Desert Souls

Desert Souls
The Aywas' Desert, a barren place where few souls tread. And fewer souls seem to survive.

Merchants travel well throughout the land, bringing goods and capturing some desert pets to sell to humans who desire them. For a modest fee, of course. It used to be humans went out with their nets and Aynip to try and capture pets on their own, till a rumor began to float about of the lost souls that dwelled among the desert's dunes. They say it all began with a merchant traveling the dunes in the dead of night.

Sweat from his brow dripped into the sands, fading into steam as it hit the scalding grains. Even in the darkest hour of the desert, the sand retained the heat. His shabby and tattered garments clung to his damp skin. He was a young man, in his early teens with a slightly dark complexion and hair as pitch as night. His appearance rather scrawny, looking semi malnourished with eyes that sunk into his skull. Separation from the group of merchants he traveled with caused him to wander the desert alone. Without protection or aid when something would occur. For in the desert there were no 'ifs,' it was only a matter of time before something happened, especially to the inexperienced traveler.

With no clouds in the sky, the moon shone brightly down upon the sands, making each grain sparkle like a diamond. The moon was near full, so faint light was plentiful, bathing the landscape in a washed-out blue hue. The cool winds blew, only for a moment. Still, in the brief time the sands danced to the movement of the wind, as if beckoned to do so. Sounds of whispers seemed to dance as well. As if the winds were trying to speak to the young man, perhaps to warn him. Each time the winds rushed across the seas of sand, whispers were made, at times as if conversation between more than one person were being made. The young man shook his head, he had to be careful of letting the smallest things take his sanity.

Again the winds blew, only this time, it was more like a snarling howl. The young man jumped and spun about. The echo of the howl felt as if it were present everywhere, claiming the desert as it's domain. Yet, he saw nothing. Again he gave his head a good shake and pressed on. He attributed the sounds to being nothing more than his own imagination.

But as the endless dunes seemed to never end, a slight change amidst the landscape began to occur, as cliffs, broken pieces of mountains and jagged spires rose from their sandy beds. Casting odd shadows that looked like beings as the youth moved on. His eyes glancing skyward as if to beg the moon to cast a brighter glow, for to ask for the desert's sun would be to ask for death. The moon did not yield to the young man's request, instead it seemed as if the moon took no pity and unleashed more shadows. Again the winds spoke to the youth, speaking to him with a deep, beastly snarl.

Spinning around, this time the young man was met with the glow of blood red eyes. A soft gasp escaping the youth's vocals as he slowly began to back up. His eyes locked upon the blood red glow, as another snarl was given and fangs were barred. Warm steam twisting up towards the sky, coming from the creature's mouth. The young man could barely see the form of what was seemingly so upset by his presence. The figure cascaded in darkness, watching every move the young man made.

Backing up slowly the youth made soft sounds, as if trying to calm the beast. Still, the further back he went, the further the beast came forth. He could see it's beady eyes glaring at him, burning straight through his very core. The youth spoke in a few dialects unsure of what the creature may have spoken. There was no response, as if all words fell on deaf ears.

Moving into the moonlight it was easy to see the beastly creature. A large framed canine of a beast, that moved on both all fours as well as upright like himself. Fangs bared as another snarl was given, drool dripping off it's large fangs. Long, black talons shimmered, each one attached to a movable digit. As the creature stood upright it's form resembling that of a WereGaru. But, those only existed when the Haunted Forest was called upon once a year. It made no sense as to why this creature was still here. Peering closer the young man could see that it was not a pure WereGaru rather, it had something else mixed in. Something that kept it in the here and now.

Swallowing hard the young man watched as the beast lowered itself to all fours, quirking a brow as if giving the starting gun to him. For a brief moment the youth remained still, till he realised he was being given a head start to run.

Sharply turning the young man bolted across the dunes, dropping the wares he had been carrying all along. Behind him he could hear the thundering sound of the creature as it charged after him. It's heavy breathing becoming louder as it closed the distance between them. The world became a blur all around the young man, unsure of what he was running for or to to save himself. All he could do was cling onto the vain hope that some kind of barrier would suddenly cause this creature to vanish. And for a brief moment, he thought maybe he'd gotten his wish as the world became silent. No thundering charge, no panting, just pure silence. Of course the young man didn't bother to stop running but, he felt a slight relief wash over him.

Till sharp daggers drove into his backside, with the whaling snarl of the creature driving him to the ground. It seemed like an eternity as the youth fell to the sands. His world blacking out within an instant he hit the grainy flooring.

A vigorous shake to his shoulder awoke the youth from his slumber. Blinking, he rubbed the sand away from his eyes and looked up at the one who had jarred him from sleep. It was one of the merchants who he'd been trying to catch up to. Glancing around he noticed that his wares were beside him and, feeling over the core of his body with his hands so was all of himself. Frowning he looked around, perplexed at what had happened. Getting up he looked to the other merchant and began a conversation about the desert folk lore.

"Sir, are you sure he'll be back?" A voice from behind a large beastly figure spoke.

"Oh I'm very sure." Lifting up a desert jar, "we have his soul." A fanged smile spreading across the creature's face, gliding a talon down along the side of the jar. "It just won't be right away. This one was barely used, I wonder if he'll miss it at all." His voice becoming sing-song.