Elementally Bound: Part 14
----- Sandfall -----
The brewing bubbling
sounds of the Desolation were replaced by howling winds as Valandra and Ember
materialized through the portal of sand and stepped foot into the heart of the
Djinn sanctum. The feeling was not unfamiliar
to Ember, having felt the sensation of being turned into grains of sand and
pulled over vast distances whenever she'd had a vision. Valandra, however, had not; the only vision
she had received was from their kiss under the waterfall - and she did not
expect the explosion of herself into fine granules just for teleportation. She quickly up-heaved the contents of her
stomach.
"That's… uh…
not going to be a good first impression," Ember relished in the woman's
discomfort. There were far too many
times Ember had been in a similar situation and she was elated this wasn't one
of those times. A feeling of anxiousness
and purpose also filled the woman. Ember
had searched for almost a year after Demitra's disappearance to no avail. Her bracers, the first real clue to the
woman's whereabouts, had led them here to this Djinn palace, and Ember was
absolutely beside herself at the prospect of finally reuniting with her love. Her excitement, however, quickly faded as she
looked around.
The fortress was
completely empty. Lanterns hung from the
arches high above them, while open flames wiggled in the wind. But it was quiet and showed no signs of
anyone's presence. The walls were lined
with shelves and tables with various pottery, lanterns, and weapons resting
upon them, all dusty.
"Where… is
everyone?" Ember asked, a bit
disillusioned.
Valandra wiped her
mouth and stood upright, eyes darting around, assessing the situation. "I don't know. Just don't start rubbing everything again,
okay?"
Ember nodded, as if
she had actually been thinking of doing just that.
The couple proceeded
cautiously and carefully around the complex, until an archway leading to the
center room was found. They walked in
and immediately froze in shock, almost gasping in unison. Directly in the center of the complex was an
enormous pile of sand, collected from a stream falling into it from a higher
level.
"A… A
waterfall… of sand!" Valandra's
blue eyes sparkled, reflecting the golden glow.
The sight was magnificent; her vision made real. "I… I had no idea…"
Ember was already on
the move, darting hastily toward the sandfall.
"Demitra! I'll get you
out!" she yelled without reservation.
"Ember,
wait!" Valandra warned, irritably running after her.
The woman
unwaveringly charged ahead. Reaching the
base of the pile, Ember dove her hands into it and began to dig. "She's gotta be in here somewhere!" A vibration promptly buzzed from Demitra's
gloves upon Ember's hip. She shrieked
from the sensation.
"What is
it?" Valandra had caught up to the
woman, stood beside her.
Demitra's voice came
through clearly to both their ears.
"See…" it whispered.
Valandra looked
around, looked at the sandfall majestically.
"D- Demi? Is that really
you? Are you in there?"
"Demitra! I've finally found you!" Ember welled up. She unfastened the gloves, looked at them for
a moment, took a deep breath, then shoved them into the sand pile.
"What are
you…" Valandra's face froze; she
was a statue. Her mouth was agape as she
stared at the sight before her. Ember
continued digging and pushing the guantlets further into the sand, when
Valandra bent down and forced her head to look up. Ember's expression quickly matched Valandra's
shocked stone face.
In the sandfall
above them, a mirage materialized and a figure faded into view. A bright blue and purple radiance illuminated
the surrounding sands as the light shone on coalesced features. Floating above the sand-pile was a
voluptuously exotic woman, sky-clad and bare; a familiar form to both
women. She seemed to be suspended, held
by the flowing sands… bound. Her face
came to stare upward, fixed on something unclear. Both women gasped as it became clear: It was
Demitra! Yet, two additional arms came
into view, and gave the women pause.
Valandra was already working things out. "D-Demi? A… A Djinn? What have they done to you?"
"Demitra! Whatever's happened, we'll fix it! I've found you! I came to rescue you… to free you!" Ember reached up toward the woman in
earnest. After so long, she'd finally
found her!
"She needs no
repair," a raspy voice came behind them.
Both women turned to see a towering Djinn. One of his four arms extended toward them,
emitted a golden cloud, which passed over the women's faces. Both closed their eyes and fell into the pile
of sand, instantly asleep from the spell.
