Elemental Empires

{Chapter 16}

Mia cried out in agony as she felt something sharp prick her back, she rolled over to see small rocks scattered everywhere that dug into her back. She groaned and rubbed her back.

What an amazing way to make an entry.

She opened her eyes slightly and the world tilted dangerously to the side, she closed her eyes again as everything spun around her. The sun burnt into her back as she rubbed her eyes and opened them again.

The dizziness subsided and she stood up, rubbing her back as drops of sweat appeared on her forehead.
"Am I in Sahara?," Mia said aloud, looking around curiously. She put her hand on her forehead to shield her eyes from the intense glare of the sun.

Is this it?

She did remember the glowing light and her scream echoing as a vortex in the sky sucked her in it. She also remembered that she wasn't able to move, suspended in mid-air as her surroundings moved past in a monotonous blur. She had felt dizzy and closed her eyes when there was a jolt and then had found herself on the ground of Sahara or where ever she was.

She was busy surveying the scorched landscape when suddenly she remembered her kitten. "Ivory!?," Mia gasped and panic choked her as she frantically looked around for her but then she felt something lick her ankles and  smiled in relief." Ivory, come here," she picked up the tiny kitten and put it in her trouser pocket.

"I ain't wearing no cardigan in this sweltering heat," Mia wiped her brow, tying her cardigan on her waist." Let's explore". She started walking and observed her surroundings more closely and was shocked to see the wrecked and thoroughly ransacked ruins of a place.

There were large mounds of boulders and rocks piled everywhere, pots and pans and other miscellaneous items were strewn about randomly. It looked as if a great disaster had taken place here. Charred trees and wilted flowers could be seen everywhere. She could also spot the remains of marble fountains and gold statues scattered haphazardly. It seemed as if this was once a beautiful place.

"What happened here?," Mia said eyeing the makeshift tents dispersed here and there. As far as the eye could see, everything was destroyed  and damaged badly.

She saw a large, wooden sign ahead and she ran to it to read the painted words.

*  come to    mental world *

"What?," Mia wondered as she brushed her hand over the dusty sign and upon closer inspection saw that some of the letters had faded over time.

"Oh, Welcome to Elemental World," Mia felt a thrill of excitement as she read the words before sadness shadowed her." But what has happened to it?".

Mia started walking towards a field which was the only thing that had escaped the clutches of doom. She got closer and was relieved to see people there, she started to jog over to them but was startled as a rough voice yelled at the people. She stopped in her tracks and was shocked to see the condition of the people!.

There were weak men, frail women and malnourished children working endlessly in the fields. Even elderly people with silver hair and wrinkled worked tirelessly, they looked so thin and starved, just like the paper-dolls Mia used to make when she was little. A blow and everyone would whisk away with the wind. Another loud voice shouted and Mia hid behind a large pile of rocks to watch the scene unfold before her.

Mia saw a thin, skeleton-like man working in the field. Chopping something with an axe way too heavy for him to hold. He paused to wipe the sweat of his brow when another man yelled. He was a burly, mustachioed man with broad shoulders and a wide chest, and he held something in his beefy hands which looked like a long, thin, metallic pipe with knobs and buttons on it. She tuned in her ears to try to listen to the conversation between them but was able to catch only a few words like stopping and punishment.