by TK
The blazing sun scorched the seemingly-endless desert. The sea of sand lay motionless with only one sign of life: the faint clang of steel on rock carried on the flaming wind.
A few miles away…
Guinevere swung the pickaxe as she heard a voice:
‘Professor, we found something!’ called her assistant, Rex.
Pickaxe still in hand, Guinevere followed Rex to the centre of the ruin where a mysterious structure had been unearthed. On one side, there was a smooth pillar of white marble. Resting on top was a thriving flame carved out of the same white marble. On the other side was a black obsidian pillar with screaming skulls carved into it. Piercing the top was a raging lightning bolt carved out of the black obsidian. The two pillars were joined together with an arch made out of the same materials as the pillars. In the middle of the arch where the white marble and black obsidian collided, a circle had been carved with flames reaching for the centre. Halfway between the pillars, a white marble pedestal rose from the ground, holding a circular dish.
‘Fetch some firewood and a match,’ said Guinevere.
The apprentice archaeologist (William) ran back to camp and quickly returned with a log and a box of matches.
Guinevere took the log from an excited William and place it in the marble dish, and (after a stubborn someone’s pleading) allowed William to light it. As soon as it was lit, the log rose up into the air and was obliterated by a silent red beam coming from the carving on the arch.
‘The carving shows fire coming from the circle’s edge,’ stated Rex. ‘Maybe we should set the edge of the dish on fire?’
He reached out his hand for a match and William (noticing the glare Rex usually wore) instantly gave him one. Rex then set the dish on fire. The flames crept along the edge and reached towards the air above the dish and fed into a floating ball of flame. The beam reappeared and struck the fireball. However, it bounced off the flaming sphere into the air halfway between the pillars and halfway between the arch and ground. The red light spread out as the beam dissipated until the light was framed by the structure.
Rex grabbed a rock and threw it into the light. The rock disappeared. Ripples spread across the light like water.
‘It’s a portal…’ said Guinevere softly, astounded.
‘Shall we go in?’ asked Rex.
‘Are you crazy?’ exclaimed William. ‘We could catch a virus, grow extra limbs, lose…’
‘We go in,’ stated Guinevere firmly, walking into the strange light.
On the other side…
The chilling moon froze the endless desert. The sea of sand raged as the biting gale summoned a storm of evil. Three pillars of shadow descended from the storm. Three glowing red-eyed figures emerged. Three evil laughs filled the desert.
‘We have bodies!’ shouted Dark Rex, grinning.
‘The cowards came through?’ said Dark William in shock.
‘We must trap our counterparts from the Light before they escape, and then take their place. The Dark shall rule again!’ exclaimed Dark Guinevere.
A few miles away…
A tornado of shadow descended onto the portal. It retreated into the clouds, taking the portal with it and leaving the three unconscious figures.
Some time later…
‘How long have we been asleep for?’ asked Guinevere, rubbing her eyes.
Rex spoke, ‘It’s night, but we don’t know how time works on this side.’
‘Or this could be the afterlife!’ said William, trembling.
‘Rocks can not die,’ said Rex, picking up the white stone he had thrown earlier from the black sand.
‘Let’s explore and find a way out,’ said Guinevere.
‘There could be…monsters. I am staying here,’ said William decisively.
Rex grabbed the back of William’s collar and dragged him along: ‘You can stay here with nowhere to hide until the monsters find you or come with us and find a way out.’
The trio proceeded to wander the Dark Desert, finding strange glass-like structures that resembled waves. Soon, they saw something on the horizon. A sandstorm. It was charging towards them. Over the roaring gale, Guinevere signalled to run for a nearby gorge. As Guinevere and Rex entered the gorge, the sandstorm came crashing down on William, blinding him as he fled. Then, he felt it. His foot was caught. If he continued to run, he was doomed to fall and most likely twist his ankle, but he knew worse could happen if he stayed in the fangs of the storm.
On the other side of the gorge…
A devastating thud echoed off the gorge walls, alerting three dark figures.
‘It’s them!’ screeched Dark Rex in delight.
Led by Dark Guinevere, the three figures shot over the gorge, leaving a trail of darkness and destruction.
Small branches hit the ground. William jumped. He glanced up and saw three flying shadows heading for Guinevere and Rex. William, fearing for the others, grabbed the bandages and dragged himself to the sticks.
Nearby…
‘All we have to do now is wait for the portal to reappear,’ said Dark Guinevere.
‘The only one not trapped will go nowhere near the Shadow Tornado!’ laughed Dark Rex, grinning.
‘But what if they escape?’ Realising what he just said, Dark William gulped: ‘He’s getting braver.’
Back at the gorge..
Stick bound tightly to his leg, William hauled himself onto his feet with the longest branch and began to limp out of the gorge. As he walked past the glass-like structures, William suddenly heard two familiar voices coming from the nearest one. He looked inside and saw Rex and Guinevere. Guinevere, passing William her pickaxe, told him to smash the lock between her and Rex. Without hesitation, William swung the pickaxe back and brought it crashing down onto the lock, causing the ground to shake.
Or so it seemed: as William broke the lock, the Shadow Tornado descended from the clouds, shaking the ground. As the cage disappeared, the trio saw something emerge from the retreating tornado…a portal. However, this portal had a black dish and no symbol in the middle. As they neared the portal, they saw three familiar shadows racing towards them.
‘Go!’ instructed Guinevere. ‘I’ll use my pickaxe as a conductor and strike the dish with lightning. That should close the portal.’
William stepped forward: ‘I’ll do it!’
As the shadows closed in like a predator about to strike, Guinevere suddenly pushed Rex and William through and whispered, ‘Goodbye.’