Sorry, everyone!
The only ideas I had for the sequel were disjointed and had no filler, only climactic stuff that would amount to less than a chapter.
So, to make it up to you I have this long Epilogue, enjoy!
Epilogue.
The sand stretched as far as the eye could see. A dark blue sky held the faintest of silver moons that bathed the area in a weak light, fighting the dark. It was failing.
Wind swirled from every direction and battered into the only travelers in sight. To the normal person there was only one being, to the skilled eye there were two. Neither of these assumptions were right. There were three beings in all in the desert that stretched in every direction.
The first was a man. He was tall and strong. His brown hair was flecked with gray. He held himself up and had a determined look on his face that mingled with pain. A sand colored cloak wrapped around his body, tattered from years of heavy use. His eyes shone from a heavily tanned face, one a brown so dark it was almost black, the other an extremely light gray. Both held the intelligent gleam of someone who knows far more than he says. And both had small streaks of blue.
"Are we almost there, Shift?" came the deep voice, talking to his companion.
A large snake like creature rose from the sand and wrapped itself around the man. It was long and large, wings sprouting from its back. It absentmindedly flicked its tongue across a lapel badge that displayed a rock or gem, its multicolored eyes with their silver pupil flicking across the land around them.
"Yes, Daniel, we are close! Soon we will have completed the journey! Can we rest when it is finished?" A hint of worry crept in with the question and led any who heard to believe that the question meant more than it seemed.
"Of course, my friend. When we have accomplished the task at hand we will be able to rest." Again hidden meaning flooded the words, but none listening would be able to tell what was meant.
The last in the group of material beings was a small figure made entirely of air. It dashed around the other two and kept watch on them, splitting small pieces of itself off that flew straight north, away from the scorching deserts of Africa and to a small yet elegant building in the heart of London.
Said building was covered in small carvings of mythological creatures and was fronted by two carvings in the front that took the forms of dragons. Once inside, this small bit of air would rush past doors and halls and end up in a room with a black haired woman who had one brown eye and one green, informing her of the pair's exploits.
Back in the desert, the duo finally came to their destination. To others it would appear the same as the rest of the desert, but a skilled eye may have picked out a shard of multi colored quartz sticking out of the ground, a trace of silver on it.
The man knelt and said a prayer before lifting the shard and sliding it into the last empty spot on a sphere of quartz that he withdrew from his pocket.
Daniel handed the completed and whole orb to Shift while he held out his arms, concentrating deeply. In his left hand formed a silvery hilt that formed into a long blade. It was solid and gleamed in the trace of moonlight. A blue gem sat at the base of the hilt.
In his right hand formed a magnificent bow. It looked carved from moonlight itself and filled the area with the light of hope. The two tips curved back perfectly and were held by a string. The string itself was blue.
On Daniel's back formed a quiver that matched the bow. It was filled with shining silver arrows that all looked the same as a unicorn's healing powers. A strap went across his chest and held the quiver in place. A blue band was formed across the middle.
Opening his mismatched eyes, Daniel gazed at the tools that were left after that night twenty years ago. Now he would put to rest his determination that had formed, then he would put to rest the demon that had clung inside him.
Raising the bow, he notched the sword,using it in a peculiar combination. The sword drew energy from Shift, reminiscent of the desert that surrounded them. The heat and wind blew around the clearing and swirled into a small, wide funneled tornado. Grit blew pat the two, but they didn't notice.
Daniel pulled back on the makeshift arrow and aimed carefully, knowing he only had one chance at this. Releasing, both watched as the sword flew true and vanished into the orb of quartz. A musical note so pure that it brought tears to Daniel's eyes rang out from the small orb.
Cradling it in his hands, he could feel a desert forming. As yet it was a desolate place, filled with trash and so small that it could be called a sandbox. He would fix that.
Pulling the string on the bow back, he notched the first of the arrows, firing it and all of the successive ones into the small orb.
