Landing
She stared up at the sky, her eyes cloudy and foggy, vision blurred. Her skin was cold, shivering and clenching to get warm. Fog and mist surrounded her as she lay in pain, throbbing from head to toe as if she'd just been hit by a bus. Unable to speak and gasping for air, she struggled catching her breath, finally grasping a few whisping breaths that felt… hot… Steamy even. Her body instantly felt like it was on fire again, warming back up from such a cold shock was throwing her poor body through fits, like nothing she'd ever experienced before… except for one time…
The girl, maybe not yet 20 by her appearance, with bright reddish blonde flowing hair laying to her sides. Her clothes destroyed, glasses smashed beside her face and body scraped from the rocky journey back to the ground, she began to arise. Her frame appeared slender and firm, yet was scraped and scuffed from her journey through the sky. She struggled, reaching forth and grasping around, feeling nothing but the coarse, gritty sand in her fingers. Like grease in a pan, it slipped through her hands as she blindly struck about.
"Where are my glasses?"She thought solemnly, looking around where she was. Feeling around, she felt sand, lots of sand. Grasping and pulling her fingers around where she was she couldn't seem to find anything but sand and the occasional rock. Sighing softly, she looked out and tried to clear her vision as much as possible. Nothing but a vast, open desert and wasteland around her.
"Great… I've had those glasses for 30 years, and never once had anything happened to them until now!"She chastised herself, but it wasn't really her who did this, but she did know who did… Father… As aggravating as it felt, her father was the one who put her in this situation again, not only did he do it the first time when he sent her to that god forsaken mudhole from their home in Podunk, but now instead of bringing her home he's sent her to this… different hellhole. And it looks like a desert. Great.
She looked up into the blue sky again screaming into the expansive blue and gold horizon, spanning everything around her, everything she could possibly see.
"Nobilia! REALLY?! YOU SEND ME TO THE DESERT OF DOOM INSTEAD OF BRINGING ME HOME?! THANKS FATHER!".
Betrayed, alone and now lost, the girl began to start to get her bearings. Squinting a little, she could make out that this was a very isolated part of desert, maybe one that hasn't even been charted yet in the area. She forced herself up, kneeling first and then standing slowly. The sand was hot to the touch, and whatever mist and vapor that she had arrived in was already burned away by the scorching desert heat. No protection from the heat anymore, and in Antiqua, it's not a stretch to say that this desert was going to heat up quick. She started to try and gather her thoughts, walking forward just a little and stretching out her muscles. The teleport had of course at this point NOT been successful, otherwise she'd have been home now. Compared to this, Podunk was at least near paradise.
Just another journey for the daughter of a madman she supposed. Picking a direction, she started walking, venturing off into the desert, vast and all-consuming she walked for what seemed like an eternity under the blistering sun. My how her body resisted the sun, the fire boiling in her eyes, both literally and figuratively. Without her glasses, it was difficult to hold back her powers, which did not seem to be harmed in her transference from the village to wherever this was that she had landed. She didn't want to expose her powers though just yet, if she could just find something to forge a new pair of glasses, she'd do it herself, but she needed a frame first, even wood would do for now. But this far in the desert, she couldn't be too sure to find anything right now aside from all this coarse sand! It was everywhere! And she hated it. The girl would have much rather preferred to stay back in the village, where she was at least somewhat comfortable, and had love and support from the townsfolk. But nooo… daddy had to try and bring her home.
After mulling and sulking for what felt like hours, her hazy eyes began to catch a glimpse of something in the distance, something large. It looked sorta like a mountain, or maybe a building but she couldn't tell. This was the direction she held the most chance at getting help so forward it was. Pressing onward and moving toward the large structure, gargantuan and growing larger with every step, her blinded eyes showed her such scale it was almost a grand majesty to behold. Climbing over sand dunes and past only god knows what, she wasn't surprised that she hadn't seen anything or anyone in her long journey to literally the middle of nowhere.
Another eternity of walking later, and almost ready to pass out from exhaustion she finally caught the first glimpses of color aside from just sand or sky. The blues and golds finally started to divulge… green. Green means trees! Green means Shade! Green means water! She'd found something in the desert! And brown, lots of brown. Wait… Brown? Walls?
