The Guardian's Story

Glixenheimer was rushing ahead of his two travelling companions. A metallic detectoratron was in his hands, and he was excitably calling behind him. "I am detectorificiating a massive quantifiticiousness of metallic matter somewhere below this wasteland," he calls out.

They had found themselves in a barren desert, which suited Glixenheimer just fine. He had been all prepared to hunt out the feather that Maree thought might be in the area, when suddenly one of his gadgets had begun to go haywire. After bracing for an explosion that never came, he decided to investigate.

He was fast, surprisingly so for such a little man. That said, it would be easy enough to track him. "I can practicalously smell it! There's something of incredible valufication out here! Ooh! I might even be able to create a Zeppelegible out of it! Imagine!"

Lady Samsara walked behind Glixenheimer with an amused smile on her face. It was hot in the wastelands and Lady Samsara was drenched in sweat. She pulled her hat down further over her head to shield her face from the sun. A burn was spreading across the exposed skin of her midriff, arms, neck, and face. Such a Lady was not well suited for the desertlands.

"Goodness it is hot out here in the middle of nowhere," Lady Samsara said. She bravely took off her hat and began to fan herself with it. The bun she had been wearing was a mess.

"That mass of metal would not happen to be a lovely diner where a Lady could get a nice cold glass of water, now would it," Lady Samsara called out to Glixenheimer. She could only hope.

"Hopefully soon we will get out of this sun," the woman said to her companion. She hoped that he was faring well in the heat better than she.

A huge, nearly 8 foot white beast followed Glixenheimer, panting heavily, stepping as quickly as he could to try to keep up with the remarkably quick man. As hot as the others were, the beast's shaggy fur only made matters worse. His ears drooped and there were some parts of him that had been covered with clothes were now drenched.

Half lidded eyes glanced at Lady Samsara as she spoke to him, his long tongue hanging out the side of his mouth as he panted. "As do.. I.." He breathed. If only he had his shield and sword.. He wouldn't be so useless. It was his source, his magic, and he needed it badly. He tripped slightly, stumbling to catch himself knocking him out of that train of thought. "Can Master Glixenheimer not slow down..? A metal mass.. Is nice and all.. But it is also probably going to be hotter there.. Than it is out in the open.."

It was obvious the guardian was not dealing well with this heat.

Slowing himself to a halt, Glixenheimer looks behind him to the two trailing, larger forms. He was sweating a bit from his run, but the heat didn't seem to be doing much to him, despite all the armor and gadgets on his person. Or, perhaps because of the gadgets. "Oh! I am most dreadfullatiatedly sorry," he cries out, setting the rattling and hooting detectorificating device back on his belt. Pulling out a silver rod- not unlike that which Jarlas used- he taps a couple of buttons. A large machine and a pair of what looked like fortress walls pop up where he aims, providing a brief shade.

Tapping away at the machine quickly, he responds to Tugark's concerns. "Quite contraritadly! If it is buried deeply in the sand, it should be quite a bit cooler than the surface! You see, the sunlight penetrafacination is the primary cause of heat! Beneath a certain layer, it's practically a freezer by comparison!"

The machine he had been fiddling with was by this point chugging and rattling and, frankly, looking like it might explode at any moment. Fortunately he had placed it away from the shade of the walls. After a few moments, he takes a trio of stone cups from his person and places them into the device.

Then, he walks over to the two, who by this time were hopefully shading themselves. "Here," he says, popping a device off of his belt; almost immediately, his hair puffs out, the heat making it go wild. Sweat pours from his brow following soon after.

He hands the device to Tugark, who seemed to be in more need. Gnomes had little concept of gender-related chivalry. "Just tap this here," he says, pointing at a large green button on the shapeless device. "And you should be quite safe from the heat!" Then he looks at Samsara. "Whew," he says. "It is hot!"

With a massive clang, the machine stops rattling, and the door opens. A brief frigid breeze is swallowed by the heat of the desert, leaving the three cups to gather condensation inside. Glixenheimer quickly goes to grab one of them.

