Template:Mauller's Sandbox

Drinking was the last thing on my mind. The merrymaking in the room sank me further into my depression. I had to do something, anything to help them. But what could I do now?

‘Hey handsome, want some company?’ The voice of a young woman cut through the rowdy atmosphere. It tugged at my mind and brought my attention to her. The tanned beauty smiled from within her hood as she pushed a drink towards me. ‘I might be able to help you with your little problem.’

I did not know why, I did not care how, but the weight from my shoulders felt lifted. She smiled and presented the palm of her hand to me. ‘Now, this is what you need to do.’  ***** Thinking back to that night I could only curse my decision. The thumb sized gemstone still pointed to the inhospitable wasteland ahead. A dessert was not a nice place to die. After a week of travel we lost our first companion to quicksand. The night after a scorpion like monster ambushed us. She managed to sting another of our group and drag him under the sand with her.

Out of ten people I was the only one left. So I continued trudging over the dunes. All that remained was my pack, the rations within would not last. ‘Why did I agree to do this?’ I chuckled and checked the stone again. ‘What? What do you mean ahead and down?’

The blue gemstone had been our guide for the entire journey. Until this point it had glowed along its edges. But now, part of its base was glowing. ‘So it’s buried?’

I collapsed onto my knees and began to sob and laugh. ‘After all of this and I can’t even get to it.’ I sighed then fell back onto the sand. ‘Ah! What?!’ I rolled to the side and rubbed my head. Feeling the spot where I landed revealed the edge of something.

Before I realised, I was laughing while digging into the sand. ‘Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes!’ The gem began pulsing when I passed it over the revealed stone. ‘I guess I made it in the end.’ I sighed and sat back. Thinking over the journey only made me realise it was a lost cause. ‘But maybe this power will help me, what do you think?’

The gem continued to pulse in my palm and I chuckled. ‘Look at me, talking to a stone.’ After a few moments the gem flashed then stopped glowing. ‘Huh? What now? Have I finally lost it...?’ The ground beneath me dropped by a hands width. I froze and looked around. Sand started rolling down the slopes and gathering around me. ‘I need to get out of… Here!’

My world plunged into darkness and was filled with the sound of flowing sand.