--------------------
Ember opened her
eyes. She was back standing on the
precipice at the top of Mount Maelstrom.
She glanced around, only to find herself alone; neither Valandra or
Shiera were in sight. Yet, in her mind,
she knew she wasn't alone.
"Be not afraid,
for you are a child born from me," a booming voice echoed in the woman's
mind. She fell to her knees screaming,
overwhelmed by the sheer power it exuded.
The overlook gave
way, breaking from the volcano's mouth and descended gracefully into the heart
of the fiery depths below. Within the
pool of volcanic lava ahead of her was an enormous triangular face. It rose from the lake of molten heat with a
furiousness that rumbled the very walls of the volcano. Upon seeing its sharp teeth breach the
surface, Ember instantly recognized the being as Primordus, the elder dragon of
fire. The heat almost melted her, the
sound almost burst her ears as an earth-shattering roar echoed in the chamber.
Had she not already
been kneeling, Ember would have dropped to them in a reverent awe. Only the dragon's head occupied the entirety
of the volcano, the sheer size of the being was beyond imagination. She tried to speak, but found no voice.
"Yet, for a
child born in my fires, you are still incomplete," Primordus's voice
filled her mind. "Fire is
unpredictable; lava flows without direction, unless a volcano's walls contain
it."
Ember fought through
her pounding headache. "I don't
understand," she managed to squeak, her voice was small over the roaring
and turbulent lava.
"Contain your
own powers, or I shall do it for you again." The dragon's form rose higher, grew smaller,
shaping into the form of Ember. Its
hollowed dark eyes dripped lava, its head was a fiery blaze, and its mouth
dripped a putrid molten heat. It was the
manifestation of Ember's darkest fear: her dark self, a dark Ember.
--------------------
Valandra sashayed
into the bedroom, her evening gown flowing around the woman's curves in the
cold night breeze. The chill in the air
did little to upset her, but teased her relentlessly, inviting her to remove
the gown. She let it slide off her form
as she climbed into the bed.
Through the
entrance-way, her lover came, gliding over the woman's features softly, tracing
her curves as he explored. Valandra
exhaled a chilly breath and opened her eyes to greet him. Staring back at her were hollowed decrepit
sunken eyes of black and blue. A ghastly
sound came from the corpse. "Come
here often?"
"Joko!"
Valandra screamed, trying to push the lich off her.
He smiled a crooked
grin. "Yes, that's my name; you
should know it well, for this isn't the first time you've screamed
it!" He brushed a wrinkled hand
over her cheek and brought a vile, disgusting kiss to it. The woman squirmed at his touch, but couldn't
move. "Tell me, my precious
Valandra, tell me you have obtained the powers which you sought; tell me you
have brought the command of the primal raw
power with you for my army."
Valandra gritted her
teeth. "Yeah, and we're going to
burn you to ash, you filthy bag of bones!"
"We? Oh, so you failed to pull her into you, and
so you brought me another subject? Yes…
I can work with that; I'll add her to my harem.
Is she as delicious as you?"
The monster licked the woman's cheek.
Valandra grimaced
beneath the tyrant. "Oh you'll find
out just how powerful we are, together!" She used her words, since she had
little else to strike out with.
Joko looked the
woman over with a scrupulous eye, as if searching for something, then an
animalistic smile came to him. "Oh…
Look at that! There's something more,
isn't there?" He ran his claw-like fingernails along the woman's arm, pausing at her wrist. "More?
Yes; this is what I've felt… since you stepped foot in Elona. An ancient power; one I have spent eons
trying to harness: the power of the Djinn."
"You'll never
have it!" Valandra spat at the undead god-king.
"Oh, I
shall!" he said as his talons pierced the woman's skin and he shoved his
fingers into her shoulder. The black tar-like
ooze began to spread from the wound as the woman cried out in pain. "And you, my precious Valandra - whether
you want to or not - will bring it to me!"
His grasp tightened, fingers diving further into her flesh. The blackness grew further upon her, until
her entire body was enveloped in darkness.
To Be Continued...
