Tales of the Sand Sea

Crimson Flower

She raised her hand high in the air, filling Canto with despair. The black sand came, beating against his frame! He ducked shielding Caroline; but he knew that they were out of time. But just as the sand ran over his skin, through a window Hava flew in, flying straight for the witches' face. The Queen's skin flushed as white as a vase.

Screeching as she attacked the witch from the sky, Hava spread her wings clawing out the Queen's left eye. Tearing both orbs to shreds, the blood flowed from her sockets in streaming threads.

"My eyes!!!" the Phantom Queen screeched as she threw lightning at Caroline's friend, the terrible rods of energy causing the hawk to meet an untimely end.

But that was the last thing that Canto did see- the black dust fully enveloped him- he could no longer breathe!

A thousand words or more could not describe the pain he felt from every pore. It dug and clawed at Canto, tearing him apart. He lost track of Caroline, whom he clutched close to his heart.

Then it was over as quickly as it began. He vaguely watched the last tresses of dark vapor disappear, the remnant of the spell bent sand.

Through hazy vision, Canto watched as the Queen stumbled up the stairs with many a collision; blindly clawing at her eye holes, and fumbling with the banister poles.

Canto was stunned when he tried to rise, for he found he was a red-tailed fox, according to his eyes.

Caroline, who lay beside him tried to say, through ragged breaths, "Canto, are you okay?"

But her fellow fox trembled as he said, "There's just no way..." with his front paws over his head.

"Come on we'll be fine, but we need to leave now—we don't have much time," Caroline quickly said, with her tail tucked, and her eyes filled with dread.

"Go where?" Canto asked with despair. "If we run to the plateau, soon nothing there will grow. And if we stay here, we'll only end up on the end of a spear."

"We can't give up Canto, not until at least we've tried- to get one of those flowers, then we can run and hide. Escape into the desert sand, and make it back to the plateau like you originally planned!"

Canto stood as best he could, leaving behind his belongings, save for the amulet for it still could fit, and he found it strangely calming.

The two of them weaved to and fro, rushing up the steps past the Queen of Gallo. They snuck by her as quietly as they could, for they knew that she would kill them if she could.

But the Queen did not seem aware of her surroundings as they snuck by even with the Queen's wretched cries and her fists pounding.

When they reached the top they had to stop, for a door stood in their way. Yet hopping along the top of a dresser, they reached the window overlooking the flower beds where the crimson lilies lay.

There the two foxes found the crimson lilies that grew all along the ground. As soon as they saw them they both instantly knew, the small flowers were the lilies they did pursue. The two foxes quickly gathered what they could, before hopping back through the window upon a stack of wood.

With the flowers clamped tight in their jaws, the two of them stole past the Queen on silent paws. As quiet as they could be, they sprinted down the stairs to get out of the tower and flee.

When they reached the ground floor they could see the giants trying to get through the door. But the entrance of the Gallo Tower was blocked by the Queen's power; for they were barred by the sand and wind, that the Queen had cast to keep them in.