Prismatic

Oasis

We were met by a scorching ball of fire. The area was full of fine layer of orange powdery material. A hot searing breeze flew by squeezing buckets of moisture from us. Not one animal or soul could be seen aside from our group. Strangely enough, when we came through the portal, it was in an ordered fashion. When we gained sight of the place, there were only us.

“Welcome champions!” A familiar cheerful but commanding voice greeted us. “Congratulations on passing the first floor. Your cunning and prowess has proven you worthy of coming this far.”

I looked around, just making sure. Maybe the others were just hiding well under all this sand. I gave up and relieved my sweating skin from excess moisture instead.

“This place is called Aerumna”, he continued, “The requirement for qualifying to the next floor is finding an oasis. But be warned, the desert will dry you to the bone if you don’t find one in time. A hint is laid out on the monolith before you. The only time limit is your body.”

And after that, a monolith appeared from underneath the sands. It read:

The pond of drought

That mirrored me

Breath out of naught

That let me see

As we read this, we tried to decipher what it meant. Trust me, I tried. “So what does it say?” Aina asked in confusion.

“Ugh, my head is hurting. I feel thirsty”, complained Tyke.

“I don’t have the slightest idea. What do you think, Bry?”I looked at him for answers.

“Well, basically, it means that the oasis is signified by a blow of the wind”, he said while thinking it through.

“Meaning…?” Tyke asked fanning himself with his shield.

“Meaning, we have to find, or feel rather, some kind of wind coming from the sands.” Bry answered as if it was obvious.

“How are we supposed to do that? I’d rather s***h through the sands than wait for the wind to carry me to safety”, Tyke exaggerated.

“I think I have a better idea”, I offered.

“Ooh, ooh. What is it Jo?” asked Aina like I was going to do some miracle.

“You’ll see”, I closed my eyes and focused. I grabbed a handful of powder beneath my feet. I muttered the words, Sitiros Aurum. The cluster formed into a pointed shape. Before we left, I saw from my peripheral vision a strong gust of wind blow on the monolith, the rest said:

It must be fought

I must agree

For what you sought

Was never free

I shrugged it off and let the shape direct us to one of the mounds after walking for some miles. We were so thirsty and there was nothing drinkable from Bry’s selection of potions, surprisingly. He said that it will kill us if we drank any of it straight with thirst.

The guide pointed to the big mound in front of us. Within the proximity, another group was aiming for the same spot as our group. They were sweating balls of moisture, or thought it was. The group composed of brush-tailed creatures with a mix of marble and scales for a skin. Their iris had a bloody red rim around the edges. They gave a lizard’s snarl at us telling us to back off. They held their lips back showing razor-sharp canines when we refused their command. They pointed their weapon at us prompting us to fight. We prepared ourselves for battle.

The tallest of them was carrying some kind of leech scythe. It approached Bry with uncanny stealth. Bry dodged the attempted assault. He countered by paralyzing him and let the sand eat the creature with Aina’s assistance. Next to the shortest of them rushed for Aina. It had a finger-length clawed knuckle. It swung with a spinning blur at Aina. She intercepted the attack by forming solidified sand to her fists. She dealt a heavy blow to the chest, leaving some cracks on its surface. It flew to the horizon. The shortest of them aimed for my knees but I safely dodged it. It held a scissor-like twin sword. It tried to pierce my foot, but instead, it unearthed his teammate from the sand burial. The emerged teammate then slashed Aina’s left ankle sapping her energy. Aina sent its head flying towards the sun. Tyke threw his sword at the shortest enemy and I guided it with the help of sand. The weapon flew through its chest and through the side of the last one.

With all the enemies defeated, we searched the sands for any signs of the oasis. We all dug to the pointed area and felt a sudden breeze from underneath. Bry casted a spell, “Detego Locum”, and the mound of sand gave way to the oasis.

All of us looked at Bry with disbelief and irritation. “You could have done that a while ago, man”, Tyke complained.

“Oh stop being a baby!” Bry retorted.

“Wanna square with me, man?”

“I wanna see you try”

Out of annoyance, Aina called forth the sands and buried the boys, neck deep. “Talk it out yourselves, I’m gonna take a dip.”, Aina said sourly.

“Don’t be like this Aina, we’re gonna die!” Bry exclaimed in horror.

“Yeah Aina, have mercy on us. Can’t you see us begging?” Tyke pleaded.

“Oh stop the drama. Unless you stop arguing like old women, I would care less what happens to you here”, Aina eyed them coldly.

“Okay, okay. We give up. Sorry, man. There I apologized.” Tyke replied frantically.

“Yeah… I apologize, too. We promise not to do it again, promise!” Bry cried out almost to tears.

“Okay, I forgive you”, Aina lifted them up from their graves. “Remember your promise. I never forget promises”, Aina eyed them with suspicion.

“Thank you, Aina!” Tyke praised.

“Oh goddess Aina, we are at your mercy”, Bry added.

