The desert bride Trapped between the sand and storm.

”Rainer, watch out. ”

Tony pulled Rainer towards him. Rainer was taken aback by his sudden reaction. She looked in front of her and realized that they had gotten to the valley of poison and that she had almost stepped on a poisonous rock.

The valley was like a black hole between the desert and the forest. The valley is just a dark land that is covered with dark, poisonous sandstone rocks of different shapes, sizes, and poison.

The land stretches far, but one could still see its end. Even the air in the valley was deadly. Many deadly animals duel. There is also a small river that flows from the village through the forest, then through the valley to join another river. The river was sparkling and tempting, but the river was still as dead as the valley.

”Thank you, ”

”Rainer, I think we should just teleport from here because I don see any way walking through the valley of poison is fun, and the air here is not healthy at all, ” Tony suggested, and this time Rainer agreed to it.

Tony held Rainers hand, and in a blink of an eye, they had appeared in the desert. They weren too far into the desert because they could still see the Valley of Poisons not too far from where they were. The desert was intensely hot, and the air was quite dry; there was no surviving plant or animal that could be seen, unlike the forest. Rainer was wounded by what her granny meant by what she said earlier.

”Please, Rainer, take the sand you need; Im already starting to feel my skin burn from the heat, ” Tony said in a pained voice. Toneys skin was already red with some blemishes; his lips were already dried; his eyes looked tired. If he stays there any longer, he may indeed become lunch for the vultures if they can make it to his remains, if there are any.

”Yes, Im on it. ”

Rainer quickly let go of Tonys hand; she brought out a container from her pocket and quickly packed the sand she needed. She tried ignoring the strange spark she felt as she touched the sand. A gently sanding wind passed by, making her shiver—not in fear but of a strange foreign feeling.

”All done, Tony, now lets go, ” Rainer said, but there was no response.

She turned around, and to her horror, Tony was nowhere to be found. She looked around and realized that she was nowhere near the valley of poises. How did she get here? And where was Tony?

”Tony, Tony, ” Rainer called, but there was no response. She was lost, it was getting dark, and she was getting scared.

***** ” ” ” ” ”

”Rainer!, Rainer!! ”

Tony called out for Rainer, who was just standing right in front of him a moment ago but had mysteriously disappeared. The only things he saw were her spell book and the little container that was lying on the floor. Rainer could not cast a spell without her spell book, so where was she? He thought to himself. Tony looked around but couldn find his friend. He began to feel an intense amount of pain all over his body.

His eyes began to spin, but he stayed strong for his friend. He knew that if he stayed there any longer, she would die, and he knew that he could not find Rainer all by himself, so he went back to the village to ask for help.

*************************

Tony appeared in a huge house that was buzzing with people and beautifully decorated. The place was buzzing with people, but it was like no one noticed his presence there.

His condition had worsened to the point that he could not carry his own body; he tried walking but ended up falling to the ground. But he was determined to call for help, and the more he fought, the more the pain and weakness consumed him. He fell to his knees trying to steady his unsteady breathing; it was like his lungs were burning and it hurt like hell; every inch of his body felt like it was being heated in a pan of boiling oil.

”Tony!! ” A woman cried out in a loud voice, alerting the other,

The lady with similar features as him ran up to him; she had long blond hair and baby-blue eyes. She held him tightly but immediately released him when she heard him hiss out in pain. Her eyes widened in horror as she saw the condition of her son: his skin was peeling off, leaving behind a mess of bloody tissues.

”Who did this to you, son? ” she asked, already breaking down in tears, but Tony could not hear his mothers plea; all he did was call Rainers name.

”Someone please take him to the healer, ” she cried out, almost losing it. People who heard her cry instantly came running,

No one had the guts to ask any question at that crunch moment; what was important was to save his life. Tony was immediately taken to the healer, but he never stopped calling Rainers name. A few moments later, when Tonys mother was striding to and fro anxiously,

She hadn seen her son for a month, and now this is the condition she finds him in. She was scared, angry, and confused. She was facing a turmoil within herself, and it was killing her; she was worried about losing her mind and her child. She couldn stop the tears that kept spilling from her eyes and the negative voice that kept whispering in her ears.

The healer came out of a room, making the woman rush towards her. But she froze when she saw the apologetic look on her face.

”Speak, ”

”M-my queen… I think your son had gone to the cold desert; that is why he ended up like that. ” The healer trembled in fear under the gaze of the queen.

”So how is he? ” she asked with fear dancing in her eyes; the answer was right there in front of her, but she chose not to believe it.

”My queen… I think you already have the answer to your question; no one with such injuries has ever made it out of that desert alive; Im sorry, but your son is… the prince is dead. ”

A lone tear fell from her eyes as she heard these heartbreaking words. Her mind knew all along, but her heart kept refusing to accept the truth, even if it was very obvious. But as a queen, she has to be strong for her people, but one thing is for sure: she won let her son die alone.

