The Journey to the Skysea Glass
The sun was beating down upon Oni's baseball hattttt. no no that is not right. Start over.
The sun beat down upon Oni Dai. His skin was starting to feel cracked from being dry and hot. The shadows from the canyon around them brought a strange relief from the heat. The entire group were mostly quiet. Ten days in sand was a lot. They had been following Oni. He claimed he knew the direction to travel. He just knew the gem was leading them some place. In Oni’s drive to give hope mislead the Dawners as they followed the gem. All of them started to think they were going in circles. Mar'iya was very quiet. Oni was starting to feel angry for that silence. Mar’iya was his longest living friend and with his silence he felt the guilt of driving them all into the sand. This was starting to be a ruin. Mar’iya seemed to be in the middle of some inner conflict. His change in the Tomb was not complete yet.
David broke their traveling silence, but he had not spoken in days and his voice was mostly broken as it came from his mouth, “where the fuck are you taking us ONI”. Oni turned to look at him, lifting his head and gaze for the first time in hours. He searched his mind for a response. Nothing was coming to him as he agreed with David. Arnia spoke up for Oni is a voice now layered with confidence, “he said that the gem would lead us where we need to go and so it will. He has led us in the ways of the dawn for months now and he will guide us now.” David looked at her with more spite than his words had for Oni. His throat had found its breath, “we go north one day, west the next and south the day after that. We are going in circles.”
Oni was about to respond with his normal morale enhancing words when cries echoed through the canyon. These cries ended all conversation. All heads went up and the entire group seemed taller. As the grouped moved forward, Oni looked back and Mar’iya just stood there with that same stoic uncaring face. He did not have time to find out and charged down the path towards the noise. Oni ran past his friends and with a couple of hops jumped up to a rock rising. He looked out over a fork in the canyon path. He could not see who cried out, but we he saw Bulettes. Pointing frantically he yelled to his friends, “three sand sharks that way and one down there.”
Ixen changed into pure fire and floated into the center of the creatures. Oni, and Arnia moved close to David who wrapped them in a protective circle of blades. One of the sharks moved through the sand to avoid the fire and blades to crunch David directly. Another came from the other direction and tried to swallow Arnia. They had not seen these things before and were almost swallowed whole. David dropped but Arnia had just enough stamina to servive the first bite. Arnia went into pure defense mode as she healed herself. Oni healed David. Ixen floated from creature to creature setting them on fire as his went. The smell of burning bulette flesh filled the canyon.
The dust just hung in the dry air as the last sand shark died. Dust and ash covered everyone. It made Only think back to Trobridge and the early days in the desert. His thoughts went to Nessy and her sacrificial death by one of these monstrosities. That was the moment Oni knew just how deadly this journey was going to be. She saved us that day. We might have saved this Nomli this day. Her death was maybe honored with the killing of more sand sharks. Oni wanted to kill them all. He remembered the underground home and wondered if they should seek it out.
Oni ran over to Nomli. The man had been cut in half. He started to pray a little as he wanted to bring the Morning Father to bare and save this half man, “where are your legs my friend.” Nomli looked up with sharp disdain. Oni dodged to the side to miss the eye attack. His words stung like wasps, “I am a dwarf you … human oaf.” He stood up and brushed himself off. “who are you?”
Oni shifting into his charming self. That charm that normally failed, “I am Osmund, and we are the ones that saved you.” After much confusion the group finally told Nomli that they were the Double Dawners. David yelled something from his inner voices about Dragon Bane but the group had learned to ignore some of his outbursts. Oni worried about how many times he has been hit in the head. Nomli looked over to him. He looked like he was trying to look inside David to find the truth in his statement. Oni hoped David would not go into his, this is all fake and just a story message. It always made David seem crazy. Oni could not even imagine the magic to make something called a holodeck.
Steam rose from the dead bulette bodies. The group started to harvest the creatures and make camp. Arnia loved fresh dried meat and started to lay out strips in the sun. Oni was thinking of trade goods and making small items. He wanted to make some more pan flutes and rope. As he cut into the feet to reveal the toes, Naga came to mind. That pan flute had been for him so long ago. Oni would make several from this harvest of toes. It would make some child happy to make the tones of the warlock elf. I hope it makes his patron smile. He pulled all the long thick tendons out to braid them into rope. More people came to his mind. His mother and the water mill. Oni looked up to the sky, “Am I about to die my lord.”
David setup camp on a ledge over the canyon floor. Nomli was starting to settle in. He was no longer lingering on the edges, as if he was about to run. Trust was building but no one was completely joined yet. Nomli spoke about the changes in the north. He explained about the cold and how water froze. The camp was alive with activity, so no one questioned him much about it. Oni and Arnia through several large bulette plates up to the camp. Oni looked at Nomli, “We can clean these tonight. They make great trade goods.” Nomli’s eyes twitched. He was thinking how odd it was that these Double Dawn Hero’s had to worry about trade goods. They were supposed to be heroes of the gods.
Even before the first watch was setup a light from the canyon floor headed towards the camp. A chilly breeze blew through the canyon following the shadows. This light was brimming from a woman. The party would know her as Theresa Resch. Her voice rang through their heads as much as their ears. She spoke both within and outside the psychy. She had been looking for the group. With her thought words she finally confirmed for Nomli that this was the group he had been looking to find. His face could not block his emotions as his belief in their almost god status dropped to the realization that the Double Dawners were normal people just like him. He smiled knowing he could be one of them.
