Kingdom of Fantasy: The Prince From the Dark

Chapter 16 - The Desert of Eyes and Ears

A little less than a week has passed since Mel and his faithful indigo dragon LightBright have seen the Crystal Castle and their own palace at their home, the Bright Empire. The terrain below them appeared as a hazy sea of golden-amber; the strong wind rushing in the air made the sand below them rise and swirl like waves. The scorching orb of luminous fire, the sun, stood in the center of the pastel blue atmosphere, pelting Mel and LightBright with its harsh rays, which caused the overwhelming heat to rest on their backs. Images of the people that he saw, damaged by Avalon in the past, swirled and flashed in the Wizard's mind.

Grandeur was left to die in an empty hallway. The white poodle laid on his side on the floor, and a pool of red had swollen around him. As Mel in his dream approached the dog, it morphed into Melissa, and Avalon was across from her with an immobilized red-haired Witch lying on the ground. Melissa was then shot with a black feather quill, and she fell to the floor. The cycle of the horrific daydream did not seem to stop.

The prolonged exposure to the blazing day's light and arid breeze made the Wizard's eyes and mind weary, which made it very difficult for him to focus on reaching their destination. He repeatedly drooped his head and closed his exhausted eyes, but the only things keeping him awake are the danger of falling off the dragon and the lukewarm sweat that rolled down his forehead and dampened his pale hair and robe. Mel and his dragon explored more of the vast sea of barren sand, passing by dune after dune. Behind a large straw-colored lifeless hill, there seemed to be a small structure of buildings of wood and stone standing beside a large body of water that reflected the sky's color. The water's shores were thriving with an intense shade of green, and the water branched out to the city. The dragon then stopped flapping its wings and dove its heavy body, heading towards the large oasis. Mel noticed this and woke up in a flash.

"LightBright!!! Wake up!" Mel cried, tugging at one of the dragon's frilled ears.

However, the beast did not listen. LightBright's dehydrated eyes closed as its body began to plummet, with its back and his rider about to crash first. About to come in contact with the oasis, Mel jumped off the dragon's back and dove into the cooling liquid, saving him from the heat of the desert. The Wizard released the cloth sack strapped to him, and then submerged himself in the water and used his magic wand to summon a bubble of blue light to protect him before the exhausted beast collided with the water, making a large splash explode around them. As the turbulent blast of water began to subside, the magic shield that was conjured slowly faded away, surrounding every corner of Mel and his dragon's bodies with water. The waves in the oasis then slowly pushed the Wizard to the shore, making him look like a dormant figure, drifting towards the border where the water meets the moist dirt. The waves slowly diminished as Mel was being carried closer to the muddy bank of the oasis. A single-humped camel and two tall, scrawny figures quietly trotted to the shore to investigate the unconscious Wizard on the wet sand. The figures had pastel blue skin and two pairs of glossy white wings on each of their backs. They were also covered in sand-colored cloth, which covered their heads, bodies, and their mouths.

"He seems in need of recovery", one figure whispered to the other in a gentle voice, "We'll take him to the village."

The other figure nodded in approval, then both surrounded Mel and reached out both of their arms to carry him and rest him on the camel. Since it was said that Fairies can lift abnormally heavy objects, both were able to lift Mel, regardless of the weight that he bore. As they lifted him and gently placed him onto the back of the shaggy sand-colored camel, and then one Fairy noticed bubbling and fizzing in the oasis, and it swelled as the seconds passed. As the winged figure stepped closer to the water, a large creature slowly emerged from the water, revealing its shiny indigo head with spiraled horns, scaly body, and two large wings with golden-yellow undersides. The beast's shut eyes gradually opened as it began to wake up, and it opened its reptilian mouth to audibly yawn, revealing rows of pointed teeth. The animal raised its front legs to groggily crawl its way to the shore, letting the dry grains of sand stick to the dragon's damp paws. After it closed its wide mouth from yawning, the beast's eyes were wide open, shining like a pair of spherical emeralds. It made a stare at the Fairies in sand-colored cloth, then at its exhausted master on the back of the camel, and then anger and confusion began to form in its mind. Mel's blue dragon, LightBright, grumbled in fury, expanded its wings, and stretched one of its paws, trying to knock down one of the Fairies, but it missed. As the scaly blue hand violently pounded the sand, grains of tan were sprayed at the camel, and the hairy straw-colored creature began to moan and run in fear. Both Fairies stood up, stretched their white wings, and took out what looked like large hollow straws made from thick reeds. Each of the winged creatures put one end of the tubes into their mouths and began to exhale from the reeds. Pointed objects the size of arrowheads darted out of the reeds and flew into LightBright's head; one landed on its snout and the other reached for his neck. The dragon felt two stinging sensations from the darts, and then became more confused. Two more darts pricked the animal, which finally caused the furious cerulean reptile to fall into a trance. The Fairies then used magic to summon ropes of light to drag the heavy dragon in the sand, while the camel calmed down. As one of the Fairies called out for the camel, the shaggy animal began to trot back to the pair of Fairies and the tranquilized dragon and continued their journey in the desert.