Laurus balked at the glaring sunlight as it beat down relentlessly upon the small group of travelers, waves of heat reflecting off the saturated sand around them. It was all he could see for as far his eyes would reach: sand, heat, and sun. He had decided hours ago that he hated this place. Now he was past that. Now he genuinely loathed it.
The cool temperate forests of his homeland were where he belonged. What was he even doing out here? Strange how the worst ideas always sounded like such good ideas when still fresh. Of course this one had only been half his idea. True he was the one who had put in the tireless research that eventually led him to discover -or at least believe he had discovered- the location of the ancient ruins. However it had been his father's bright idea to outfit this little makeshift band of tomb raiders and go plunder the ruins for all they were worth.
That was so like his father. Archaeological value? Ancient cultures and historical knowledge? Frivolities. The world around him had value that equated quite logically and simply to its market value, or its usefulness to his purposes.
None the less Laurus had acquired the knowledge, and his father -as always- had his hands on the money, which had made them partners in this little venture. He wasn't sure if the fact that dear father had left him in charge of the expedition itself was evidence of how little faith he had in his son's research, or just that he had been too busy as usual with his various other business affairs to bother to be present. Perhaps both.
It mattered little. He had gotten his coin, that was all Laurus needed from the man. There had been a time when he was very young that he could remember a very different person from who his father was now -in those days the two of them had even been quite close. But those were just memories. He had been but a child then, and the tragedies that had befallen the family in the years since had changed them both. Now they were no more than businessman who happen to be related.
"Hey Twig-" The rude voice shattered his thoughts and he turned to the burly man to his left. Perpetually unkempt and with an odor that could be detected from across a room he was Laurus' least favorite among the group. The man he had hired to outfit this expedition had insisted on bringing his own crew, and it hadn't taken Laurus long to regret relenting on the issue. If only his father hadn't been so bloody thrifty with the coin purse then perhaps he wouldn't have had to fish from the bottom of the barrel...
"-you know what I think? I think you ain't got the faintest idea where we're goin's what I think," the man finished in his unfailingly eloquent fashion. He was holding some of Laurus' notes on the probable location of the ancient temple and was looking them over as if he had the slightest clue what they meant.
Laurus hadn't seen the man going through his things and made a mental note to keep a better eye on him. The nickname 'Twig' had caught on quickly among the band, though most of them only dared use it when they thought he wasn't listening. Partly he knew it was because of his slight build and delicate features, and partly he knew it was because of the strange markings that covered most of his skin. Too numerous to be birthmarks, they looked more like intricate tattoos. They weren't that either though, for he had been born with them. In fact no one really knew what they were. However they looked so very much like branches and vines in their shape and coloring that anyone who didn't know him would surely assume he had decorated himself in the heat of some odd nature fancy.
Ignoring the obviously provocative use of the nickname, he turned towards the man and replied calmly.
"Do you now? Tell me something -I'm sorry what's your name again?"The man seemed slightly offended, which suited Laurus just fine.
"Dryke."Laurus nodded.
"Dryke, right. Tell me something Dryke... Can you even read?"The other man shot him a dark look.
"That's got nothin' to do with-"Ripping the papers violently out of the man's hand Laurus continued in a calm voice.
"I thought not. So since you likely wouldn't know a thing about it perhaps you should leave the thinking to me and mind the horses like you're paid to be doing eh?" Without saying anything more he began ignoring the obnoxious man and returned the papers to his satchel.
For a moment the other man gave him such a venomous look he was worried he might have finally pushed him too far. Not that it would bother him terribly if he had to leave the disrespectful ingrate to walk half way across the desert or die of thirst, but it would be an inconvenient time to lose one of their number.
However it was then that the leader of the hired hands, a scruffy looking middle-aged man with graying hair who had given his name only as 'Dagger' intervened, turning around on his horse to look back at the two of them.
"Dryke!" he called sternly.
"Make yourself busy."With obvious reluctance the burly man slowed his horse and fell back, giving Laurus some space.
"So Master Windshoal," Dagger spoke more calmly, addressing Laurus over his shoulder.