Nobilia's desert… it had no canyons or gorges except in the southern part near the pirate port and shipping districts. There were no mountains or buildings in the desert left. She became suspicious of where she'd actually landed, but unable to see around her or any of the landscape, she couldn't afford to jeopardize her chance at some possible salvation from her landscape behind. She started towards the trees and with a very satisfying touch she finally reached one, holding her hand to the side of it and pressing against its bark. It was thick, almost like rock itself, and probably impenetrable. This wasn't like anything she'd ever seen or heard of, and it certainly wasn't a plant that grew native to Antiqua.
"Where am I…?" She wondered again, still not speaking aloud and conserving her strength and water. Large cliffs and bluffs began to surround her on the approach to whatever she'd found, and large columns rose into the sky, with nothing above them. White… she saw white, possibly ivory or maybe some local stone, with golden pedestals. They were of fine construction, but in a veritable wasteland. The ground was firmer here, stone and very level, almost as if it had been carved out. There was a path now, discernable from the sandy desert before her and traversable easier than tripping over sand dunes. She looked at her hands, scratched and scraped from hours of climbing through the sand and falling through the coarse grains of rough desert landscape. At least now she'd be able to walk a little easier and with some dignity instead of desert climbing.
The path wound a little, through cutouts of the stone cascades going high into the sky on both sides. It was built as an approach to something, or somewhere that wanted to remain hidden from the world, or to protect. She'd seen this kind of architecture back in school, in Podunk, but had never seen it in the world she was in before she got here. This was all new to her, and the architecture looked like it would be impressive if she could see it more clearly. Moving through the pillars, they acted as her guides, ushering her down the path while her still very blocky vision let her go forward without any fear of falling off into a ravine at least. The path had been recently walked, but there was still debris like it had been abandoned for sometimes before, so maybe, help was there.
Her mind switched focus though when she started hearing noises in the distance. A low grunting sound coming from behind one of the pillars, like an animal chewing or swallowing. She slowed her pace, taking shelter behind a pillar and looking out to her sides to make sure whatever it was didn't see her. Normally she wouldn't hesitate to fight off any beast, but without her glasses, she was almost defenseless as she couldn't aim her attacks or fight anyone off. She really needed to get new glasses. She sat and waited for a moment as she heard whatever it was stand or elevate itself, and start walking away. She stayed behind the pillar, sliding around it and craning her neck around the corner as the beast came back her direction and left in the path she came from. She couldn't really make it out… it looked like a duck… or maybe some sort of large billed animal. She couldn't tell though from the distance and it wasn't a great idea to start trying to get somethings attention without clearly seeing what it was. So, she decided to keep herself at a distance and let it pass. After a few more moments she scrambled up the path she was on and escaped this first, chance encounter.
Almost tripping, she found a raise in some rocks, stairs, carved into the side of the mountain to a huge carved stone face. Some sort of elaborate palace, constructed into the side of the cliffs itself and spanning the entire exposed face. Its scale and size was impressive, and the majestic size of it made her swoon a little as she appreciated its beauty before stepping up and heading towards what she could see was an entrance. Wooden doors, nearly 12 feet tall stood in her path. She could push them open with ease, considering their size and construction. "These certainly weren't designed to keep anyone out…" she thought, stepping out of the desert heat and into the cool, torchlit palace. Warm, yet cool at the same time, she felt relieved to finally find somewhere that she wasn't being roasted by sunlight. She sat with her back to the wall for a few moments as she regained what composure she was left to gather.
Walking up through the main corridor, the hallway stretched directly through the building, deep into the mountain itself. On the wall, sconces lined the stone passage in columns and were flanked by huge oil filled torches lighting the halls. They were massive, and appeared to have rubies embedded at the bases of the cauldrons as she observed the craftsmanship. Pressing on up into the palace, she began to get very curious on where she was, the construction she was observing was much farther advanced than anything she had ever seen, yet the location was so desolate, there wasn't any sign that people were there at all. It seemed desolate, and disturbingly so.
She continued walking, halls of rose quartz lined her path as she went up several flights of stairs, through the palace to a chamber room of sorts, with more of the huge torches all around and a pillar in the center of the room. Still no one home, but this was at least a start. It didn't seem to have any sort of throne or seating, but this giant pyramid was all alone in the room. She heard no sound aside from the popping and crackling occasionally of oil burning, and the heat of the room began to get impressive. Her eyes widened as she approached, carefully stepping up the stairs and elevating herself in the room.
