Swish, swash, dip.
They were gone.
The Man smiled.
Ria screamed obscenities as she was plunged into the sandstorm. She sank into the soft mush.
The grains screeched back at her, pelting her and blinding her. She sunk even further into the soft
sand, hoping to find some sanctuary from the bronze blizzard. She couldn’t believe that she and
Alex were in the middle of an actual– Alex! She couldn’t see him. She howled “ALE–“ her voice
cut off by the sand ripping into her throat like a rabid beast. Tears streamed down her face in pain
and bewilderment. She had no idea what was happening.
Swish, swash, dip. It stopped.
The sand dissipated, settling back into the shining bed. Ria clawed her throat, coughing as a
river of dark silt gushed out of her mouth like a fountain. “Ria!” she heard a cry. “Ria! RIA!” the
voice yelled insistently while she buried herself, hoping to get away from the horrid reality that
they were lost, the sheer size of the desert frightening her.
Hands grabbed her shoulders roughly, branding her. “Get up,” Sükh scowled, pulling her up.
Ria stumbled to her feet, about to curse him when she saw what he was looking at. Her voice died.
Sand. Folding, intertwining, warping into shapes. First an eagle, then a leopard, then a gazelle
and then an eagle.
An endless cycle repeated over and over again.
“Ria!” She spun, searching for the voice. There he was! “Alex!” She screamed back. He sprinted
forwards but he may as well have tried to walk on water. The sand convoluted, whirlpools forming
and sucking him in. Just as Ria braced herself to throw herself towards him Sükh grabbed her
again and shoved her away. “What’s wrong with you!” she yelled, “he needs our help!” A finger of
dread tickled up her spine. “Wait.” Was all Sükh said.
Swish, swash, dip.
The sand rose, a glittering cloud forming over Alex before it fell again in a wave this time,
pushing Alex forwards towards them. Ria’s hands flew to his face, looking for signs of injury.
“He’ll be fine,” Sükh said indifferently.
“What is wrong with you?” she repeated. Alex had passed out and he needed shelter. “We’re
going up the mountain. I think I see another cave.” She said, forgetting about the ever-changing
creatures that lurked above. Before Sükh could grab her again she looped Alex’ arm over her neck
and started dragging him up the hill while Sükh stood stoically, refusing to budge.
Swish, swash, dip. The sand picked up again dragging across Sükh’s feet. Alarmed, he leapt
up, taking Alex’s other arm. His eyes on the ground, trying not to think about the abnormal
beasts above. Surely they could not be real; they must be a trick of the light- a mirage perhaps. He
stumbled the last steps before unceremoniously dropping Alex onto the floor like a rock.
“Sükh, don’t-move.” Ria’s voice froze Sükh. He swallowed hoping his panic would not show.
The sand grew chilly despite the relentless burn of the sun and an unseen force compelled him to
crane his neck up, where he met the eyes of the largest eagle he had ever seen.
Ria did not understand what it was. She was a world-renowned palaeontologist with a PhD but
she was still confounded. The sand eagle reared back, it’s great wings spreading and blocking her
view of the cave. It was… guarding whatever was in the cave. What in the Gobi Desert would be
worth protecting in some dark, foul cave she wondered, her mind racing. Of course, she realized, it
had to be¬–
