" I might just die." whispered a voice.
" I can't die." pleaded the voice while running in a desert.
Behind the young man was a wall of sand that seems to follow behind this boy at an extreme speed. The silhouette ran across the sand at breakneck speed. Plumes of sand followed his every step as he sprinted up and slides down dunes. Despite his major effort the sand storm, that seems to be swallowing the setting sun, is only getting closer to the man.
" May the ancestors bless me." He says in between breathes while running with his heart. His chest is pounding and his mind racing. The only thing going in the mans favor is his legs aren't going to stop until his mind tell it to. A tear seamlessly joins joins the sweat running down the mans face. The memory to fresh and to painful to indulge the man throws it from his mind.
The sandstorm was close and disappearing no time soon. Hope was finally found after a long treacherous journey. Only a couple dunes away the signs of a ravine was found and hopefully it would provide shelter from the harshest of the storm.
" Thank the elders." Finding his way through the storm that consumed him made a minutes of travel the longest and most tedious sprint of his life. " Well second worst sprint of my life." he dryly chuckles to himself.
He lays against the warm stone with sand still dusting his face. Taking the leather sack from his back he opens it just enough for his hand to fill in. Grabbing some dry meat from the bag and realizing there's only enough for another day or two ruined the excitement from safety and a mouthful of meat, and a seasoning of sand.
Looking around while only having a fraction of light that is fleeting by the minute. The walls of the ravine are some smooth type of rock which is very uncommon for a desert. It seems to go deeper and the decision on whether to go down further or to rest now near the surface struggled in his mind a moment. Until he realized the sandstorm a couple feet above his head wasn't leaving anytime soon and he needs to see what is down the ravine in case there is any food.
"Maybe there's water." After the thought entered his head nothing would stop him from exploring a potential place where water, a resource he's recently been deprived of, could be held.
With a new determined mindset crawling forward into the ravine was now a chance for life to him instead of a fear of death. The ravine gets wider while traveling and soon the walls were so far apart that out stretched arms couldn't keep hold of them both. Keeping steady with a right hand on the wall and trying to stay steady in the darkness.
Five minutes later and what feels like much further underground their is a bend in the wall. The stone is noticeably rougher and after inspecting for a couple minutes it's obvious what was found. This is no bend in the ravine this is a cave in the wall.
This discovery leads to fear and excitement that causes the mans heart to beat faster. What could be found in the middle of a desert in the middle of a ravine like this. It could be nothing more then a natural phenomena or it could have water. If there is any water the chance of a beast making its home here is likely to. The thought of having to face a ferocious creature sent shivers down the mans spine.
Suddenly a feeling of calm arose in the man. He had a reason to be here in the desert one stronger then just hiding from a sandstorm. With this thought came a realization the man listened for wind, and it seems the sandstorm has lost its bravado and should be nothing more then a light breeze in no more then a half hour.
The sandstorm being gone won't help the man with the fact that it is still night time in the desert which is a death sentence for most anyways. Everyone know the most fierce hunters hunt for prey during the darkness of night. With no confidence in surviving the man looks ate where the cave is and starts to walk forward. The cave is fairly wide being five feet wide and almost six feet tall. The man had to lower his head slightly but it was only a slight nuisance. The darkness was an issue for the man, with nothing to look at his imagination became a killer foe mixing a very real past with fictions from the stories of his child hood the empty cave seemed to carry his every fear.
This fear was almost crippling to the man, almost. A sound was heard in the cave. It was very faint so much so the man may have thought it was a trick of his head. He turns to his left, it definitely was not his imagination, but what could it be. Grabbing an axe from his back he held it with two hands tightly while looking towards where he last heard a sound. The man grabbed the axe so tightly his knuckles would appear as ghostly white if there was any light to be seen.
"SwooOsh" The axe cut through the air and quickly hit the ground. The space in this cave was not enough for a proper swing but the man did the best he could.
"Crcccchhss" Came a screech from in front of him. The source of the sound could be a live or dead but the man worked under the assumption it was alive. He takes a step back and swings down yet again with the axe. He aimed for where he was standing just a second previously and his axe met resistance. It was unlike when the weapon bounce of the stone this time he could feel his axe had split something.
The man readied the axe and listened.
" BUh-duM"
The man take a step back again this time towards the exist.
" buh -dum" The sound is hear again but this time softer. The man looks for where the sound could be coming from. Moments later the sound continues but the man discover the sound is from no where other then his own heart beat. This realization let the man breath with a moment of peace until he realized their still very well could be something in the cave that wished him harm.
Mustering up his courage he walks forward at a pace only a snail would find pride in. all the while his axe is extended and tapping on the ground making sure to secure a place for his next step. Eventually the mans axe hit something non stone it was squishy. The man tested his courage with a slowly extended had that touched what was a scaly surface.
A couple of thorough guesses later the conclusion was it was some type of lizard. It was about a meter in length with have of that being its tail and a body only as thick as a forearm. The axe seems to have ended the lizards life by cutting through the spine of the creature causing near instant death.
A brief moment of pity was felt in the mans heart, it hadn't needed to die but the fear in his heart led to the death of a beautiful creature. This man was filled with remorse for the lizard he had slain in defense. " I won't let your death go to waste." He say while carefully placing the corpse in the leather bag.
Continuing on the journey still with an axe in his hands he was determined to find an end to the cave. Soon enough that goal was met but in the most spectacular way. There was light now in the tunnel very dim and slightly blue, but seeing anything was leagues better then an ever lasting nothing. What was found at the end of the tunnel that seemed to belong to that lizard was a small pool of water.
Water may seem to be the most extra ordinary part of the pool but it was not instead it would be the small glowing pieces of grass growing along the puddle. The puddle was only four feet around at most but right now that was enough to fill a stomach that has been parched since he ran out of water in the desert two days ago.
The man ran to the puddle ignoring the glowing grass and got on all fours and cupped the water into his hands and drank. He worried of contamination and disease from the stagnant puddle but right now all reason would have to wait for his thirst to be quenched.
After some large gulps the man laid into the sparse grass that grew along the puddle and for the first time in a long time he relaxed. It had felt so good, almost like home. With that thought the man succumbed to exhaustion and slept.
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