This new near goddess explained that the Dawners had been traveling in circles. The gem could be used to find its companions, but that the Thri-king had been moving around, leading them in different directions. They were to follow the setting sun until the found the place where the two suns met. David in his attempt to impress this ghostly woman drew is psionic blade and cut into the covering above them. The moonlight beamed through. Oni used his magics and healed the roof. They all sat there looking up hoping they had not been seen. Theresa started telling them about how to find this new double sunset when a screech rang out from the skies above. She warned of the great one watching them and ran off.
Shadows cast from something moving in front of the moon. Oni not really hearing the fear in Theresa’s voice peaked out. His eyes were filled with a giant ancient silver dragon. Had they released some old dragons of good with the gods escape. He started to step out. Arnia yelled, “what are you doing?” David grabbed Oni shoulder to pull him back in. He was in some trance but could not brake David’s grasp. Oni, in a voice like a child, “it is a silver dragon.” Arnia still angry, “Theresa left in fear, no way that is a silver dragon.” Still in his child like voice and looking at Ixen, “it is one of your people.” Arnia yells, “left is fear.” Nomli looked out and saw the biggest white dragon he has ever seen. His dwarven blood boiled and protected him from the trick fooling Oni. Arnia words finally reach Oni, and he thought about Theresa again. Depression took him over as he sat in the back of the camp. Why was he so drawn to believe it was silver?
The next morning, they headed towards the dusk. After hours in the sand, they came to what could only be called the sea of glass. Stretching out before them the sand had been turned to glass. It went out as far as the eye could see. Heat radiated off it. The sun, baked heat into it making it a glass hell scape. Looking out they could see a sun both below and above them. Some land mass like an island on the sea was visible out in the distance. David looked out to it, “how are we going to get out to the island.” Oni looked out, not even sure if was actually there, “the ghost said to go to where the two suns meet. We must wait for the sunset first, and head towards it.”
They started to make camp on the edge of the glass. Nomli broke the silence of the work, “how are we going to across that.” His whole arm swaying from horizon to horizon as he spoke. Ixen thought he might be able to carry them all out over it. He would need to leave one person behind and stayed at Nomli as he said it. Nomli smirked as he could carry himself. Oni listened to the conversation behind him as he walked out onto the glass. The heat was intense. It only took about thirty feet before it started to boil his very blood.
It was time to test the new device Mar’iya created. Oni looked around for him. He could not even be seen. Oni was worried about him. Something happened to him in that tomb. He was no longer himself and he was becoming Lord Vashir again. Oni would need to meditate in the morning for insight. Herman stepped out on his shoulder, “it is the dagger.” Oni shock his head at his little buddy, “you know some stuff, but human behavior is not one of them. Stay in your lane little buddy.” If a dung beetle could shrug, Herman did it and headed back to his home, “I am going to visit Jinx. Have fun on the GLASS.”
They all watched the sunset as the two suns met. That was where they needed to go. Oni created a quick sled from the bulette plates and new tendon rope. The temperature changed the moment the sun went down. The heat left the glass in one radiant rush. It caused a wind to form rushing out away from the Sea of Glass. Ixen changed into a giant bird. Nomli called a giant mystical wasp. He climbed a board and took flight. Arnia and David wrapped the rope around the Ixen bird. With a jerk they slid out into the glass sheet.
Spirits of evil rose from the glass. Oni and Arnia prepared to jump from the sled to attack them. Nomli flew in close to Ixen and pointed a little off to the north. The sled slid is a great arch and changed direction. The spirits moved in, but they could not keep up and quickly were left behind for slower prey. Once out of their reach Ixen swung south again to go back to his normal path. The sled again did a great arch as the course corrected again. Oni found the sled to be enjoyable. He wondered if he could make a game like this someday.
Ixen and Nomli flew out into the night. The skidding and skipping of the sled making small noises as we moved. In the moonlight a ship was floating on the horizon. They had met some good travelers over the past few weeks, and with the hope of the dawn went towards the ship. The ship slowed and finally stopped as we approached. Hope turned to despair once again as the ship was filled with ghostly pirates. They started to launch ghostly harpoons at the group. Arnia had senses that none of them could feel. Her hand made contact with the ship. Light came off her like the sun. the Dawn Father removed some curse from this ship through her. Oni knew this was important for some other reason but could not make sense of it. Herman’s voice popped into his mind, “duh!”.
The power of the cursed ship went away in that instant. It was still covered in these ghost pirates, but without the support of their ship they had less power. The Double Dawners came aboard destroying them as they did. The group started to move around this strange structure. None of them have ever seen anything like this. Oni had read about ships in some of the tombs lost in Trobridge, but part of him did not believe they could exist. The thought of so much water that you could float something like this on it seems even more unbelievable. David using his special connection to objects could force the ship to move. He moved it towards where the suns had met. Oni hoped they could find this tomb of Mother Dust before the sun rose again.
David took the wheel. Nomli sat nimbly at the front of the ship. Oni had searched his mind for the name for the front. He came to bow. Nomli raised his hand in a fist. He looked back to David in a huff, “Stop the ship, there are some bodies up ahead. We should see if they are still alive.” A warmth came over Oni as he felt the power of their change coming out is Nomli’s voice. David brought the ship to a stop near the bodies. His control of it was becoming incredible is such a short time.
Nomli lept from the railing to land next to the bodies. He slowly approached, docking every step. His breath was controlled. He wanted to help them, but he did not want to be the dead scout. He reached his hand to roll the first body. He jumped back as it looked just like Oni. His eyes darted from the bodies to the ship. He went to each of them, looking deeply into their glassy eyes. Arnia yelled down in her new mode of speaking, “what is wrong Nomli? … Should I come down?”
“No,” came from Nomli before he could turn to look at her. Terror was on his face as he backed away from the bodies. In his broken voice, “they are you. They are your bodies.”