This chapter was written while listening to ShadowAtNoon's Desert music.
With her mouth running dry, stuck in the unbearable heat, she looked for any source of water nearby. Walking around on the soft yet rugged feeling of sand, the only thing they saw was fields of white-ish gold. They kept on walking for hour after hour, with no end in sight.
"If there’s nothing at the top of this hill, I’m done for." The air barely filling her lungs as she marched up the hill, "It was a mistake coming here, I should’ve gone to the Kentara region instead-" With the urge of collapsing "-Having the shade from those giant trees, the abundance of water available, or the soft and smooth grass…" Her arms moved in a weak motion; Aliyah reached the top falling over wanting to die.
What she saw in front of her left her in complete awe. Before their eyes was long, skinny ravine. Bustling with street tents, crowded areas and caves mining into the deep deep walls of the ravine, Aliyah saw that there was a small lake located near the end of the ravine.
The only issue? Getting down there. Absent of any ladders, stairs or even slides, it seemed the only way down was with a creature capable of flight. Aliyah walked a little closer to the edge, looking for anything of help. Trying to see if anything were on the walls that they were standing on, they leaned a bit more forward. Ignoring her foot slowly moving forward on it's own, Aliyah was still confused on how other people managed to get down. Before she knew it, she felt the air going to her face, arms in the air and the bottom of the ravine getting closer and closer.
"Quit it! Hey!" yelled the shop owner running and waving his hands. "Thief!" called out the owner. In the thief's hand was a Cloud in a Jar, which was worth around 2,000 silver coins, or 20 gold coins. The thief ran for his life, shoving through the crowds, dropping boxes and jumping over little kids. Still, the street stand owner was persistent, only a mere arms length away from grabbing the thief. As the thief blinked, he tripped over some stairs. Before his chin could hit the ground, the owner grabbed him by his hood.
The owner glared at the thief. "Give it back!". Right before the jar was taken out of his hands, a horrid shriek rang into their ears. They looked towards the direction of the bloody sound, only to find an elf falling out of the air. The thief saw his chance; punching the owner in the gut, he then lifted and threw the burly guy six feet into the air. As both the elf and the shop owner were falling nearly onto the thief, he opened up the Cloud in a Jar and dumped out a third of it. Jumping onto the cloud, he launched himself high into the sky, landing in one of many caves found in the ravine. The thief had successfully stolen the Cloud in a Jar, while saving the elf's life, and putting the shop owner's in danger. A wide grin started to grow as he walked deeper and deeper into the cavern.
Aliyah screamed as loud as they could, letting their throat run dryer than it already was. She knew she was done for, but she wanted everyone to know how she died.
"What a horrible way to die, but I hope my death will be on the newspaper." As they opened up their eyes, Aliyah saw a big looking man grab a dark figure by their cloak. She let out yet another blood curling scream. I really hope they catch me, or at least soften the landing! Aliyah closed her eyes again, getting ready to brace them self with the colossal amount of pain that was about to come. Instead, she was met with absolute bliss. Shocked from the lack of injury, she found herself on top of a cloud, next to a man, giving off hostile vibes. His bald head looked as red as a beet, as he angrily looked around for someone else.
Aliyah quickly excused herself off the cloud, and looked around confused as to where the cloud came from. The more they thought, wasn't there another person with the angry bald man? Taking a few more glances, they squinted their eyes to see the other person hop into a cave, holding an item that resembled a nimbus cloud bottle.
"I hope I can see them again." Aliyah said thinking out-loud in the crowded space. "Thanking them is the least I can do for saving my life. And if that is a nimbus cloud bottle, then they're probably rich too." Aliyah saw a small body of water, suddenly remembering her endless thirst. She ran towards the water with her new-found energy, with all exhaustion slowly fading away.
