Chapter 18 (part 2)
The Eye of the Dragon


The guest-chamber was small and full of firelight; Dinary watched the red blaze of the burning wood in the fire pit glow from the iron grate that held it a few inches above the stone floor.

All of the light and warmth of the room seemed to shield him from the task set before him. Danger was well-known to Dinary and his soldiers, but the mystery of the Haunted Wastelands plagued him to no end.

Dinary agonized while waiting for further instructions. That wait ended several days later when Prince Norr summoned Dinary to his bed chamber and handed him a map to the Haunted Wastelands. It was the markings to sudden death, but the prince believed emphatically if any soldiers could return from such a ghastly place, Dinary and his warriors would emerge victorious.

The unit of soldiers was well supplied. It took them several days to reach the desert, but when the horses became spooked with only a half mile before entering the Wastelands, seven men were ordered to remain and care for the horses, while the rest continued the three-day journey on foot to the city of Modos.

The Wastelands lived up to its name; it remained barren--a desolate and truly forsaken territory. That once rich and thriving region, occupying the northwestern corner of the Northern Mountains, and home to the twin cities Harromog and Modos, was considered for centuries the pinnacle of Bethican culture. However, the citizens of Harromog and Modos grew prideful.

They openly mocked the gods and boasted of their disobedience to the divine rule of law. Anger and jealousy drove the gods to send fire that reduced the land to rubble and cursed the ground so nothing would grow. It was the only part of Bethica that could truly be called hopeless. The region stood as a grim reminder to never place oneself above the gods.

The soldiers traveled nearly two miles inside the desert, walking through rolling ground fog that appeared to coil around the ankles of the shambling city.

Dinary noticed a slight wind blowing. Within minutes, the wind picked up speed, and minutes later, a full sand storm had engulfed them. They placed thick cloths over their mouths and noses, but a thinner one over their eyes for vision. The storm blew at their backs like giant hands pushing them--perhaps, hurrying them towards an uncertain fate.

Dinary ordered them into small groups of fours and fives. They entwined their arms tightly and held strong against the wind. Despite the cloth coverings, sand got into their eyes, ears, noses, and mouths. The sand weighed them down--contaminating food and water. Much had to be thrown away, and some, the storm carried away.

Finally, unable to fight against a stronger air current, they gathered themselves into a tight ball on the ground--putting what little food and water they had managed to salvage beneath them, and waited out the storm. After what seemed an hour, the storm ceased. Shaking the sand from their garments and packings, they continued traveling, though the storms had made their three-day journey dangerously challenging and longer.

A few hours before nightfall, they stopped and set up camp. As Dinary and soldiers sat before the fire, eating dried figs and swilling tea, Rhico, one of the captains, appeared startled and threw a fig at something he thought he saw moving a few feet from him in the sand. The fig slowly sank into the sand and was gone. Rhico grabbed his sword and scrambled to his feet.

Ndornah laughed. "There's nothing there you big rabbit."

"Stop laughing. I saw something."

"And you hoped to kill it with a fig?" she asked, grinning.

Rhico stared angrily at her but didn't answer.

"I fear for your shadow," she said with a chuckle.

"And you fed the sand our last fig," said one of the soldiers.

"Maybe you should throw it some tea to wash it down," said another. That drew loud laughter.

"That's enough, you jug-heads," Dinary said, managing to keep a straight face. "It's all right, Rhico. We all are a little spooked."

The soldiers teased and chuckled among themselves; Dinary yawned then said, "Stop the foolishness. Get some sleep. Daylight will be here before you know it."

The soldiers grabbed their bedding and soon the night air filled with sounds of heavy breathing.

*****
Beams of moonlight crept across the barren landscape. The abandoned desert sat so still beneath the brightly lit sky. The silence was eerie, though the bodies of the dead screamed without breath from the depths of the sands. Melitah wavered between sleep and awake as odd shapes slithered to and fro. Am I dreaming? She thought.

Then a stench, like rotting flesh, pierced her nostrils; she slowly raised her eyelids and gasped when her eyes fell upon a shadow of creatures; they had snatched a soldier away from the sleeping camp and had partially eaten him down to the bone. In shock, he had not screamed--and when he did try, a creature gorged on his tongue.

Melitah jolted her sister awake when she tore away from her side and shot to her feet. She frowned as the sleep in her eyes cleared and her gaze fell upon the quiet feasting. Ndornah reached for her sword and jumped up from her bedding.

She yelled and though a bit dazed, the men staggered to their feet. Each grabbed a weapon, and stood ready--for what, Dinary wasn't sure since the creatures had bodies with no organs--but purplish skin fitted tightly to their skeletal frame. Several floated out of the sand--followed by a multitude that stood facing the living with a sword in each bony purple hand.

"General, what do we do! They're already dead!" shrieked a young soldier.

However, the more senior soldiers had seen something like those ghastly things before, years ago on the ghost ship. Before Dinary could answer, Celio shouted, "Cut them to pieces! Starting with the arms that hold their weapons!"

As the dead and the living squared off, dark slime oozed from the purple skin of the creatures and the blood-red balls of their eyes blazed upon the soldiers who stood in a fighting stance.

