The Star, The Demon, and The God - 44. A Needle in the Sand

Luno

The desert feels like some other world!

The pale, blue sand looks like it is not even real! How can the moon so something so beautiful? It doesn’t make any sense!

It is so pretty here!

Was I really missing so much from hiding from the moon?

Something really nice about this place is that it is very open.

I suppose that can also be awful in my case, but it helps me nerves with knowing that I can see any danger before it actually reaches me.

After Tobias had asked that awful question to Laneer, it has been very quiet ever since.

Laneer keeps leading us forward, not even glancing at his map.

Wherever we are going, he knows it by memory.

Is it somewhere he and Yinx went together? Or Raiyo?

Now I am confused as to which name I should use!

Yinx was the name he was born with but he was also...reborn?

It is confusing to say the least.

When Laneer had said he had never spoken to Raiyo before, I found that a little hard to believe.

He is the Spirit Sailor!

He travels from realm to realm so surely he must have spoken to Raiyo when he made his first visit to Enfierna?

No! Raiyo practically knows everything about everyone!

Wait...so does Raiyo know who the Spirit Sailor is? Does he know that it is actually Laneer?

Laneer made it sound as if no one else but Drulai knew.

Could that be true? Is this the one secret Raiyo does not know?

I so badly want to ask Laneer but it is probably best that I leave him alone for now.

My heart feels for him and his entire situation.

I wish he never had to go through something like this. It wouldn’t be fair to anyone!

Vaguely I remember seeing him in Avelin. He was in that jail cell with Yinx.

He looked so different back then. His voice sounded more hopeful as well. Not at all as gruff as it is now.

Now I understand why Yinx’s voice sounded so familiar.

Raiyo used to have an accent when he was alive. A very thick accent at that. He also sounded more closed off and quiet compared to how open he can be now.

Seeing both of them huddled up, freezing, and scared to death was awful.

It makes me sad to realize that memory most likely led to the event of their deaths.

Laneer’s own father tried to kill him!

What is with these evil father figures?

I know people have told me multiple times that Morgoren is not my father, but I find it a bit hard to think of him as something else.

He created me. He shaped into something that he wanted.

I know I am supposed to be one of the hundreds of stars in the sky, but he changed that. He made me come into this life instead.

Surely that is something that could be described as a father?

It is a bit sad to think about honestly.

One thing is certain, I definitely thought of the Gatekeeper as my Mother.

I miss her; and Enfi. I miss them both.

I wish they were here right now.

Also...sand is the worst to walk on!

“Tobi!” I whine. “My feet hurt!”

He grunts and keeps on walking.

“Can you carry me again?” I plead over my shoulder as we walk. “Pretty please?”

He looks up at me and scowls.

“No,” He says. “Don’t be lazy and keep moving.”

I groan and slump forward slightly, wanting to face plant and sleep.

We haven’t slept in forever! I want a bed. I want to snuggle with Tobi and a bunch of fluffy polar bear cubs!

Just thinking about it makes my eyes slightly droopy.

A voice drifts along in the distance.

Yinx?

No...this voice is different.

It sounds younger!

A child!

Who could this be now?

“I hear singing,” I say out loud. “Do any of you hear it too?”

Laneer and Tobias both stop moving and glance over at me.

We are all standing on a large sand dune that is possibly the second highest around here.

A bigger one is not too far ahead.

“Where do you hear it?” Laneer asks. “Is it Yinx? We should have reached our destination by now.”

I try to concentrate on the voice.

“I...I don’t know,” I frown. “Maybe?”

Staring off at the blue sands around us, I try and figure out where this voice is coming from.

I turn my head so my right ear can hopefully pick it out more.

Slowly I begin to realize that it might actually be below us!

Kneeling down, I bring my ear close to the ground.

The voice sounds a bit clearer like this!

“It’s under the sand,” I gasp and look up at Tobias.

He is looking at me as if I am the most insane person he has ever seen.

“How do you plan on getting us down there, genius?” He mocks me.

I shrug and wipe the sand from my pants.

“Maybe I can move the sand and dig a hole for us until we reach something,” I say. “Unless you have a better idea.”

He rolls his eyes and crosses his arms.

After making them step back a few steps, I get into a stance that plants my feet into the ground.

With a circular motion, I select a small area that I will use to create the hole.

I twist my hands as I harden the sand around the area, making the sand blend together into stone.

