Desert Lily

Chapter 2

Chapter 2
Lilium

Nuri leaned back against the wall of the small cave fiddling with her mahogany red scarf as Yareli and Wren tapped at the walls. “Have you ever thought about how suspicious this all is?” Nuri piped up while bothering with the chains around her ankles. “How we were just dumped here? Or the fact that none of us are humans?” She asked as both Wren and Yareli stopped and looked at her.

“You know?” Yareli asked as we both nodded. 

“Yeah. The whole prison was filled with supernaturals no matter how much they separated us. That’s why they kept us all confined to separate rooms. A normal human prison would have cellmates and outdoor activities but the one we had didn’t. It seemed like they separated us depending on what we were and what we looked like.” Nuri stated as I nodded in agreement. “Take for example, us two. Lilium and I look like humans but we aren’t. I’m a fire mage and she’s a nature witch but since we look more like humans, we were able to be put together for our meals. These chains were put on us at all times except when we were in our confined rooms. It’s supposed to keep us from using our powers.” She explained while holding out her hand as smoke came from it.

“That makes sense. I’ve never been outside of my confined room until we got here.” Yareli informed while fanning herself. “I’ve always hidden what I look like in case something were to happen to me but I guess now it doesn't matter anymore. I’m a siren but for some odd reason, I don’t have a tail.” She added while pushing back her red curls to reveal her ears. They looked human like until it got to the tip of her ears that looked like red fins. She rolled her sleeves up to reveal a matching set of fins on the back of each of her slightly tanned arms. “I have some on the back of my legs too but I can still swim like every other fish.” She joked with a smile on her face as Wren nodded. 

“What about Wren?” I asked as Yareli looked over at Wren with her dark green eyes before looking back at me.

“Wren is a banshee. I heard the guards talking about her whenever they would pass by my room. Since they considered her very dangerous, she was kept away from everyone yet we were somehow in the same category.” Yareli explained as Wren nodded before we all fell back into silence again. Nuri was the first one to break the silence as she stood up and started kicking around the rubble and rocks on the ground of the cave. She kept on kicking things with her dusty orange shoes before she abruptly stopped and bent down. It didn’t take long before she hurriedly plopped down and started rolling back up her orange pants leg. “What are you doing?” Yareli asked as we all started watching her with pure confusion and curiosity. Nuri didn’t say anything as she loudly began to bang against the chains on her ankles. 

“You sure this will work?” I asked as she started putting more force into it. With each bang, sparks began to fly until the cuff on her left ankle popped off. As she began working at the other one, Yareli started searching around the cave for a good rock as well. 

“Finally!” Nuri happily exclaimed as the right cuff popped off before she turned to me. “Alright, Lilium. You’re next.” She informed me as I held out my left arm while she got to work. A similar bang started from my right as I turned to see Yareli working on Wren’s cuffs. It didn’t take long before all of us were free of our chains. We were all stretching and popping our joints when a weird noise echoed from outside the cave. It had almost sounded like something was whimpering? Nuri quietly placed a finger to her lips as we all nodded before we slowly peeked out at our surroundings. The sand all around us was quilted in blood from the creature that attacked us but there was something a little ways off in the distance. It looked like another sand dune but it started moving before stopping again, blending in with the landscape. What in the world was it and what was it doing? With the sun beaming down on us, we couldn’t keep peeking out at it. Dipping back down in the cave, we all looked at each other.

“Why don’t we get out of here before whatever that thing is gets us?” I questioned as Yareli nodded in agreement.

“But, how would we get out of here unnoticed? We’re basically walking targets with these orange prison suits on. Even these crappy shoes can’t get through the sand out there. That’s no regular sand and I doubt this place is still on Earth.” Nuri chirped in as I sighed. She was right, these suits were a pain in our ass and these shoes were crap but there’s one thing that she forgot. We have powers. As long as we stick together, we’ll be fine.

“I can sense any plants near us and can still use my powers. For example, this cave has a few roots running around it to my surprise. That means this desert is more than just sand. I’ll be able to distract it with these roots so we can move out.” I explained as they all looked at me in surprise.

“If that’s your plan, I’m in. Let me know if you need my help.” Yareli smiled as the other two nodded before we quietly peeped out of the cave again. This time, the creature was a little bit closer with what seemed like a tall dark silhouette standing on it. Slowly raising my left hand, I began to force the roots up from deep within the sand near the creature before closing my hand as the roots wrapped around the beast, abruptly pulling it down. Large gold like wings shot up into the air as the monster and the silhouette began to sink into the sand. As the were distracted, we hurriedly got out of the opening before moving further away. Quickly throwing a glance over my shoulder, I almost toppled over into the sand. Standing back in the same place was the same tall dark silhouette as it stared in our direction. How the hell did it get free of the roots so quickly? I thought to myself as we kept running. 

“Do you think the caves are connected with those roots, Lily?” Yareli asked through huffs as I focused back on our small group. Out of the four of us, I was surprised to see that I was the tallest and heaviest. Yareli was the shortest, Nuri was the fittest, and Wren was a few inches below be. 

“I think so, but the nearest one is a little further than here.” I informed as we were following along the path it led. “We’re on the right path but it’ll take us a little bit.” I panted as Wren and Nuri looked at each other before they grabbed me and Yareli. “What are you two doing?” Before I could finish the rest of my sentence, we were airborne as the hot air pushed against our faces. We were soaring high above the sand.

“Just guide the way and we’ll lead you” Nuri stated as I looked down at their bodies. Half of Wren’s body was translucent almost like a ghost’s while Nuri was riding on some type of red cloud. “It’s made of fire but it looks like a cloud. It was a new type of spell my mom made.” She explained as I looked on in awe. I didn’t know fire mages could do such cool things.

“We’re coming up on a cave quickly, so we can land and walk the rest.” I suggested as they both started getting closer to the ground before landing softly. Looking at the both of them, I noticed Yareli holding on tightly to Wren. “We’re on the ground now, Yareli.” I stated while gently touching her shoulder as she quietly peered over at me before looking around. Slowly reaching one of her legs down, she firmly planted her foot onto the ground before standing up on her own.

“Sorry, Wren. I’ve never really been conscious airborne.” She explained while releasing Wren’s shirt as she just nodded her head. Quickly glancing back, I couldn't no longer see the creature or the tall dark silhouette in the distance. I couldn't even see the blood soaked sand. Did we really make that far in such little time? I asked myself while scanning the horizon. "Are you coming, Lily?" Yareli called as I turned to see them waiting on me.

"I'm coming." I smiled while hurrying to catch up to them before glancing back over my shoulder one last time.