It had felt like we had been walking since before the concept of time had even begun. Our lips had cracked and our throats parched. Steps had slowed and no one, not even Sora, had the slightest amount of energy to talk
I looked at the shifting sands and watched a little bit of sand slide down from a dune as the wind blew. The whole area looked like a stormy sea that had been frozen by some sort of time magic. Each step we took sinking further and further into the ground.
[ At least we haven't run into any spirit beasts]
" Nathan home much longer?!" Loki said as he focused on his feet.
" Not long" Nathan replied with a heavy tone.
" You said that an hour ago," Sora said with a whiny voice.
" If you have the strength to complain you have the strength to walk," Heyu said as he slapped Sora's shoulder.
" Wait do you see that?!" Sora said excitedly.
I looked at the direction that Sora was pointing in and saw nothing but the heat coming off the sand piles.
[ What is he looking at? ]
" See what?" Heyu replied.
" Water! SO MUCH WATER!" Sora shouted excitedly.
" I don't see any," Heyu said disappointedly.
" Me either," Nathan said flatly.
" Must be the spell of the sand," Loki replied shaking his head.
" You mean a mirage?" I replied quietly as I watched Sora run off towards the sand pile in front of us.
" Precisely," Loki said nodding.
We watched as Sora ran at full speed towards the sand pile. He suddenly looked to his left and his right before staring back at us all with a disappointed look on his face.
" Where did the water go?" Sora said confused.
" There wasn't any to begin with," Heyu said as he moved Kibbles from on shoulder to the other.
Sora plopped on the desert sad before punching it.
" THIS SUCKS BIG TIME!" Sora said as he began to vent out all of the frustrations he had.
Sora began mumbling so much that his teeth began to chatter. Kibbles jumped of Heyu's shoulder and landed on the ground. He walked up to Sora and attempted to pull him up with his teeth but it didn't work to well. It wasn't long before Kibbles gave up and walked to my side.
" Are we close?" I said.
" Mm apparently we are right above a water source," Nathan said as he closed his eyes and focused.
" Heyu, you have earth magic right? Can you shift this sand here?" Nathan said as he pointed to a spot on the dirt.
" I am actually a doll user but one of my little ones should be able to the job quite easily" Heyu Said with a flick of his hair before he asked me to pull out a few clumps of clay from my storage ring.
" I have never seen this sort of magic before," I said as I got the clay out and passed it to him.
He took it from my hand gently before smiling.
" You should be in for quite a treat then," Heyu said with a grin.
" Watch closely now," Heyu said as he noticed us all gathering.
He pushed all of the clay pieces together before making them merge into a shape that reminded me of a small person with drills for hands. Nodding in satisfaction Heyu asked me to take out an Earth gem from my storage ring before he inserted it into the back of the doll.
Heyu began to recite a spell and the doll began to violently shake before turning into a being that dwarfed us all. The gem had become one of the beings eyes it stood there creating shade for all of us granting us temporary relief from the raging hot sand.
" Woah!!! So cool!" Nathan said as he took a few steps backwards in shock.
" Alright now watch this!" Heyu said before he made some hand signs and began a slow chant. The chant became louder and louder before finally, Heyu pointed to the spot where Nathan had asked Heyu to dig.
The being churned and twisted before it took some massives steps.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The steps shook the sand all around us making our footing uneasy.
" Go!" Heyu shouted.
" RMWAOOOOORRR" The creature Heyu created moaned before it dived hands first into the Earth.
" I will never get used to that" Sora said with his eyes widened.
Sand flew like a spray as it flicked out from where the creature was digging. Each of us had covered our eyes to shield them from the onslaught of the debris.
Rumble!
Rumble!!
The ground below us felt it was going to fall apart then abruptly before a massive under grown cavern appeared before our eyes followed by a thunk from the clay being falling.We all couldn't help but be impressed as we tried to see through to the bottom.
" Who wants to go first…" I said looking at the seemingly bottomless pit as I grabbed some rope.
" Send Kibbles down," Loki said in full seriousness.
" You have got to be joking" Heyu retorted as he grabbed kibbles defensively.
" That might be a great idea, he is a fire beast isn't he," Nathan said after pondering for a moment.
" I'll go!" Kibbles said trying to squirm out of Heyu's grip.
" Let him go, he is light so we can pull him up if anything happens," I said as I held out my arms in Heyu's direction.
Heyu gave me a " Your a monster" look as he handed over Kibbles to me. I tried my best to ignore Heyu's silent complaints as I tied the rope around Kibble's body.
Kibbles concentrated for a moment before a small fireball appeared in his mouth that acted like as lap as we lowered him down.
[ You doing okay down there? ]
" It's all good here" Kibbles responded.
[ Can you see the bottom? ]
" Just a little bit further Yuki!" Kibbles said.
" I see the ground now. It looks safe enough and there is a river down here too. Looks like the big lug fell in I can't see Heyu's clay beast anywhere." Kibbles said after a little while.
[ Okay, hang tight! ]
" Kibbles says that the creature you made probably fell in the underground river," I said looking at Heyu apologetically.
" It was just some clay but it did waste an earth essence crystal," Heyu said as he sighed.
" Right. How do we get everyone else down?" Loki said as if it was an afterthought.
We all brainstormed as Kibbles chewed through some of the rope we had. It wasn't long till we decided that Heyu would make another beast that would hold the rope for everyone to stop us from falling and hurting ourselves.
It had been quite a first day for us and after some effort, we had finally all entered the cave system. It was soo much cooler underground much to everyone's delight.
We had decided to set up camp and leave the beast upstairs just in case the water flooded or a sprit beast appeared. If this world had taught me anything being prepared was pivotal for survival.
We set up some tents and put down some animal repellent on the ground. I was grateful that grandfather Reo had packed some for me to use. Finally, we lit a fire and started making some food. Everyone was rather ravenous from the hours of walking so we decided that we would make extra.
The Dredgelands was barren but the soil that was currently under my feet gave me some hope. Tomorrow we would find somewhere to set up camp permanently.
[ One day down and 4 years to go. We have got this. ]
I still had hope in this desolate land and my heart felt full as I took a bite of some fried meat. I may not have much but at least the company was the best I could ever hope for.