My magic seeps deep into the ground. It shoves its way through the years of sand, trying to find a change of material.

Small aches begin to sprout into my arms, making them tremble. I still try my best to push on.

Sweat beads along my forehead and slides down my face.

“Luno?” Tobias says behind me with worry.

As if on cue, I feel solid stone beneath the sand.

I collapse and almost fall flat on my face.

Tobias catches me in time.

“Gods are you okay?” His face pops into my vision. “You really pushed yourself right there. You’re sweating buckets! Is that normal? You should have taken breaks between all that!”

I give a sleepy smile and reach up to poke his face.

“I’m fine, Tobi,” I huff a laugh. “Just a little tired now.”

He gives a small smile and runs his thumb along my collar bone.

“Did you reach anything?” Laneer asks.

Tobias growls slightly. “He is tired! Give him a moment!”

I almost burst out laughing hearing that.

This is the same demon who makes me walk for miles even when I want to collapse.

“I found something,” I say to reassure Laneer. “I’ll clear the place out in a second. I promise.”

He is a bit antsy since this supposed to be Raiyo’s homeland. I am fairly positive about it.

There isn’t any need to get annoyed with his pushiness for now.

Since I am very curious about what could be under here, I find the strength to move again.

Carving into the earth can be a bit of a tedious task but now I can shovel out the crumbs inside!

Making sure that everyone is safe from getting harmed, I stand to the side of the upcoming cave.

Grounding myself into the sand once again, I swipe my arms to the side and then a stream of sand and rock pours out of the ground!

“Damn,” Tobi whistles. “Sometimes I forgot how powerful you are!”

I smile at him over my shoulder.

Once everything has finally been cleared and gone, we stand in front of the new hole into the earth.

It is very dark in there.

No use in wasting time!

I conjure a ball of fire to help light our way down the tunnel.

The way down isn’t very steep thankfully. It tilts just enough to get good footing.

It is like baby stairs!

We end up going pretty far down.

Whatever I felt must have been buried for many years.

Obviously...if it has something to deal with Yinx, then of course it is very old.

After a few minutes, we come across a deadend. The very thing that I felt out of the ordinary.

It is a wall of smooth bright orange stone.

I move forward to press my palm flat against it.

Yup. It is only a wall. It isn’t some giant slab of stone.

If it is a wall, there is something on the other side.

I trace a giant circle on the stone with one hand, then I push it right in the middle.

The stone gives away like cutting through paper. It falls backwards and when it collapses on the ground, a loud bang rumbles the floor.

“Gods, Luno!” Tobias exclaims. “Must you be so loud? We don’t know what could be in here.”

I blush slightly and bite my lip.

Oops!

We all step through and take in the new room we have found.

It looks like a long hallway.
There are two rows of orange stoned columns running down the hallway.

Just as I am about to explore the sides of the room, a strange wind snakes forward and snuffs out the fire from my hand.

A chill runs up my spine and I quickly get close to Tobias’ side.

Now this place is making me nervous.

Thank goodness this place has its own lighting.

Strange glowing blue and green stones light up the entire hallway in soft, cool colors.

I didn’t even notice them before because my fire was too bright.

There are dark patches between the lights of the shadows, but aside from that, I can see that we are alone here.

I frown and glance at Tobias.

I sure hope we find what we came here for...whatever that may be.

All I remember is that we were supposed to destroy something. Drulai was very dead set on that.

“This looks vaguely familiar,” Laneer frowns. “We are here but...it looks different since I last saw it.”

Tobias raises an eyebrow at Laneer.

I am slightly confused as well.

“Where exactly is here?” I ask. “Would you know what we are after?”

Laneer shakes his head and he looks up at the columns. “We are in Yinx’s family palace but I have no idea what we are doing here.”

Great!

Slightly weird feeling knowing that Raiyo once roamed here.

It isn’t in the greatest of shape.

There are some parts of different walls that have been broken in and piled up with sand.

Other parts look perfectly fine, as if someone had come to take care of the place.

“What are these?” Tobias says.

He had moved away from me without me noticing!

It appears that there are piles of all kinds of jewelry and other goodies.

Bracelets, rings, earrings, even a stuffed camel!

There are all kinds of random things sitting here in perfect condition; aside from the camel. It has a missing foot.

“Why are these here?” I reach out to pick one up.