”My, Queen, I think he followed that girl, Rainer, to the desert. ”

”Yes, its a shame that shes already dead. ”

”What about the plane? ” ”Should we put it on hold? ”

”No, everything will go just the way we planned it. ” The sacrifice has been made, so now we have the blessings of the desert. Tell the warriors to get ready. ”You may leave now. ” Her voice wasn loud, but everyone got the instruction.

”Yes, your highness, ” and with that everyone had dispersed, leaving the Queen all alone with her dead son,

She walked closer to where her sons body lay; his skin was beyond recognizable, and thinking of the amount of pain he must have passed through broke her heart. She fell on her knees close to her sons bedside, holding onto his hands as she wailed bitterly.

”Tony, my son, I won let you go so soon, ” she said, placing a gentle kiss on his forehead.

She began mumbling some incorrect words; the lights in the room all went off at the same time. After a little while, a warm, soft glow lit the once-dark room. Toneys body was covered with a crystal to prevent it from decaying. His mother placed a gentle kiss on the crystal before leaving the room, and when she walked outside, a woman was already waiting for her; it was Rainers stepmother, Stella.

”I came as soon as I heard the news. Im sorry for what happened to your son; its so unfortunate, but you have to think before you act. ”We are so close to our plans, and we can afford to make any wrong decisions. ”

”Stella, between the both of us, who is the queen of this land? ”

”You are, but Im still your best friend, Linda. ”

”Im really starting to doubt that, Stella. ”

”What do you mean by that? ” Stella asked, tilting her neck,

”You tell me, ” and with that, Linda walked out, leaving the raging Stella behind.

*************

Rainer couldn believe the way everything changed; she didn even know which way was home or doom. Time was slipping away from her like sand, and she couldn do anything; she couldn even cast a spell to get herself out of there because she wasn with her spell book. This was part of the times when Rainer hated herself for being derelict,

Fear began creeping into her heart as all the rumors she had ever heard of the desert began ringing back in her head. Was this the way she was going to end? She just hoped that Tony would find her before any dangerous creature did or before the gas in the valley killed her.

Rainer walked looking for anything or anyone that could help, but the only thing in sight were grains of sand. It was getting very windy; she could barely see anything. She wondered why she hadn died yet. Earlier, she remembered Tony complaining about how hot it was; she even saw how red and wounded his skin was and how tired he looked. But strangely, Rainer didn feel the same. For her, the weather was the same as that of the forest, and the only problem she had was that she was starving.

She wandered around for hours but still made no progress. The sand was growing stronger as time passed, and she wondered if the desert had a cave or shelter because that is what she needed. Her eyes widened in delight when she saw a familiar face, her grandmother, and she rubbed her eyes just to be sure that it was really her and that she was not seeing things.

”Grandma!, Grandmother wait, its me, Rainer, ”

Rainer screamed, trying to get her grandmothers attention, but she didn turn around, not even once. But that didn stop Rainer from running after her, despite how strong the wind grew. Rainer ran as fast as she could but couldn keep up with her; it was like the more she ran, the bigger the gap between her and her grandmother.

”Grandma, please wait. ” ”Its me, Rainer, your granddaughter, ” Rainer called out, but her grandmother vanished out of sight; she fell to the ground, breaking down in tears, feeling so alone and so sorrowful.

”Where is Tony? ” She asked herself, holding onto the chain he had gifted her,

Rainer was so scared, and it was already dark, but she could still see, as could the danger around her. No sound could be heard, and the most annoying part was that she was starving.

Tears flowed down from her cheeks like a river. She turned around when she felt a persons presence close by, but there was no one there. Rainer felt anxious and frightened; she could not stop the tears that fell from her eyes; she wondered if anyone was even worried about her; she wondered if anyone would even miss her if she died; all this and more questions kept popping into her head.

”Rainer, ”

The voice was small, more like a cool breeze, but she heard it very clearly. Slowly, she raised her head, and she saw her grandmother standing not too far from where she was, and she was smiling at her.

Rainer felt relieved and more emotional; she instantly picked herself up and began to run towards her grandmother with open hands; her happiness could not be measured; even when Rainer fell face down, she picked herself up and continued to run. The moment she was close enough, she hugged her grandmother tightly, but shortly, Rainer cried out in pain.

The person she had seen was not her grandmother but rather a dried-up tree; she had hugged it so tight that she got her gut cut by a sharp dried-up branch; the wound was deep, and in no time, blood began to ooze out of her open wound.

Rainer fell to the ground in pain; she tried covering the wound, but it was of no use. Her blood dropped to the desert-cold ground, and in an instant, an earthquake occurred. It was so strong that the ground split, the heavens roared, and the rain fell hard on the earth. Slowly, her contents began slipping away like the sand in an hourglass, and the moment the sand ran out, the glass became empty, as did her eyes.