At the top of the small pyramid in the room, there was a stone box, and inside, what appeared to be… a rock? No, a seed. It was a giant seed. She looked around, trying to focus her vision and squinting at the corners for anything, no windows… no other doors. Just… a pyramid and a seed? That's it?
"Am I seriously losing it here, or am I just lost?" She asked herself, sitting beside the seed and the box, crossing her legs. Her mind was jumbled, and as foggy as her vision was. She couldn't understand what it is she was doing, or even where she was. Her father had really messed it up this time, sending her to this forbidden place. "When I get back home, we're seriously going to need to talk. I don't appreciate being stranded like this father!" She said aloud and spitefully. Not intending for anyone to hear her, just some cathartic screaming.
She began to feel a little stronger, regaining some of her strength as she sat and rested. Her legs were still sore from all the traveling but she allowed herself to sit back and relax. Pressing her fingers down into her skin, massaging the soft tissues below and trying to send her legs some relief from all the walking. Her dress… she felt it was damaged and broken, almost beyond repair. She'd really taken a beating in that teleport, and her clothes were in shambles. She'd have to find new ones and find better clothing because regardless of where she was, she didn't want to be the only teenage woman walking around in half a dress in the middle of the desert, someone might get ideas!
She smirked at the thought, almost welcoming it. At least if someone did abduct her in the desert, she wouldn't be stuck wandering in the desert. It was a start at least, some dark humor to her seemingly endless series of poor fortunes leading her to this point. She cracked her neck and started to stand, reaching up onto the stone alter-like box and lifting herself up. Breathing easier now, she stretched her arms out and sat down. Checking her vision and blinking a few times, she started to wonder when the torches got so bright. She looked at them again a few times, the golden patterns jumping out at her with a vibrancy she couldn't describe. Whomever built this place really cared for it, and wanted to see it be beautiful, even if there was no one to appreciate it apparently. Was this some sort of monetary? Or a hidden getaway for a lord? Her mind wandered the possibilities as she looked at the carvings, trying to distract herself from her growing thirst. Turning around to the seed, she looked at it and reached to pick it up. Lifting it with ease she held it up and it was hot! Hot to the touch, burning her hands almost as she placed it back down and stood up and backed away in fear.
Almost as soon as she moved back, a bright red aura emitted from the seed struck out, warming her whole body and lighting up the room. She could see only a bright red flash of light and the seed began to levitate off the ground, spinning and giving off a burning aura of incredible brightness. Out of it, she felt warmth, but also strength. She reached out, touching the seed again as it spun and glowed brightly, and she felt invigorated like she hadn't been in a long time. Holding the seed in her hands she felt it exuding immense powers and a pressure she'd never truly felt before. It was incredible to feel, to hold, to have wrapped around her as she closed her eyes. She'd felt power like this before, but only fractions of it. When she practiced her alchemy, or when she used call beads, she could crack glimpses of a power like this but nothing to this depth. It was exhilarating, the power coursing through her body and fully invigorating her.
She opened her eyes, she could feel them glowing with the power, and almost… for a moment, she could control her powers. She could control the fires that exuded her body.
And in an instant, the power died back, the seed went dormant and the storm of surging energy quelled. She set the seed down, falling to her knees and collapsing beside the alter, she panted, and eventually passed out, exhausted but for the first time in her life, calm. This felt, for the first time, right. She felt like there was a place for her, even displaced. She sighed as a figure stood over her and she lost consciousness.
Tossing her head back and forth, the young girl swooned and moaned a little, her body exhausted but well rested at the same time. She opened her eyes, looking up and seeing stone scrollwork and a vast open ceiling.
"where…. Where am I?" she asked, sitting up and holding her head, throbbing slightly like she'd had a really bad fall.
"You, are here." A voice replied sarcastically, and startled she began jumping to her feet, looking around and slipping down, falling onto the floor. "owwww!" she exclaimed, rubbing her elbows.
"Do not worry, you are not in any danger young woman. In fact, you're safer here than many other places." The voice explained, still up higher and above her. She looked up, seeing a figure near the top of a strange pyramid. Pyramid… she was still there, not a dream but she was really here. Slowly and unreliably getting to her feet, she stared up and looked in the direction of the voice, her vision a little blurry but somewhat clearer that it had been before. But she didn't have her glasses.