"Oh, you truly are a magnificent traveling companion, Glixenheimer of the Many Titles," Lady Samsara said as she stood beneath the shade. The woman was melting and true ladies did not melt. In the heat, however, that could not be helped. Though Lady Samsara could not stop wanting to take an ice bath. She would take the cold of the mountains over this heat any day.

Lady Samsara only took that small moment to herself before she was tending to Tugark. She took out an already soaked cloth from under her sleeve and started to dab the beast with it. Though it wasn't going to help much with his condition it was the thought that counted. Only Glixenheimer seemed able enough to aid her large companion.

And then something odd happened. Perhaps it was too much sun. Lady Samsara wrote it off as a hallucination, but she could have sworn that Tugark was suddenly standing in the jungle. And not only was he standing in a jungle but he was wearing very ornate armor. She was there too, Lady Samsara realized. A massive blade was hanging from her hand.

But when Lady Samsara blinked it was all over.

"This heat is unbearable. We need to find real shelter soon. Glixenheimer, good chap, where is this pocket of metal you have detected with your strange little devices?"

Tugark quite literally collapsed in the shade the walls created, heaving and panting heavily very much like a canine creature would do. After a moment or two, the beast pushed himself up just enough to lean heavily against the wall, his legs sprawled out in front of him. His blue hues seemed to glow slightly. "M-master Glixenheimer.. Y-you truly are.. A saint..." He breathed in his ancient tongue.

It took a moment for him to notice Lady Samsara tending to him. It felt.. Familiar in a way. Like someone he use to know. Someone whom he believed was long gone from the existence of this world. His heart ached at the thought and he gently turned his head away from her.

He did as he was told by Glixenheimer, pressing the button for almost immediately relief of being shielded from the heat. He nearly sagged, but then thought of Lady Samsara. After a minute or two of cooling down, he handed the device to her. "We shall share this between the three of us, if Master Glixenheimer doesn't mind.. Each of us has it for a few minutes to help us get through the heat.. M'lady, it is your turn."

Retrieving the three mugs, since the other two seemed less inclined to come get them, Glixenheimer walks back over to them. The machine starts clanking and carrying on again as it works.

"I think I'll be alright," he says, as he hands each of them a stone mug. The water was warming less rapidly in the shade, but it wouldn't stay cool for long; but cool it was, as if it had come from a springtime creek. "There is less of me to heat up, after all!" He laughs at his joke before draining his mug in one go.

"As for the metal," he declares, slapping the still complaining device. "It's everywhere!" He waves his arms around to demonstrate. "I'm looking for a way to find it! I have a diggimetrochinotron, but it is made for dirt and stone, not sand! I fear it would damage the workings extensively."

"Oh no, I couldn't possibly take it from you. I am not the one covered in fur, Tugark," Lady Samsara said. She gently pushed his hand back toward him. "I will be quite alright. I am a resilient lady as all ladies should be," she said with a smile. Though, she didn't look too resilient. Her hair and clothes looked drenched. Her leather pants were darker from the sweat and were chaffing her legs for once.

Lady Samsara took the water from Glixenheimer with a prompt 'Thank you!'. She drank deeply but not so deeply that it made her sick. A Lady knew how to drink from a glass after all! At least a proper one did and she was a very proper lady.

Lady Samsara swept her wet hair back from her face and unbeknownst to her, she had revealed one of her secrets. The woman's ears were pointed. It was a slight point but it was prevalent enough to show that she was either elven or half-elven. The nature of her breed was perhaps why the woman was so adept at sharp shooting.

"Well, alright then," Lady Samsara said. "Which direction do you think we should travel next, Glixenheimer?"

Tugark looked as if he were to argue with Lady Samsara, but wisely kept his mouth shut about the matter. Once a woman decided something, you'd nearly have to tie them down to make them do otherwise. That, at least, had not changed over the centuries he had remained asleep.

