Chapter 4 Part 1

SEAS OF SAND

The desert, when they finally saw it, was a vision of relief. The cold was really beginning to wear the party of six down. Only Avery, being protected from the illusion, was unaffected.

For ten hours they had marched non-stop. Avery insisted and Ruk agreed that to stop would be fatal. They absolutely had to keep moving. Working their bodies generated heat that the layers of clothes could trap and insulate them with. Still, in spite of that, the numbing cold was damping their minds and fatiguing their bones as each hour passed.

When the first glimpse of the golden line on the horizon that indicated a change in the climate appeared it was all they could do to keep from sprinting for the promise of warmth. Avery restrained them with an adamant voice pointing out that if they exerted all their energy in a final sprint, they would most likely collapse in the ice far short of their goal. He urged a steady pace that would stretch their strength into the last few kilometers.

When they finally came to the uncanny line separating the desert from the ice, Avery could no longer hold the half frozen bodies back. He himself was immune to the illusion, but the others were not. They broke for the sand and upon crossing the line they collapsed in exhausted heaps.

The day would not last much longer so Avery decided that they would find no better place to camp in either climate. He reluctantly gave orders to set up camp. For several long moments they were ignored as make-shift parkas were shed and the warmth of the desert was praised. Within half an hour the first signs of sweat began to appear.

"What a cruel landscape," Ultrecht muttered. "From a deep freeze to hard boiled. I don't suppose you’re going to tell us that this desert is also an illusion," he asked Avery.

"No, the desert’s real enough," Avery assured him. "The heat isn’t real though. It’s the same temperature here as it’s been since we got here."

"Wonderful," Armegon added. "Well I guess we can do without this," he tossed his doffed parka onto the ground.

"Let's not throw them away," Avery said. "We may yet need them."

"Well we can go ahead and pack them away, I think. We won't need them for a while."

Ruk joined them. "If the heat’s an illusion, do we use the same method to get through it as well?"

"Let us see just how hot it gets before coming up with a plan," Armegon suggested. "Right now let’s just get through the night."

"Right," Avery agreed. "I'll fetch some wood."

Under Ruk's direction the others dug some shallow pits and lined them with the discarded parkas. He explained that if the desert, or at lest what they perceived of it, was far too flat for his comfort. A fire and they themselves would be visible for many kilometers.

Avery returned soon with enough wood to last the night. He told them that the actual landscape of the ice was sparse scrub brush, but there was enough dead wood to make it easily collectable.

They spent the night under the desert sky devoid of any light save what sparks the fire tossed upwards. The night was long, and quiet conversation filled the early parts of the void until only the watch remained awake.

When morning arrived, the graying light found Armegon tending the fire with the last of the wood. They had a quick breakfast. They stewed some dried leaves Avery had been carrying and drank the tea gratefully. The liquid warmed their growling bellies--the food was beginning to run low--making the coming day a little more bright.

After full light, they packed their things and started out across the sand. Armegon presently began singing a song about a man crossing a desert with an unnamed horse. Presently Armegon started making a scratching motion at his chest and when candidly questioned, Ultrecht explained that the halfelf was playing some kind of instrument called an air guitar. Calista thought it a silly action.

By midday, they had encroached upon a series of rolling dunes and Calista, who had listened enchanted by the poetry of the song, noted that the dunes actually did resemble waves frozen in mid flow. She could see what the singer had meant.

The dunes grew steeper the deeper as they went. At one point, they began circumventing and weaving between the dunes instead of scaling them. Avery led them to and fro to a point where most of them were totally clueless as to which direction they were moving in.
Ganatar mentioned his concern about their getting lost to Armegon at one point, who reassured the unicorn that Avery had a natural sense of direction and was not likely to get lost.

As the day passed, they were pleasantly surprised that the temperature did not rise to any unbearable degree. The air was uncomfortable but survivable. It was late afternoon when Avery called a stop. He looked worried and alarmed. Then he directed Ruk to climb a nearby dune and have a look around.

"What is it?" Armegon asked as the waited out the minotaan's ascent.

"Wind," Avery replied. "I expected it to show up, wind is what causes dunes like these, but there’s something wrong."

A few moments later Ruk came sliding back down the slipface of the dune pushing a small avalanche of sand before him. "Sandstorm," he warned. "There’s a black cloud coming from that direction," he pointed ahead of them. "It looks violent."

Avery acted instantly. He directed them to unpack those parkas again and all the blankets. He directed them to the side of a dune facing the coming storm. When Ganatar suggested that the leigh of the other dune would shelter them more effectively, Avery pointed out that it would also bury them under slip sand more effectively as well.

They huddled up against the sloping surface and donned the parkas; they would protect against windblown sand. Then they tied themselves together with rope and covered with blankets. The waiting had begun. Avery urged them to lay flat facing away from the wind. That way they could breathe more easily.

The storm started as a low moan from behind. The wind blowing across the tops of the dunes whipped sand and the loose ends of the blankets upwards. Avery reminded the others to keep down. He recommended that they crawl forward as sand collected behind them.

"The wind makes the dunes move forward like waves on an ocean, but much slower. As the dune behind us encroaches, sand will cover your feet. When that happens, crawl forward until you are out of the sand." He was having to shout to be heard above the rising wind which now sounded like pounding surf. Ironically he recalled the song Armegon had been singing earlier. That was when the darkness fell over them.