"Who are you?" She asked, walking to the base of the stairs, pulling at tatters of her clothes and ripping off a few loose threads and scraps of clothing that remained. She looked up at the entity, appearing to glow a faint red as it hovered slightly and then whisped into the air, coming down to her. The spirit hovered, with an ethereal like body, examining her and circling her head.
"I, am Salamando. You, are familiar with my powers already I see" He stated, in an almost curious, yet steadfast regard. "Your powers, they are familiar to me, they are mine. Yet I did not bestow them upon you. I wonder, how did you acquire my strength young lady?" He questioned, the sprite taking a more pleasing form as his body appeared to solidify in front of her. He stood just over two feet tall, or… floated… she observed.
She paused for a second, and then without any real answer she looked at him solemnly. "I'm not actually all that sure myself. I was transported to my home until recently when I was a young girl. I seem to have gained the ability to use alchemy when I arrived, and I have always had an innate power inside me that I've been able to use." She explained, pretty sure that wasn't satisfactory.
"I see…" Salamando replied, curiously turning about and stroking his chin with is tail. "Your power, it feels ancient, unrefined compared to the power I wield now. Possibly it's because you received your powers in a different time, or a different age. Your body… it appears similar to the inhabitants of this world but you carry a different tone about you. You understand language fairly well, as it would seem you are from this world as well, but you are woefully misdressed. How did you arrive here, miss?" Salamando's generic questioning made her reminisce on the first time she set foot in Prehistoria in the first place. Long ago when she first arrived, a young girl, not even a teenager yet, stranded for years in an alternate dimension and lost to all time and space. She gripped her arms and turned away, starting to be afraid of having to go through this whole process again, but at the same time, feeling an urge to trust Salamando with at least an answer to these questions in the hope she herself could get answers
She turned to him, looking up slightly as he floated around one of the torches, almost swimming in its flames. "I was sent here… possibly by mistake. My grandfather and father's experiments in dimensional travel were… sabotaged and I wound up stranded in an ancient land, of my own design. It was called Prehistoria. I was stuck in that land for nearly 30 years. We had a few others with me, and we all arrived around the same time, and one more with his dog, they came later and helped to free us. We were teleporting home… We were being freed after decades in captivity, though we'd never aged more than a few years each. We'd been trapped, displaced in space, and maybe even in time in our world we created. Maybe… we stole a piece of power we shouldn't have, maybe we tapped into something our minds didn't comprehend. Either way, we were freed, we were about to go home… and something went wrong! I was supposed to go home, I was supposed to return back to Podunk, to safety. For 30 years, I've been living a dream, living a life somewhere else…" She began sobbing slightly, tears forming in the corners of her eyes as she relayed her information, her pain, and her sorrow to the floating blob of gelatinous flame. Sentient as he was, he seemed harmless enough.
Salamando paused his leisurely playfulness, the sprite becoming serious and rising from the flames, pressing his tail into the oily liquid and splashing it about, spreading some flames onto the floor and raising a giant wall of fire. "This is where I was created, and the power of mana manifested. With fire, and flame, blood and war. Thousands of years ago, when mankind of this planet discovered the powers of fire they had only scratched the surface of possibility. Mankind, your race, I presume, discovered the powers of Mana and were exploiting it. What you call Alchemy, is just a crude interpretation of Alchemy and of its powers. Using sticks and stones to unlock the natural energies locked within the building blocks of this planet." Salamando raised the flames higher, the wall of fire impenetrable.
"I became sentient following abuse of this power, vast stores of energy released in times of war. Strife and unrest gripped the people. War had destroyed them, created political divides and made life unlivable. I and my brethren were born of this chaos, and of this unrest. We came to life to fight the stupidity of man, and to guide them into the next age. Mana was released into the world, like many would see magic have been, or your alchemy. In this new world you created for yourself, you again scratched the surface of what had been only dreamed of before, and was never released. I was born of Hatred, of WAR, of SUFFERING. I was born out of the selfish desires to abuse my powers in a time of great unrest and this flame is my strength now. I AM SALAMANDO! ELEMENTAL POWER FORCE OF FIRE!"