Tobias grabs my hand before I can touch the camel.

He glares at me and shakes his head. “No touching!”

Right...it probably could kill me.

When I look over at Laneer, my heart just about stops when I see him holding up a bracelet with a glowing blue stone.

“What are you doing?” I exclaim.

He frowns down at the bracelet before gently placing it back where he found it.

“These are Raiyo’s gifts,” he says.

Tobias shakes his head in confusion. “How would you know?”

Laneer reaches out to pick up the camel toy.

“Because I gave them to him,” He says as he runs his fingers over the camel’s missing toe. ”I would give him a gift every time I had to deliver someone to his realm. It was my way of silently hoping he’d be curious as to who gave him these trinkets and then he’d talk to me...maybe realize who I am.”

A bit shy to ask, I take a chance and say, “Did it work?”

Laneer shakes his head. “No. He spoke to me as if I was one of his followers. As if I was some random person to flirt with. He doesn’t remember who I am. The Yinx I knew is gone. Only a demon walks around in Yinx’s body now.”

I blink at his words and look up at Tobias.

Surprisingly, he doesn’t appear offended. He only feels pity like I do.

Laneer tosses the toy into the pile without any care as before and walks on.

We follow.

We walk along the right side of the hallway.

When I look over to the left, I see stones lighting up a painting on a wall.

“Who is that?” I tap Laneer’s shoulder and point out the strange person.

It is a picture of a little boy.

He has brown hair, skin, and eyes. He looks rather ordinary, but his clothes look fancy with his brightly colored clothes.

Walking over, I notice there are more paintings next to this one.

A man and woman are in these next two.

The man is short and chubby. He wears bright yellows and oranges in his clothing. There are grey patches of hair on the sides of his head. He has a bright smile.

The woman is tall and very skinny. She wears blues and purples. Her hair is long but straight as an arrow.

While the man held a warm expression, the painters decided to give her a cold one.

These paintings are slightly ruined from age.

Parts of their bodies have either been chipped off or their colors have faded away.

“These are his family,” Laneer says, looking up at the mother. “His parents and brother. The last Dunbrali family. Their people must have created this hallway as a way to honor them all.”

I point to the wall next to the mother.

“This one is covered up,” I tilt my head. “I wonder why.”

A curtain was covering up the wall.

For whatever reason, Raiyo did not want to see this one whenever he was here.

Tobias reaches up and pulls the curtain off the wall, revealing quite the picture behind it.

The first pictures were hand painted on the wall. They had their nice details, but this definitely got more work done.

By only the explanation of magic, a beautiful portrait of Yinx is on this wall.

It shows Yinx standing with the moon behind him. He wears a strange outfit that reminds me of a dancer.

Two snakes made of fire swirl around his arms and face us.

At his feet, there sits a fallen mask of an angel.

All of the colors on this painting swirl around like an actual moving picture!

Yinx’s hair moves as if wind were blowing through it, the snakes sway back and forth, and the moon shimmers it’s light onto Yinx.

Even I know that has Morgoren’s name all over it.

“Wow,” I whisper in awe. “This is amazing!”

Tobias chuckles. “Yeah that is quite a sight to see...even when he was human he was apparently an angel killer.”

“I should learn how to do this,” I say as I touch the edges of the magical painting.

It feels both soft and cold, like a blanket that has been sitting under wind.

I look over at the one who has been silent since he saw the painting.

Laneer stares up at Yinx with so many emotions, I can’t even begin to figure them out!

He closer to the painting and just stares. He looks up at Yinx’s face and I swear his eyes have gotten a little watery.

“We should get moving,” Tobias says, grabbing my shoulders and pushing me along. “We won’t be far Laneer. There is only one way forward and if we find a split along the way, we’ll wait there as we explore.”

I frown as I am forced to keep walking down the hallway.

I want to keep exploring this place!

When I look over my shoulder, I see Laneer still standing there, only this time he has his hand resting on the painting.

I hope he will be okay.

~~~
~~~

Tobias

As soon as I looked over at the Spirit Sailor, I knew he was going to need a moment alone.

It must be incredibly weird to see your past lover again after seeing what he has become. I definitely don’t envy him.

Right now, I want to get whatever we came here for and then get out.

Now that I know this is pretty much Raiyo’s secret safe, I want to get the hell away from here.

The god could materialize down here at any moment!