"It's a long ride through an empty desert. Perhaps you'd be so good as to tell us something interesting about these ruins we're looking for? My men and I could use some distraction."Windshoal wasn't his real name, but he had figured if 'Dagger' could use an alias he could as well. It wasn't the first time he or his father had come up with a business scheme that called for not involving the family name in any official manner. He had actually come to enjoy going by invented names, the anonymity held some entertainment value.
"Well it's really quite fascinating." The conversation topic did make a welcome distraction from the monotony of the desert, but in truth he seldom passed up an opportunity to talk on topics of archaeology and forgotten magics and cultures. It was seldom he ran upon others who were even interested, and even though he suspected his current listeners probably weren't in that category he could use their boredom to pretend for a time. It was enough to get him started.
"You see almost nothing is actually known about whoever built many of the truly ancient ruins in this region, but there's some recently unearthed documents which -although they're not nearly as old- are written by, believe it or not, an archaeologist who lived centuries before that was even recognized as a field of study. He was documenting an ancient people who I believe were exploring the foundations of what we understand as magic today-"Dagger failed to suppress a yawn, and the man next to him started looking all-too-fascinated by a fly that was pestering the right ear of his horse.
Laurus scowled at the group, continuing on doggedly – his voice taking on a more forceful tone as if he could make the subject matter interesting to his audience by force of will alone.
"What's fascinating is that this people believed that the universe is in fact made up of one pure form of quasi-sentient energy. That this energy is refracted and filtered through the spirits of those who occupy the universe in the same way that light is filtered and refracted by glass into various colors and forms. So that the physical universe we see around us, as well as each individual's unique use of magic, are actually this same energy as manifested by each unique soul. Even the world itself is a manifestation, so they claimed, of the great Earth Spirit-""Gripping," Dagger interrupted, calling the group to a halt with a gesture of his hand.
"Sorry lad I have to stop you there for a minute, the horses need water..."Everyone but Laurus leapt off their horses with poorly concealed relief, digging out their water skins.
Getting off his own horse a few moments later with a renewed scowl at his companions he pulled off his saddle bags and rested them in the hot sand.
"Uneducated, street-born..." He mumbled under his breath as he shuffled through his belongings, pulling out maps and checking his position against his compass.
"Hey Dryke," spoke up the quiet man who had been staring at his horse earlier.
"When do ya kick a midget in his parts?""I da know, when?""When he's standin' next to your woman sayin' her hair smells nice!"The joke brought uproarious laughter from the whole group, with the notable exception of Laurus who only buried his attention further in his work and continued to mumble his contempt under his breath.
"...simpleton peasants..." He frowned then as he finished double-checking his work, surprised as he estimated the distance they had traveled since his last estimate and where it placed them on his maps.
Dagger seemed to notice his perturbation
"Everything all right there master Windshoal?""Fine," he replied curtly, then with a sigh,
"It's just, if I'm right, we're very close to where it should be."Everyone looked at him, suddenly frowning.
"I mean it's all very approximate of course, it's not like I have a treasure map with an X on it, but this is really flat land out here with good visibility and conversion from ancient units of measurement to modern distances has been quite well established... We should at least be able to see something by now I should think...""So what you're sayin'," Dagger replied,
"is that we're wastin' our time lad. There's nothin' here."He wasn't looking at them as he replied absently.
"No, it's too soon to give up - much as I'd rather be back home than in this blasted oven. It's probably out here somewhere... Give me a minute to look over my notes, after all the slightest landmark wrong or mistaken translation..." He heard the sounds of belongings being packed up and men getting on their horses but he was already pouring through his notes and was far too focused for the sounds to really register.
It was only when a blunt object slammed hard into the back of his head that he realized something was very, very wrong.
Even though he was lying flat on his back the world seemed to be spinning out of control as if he was falling head over heals from a great height. He looked up, his vision blurry, as Dagger stepped into his field of vision.
"Sorry, young 'Master Windshoal,' or whatever your real name is, but I don't have time to waste traipsing all over this god-forsaken desert looking for your little temple or whatever. So this this going to have to be where we part ways."He tried to move, but the world was still spinning wildly and his limbs felt like lead.