The fires died down and the display quickly ended, Salamando retreating to the seed and placing his hand upon it. Its glow brightened the room again and he relit the flaming cauldron torches that were put out after he extinguished the flames.
The young girl only sat back in amazement, wondering at what she just witnessed and how powerful he had been. She had never seen strength or vibrancy of this level. She had never seen a being as powerful as he or as emotionally powerful. She raises herself up and walked to him, looking down and still staring at the seed.
"So… Mana is… a life force?" She asked, still not fully understanding Salamando's words yet.
His gaze turned to her, and a smile creeping to his lips wrapped in fire. "In a word… yes. Mana is the life source for the elemental forces that govern the world. The earth, the water, the fire, the wind. Life and death, Light and darkness. All 8 tenants of what the world needs to live and grow from are represented and born of the life energies in the planet itself. We are the living representations of those 8 forces, and we all share a part in maintaining the world." Salamando came close to the girl, raising his hand and reaching out to place it on her shoulder. Surprising her, his hand felt cool, or did she feel hot? She didn't know which and didn't seek to understand more at this time.
"But… what does that have to do with me?" She asked, pressing her hand on top of his. Still curious and not scared anymore, she shared his smile and blinked several times, her eyes now fully glowing with a red, vibrant flame.
"You, are a mana user. There have been some before you, and there have been others who have failed. But you… were possibly the first. I cannot answer more than that however I may know where you can go to seek it out. There is a peak known to the south of here, where the records of this world are stored. A monetary of sorts, that may house some of the answers you need. It will take some time for you to get there, but they may be able to show you the world as it was before, and confirm my suspicions. And to do that, I will lend you my power and assist in your control of your natural abilities." He responded, placing his hand upon her forehead.
Instantly, line a wave crushing into her, she felt a surging heat, fire all around her and through her veins. Her body felt as though it were on fire and she was absorbing all the heat of a star. Blushing across her entire skin, this power flowed down through her body and her hands, reaching every part of her and throwing her head back, like an overfilled water balloon she stretched and pulled outward in every direction. Her mind cleared of any other thought, and she soon settled down. She looked around, her sight returning and the flames around her body subsiding. Her clothes were gone, burned away by the sheer intensity of the energies that surrounded her and now filled her body. She pressed a hand on her stomach and felt a strange, core of energy she had never imagined.
"I will assist you in any way I can, and maybe we can both find answers to the questions we both have." Salamando said.
"Well, in that case, where should we head first?" She asked. Looking to the front entrance of the temple.
"There is a village near here, called Kakkara. They have a transportation vessel that we may be able to use to leave this desert and travel to the lands in which we seek." He said, hovering over her.
The young lady looked down at her body, fully nude at this point she needed clothes but doubted they would be able to find any in the temple. She'd have to wait until they got to Kakkara first, and even then, how would she pay… Too many questions for right now. She rubbed her hand down her stomach and thought little of covering herself at this point, as there was no one other than an all-powerful elemental to see her, she wasn't concerned with people's attention.
"So, to Kakkara?" she asked, looking to Salamando who eagerly floated near her shoulder.
"Yes, lets head out miss." He replied.
She nodded, looking out and for the first time in many years, she looked and saw with clear vision. Her eyes flared with every blink and she could see further than she ever could have. Walking back to the entrance she found that she could now see a vast landscape in front of her, stretching for what seemed like dozens of miles of deserts flanked by large stone crevasse in the landscape.
"This place is beautiful!" She stated, looking down at her hands, in crystal clear depth now. "How did you?"
Salamando cut her off, with a prideful smile. "Your body's adjustments to my powers seem to have restored what had been lost to you due to your tapping into my power in the first place. Consider it an advance on using my powers, since now you'll have to use them effectively, seeing what your targeting might be a good thing." He was very smug in his response, taking credit for this repair of her sight.
"Well thank you then Salamando." She replied, satisfied, and at the same time it was fitting.
Salamando nodded and turned. "What shall I call you, miss?" He asked, curious to her.
She looked down into a pool of oil, reaching down and pushing the flames out of the way, seeing her own eyes reflected at her and inside them a burning intensity coloring them orange. Her sunstroke red hair framing her face and cheeks flushed with the intense flames that Salamando provided her with, she smiled. For the first time in her life, that would be what she was truly called.
"My name is Elizabeth, but you can call me Fire Eyes."