The Odyssey of the Star Mage

The Desert of Illatrune

"Bwaaah!"  The Hepple brayed, staring at the Dijin in front of it.

"Hi there."  Skylar giggled slightly at the little creature.  She wiped away the tears in her eyes to look clearly at the sky.  The mirror was truly gone.  She prayed to whatever higher being there was that the mages were okay.  She really hoped she hadn't ended up being the reason for their death.

The Hepple shuffled closer as the wind began to pick up.  Sand and dust swirled across the desert.  The sun had begun to set behind the thick clouds, illuminating a series of leaning towers.   They seemed to be old and crumbling, but as the clouds gather together and grow dark, Skylar realized they were her only means of shelter.  And she was going to need it.

Lightning red as blood flashed across the sky as Skylar ran towards the buildings.  "This...this isn't natural."  She murmured.  The winds picked up as she ran, the Hepple baaing at her heels.  Skylar risked a glance back at the little six-legged creature.  It was still following her, although with it's short stumpy legs it wasn't able to keep up the pace.  She looked back at where she was going just in time to see that the dune was about to dip down.  She slid down the dune and landed on her feet, making it easy enough to keep up her pace.  

The spires grew tall as she approached, and Skylar looked desperately for an area with a door and a roof.  The nearest tower had a door, but the sand covered half of it.  As the wind picked up speed, it seemed to turn the swirling sand into tiny missiles.  Skylar digged away the sand with her now stinging hands until she could pry open the door enough to crawl through.  The Hepple followed right behind her, barely making it through before the door slamed shut with a loud thump.  Darkness encompassed her, and she found herself blind.  A flick of her wrist was all she needed to fix the problem, however.  Her hand lit up with magic and she circled the room with it.

It was quite a large chamber, although it seemed to have been half-buried.  The ceiling still reached at least six or seven feet away from her raised hand.  Her light was only bright enough to show her about 20 feet in front of her.  She was surprised to find that there was more to the chamber than that.  But the air was still.  There was no movement or noises coming from the ruins, other than that of the Hepple.  She took her backpack off and set it on the ground.  She knelt beside it, took some of her extra clothes out of it, and laid the clothing on the ground.  She decided it would be best to wait out the stand storm--and get some rest.

The Hepple, seeing no other option and remaining ignorantly content, spun around thrice before laying down in a softer pile of sand.  Skylar allowed herself to giggle at the cute little creature before laying down herself.  She didn't realize how tired she was; she was out as soon as her head hit her make-shift pillow.  

---

It was still dark when Skylar woke hours later.  It had gotten chillier as she slept, but it didn't seem to mess with her sleep.  The Hepple was nowhere to be seen, even when she lit up the room with her hand.  She packed up her makeshift bed back into her bag and slung it over her shoulder.  She retraced her steps to the exit, but the sand had blocked it off.  Skylar began to dig through the sand, being careful not to cause it to topple on top of her.  It took a few minutes, but eventually, she began to see light coming through.  It seemed to be midday, or at least a very bright morning.  Encouraged, Skylar dug even faster, until something sharp pierced her hand.  

"Ow!"  She cried, pulling her hand close to her chest.  When the pain subsided, she pulled it away to look at it.  She could see her blood seeping through her skin.  It didn't seem to be too bad though.  She grabbed some cloth out of her bag and tied it up.  It would be fine soon enough.  She carefully moved the sand away to see what had caught her.  Upon closer inspection, they seemed to be clay shards.  She took some of them and placed them in her backpack for safekeeping.  Never knew when something like that could come in handy.