Lunar Heart, Shadow Bound ✓ [when the moon lies]

Ch.8.2: Dealing with Deel

At last a gust of fresh air smacked her in the face. Pulling herself up to the top, she set the bag near her feet. Before her eyes was the bright blue sky and the reflective, bright orange sand that almost blinded her with its vivid colors. Below the mountainous dune were star sand dunes of various sizes. Wind blew sand up onto their peaks and onto metal artifacts of hands or heads scattered around the dunes—remnants of Mountain Maidens.

Pinti had seen only one full-body Mountain Maiden in her life and it was at a Human museum. It was probably as tall as this mountainous dune she stood on or maybe even taller. It has hard for her to imagine that many centuries ago these fallen creatures used to walk the Rings. Rusted metal creaked and whistled as wind traveled around and through hollow spaces.

Deel, in his Human form, had finally made it up the mountain. She had expected him to take off his necklace and use his claws, but apparently he wasn't smart enough.

"How can you climb so well?" He gasped for breath, laying down on the flattened peak. She twitched her whiskers hoping it was just a rhetorical question.

Sand blew into her lungs and she doubled over in a fit of coughs. Once she regained herself, she slid her way down the other side, letting the sand billow behind her and mix her blue with the orange dust. At the bottom she glanced back up. Deel had not followed. He was jumping frantically and then he staggered backwards.

"Th-That's a long way down!" He called. "I'll be there! M-Mountain Maidens aren't going to scare m-me!"

Pinti scoffed as he so tentatively tried to slide down slope, easing his way forward and gripping the sand with his useless grubby hand—the other held his bags. It was such unnecessary caution, she grimaced and headed into the graveyard of centuries old.

As graveyards often were, a quiet blanketed the area except for the whistling of the wind, almost cutting her off from the rest of the world. It was like time ran slower here or maybe not at all, but of course that was just an illusion as the position of some of the shadows shifted as the sun tiptoed across the sky. If she kept careful watch and shielded her eyes, she could almost see the sun moving. The closer they got to Syaraize, the faster time passed.

Footsteps thrummed against sand as Deel ran past her, flailing his arms as if fleeing for his life. Scowling, she wondered what he was so afraid of. These creatures were dead. Rumors told that when the world was created, there were seven guardians and they created the Mountain Maidens to help them protect the world from intruders.

Passing a Mountain Maiden's head, she sniffed the air finding the scent of iron and sand, nothing more than that. The rusted metallic face was crumbling and half sunken into the desert. The Mountain Maiden's eyes looked up toward the sky frozen in time. The mouth was twisted to the side and the nose was half broken. The elements had certainly devoured whatever grand creation this used to be.

"Pinti, hurry up!" Pale-faced Deel was waving at her. Behind him was another mountainous dune as if competing with the one they just climbed. Leaving Deel to be a stubborn struggling grubby-handed Human, Pinti slithered up the dune, finding good hardened parts of sand to use as pawholds. Once at the top, could she finally take a gander at Syaraize, the largest Portal City in the First Ring.

Syaraize's cone-shaped dome looked smaller than Bairenshire's. Because it didn't have a mega-wall squishing everything together, the city itself, as far as she could see, looked wider and more spread out. The inside buildings were a mixture of modern and ancient. Glass structures were built into the old brick ones of ancient times. Some ruins made of rock were repainted silvery blue or plain gray to match the modern towers.

The grand portal stood outside the dome next to the Portal Station tower. As all portals were, the elongated oval sat vertically upon the ground, swirling with ugly gray, yellow, and green magick. Even from far away it was obvious how anyone would be like an ant if they stood in front of it.

She pursed her lips. Pinti had come this way two years ago, but didn't remember it being this big. What she did remember were the spokes coming out of the dome. Patrolling police ships of the ruling power, the High Collection or HC, flew in and out. HC's police force was not kind to Kathula because HC believed Kathula were Edglings' pets and did awful deeds in return for magical powers.

Deel tapped her on the shoulder, breathing heavily and stinking of sweat. "Hey, were you listening? I asked you if you've been to Syaraize."

I was thinking. She signed with her tail. "And no. When we came, it was the other portal."

"Was that tail flick thing something?" Deel reached for her tail which she dodged.

What was it with him? Was he trying to mess with her on purpose? Pinti shot a glare at him when he grinned as if nothing was an issue. He probably didn't see the issue because he was the issue. She couldn't wait to get rid of him!