"What... why?""Oh it's quite simple really, and I'll tell you not because I enjoyed being ordered around by your arrogant hide these past few weeks, but just to rub it in your face. You obviously don't realize it but someone's apparently been watching you pretty closely there lad. Shortly after you came to me with this little venture of yours someone else came to me with a much better offer - one that was actually worth my time. Apparently your father made an enemy in one of his little dealings that he shouldn't have. My real employer decided a great way to pay him back would be if his son took a little trip out to the desert and never returned. So they offered me several times what you did and here we are.
"Of course I figured just in case these ruins of yours actually did exist I should wait until we find them so I could leave your tied-up body and bring back a healthy little treasure of artifacts that I could sell for some additional profit -but it looks like this quest of yours was just a fool's errand. Ah well. If it's any comfort at least I won't be chopping off your head today. The contract specifically requires me to give you a slow, painful death and I figure dying of thirst in this miserable empty corner of the desert will do nicely."With that said he walked away, placing Laurus' saddle bags back on the now-empty horse and then whole troupe was moving on -minus their supposed employer of course, who still lay dizzily staring up at the clear sky and its burning sun.
"Treasonous... backstabbing, ignoble vermin!" He spat at the departing group with all the volume his still-raspy voice could muster.
"I'll see you all beg for death for this one day!"Dryke sent a mocking wave over his shoulder.
"See ya' round Twig." * * * *
He wasn't sure how far he had walked since he had regained the ability, or even where he was heading as he had long since lost his sense of direction and no longer had his compass.
"I'll just take part of what will probably be my last day on this earth," he spoke bitterly at the empty sands,
"to pay my respects. I'll start with you dear father... Thank you for trusting me with this wonderful little expedition, as it's been so very rewarding. It was most kind of you to send me out here on a boot-string budget and then go and piss off some murderous rival shortly before my departure. That turned out wonderfully."I'd also like to thank my colleagues in the field of archeology whose tireless research and endless papers on the subject of expired cultures so clearly pointed me to this patch of lifeless bare sand which is so obviously a veritable hub of ancient ruins and treasures to delight the imagination, and-"He stopped dead as he spotted something in the distance. Was that a patch of bright red? And a massive crumbling stone structure next to it -both shimmering in the heat waves but otherwise looking so temptingly real... How long had he been staring hopelessly in front of his own two feet, shuffling his way through the empty sands? He really should look up more often...
Then again, it was probably just another mirage not unlike the many that had been torturing his mind over the last few hours... Still, the last mirages hadn't been so big, nor so... colorful. He stared harder at the red blot of color. It looked... human-shaped.
As he got closer he was surprised to see that the large stone structure, with its mostly collapsed domed roof and still magnificent but crumbling spires, did not in fact vanish into thin air. Nor did the colorful shape beside it.
A relief so profound he lost the ability to speak flooded through him as he began to believe his eyes for the first time since he had been abandoned to the mercy of the relentless sun. Another human being, alive and in the flesh, he was saved!
The closer he got however the more a cold hand seemed to close around his joyous relief, as if to choke it out like a fragile beating heart. For although he wanted to believe he was looking at a real live human being -a woman from the looks of it - there was something decidedly odd about what he was seeing. It wasn't her appearance that was bothering him, for although her bright clothing and rainbow-colored hair was unusual (to say the least) for someone standing alone in the middle of the desert, she was certainly human enough physically.
Rather it was the fact that she seemed to shimmer slightly -as if she were there and yet not there at the same time. At first he thought it was just the heat reflecting off the sand again, but as he got closer he became sure that wasn't it. She was just faintly transparent -a little bit out of focus- as if she were a real person but he was looking at her through a thin veil of mist. In fact he even thought he could see her trailing mist at her edges. He frowned, not sure what to make of it. Perhaps she was a hallucination after all? Was the heat beginning to effect his mind, or was she using some strange sort of magic to appear before him perhaps? After all there were many disciplines of magic he had yet to encounter...
"OK so before we go any further," he blurted after closing to within a few feet of her,
"are you real? Because I've had a really bad day and I just want to get any bad news out of the way up front, got it? So, what's the deal? You a hallucination, some kind of spirit haunting this pile of rock? Or is it just my eye sight going out from this blasted desert sun perhaps?"