“Look out for anything that looks important,” I tell Luno.

He nods and glances back at Laneer once more before we reach the end of the hallway.

A small room with a giant circular door stands in our way.

Thanks to it being made of stone, Luno rolls it to the side easily.

Behind that door is a giant cave of a room.

The edges of the room are completely empty. When we look down them, we see deadly spikes waiting for us to fall.

The middle of the room is at our level and has a large circular floor. In the very middle of that, there is a circle made of silver.

It is pretty simple, but that oddly isn’t the weird part.

Hanging above it is a strange needle.

A crystal sticks halfway through the ceiling. Beneath it is swirling lines of silver that hold little pieces of glass. Or maybe those are crystals as well.

Is that supposed to be a chandelier?

This is an awfully strange room.

“What is that supposed to do?” Luno asks while reaching for my hand. “Is it dangerous?”

Narrowing my eyes in thought, I look around the room for anything else that could help explain what that is.

On the other side of the room, there is a metal silver door.

There are strange glowing markings along the edges of it. I need to get closer to read.

Taking the chance, I walk forward.

Part of me was thinking that something was going to happen. A trap of some sort.

No. Nothing at all.

Even then, I walk near the edge of the floor incase the needle does something.

Luno hangs onto the back of my shirt and keeps close with me.

We cross a small bridge that leads to the door. Once we reach said door, I am incredibly confused.

There are glowing white words in a language I do not understand.

Definitely not the demonic language and not the english language.

Whatever it is, it is old.

One of the serendian languages perhaps?

“Are you going to do it?” Luno asks me.

When I look at him, I see he is waiting expectantly.

“Can you read this?” I frown.

Luno nods as if it’s nothing. “Can’t you?”

I shake my head.

“Oh!” He blinks in surprise. “Well...it says ‘A silver moon and a diamond star will unlock the path you seek’.”

He points to my bag. “That should be the necklace, right?”

Well...I’m glad he’s here.

I reach into the bag for the necklace while giving him a concerned look.

Luno simply beams up at me.

“I learned to read other languages so I could read more books!”

Hearing that makes me laugh. It is a rather precious motive honestly. Very fitting for him as well.

Pulling the necklace out, I hold it up to the door.

I am not entirely sure where to put this thing.

There is a bump near the far right, but that looks like it is supposed to be a doorknob.

Lines have been carved into the door. Should I try and fill the chain into them?

I try that.

No matter what I do with the lines, nothing works.

Okay...let's try the doorknob.

I wrap the necklace around the little bump and surprisingly, it holds itself in place!

Nothing is happening though.

Sighing, I step back to get a better view of the whole thing.

Luno stands with his hands on his hips as he examines everything with me.

“Maybe...it needs a jumpstart?” he asks.

He reaches forward and presses his thumb against the knob.

Luno lets out a small patch of healing magic slip from his finger.

Streams of white lights begin to spread from the knob. They fill in the lines of the door and they reveal an amazing pattern that looks like it took ages to create.

The lines all of a sudden zip up into the wall above.

The white lights run up the wall and then they run across the ceiling.

When they reach the crystal up above, the sound of some kind of door opening can be heard.

Light breaches from above and lights up the crystal.

It is moonlight.

The moonlight in the crystal shines down and bounces between little mirrors.

Those mirrors direct the light into the same pattern as the door, then it shines right down into the top of the needle.

The needle begins to glow a bright white light.

It shimmers like the sun shining off the ocean.

The tip of the needle begins to ooze out a thick shimmering substance. It falls straight down onto the metal plating below.

More and more of that strange stuff falls onto the metal place.

Soon, it begins to shape into a new form.

It almost looks like someone bent down on their knees!

Once the last drop falls from the needle, the shape fills in with color.

A young man with brown skin and white hair kneels on the ground.

It is the one from the painting!

Yinx!

How the hell is he here?

Yinx wears the exact same outfit from the painting.

A sleeveless buttoned up shirt, loose pants, and wrappings that cover down from his heels all the way up to his knees, including over the pants.

The main difference from the painting is that he was wearing shades of red.

Right now, everything is in clean white.

Painted symbols are on his arms and a trail of them also run down his eyes. Those are also white, unlike the painting.

Is this some kind of strange moon clone? I can’t tell.

“Yinx,” Luno breathes out.

That grabs their attention.