The moon slowly sank and in the far east the rising sun cast an orange glow in the sky. Slowly the orb raised in the sky and lit the land below. When it was half visible an audible gasp could be heard from the clearing.
Daniel stood in the middle, cradling the rekindled life in his hands. As yet it was only a whispering presence. Shift wrapped tightly around his companion in a congratulatory hug. The sunlight poured over the ridge behind them and they were bathed in sunlight.
In the distance the wind whistled and Daniel smiled. He had completed the task that he had striven for for years. Tears poured down his face and he bit into his bottom lip so hard that it bled. Already he could feel the life in his hands waking.
Setting the orb on the sand, he watched as the particles gathered around the stone. It split in half and formed eyes with silver pupils, then formed a lithe snake like body. It grew the five feet and sprouted small wings as it reared up, letting out a whispery sounding call.
Shift flowed down and surrounded the both of them, reveling in the presence of another sand sprite after so long.
Daniel reached up and wiped the blood from his chin, gasping when he saw it was blue.
"No!" he called, the moment shattering around him. Panic flowed and the tears turned from happiness to horror. Looking up, Shift could see that instead of his companion having mismatched eyes, they were a pure deep blue.
"We must hurry and get back to the universal!" Shift called, "She will be able to stop the progress!"
"It's too late!" Panic ripped through the two as the blue spread over the whites and then started to cover the skin around them. Shivers went down Daniel's spine and he fell to the sand below him, crying out in pain.
"It can't end like this!" Shift yelled out, sand tears pouring from his gem-like eyes. "We were so close!"
"Shift!" Daniel yelled, his voice cracking and a deeper note piercing it, "You have to leave, now! We can't let Kullervo get rid of you and take me as a host!"
"I will stay!" Shift said, mirth and determination mixed in his voice. "But I have already sent the little one away."
It was true. The small, recently reformed sandling had vanished. Blue had now covered the skin on Daniel's head and his hair was turning the same color, but darker. He coughed and red blood came out.
"I'm still me." said Daniel's surprised voice. "On the deep inside at least. Shift! Fly as fast as you can! Get Connie from London and bring her, I'll hold for the two hours it will take you."
"But-"
"NOW!" Daniel boomed, his voice cutting any protest.
Shift leapt into the air and flapped his wings, the air snapping around him as he immediately accelerated to past the speed of sound.
…
Two hours later a tired Shift and Connie landed in the clearing. A form sat in front of them, covered by the sand colored cloak that Daniel had worn for years.
"Daniel!" Shift called, excited. "Did you beat him back?"
A mirthless chuckle filled the surroundings and the figure stood, tossing the cloak aside. It was humanesque, yet obviously not the Daniel that had been there before. Blue hair was pulled into a tight band at the back of it's head, giving a clear view of the pale blue skin and dark blue eyes.
"Oh, yes, I beat him back." said Kullervo. "And my dear universal! You have returned with the one piece of the puzzle that remained!" He opened a hand and out trickled a stream of quartz dust. It mingled with the sand and a breeze mixed the two together.
"No!" screamed Connie, "How could you possibly break out? Daniel imprisoned you!"
"Yes, he imprisoned me, but he did so inside of himself. I took the challenge, my little universal, and took the human form. And, now, I no longer need you." Faster then the speed of light a beam shot out and caught Shift through the eye.
"Oh-" His form collapsed around the shattered gem as Kullervo laughed.
"Now, I shall bring my powers out!" he cried. Winds swirled around the duo and the earth began to quake. Sand poured into deep fissures, replaced by bubbling lava that spewed skyward. Another blue crackle of light shot through Connie's chest and left her, dead on the sand below.
Wind swirled as Kullervo lifted himself from the ground, his lower body a swirl of blue and sand.
"No!" came Daniel's voice, struggling from the black depths Kullervo had shoved him to. "You can't win!"
"Quiet, my companion. I already have!"
Kullervo wins.