trying to get her bearings, there was the same dull grey sand, but no familiar landmarks. "We've lost them in the storm" Neomon replied. Her eyes narrowed,"what did you do Neomon?" Neomon didn't meet her stare,

"we don't have time to argue."

"Where are they Neomon?"

"Look just calm down -"

"Calm down! You lied to me"

"We need to find the library."

"What library?"

Their heads snapped towards the voice, and Avea's heart dropped to the pit of her stomach. Yume's delicate frame stood ramrod straight as she watched them, there was, however, a sly glint in her eyes as if to say 'got you.'"Trust you to be the one to crawl out" Neomon replied through gritted teeth. "Did you really think I wouldn't recognise a illusion cast?" Yume's delicate voice was grating against Avea's ears. She turned to Neomon, "what is she talking about an illusion cast?" she could feel the rage simmering in her blood, threatening to boil her insides. "We needed a distraction" Neomon replied stiffly, staring at Yume like he was planning her cut her down where she stood. Carefully, they would have to tread carefully if they were going to deceive Yume.

"No one said anything about a library ... you must have sand clogged in those dainty little ears" Neomon said, smiling sardonically at Yume who turned to Avea, "quite convenient isn't it that you two need to sneak off somewhere and it just so happens that a sand storm hits?" Neither of them spoke, too afraid to reveal anything to the Oniria claimed.

"I'm coming with you."

"No."

The resounding 'no' echoed between the three of them, leaving them in a silent standoff. "You need me," Yume replied. Neomon raised an eyebrow, "really how do you figure?" She lifted her chin in a poised manner, "the Oniria and Umbratus moons were once close. Their ancients shared a bond so powerful in spirit that they shared the noctra uri so that they may never severe their connection." Avea's grip tightened on her blades, she didn't want to hurt Yume but she also didn't want to be blindsided by whatever story she was spinning. "Meaning..." Neomon replied dully, but Avea could sense the edge in his voice. "Meaning... that I've seen this library that you speak of in my dreams." Neomon and Avea both went very still, if Yume had a similar dream it might her uri was able to see things beyond the veil. "What sort of dreams?" Avea asked, she could sense Neomon's irritation, but she couldn't shake the inkling that Yume knew something they didn't.

The haunted shadows in Yume's eyes were the only thing she couldn't hide, whatever she saw in these dreams it was connected to the hourglass. Yume turned to her with an incredulous expression, "you really think I'd be so naive give up the information willingly, take me to that library you'll find out," that was it there, the deal. "Not a chance" Neomon replied. Yume only scoffed, "do you really think illusion casts are going to save you if you don't know what's coming for you?"

She has a point, Avea thought. Neomon didn't hesitate throwing out those menacing shadows towards Yume who drew out her weapon. It was too late, before Avea could object Neomon brought a strange pipe to his lips, "stand back" he said, before playing a string of notes. There was a faint rumbling and suddenly a massive dune erupted from beneath them. Towering over Yume who let out a piercing scream diving away as the sand dune continued to build until they were touching the starless sky. "Hold onnnnnnnn" Neomon shouted, "whatttttt?" Avea screamed as the sand wave pushed them forwards, Neomon continued playing the notes. The two claimed fell down the curve of the wave, surfing down it. The wind whipped wildly through her hair and her limbs were straining to hold form, as they rode the colossal sand wave, but despite this Avea let out a wild laugh. Every bit of anger leaving her body, until there was only the familiar rush of being free that surged through her. She could see Neomon beside her, his dark eyes sparkling as the broad smile broke across his face. Surfing the sand wave through the dunes, until Neomon let out a final sequence of notes, and the wave broke, collapsing down to ground. Touching ground after being so high was dizzying, the two of them broke into an hysterical fit of laughter. Clutching their sides, as tears streamed down their faces, Avea hunched over, gasping air into her lungs like she might never taste it again. Once she replenished her starved lungs, she turned to Neomon who'd also composed himself so that the silence was only now broken by nervous muffles of laughter. "Why didn't you tell me about casting the sand storm with the flute?" She didn't want to admit it, but Neomon's inability to trust her stung, pressed on a wound deep in her soul that refused to heal.

Neomon's broad grin fell, "I didn't plan for the storm to be that big, it was only meant to be a distraction." That didn't answer her question. She only stared at Neomon who huffed in annoyance, "I was going to signal to you, but there wasn't time." "Is that it?" she asked, she wanted him to admit that he didn't trust her, so that her wound may tear open and bleed out. Neomon eyes however, were pure darkness, smooth and unreadable, calm in a way that felt dangerous. She wasn't going to get an apology from him, she knew that much. "Let me see it" she finally relented, holding her hand out to him. Neomon gave her the long winded pipe, and Avea recognised it. During the celebrations there had been a strange Umbraki man, certainly older with faint wrinkles marking his face. However, there was something joyously youthful about the old man who had big ears that stuck out, knobbly legs that kicked outwards in a strange goofy dance while his gangly arms held the flute to his wide mouth. Playing his instrument, variations of the same notes over and over in an otherworldly cadance. However, it was the mischievous twinkle in his eyes, that drew her in, daring Avea to watch, to marvel. As he played the flutes notes the melody commanded the indigo sand, flowing through the air around him and morphing into glorious sculptures that moved through the air. There were shrieks of delight from the Umbraki children and Avea couldn't deny she let out a shriek of her own when a beautiful winged creature made from the indigo sand soared around her.

"I made a trade" Neomon said, smiling crookedly.

"Promise that from now on we're in this together."

There was a solemn silence that stretched for so long, Avea thought she might strangle herself with it. "I promise," Avea released a sigh of relief. "Where do we go now?" she asked, staring out at the endless grey dunes, the sight alone making her legs cramp. "The crone said that she buried the obscurus in the void, so we have to get through the null." She brushed the stubborn grains of sand off her,"the crone also said that the sands would guide us." Neomon refused to meet her stare.

"Neomon?"

"There's no telling what kind of dangers we could attract if we use that kind of power," Avea opened her mouth to protest Neomon's clear denial. He silenced her with a glare that seemed to say, don't even try. Instead he pointed ahead to where the shadow moon cast out ominous ripples onto the dull sands, that seemed to whisper, follow us we'll show you the way. "We have no idea where we're going... you need to use your Noctrya gifts!" Avea said sternly. Neomon stared her down, "my shadows will show us the way." Their moment of brief levity vanished, as he strode ahead not even turning to see if she would follow. "So much for being in this together", Avea called after him. Unable to suppress her frustration Avea followed the Umbratus claimed, and had the unexpected thought to glance up at the moon, which she instantly regretted. The shadow moon flared outwards, its tendrils of shadow reaching across the sky resembling a spiders legs.

And they'd just walked into its web.