Dinary shot forward with a battle cry, his necklace glowing--followed by his soldiers. Fearlessly, they ran straight into the multitude--swords clanking and sparkling under the moonlight. Surprisingly, when swords took off the creatures' heads, immediately the fleshless bodies turned to dust.

As the soldiers gallantly fought, and Dinary's divine sword wiped out dozens at a time, the magic of the Gunji turned hundreds into piles of incinerated bones. It was the quickest victory ever for Dinary and his warriors.  A deafening hissing sound flew from the mouths of the lifeless creatures; defeated, they bolted beneath the surface and the sand once again grew still.

Dinary and the soldiers stayed awake the rest of the night. The Gunji treated the wounded and placed a shroud of protection around the camp, though the creatures never returned.

With one man down and days to go before reaching Modos, the unit set out early in the morning. Two days into the journey, another sand storm bedeviled them for hours. More food and tea were ruined or carried off with the wind. The Gunji's powers were limited against the cursed soil and he couldn't conjure water; plus, the dried goods were scarce and they had to ration the bread.

"Bet you could use that fig now...huh Rhico," Ndornah said with a smirk.

"Ha ha," Rhico scoffed. "Eat this," he said, kicking sand at her. He pushed past her, intentionally bumping her shoulder, and walked ahead.

"Enough! Both of you!" Dinary snapped.

The unit dragged on--getting weaker with little water and only small portions of bread left. Suddenly, one of the men shouted something from up ahead. He'd found a sack and came running back with teeth flashing.

"Look what I found," he said, opening the large sack.

The sack belonged to them. It appeared the wind had blown the sack with figs, dates, and bread miles ahead of them--so tightly packed, there was no trace of sand. Dinary and his comrades tore at the sack as if ravaged beasts; stuffing their mouths like ill-mannered children--hands grabbing everywhere--food and saliva dribbling down their chins as their hands proved bigger than their mouths.

With bellies full, all napped; the Gunji, who carried his own diet of Botley leaves, beetles, and locusts decided he'd keep watch.

However, the soldiers napped unusually long, and when the Gunji turned to wake them, he noticed foam streaming from the corners of their mouths, and they didn't appear to be breathing. The Gunji slapped Dinary's face several times and repeatedly struck a few others that lay near him, but when none responded, he sensed they'd been poisoned." He quickly held his hands over Dinary's abdomen; magic energy poured from the Gunji's palms.

With his eyes still closed, Dinary jolted to a sitting position and vomited until his ghostly face flushed red. The Gunji did the same for each soldier, and they sprang to their knees and vomited.

"What happened?" Dinary asked, his voice gravelly.

"I take full blame," the Gunji said.

"What do you mean?" Dinary slurred, his eyes still droopy.

"I should have detected this evil," the Gunji snapped. "Nothing is what it seems in this god-forsaken place. That wind isn't a wind at tall, but an entity with an evil mind. Something put us under a mirage."

Dinary held his stomach. "What?" he asked, slightly bent over.

The Gunji took a blade and sliced open the sack they had eaten from, and there were thick, green maggots squirming within its slime. And when they looked at what they had vomited, they saw small pools of them slithering upon the ground.

"I'm going to be sick again," one of the men said, making a face at what was crawling at his feet. He ran off coughing and gagging.

"What, for the love of gods, is next?" Dinary said, frowning and looking about. "Just what the Hades have we gotten ourselves into?"



Image: by Dantegrafice from Pixabay

Main Characters
Lord Gangus Abram Leader of his clan
Lady Brehira (Bree here rah) His wife
Dinary (Deh nah ry) Youngest Son
Celio (Seal le o) Soldier and close friend
Princess Netrekka (Neh trek kah) Dinary's Lover/wife
Olatunji (O Lah Tune Gee) Cushite Soldier
Gangus's Staff Command Tierphenjinochun (Teer fen gin o tion)

Minor Characters
Khimah (Kee ma) Eldest Son
Captain Dulcy P Dordrecht (Door check) Captain of the Cristofur
Judian (Jew-dee-in) Second in Command of the Christofur
Kofius (Ko fee us) The Sail Master
The Drake (like it's spelled) The menacing dragon

The gods
Raziel (Ray-zeal) God of gods
Dahlia (Doll-lee'ah) Goddess of Domaria--a kingdom ruled by women
Gailzur (Gale-zore) God of War
Nelchael (Nell-key-ol) God of the Underworld
Zakzakiel (Zak zah keel) God of Peace


The Races
Volarians (Vo lar rians) (Humans) 'Gangus's tribe'
Timbakni (Tim-bach-knee) (Humanoid) K9 race, Devoted to Gangus and his tribe
Engamars (In ga mars) (Humanoids) aka, Red Beards 'Hate Aenwyns and Qu'Venars'
Aenwyns (An winds) (Humanoids) 'Adore Qu'Venars, hate Engamars'
Qu'Venars (Q' Vin nahs) (Humanoids) 'Adore Aenwyns can't tolerate the stubborn Engamars'
Nordoxz (Nor-docks) (Humanoid) 'Skin multi-colored like a serpent, Enemy to all, including the gods, except one'
Faerie (Far ree) (Another world) Origin of the Aenwyns'
Domarians (Doe mah rians) ( Humans) A kingdom ruled by women'
Nekani (Neh cah knee) (Humanoids) Felion Race'