| Fan Fiction |
by Aelk
There they are now, crossing the borders and the last of the barricades which separated the sands from the town. After passing the last checkpoint, both have stepped foot on the Tartan territories.
”Treacherous and deadly.”
She finally knew why the townspeople feared this place.
“Yeah.”
In front of them was an entirely different world. Above the scorching terrain, hazy winds blew, carrying with them little grains of prickly sand. Whenever they communicate, some sand would get into their mouths, causing them to cough violently. The desert’s floorings had a wavy pattern, but as the hot airstreams sweep across, they would then be chiseled smooth. Watching this phenomenon, Lilith wondered whether their fate will be the same as the sand.
“I guess if we follow the directions and head northeast, there shouldn’t be a problem.”
Azure said calmly while staring at the compass on his hands. But as they proceeded northeast, vegetations ebbed away, and soon there were only small, brown shrubs remaining. It did not take them too long for the heat and weariness to take a toll on them.
”Azure… I’m seeing things… “
“…?”
“I think I’m seeing a person, and she’s waving at us. How can it be…? The innkeeper said we will need to travel a day on foot…”
Lilith was now leaning onto Azure’s side and dragging her feet along unwillingly. Looking towards where she pointed, he too saw the slim figure. Her velvet top sure is revealing, he thought feebly, almost on par with Red’s vest. For bottom, all the woman wore was an almost-translucent mauve dress. Her jet hair was complicatedly tied up, and tiny golden leaves ornate them. As she waved at them, her bejeweled bangles on her wrists reflected the sunlight and glimmered. There was even a striking pair of bells hanging down from her little finger’s ring. While she looked human enough somehow, Azure could not find where the person’s feet are. Is she… floating?
”I guess we’re both seeing things…”
The woman danced suddenly, moving her flexible figure gracefully like a charmed snake. Although the image of her was rather blurry, her delicate bells rang and sent a hypnotic melody to its audiences’ ears. Gradually, Azure seemed to be deeply mesmerized by her movements and his knees gave way.
”Azure!”
Lilith saw a dazed look on his face but she could not do anything.
“What are you?!”
Taking her handy pair of blades of from her sides, Lilith got into her stances and wanted to attack the dancer. The latter was alarmed, and then stopped her actions. Instead of a smiling face, her expressions turned horrible. Her pale skin melted away and revealed the skeleton within. Soon, what was on her head was no longer a charming woman’s looks, but a skull with fangs instead of teeth.
”Oh… my god!!”
Lilith knew they had met a monster and tried to pull the bewildered Azure away, but there was no more strength in her to run. The bells rang again, and sharp pain soon pierced her head like needles.
“You have no talent in music, hag!”
With the last ounce of energy she garnered, she took out her flute and began to counter the bells’ melody with her own.
”L-lilith?!”
The clash soon woke Azure up at last. He got back to his feet and dashed towards the monster with a small amount of Mu materialized in his palm. While the skeleton was distracted, he caught her unaware and managed to send his energy crushing into her rib cage. The killer melodies stopped, and she gave a last moaning before her bones fade into a pile of grey powder. However, her jewelries and clothing remained.
Exhausted, Azure and Lilith collapsed onto the hot sand.
”Thank you, Lilith…”
”Wha—it’s nothing…”
Both said in exhaustion.
“Thank you two, you really saved me a lot of trouble.”
”?!”
A third voice spoke from behind them. A stout young man arrived suddenly in front of them and helped them up. His copper skin revealed by the sleeveless and unbuttoned vest he wore shone in the sun as if they were lubricated in oil. A sickle blade hung on side of his waist. The strangest thing about him was that, he wore no shoes. The soles of his feet was padded by a natural layer of scab, and appeared to be completely flat. Other than that, a very disturbing black tattoo was encircling his entire torso.
“Who are you?”
Azure questioned, but later regretted doing so.
“What? You don’t know me? I’m Balthaladhulazzhiz, the greatest desert bandit and a treasure hunter~!!!” The person exclaimed with an outburst.
“Bal… adul… sis? Your name sounded like a tongue twister!”
Lilith would rather die than to remember such a name.
”You can call me by my pet name, Ladhul.”
“Okay Ladhul, “Azure continued from where Lilith left off, “I’ve never heard of bandits who rob alone. Anyway, can you explain to us what that monster was?”
“Oh well, then you can call me an aspiring bandit-to-be! It’s better to come with me if you don’t want to be attacked by other creatures, you will be ripped apart before you even reach the city. My house is just on the outskirts of the Tartan kingdom. I don’t mind if you’re humans or not, really. “
And so both of them followed Ladhul’s lead and walked on. Azure has lost his compass during the fight, but that does not seem to be a problem for Ladhul, whom mentioned that Tartans needed no compasses in the deserts. So this person is a Tartan, Lilith thought suspiciously. Well he sure looked Humane enough other than his scorch-preventing padded feet and tattoos, which Ladhul mentioned was a common in-born trait.
When they finally reached a landmark resembling a tall pile of rubble all stacked together rather forcefully, Ladhul announced that they have arrived.
”What?! This slum is your house?” Lilith exclaimed, Azure could not help but agreed with her.
“Hey… I’ve spent weeks to build this baby you know~!”
The trio entered the slum and noticed a very different appearance instead. Although there was not much furniture, carpets were laid down to replace the chairs, and there was a small but wide table in the middle for meals and other things. Short cabinets lined the circumference of the second storey, surrounding a thicker lawn of carpets plus a cylindrical cushion which they presume was for sleeping.
“I’ve been looking for these gems left behind by Desert Dancers for ages! Tough luck finding one you know~”
“Desert Dancers?”
”The ghostly woman you saw dancing eerily and seducing you, Azure.”
“I… I see...” Azure looked away to hide his embarrassment.
“The Desert is a place full of wonders and adventures for people to seek~ Desert Dancers were actually the spirits of princesses and noblewomen who died while on their way to marry their fiancés at a certain territory. Usually it was a political marriage of course. Well, accidents happen, and when they die, their souls lingered around to fulfill their dying wish --- “
---- To find a male partner for themselves.
The listeners gulped hard. So that means Azure is in for a lot of troubles as long as they are still in the Desert, Lilith considered.
“Ah… anyway, thanks for leading us to the Tartan kingdom, “Azure tried to divert the topic away, “so your race was ruled by a King instead of an Elder… we will be going to meet him from here onwards…”
“Well it is true that the Tartan lands are ruled by a monarchy system unlike the other races. But then again, meeting our king for humans like you is suicidal! You don’t know how much our king hated the humans. Ceasing all trades with the Empire is the best proof of his hatred~”
“What about you? Aren’t you a Tartan too?”
“I’m a special one, I told you so~! In the eyes of the greatest bandit, meritocracy is everything. When I have my own subordinates, I shall reward them base on the amount of loyalty they show ~! “
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A/N
Ahhh sorry for not updating for so long T_T!
my internet went crazy, then followed by the
death of my computer XD.
Almost lost my entire file for this story
(phew! fortunately i did a back-up file)
so here's chp 19 =D and i shall hereby announce
my "On hiatus" status till 28th Feb =)~
til then, cya !