Yinx looks up at us with a killer look in his eyes.

A flash of pale light goes off in both of his palms before a very strange weapon is summoned in his hands.

Two small scythes connected by a long chain.

Oh fuck!

Is he going to try to kill us?

He loosens his hold on one scythe to grab at the chain instead. He swings it like a sling and I quickly push Luno backwards onto the bridge.

Just as I do that, Yinx’s scythe flies forward and slams down where Luno was only a second ago!

The tip of the scythe sticks out of the ground.

Yinx yanks it back and turns his pale eyes to me.

Well...this has gotten terrifying all of a sudden.

Quickly, I pull my sword and gun out.

“Wait,” Luno calls behind me.

Yinx ignores him and swings the scythe out for me.

I barely manage to duck in time. I feel the air brush against my hair as the scythe flies over me.

He is really trying to kill us!

What do I do? Try and tackle him?

Looks like I won’t be needing my gun.

Quickly putting it away, I summon a small shield to help me with this fight.

Yinx grabs the middle of his chain and then starts twirling quickly while moving forward.

I roll away from his attack and bring up my shield in case any of those things get too close to my face.

“We aren’t enemies,” Luno shouts. “Please listen!”

Yinx does not listen. Instead he runs after me and sweeps low at my feet.

I jump over it and bring my shield up in time for the other scythe that was thrown for my face.

The way Yinx is spinning around with this weapon, I swear it almost looks like he is dancing.

It is weirdly intimidating.

Perhaps the creepiest thing is how he doesn’t grunt or huff with any of these attacks. It’s like he isn’t even breathing!

Yinx runs for me again only he has both scythes in his hands.

He swipes up for my head but I am prepared this time.

Just as he goes for my head, I swoop down with my shield and push at his legs, lifting them up with as much force as I can.

Yinx goes flying in the air behind me.

As he is in the air, his scythes are thrown to the ground on either side of me.

The pointed ends stick out of the ground, firmly planted in place.

Yinx grabs the middle of the chain and propels himself forward with his feet first.

My eyes are wide in shock by this counter attack that I don’t even get to dodge in time!

Yinx lands hard on my chest and I am slammed flat onto the ground.

While I struggle to bring air into my lungs, Yinx is shoved off of me by none other than Luno.

Yinx rolls with the momentum and stands once again.

Luno stands over me, ready to defend.

When I try to get up, I find that the chain from the scythes has gotten a lot shorter and holds me firmly to the ground.

“Dammit!” I grit. “Luno get out of here!”

“No!” He says as he glances down at me.

That was all the distraction Yinx needed.

Yinx jumps forward and kicks Luno square in the chest, knocking him backwards.

Luno tries to get up but Yinx summons another pair of chained scythes, grabbing him as he does so.

Yinx moves behind Luno, kicking his knees out from under him, forcing him to kneel. He then places the underside of the blades at his neck.

“Stop!” I yell, “Please! Don’t!”

Yinx is just about to pull them back, ending Luno’s life, but he stops.

His gazes rises up to stare at the wall above me.

Where he was emotionless before, his face now looks incredibly confused and conflicted right now.

What is going on?

“I know those colors,” Yinx whispers in a strange accent.

Yinx’s weapons disappear, freeing Luno and I.

Luno falls forward and becomes a coughing mess, reaching for his throat.

I quickly crawl towards him and pull him close to my me.

When I look back up, I see that Yinx has turned his focus to something behind him.

Laneer.

Laneer has stepped into the room now and he is staring at Yinx in shock.

For a long time they stare at each other. Neither sure on what to do.

Laneer is the one to make the first move.

He slowly makes his way to Yinx, still unsure on whether or not he should.

He is as confused as we are.

It is silent as Laneer steps closer and closer. The only sound coming from his footsteps.

I swear the energy in the room has gotten very hot.

Once they are face to face, Laneer’s eyes begin to shine with tears.

Yinx slowly raises his hand. It shakes like a leaf in winter.

He touches Laneer’s cheek.

As soon as they touch, they both pull each other into a tight embrace.

Laneer buries his face into Yinx’s neck and lets out thick tears. He kisses on his shoulder, his neck, the side of his head.

Yinx can be heard sobbing into Laneer’s chest. His body shakes and heaves with each one. He clutches at his back like his life depends on it.

I grab Luno’s hand as we watch the two lovers finally embrace once again.