Guardian of the Sands

Fame and Fear

Cold.

It shouldn't be cold. It was mid summer after all, in a world comprised almost exclusively of desert. And yet...it was cold.

Every exhale of anxious breath created a small cloud of steam that twisted in the air slowly before dispersing, dissipating lazily into nothingness. The chill seemed to come in wisps, curling tendrils of cold around her body, enticing goosebumps with every cool caress.

How had she gotten here? Where was she? These questions and more began pouring into her thoughts, pushing away the trance-like stupor she had somehow fallen under. Forcing her eyes to focus, she peered into the darkness surrounding her, trying to discover where exactly she was.

Her hands were in chains, stretching her arms above her head as the chains disappeared up into the shadows.

"Hello?" She called tentatively into the darkness.

The cold seemed to intensify for a brief moment, and then a smooth, warm voice soothed her mind. "Awake, are we? I must admit, I'm a bit surprised. Such a frail little thing, aren't we?"

The shadows around her seemed to pull toward something, a darker mass of shadow that soon solidified into the form of a man...at least it looked something like a man.

He was tall, probably the tallest man she had ever seen, the illusion of his extended height might possibly be added to by the fact that he was incredibly thin, his body was slender, and looked almost stretched. He wore a loose tunic almost as dark as he was that hung low on his hips. His bare chest was surprisingly muscular for someone so slim.

As he drew closer, she could see he had several strings of gold ornaments woven into his long black hair, his eyes seemed to glow, shifting between a vivid green and a vibrant gold, the two colors blending so much it was hard to tell what color they were exactly.

"Who...who are you?" She asked quietly, enraptured and terrified all at once.

He smiled, baring teeth that were startling white against his pitch skin. "Who am I? I am who I am, who I was, and who I will be, I am shadow and darkness, I am love and hate, I am nightmare and hope, I am."

Her mind spun, there was the strangest sensation of magnetism to him, a pull that she couldn't fight. She wanted to be close to him, to hear him speak, to listen to his words and let them fill her every thought. She wanted to serve him, to please him.

He slid closer, one slender finger reaching forward to tip her head up slightly. "I am."

"Wh-what does that mean?" She asked breathlessly, fighting the intrusive consciousness that was creeping into her mind, trying to take control.

"It means that I am everything, all that was and all that will be, I am all."

She frowned slightly, her mind clearing slightly. "But...you can't be, that would make you a god."

He chuckled, the sound washing over her like a summer breeze. Oh how she longed to listen to that sound for the rest of eternity.

"I am."

She shook her head, fighting a losing battle with her mind. "No...you're not."

Suddenly, all pleasantness left, and his lip curled back in a snarl, those white teeth now bared savagely. "Pitiful mortal! How can you even hope to understand that of the divine?"

His fingers elongated and turned a blood red, sharpening into claws as he continued. "I have ultimate power! Nothing can stop me, I can control any and all that I please, I am god!"

Finally, she couldn't take it any longer and she let the intruding consciousness take over. Her breath stopped, and her head sagged to her chest. Then, slowly, her head lifted, and a voice not her own began to speak.