Calista had taken a position between Ruk and Armegon. No more than an arm's reach in either direction, their closeness was comforting, for the hour or so that followed was very lonely and scary. Even with friends so close, the storm isolated her from the world outside of her blanket.

The buffeting wind drove the blanket against her back at times and threatened to rip it from her grasp at others. When she raised her head, or any other part of her body, the whipping sand blasted with such ferocity that the sting was tremendous in spite of the protective cloth. Her feet were numbed by the constant pelting and her ears grew deaf against the constant howl of the wind.

It was not until a jerk on the rope was felt that she realized her legs were buried under sand. Remembering Avery's direction, she crawled forward slowly pulling herself from the leading edge of the ever moving dune.

Three more times did the dune encroach on them, and three more times did they crawl forward. Throughout the night the storm raged on and food and drink became luxuries obtained at great expense. Her water bottle was within reach, but to drink, meant raising up to the point where once again the wind slapped her head about painfully. Precious gulps of water spilled in the whipping currents.

Food was even harder to obtain as it was still in her pack, the pack she was presently using to shield her feet from the blasting sand. She decided after two painful attempts to open the pack that hunger was less painful as that biting wind.

The only other thing that posed a problem was fighting off sleep. She knew that should she fall asleep with her legs numbed by the wind, that she would not feel the sand cover her and would soon die. She resisted sleep as long as she could.

A jerk on the rope woke her again. She was covered with sand from her chest back. In panic she crawled forward again. This time it was a serious problem. As she moved to get out from under the sand, the leading side of the dune cascaded further and covered her head. In blind terror, she struggled to free herself and found extra help as the ropes on either side of her dragged her out from under the sand. When she emerged, the flap of her blanket lifted and for a moment she thought she saw gray light. The next day was coming.

As dawn arrived, the wind decreased notably. Within an hour the air had stilled enough for her to remove the blanket and stand on her aching legs. The wind still was strong, but the sand had fallen out of it and left the storm as nothing more than a pleasant breeze.

"Good morning," Armegon greeted her as she squinted at the landscape. It was completely different than when they had taken cover.

"That’s the first serious display of weather we have seen since arriving here," Avery noted. "I would’ve thought that in an ecosystem like this, storms would not occur very often if at all."

"Apparently they do," Ultrecht pointed out.

"What next?" Ruk asked.

Avery looked around. "That way," he pointed. How he knew which direction to go was anyone's guess.

"Must we?" Ganatar yawned, a comical action when done by a unicorn. "I’m very tired."
Armegon nodded. "I agree. After that episode we could all do with some rest. I suggest we crash for a few hours."

Avery frowned then concurred. "Okay," he said. "But let’s not wait too much and don’t eat very much. As things stand right now, we have a limited supply of water. Eating will only make you thirsty."

They settled down and took a much needed rest. Calista found sleep easy to achieve in spite of the light and heat. When she woke a few hours later, though, she was drenched in sweat. She was also thirsty.

Avery was standing atop a dune gazing off in one direction. He had removed his tunic and wore his trousers and boots only. Calista considered changing her attire similarly. It certainly would be cooler. Calista took her hunting knife and began making the necessary alterations.

"Don't throw the scraps away," Armegon advised as he joined her. Calista looked at the sleeve she had cut. From shoulder to fingers her arms were bare. "The sleeves can be reattached, and there may come a time when you’ll want to do so."

"I’m very thirsty," Calista remarked. "I’ve drained my bottle."

"We’ll share," Armegon assured her. "But we’re all gong to be thirsty for a while. Avery probably will only want us to drink at night. Try not to get too hot. Sweat is lost water."

"Let's move out," Avery announced as he descended. "We need to find water within two days. Our rations won't last much longer as it is."

"I fear that your rations will last longer if you go on without me," Ganatar offered.

"Forget it," Armegon returned. "You’re one of us now and we don’t abandon our own."

"But I consume a lot more water than most of you do."

"Then you can carry more of the load to make up the difference," Ultrecht agreed as he threw the blankets across the unicorn's back. "Now let's get going."

Avery led them onward for the rest of the day. When night came, Avery commanded them to drink half of their remaining rations of water. "We’ll travel in the dark and sleep through the heat. That’ll help us conserve water."

"How’re you going to your way in dark? There’re no stars or moons to go by?" Ruk asked.

"We’ll use dead reckoning," Avery explained. "It’s risky, but it’s better than dehydrating in this desert." He picked up his own pack and tied one end of the rope that just a few hours earlier had saved Calista's life around his waist. "The rope will keep us together when the light goes," he explained.

The night was an extended series of stumbles and jerks. Sand tugged at weary legs and snagged dragging feet throwing tired hikers to the ground. The rope jerked this way and that as their guide changed directions again and again totally confounding them as to where they were going. For all many of them knew, they were moving in circles.

When at last the sky lightened, Avery stopped and bade them to burrow under the sand. According to his instructions, they dug small furrows and lined them with blankets. Then they lay in the depressions. This kept them out of sight while they snoozed the day by. And though still uncomfortably hot, it was nonetheless tolerable and everyone tried to remain quiet and still and to get some sleep.