“Shush. I’m thirsty. Let’s refresh ourselves already”, Aina ordered.

“Yes goddess.” Tyke praised her.

“Our merciful goddess”, Bry added.

I was just standing there speechless. I never knew that she could be this scary. I shuddered at the thought. I wouldn’t want to cross her, I thought to myself.

We went to the clear blue oasis. It was wide with no signs of animal life. The coconut tree served as a flag for the oasis. When we approached the oasis, three monsters jumped from the sands assuming defensive positions.

“Oh, come on! The hell with these creatures”, Tyke bellowed a sigh diaphragm deep.

“We have no choice but to get through them, I guess”, I, too, shared the same sigh.

The bug-like creature had a sharp antenna on the forehead. It was double our size and was flying with wings of velocity. The book inside my mind called it Ibis Terre. It attacked Aina with its pointed tip and slashed her chest. Aina squealed in pain. She used the leaves of the palm tree as razor blades and cut through the bug. The slime splashed on her cut. The next creature was a steel-like animal. It had poisoned tails for arms and was standing on its hind legs. Its head was hidden beneath the shell. The book called it, Eitri Morsus. It went for Bry. It stung him with both arms slicing him. Bry went on silent mode. He looked for an opening while another set of attacks attempted to increase the poison. He saw an opening, dodge the deadly arms and struck the shell very hard with extensive force using his wand. He took out his wand and the creature voiced out nothing, spouting the rich golden slime and caught on his wand. The last creature went for me. It was a furry creature with defined muscles. It had spikes on his chest and had antlers for a head. The book called it Keres Cuspis. It bared its claws on me and struck my foot in the process. I drew a triple triangle and shouted, “Sonum Rocate!” The words imprinted on its chest and it blasted with ranges of light. The slime landed on my head. The bug creature was resurrected after the blast and aimed at Tyke using its horn. He grabbed the point, broke it and slit off its head. The slime and the pointed material fused with his sword.

Finally! We can get to the oasis. We looked around for any interruptions before proceeding to the inviting clear water. We replenished ourselves and washed off the slime. Aina’s wound started healing until it closed. I felt a rush of energy flow through my mind. Bry’s wand became solid titanium. Tyke’s sword became light and fluid, it looked like an infinite dance of light.

We heard a voice from above. “Congratulations, champions!” said a cheery tone, “You are eligible to phase through the next floor.”

“The slime of bugs that you have defeated has ethereal essence in them”, he explained, “You are eligible to have the properties they have when you defeated them. Don’t worry, it is not harmful, it gives you a random trait that you could carry throughout your progress.”

“Well, that is it. You are entitled to rest. You will be informed when the door is ready.” The voice disappeared, the heat eased up and we were all refreshed.

Bry handed all of us a potion. I had a blue one, Aina had a yellow one, and Tyke had a violet one. Bry took a green one for himself. “What’s with all the potions?” I asked confused.

“Now that you have relieved your thirst, the potions will help you boost a part of your attributes”, Bry replied in a serious tone.

“Thanks man, but what do these things give us, actually?” Tyke asked while examining the vial.

“The violet one gives a slight boost in strength, the blue one is for defense, the yellow one is for agility and this green one removes status effects such as poison”, Bry pointed out each vial we held.

“I hope you are not drugging us out, man”, Tyke eyed Bry.

“If you don’t want it, you can give it back”, Bry’s expression was sour.

“Hey, enough. He’s just being nice”, I stood between them, “Let’s just focus on what lies ahead. Agreed?”

The bickering ceased and we all faced different directions. That was awkward. Why is she so feisty today? Is the heat getting to her or is she just upset about all of these? I hope I knew a way to soothe her head. When I thought of that, Tyke scooted next to her. “Don’t be mad, babe. Jo is right. There are more fish to fry up there”, he gave Aina a peck on the lips. She blushed hotter than the desert.

“Stop that Tyke, you’ll gonna give her a heat stroke”, I chided playfully at Tyke.

“What ‘babe’? Get off me, you jerk”, she pushed Tyke to the water and he got soaked only to dry up instantly when he went to shore. “Hey, I was just being nice.” He joked with a spike of emphasis.

Everyone laughed, I heard myself snort which made the laughter even worse. “Thank you, Ty. I mean it”, she smiled at him. It looked like it struck him… hard. He smiled and rejoined us.

“Thank you for waiting, champions, the door is ready”, a cheery voice announced, “Please proceed to the mound before you. Good luck and I hope you survive.”

A mound rose before us and a yellow door glinting lemon light on the edges appeared before us. There was no one behind us this time. Maybe, the other groups went on ahead as well.

“Hey Jo, what are you waiting for?” Tyke motioned me to follow.

I detached from my thoughts, “Yeah, coming!” I rushed through the door that was flashing different shades of yellow, signaling me to hurry up.

I went through the door and it shut behind me with a wheezing cough. They need to grease these things, a little maintenance wouldn’t hurt. The door disappeared into the light.