The Green desert was calm and tamed. Wind was still and the sand did not get in their clothes. Almost as if intentionally.
"Don't get used to this," Kshaya addressed the group, for the third time. They had been walking across the desert for almost two days now. It won't be long before they entered the Red desert region.
And while the group had remained cautious at all times, it felt Kshaya was more at the edge than normal. The constant reminders and nudging was getting annoying, but none of them voiced it yet. Perhaps he had reasons, reasons they won't understand. So, instead the whole group was on the tether now.
He pulled his compass, opening it and checking the readings. Strangely, the needle did not point north. It wobbled around before resting and pointing straight forward in the direction they were walking.
By his side, Lume peered at the device in his hand and asked, "Does that compass really work?" He was holding a device in his hand, with an application showing the actual north.
"It is not meant to show us the path," Kshaya's answer was short, ignoring the curious look on Lume's face, wanting to know more.
The others did not pay much attention, minding their own business. Eira and Mira conversed, using devices to gather data at equal intervals as they walked, while Taren was walking with Dr. Korr. The sixth member maintained her usual silence, walking at the end of the formation. Ever since they had started, she had not spoken once. Kshaya had not tried to initiating any conversation either, since he did not know what to say.
Immortals were not meant to forget. Yet he could not recall her at all. He had realized there was something wrong with him, but it was hard to figure out at his point. He could only hope for there to be a solution at the end of this journey.
Suddenly the compass in his hand started going haywire, the needle spinning continuously.
He raised his hand to alert the team, stopping in his tracks.
"We are entering a region of alignment. The sand of red encroach Old Green's domain from henceforth, trying to conquer his domain in a never ending slow march. Remain alert at all times. The Green desert will protect us until we leave his territory completely, but his influence decreases from this point."
He turned around to explain the situation. His expression was serious.
A slight breeze picked up out of nowhere, gently brushing past them. Kshaya followed the direction to look at the sand, as words outlined themselves:
'Balance has shifted, the world observes your steps. Red is on the lookout. Remain careful'
The team stared at the message until the wind erased it. The air around them twisted, everyone felt the surroundings get heavier. Looking forward, the horizon got vaguely farther.
"Close the gaps and remain near"
No one got the chance to.
The storm came abruptly. A wall of sand and wind, surrounding them in an instant as visibility dropped and sound was cutoff. Kshaya had moved towards the sixth member almost instinctively, but the team was already separated, as he found himself alone, surrounded by only golden sand.
Taren adjusted his visor, firmly protecting his eyes from the sand as soon as the storm hit.
He turned around to find anyone else, but there was no one.
He had braved storms before, but this was different. There was no sound, no sting of the sand. Just darkness, slowly closing distance as the wall of sand and wind approached.
"Hold you positions and do not panic," he shouted, as if to reassure the team. But it was for himself, as even his voice was consumed in the storm.
He kept circling, trying to see if he could find anyone, but too scared to enter the wall. Soon vision completely darkened, as he was devoured by the sand.
Lume didn't shout. He simply stood at his spot, observing the winds pickup pace. His mind was not on the storm that had separated them.
'Not meant to show the path. In that case, what is it meant to show?'
He thought back to how the compass seemed to spin in a loop, without warning. Just before the sandstorm had stuck them.
'Perhaps, it's meant to show danger?'
He was curious. He wanted to get that compass. Talk to it. Learn about it. Study it. He should've been scared. But he wasn't, only the thoughts from before occupying his mind as he took out his device from earlier, taking notes while surrounded by the silent wind and the sand.
Kshaya stared in the direction where the sixth member had disappeared into the sands. The sands and the winds seemed to be mocking him, as shapes appeared around him, mirages made of sand.
'You started this, Kshaya' The heavy voice was the first to speak.
He ignored it, pulling his mask to cover his face. He was prepared when he left the prison, and nothing was going to stop him. Definitely not some sandstorm.
The radio at his waist seemed to cackle in delight at the chaos, as it muttered strange words in static.
'This is going to be the new normal. Each step you take will be a new danger. Is this what you wanted?' The compass asked him, its needle strangely frozen now.
Kshaya listened to them, but refused to let them affect him. He removed the chains around his body, his metal arms clanking against them.
"This isn't even your domain, Red. Wait till it's your chance." The chains glowed as he struck, swinging them at specific points.
His eyes behind the masks were also glowing, as he channeled the energy from his chains to disperse the sandstorm forcefully. The wall around him disappeared, but another replaced it soon. It was going to be a never ending layer if he continued to fight against it. He was only human. Man could not conquer nature.
"I don't have to conquer you, I just need to escape your control."
He stopped swinging, focusing his energy to observe deeper. For a moment,,, six silhouettes appeared in the wall around him. Then they vanished.
But he had obtained their locations now.
Unlike the others, he wasn't afraid to walk into the storm. Calmly he picked his pace and entered the wall of sand.
Inside the storm, deep within the walls of sand and wind, another battle was raging. Here, the colors returned, not the gold of the sands or the gray of the winds. In this domain instead, two colossal figures faced each other.
A camel outlined in a green aura, its long neck bending low. Across from it, a scorpion the size of a small dune, its tail arched high, glowing faint red.
They faced each other in silence.
"You've let him come too far," the scorpion said, its voice cracking with the wind.
The camel exhaled, a slow, heavy sound. "He was never mine to hold. The world needed stillness. I gave him that."
"And now he has made a decision, no one can change it for him. No one can stop him either."
"You haven't tried. Their journey, there is no knowing what will happen if they succeed."
The camel lowered its head, knowing full well why Red was erupting. But he did not want to interfere. Zehar had asked him not to, and even without her word, he wouldn't. Somethings shouldn't be interfered with.
Sand shifted violently between them, forming brief images of the team,,, Taren struggling against the dark, Lume writing in the storm, Kshaya walking through walls of sand.
The scorpion abruptly lunged at him, but the camel had been patient all this while, dodging the hook. Its hooves stamped violently at the figure, dissolving it into sands.
"This facade of a balance, the lie that we are all living. It needs to find a conclusion. I don't know if he is going to be the one, all I can do is watch him leave."
The camel watched the storm subside slowly, dissolving along with the winds.
The storm faded and the figures disappeared.
Kshaya was the first to appear, dragging Taren along with him out of the sands. Next it was Lume and soon the others followed, one by one.
As the winds finally subsided, they realized they were standing at the edge of the Red Desert. The sand beneath their feet darker now. The horizon in the distance burned red.
The storm had carried them here, just before the red sands.
Kshaya said nothing as he adjusted his gear. The radio was silent, his chains were ready, and the compass was pointing straight ahead towards the red.
It was waiting for them, but the journey would continue.