Tugark took the stone mug gratefully and poured its contents into his huge mouth. The cool(er) liquid was like heaven to the beast and his eyes rolled back slightly. Slowly, he stood on wobbly legs as his strength slowly returned to him. "If I had my sword and shield, it wouldn't be a problem.. The sand, that is.." The beast sighed, his ears drooping further than they were from the heat. "I feel quite useless." He said, kicking a bit of the sand with his huge paw-like foot. Huge black claws scratched at the ground as he placed it back down.

A shock came to Tugark as Lady Samsara revealed her tipped ears. His eyes narrowed and his chest tightened. Unconsciously, he placed his hand over his chest and moved from the wall. "I am better now.. I am able to move on when you two are ready as well. With this.." He pointed at the device that Glixenheimer had given him, ".. I can even carry the both of you if need be."

"I may take you up on that offer," Glixenheimer says, after Samsara translates the large beast's words. "But for now, I need to pay close attention to the minutificate changes of my device. Come! This way!" He cries out, running a few paces away from the walls before the sunlight hits him. He quickly jumps back, his pale skin almost immediately turning beet red. "Ah! Well! That is much hotter than I had anticipated!"

Looking up at Tugark, he smiles sheepishly. "May I," he asks. If allowed, he would climb up the creature to sit on one of his shoulders. Then, taking out his metal rod (which he had almost forgotten about), he returns all of the structures to the device.

"Alright," he says, making himself as comfortable as he could, while still being respectful to the creature's personal space. Then he points south. "That way! There is a small gap in the metal concentration, which may be a sand hole!"

"I've heard rumors about this wasteland, or desert, or whatever it may be," Lady Samsara said as they walked along under the unbearable sun.

"Supposedly there is a clan of assassins with the most interesting abilities that I have ever heard of in my time," she said to both Glixenheimer and Tugark. "The rumor says that they are people made entirely of sand, don't bleed, and are very skilled assassins. I do not know if this rumor is true or not. It may very well be. In fact, we could possibly be treading on those people right now!"

Lady Samsara laughed. It was very unlikely that any of that was true. She just thought she would share the story to pass some time.

"The legends, myths, and secrets of Terra are quite fascinating. Perhaps one of us should write a book one day."

Tugark nodded his head once, gracefully before bending down on one knee to allow the dwarf to climb up onto his shoulder. Once he was there, he gently pressed one hand to the man's foot to help keep him balanced there. There was plenty of fur that Glixenheimer could hold on to here, as his head was covered by a mane-like mass of it.

He walked forward into the direction Glixenheimer had pointed.

Tugark listened to her tale in silence until she was finished. "In my time, before the world had changed.. Those tales existed about the assassins as well, although they could shape shift into almost anything, not only sand." He said. "I was fortunate not to meet many of them, but of the few I had, they were deadly rivals." His face grew grave at the memories. "I don't remember this desert, though." He commented. "This area use to be full of life, if I can remember correctly." He released a sigh.

"So much has changed.." His voice seemed to carry a mournful tone, and even his ancient eyes seemed to carry every day of his age for a brief moment.

Glixenheimer wasn't paying much attention to the idle conversation. Fascinating as it was, he was growing more and more interested in the spec on his detection device. It seemed to be just over a dune that they were walking over.

"Sand people," he asks suddenly, looking around. "How do they work? Magnetisaliics?" Before he can get any further along that line of topic, they were at the top of the hill, and, despite the immense heat, he could not restrain himself.

Jumping down from Tugark, Glixenheimer blitzes forward towards a hole in the sand, which seemed to have some manner of metal object around it; it stood out like a sore thumb, though it was not much larger than a Gyrothopter landing pad. "Look, look," the Gnome exclaims as he runs towards it, sweat streaming behind him.

Lady Samsara let her imagination run wild for a moment after Tugark mentioned that the land they were in was not always a desert. She envisioned them in a sprawling jungle with colorful life. A temple raised from stone capped with gold. A water fall. The songs of exotic birds filled her ears.

The woman blinked and the illusion was all over. They were back in the desert. The hallucinations were getting more and more vivid it seemed. She was going to need rest from the desert and soon!

As Lady Samsara looked to her right as they passed over the dune, she could have sworn she saw rumble mixed in with the sand. That, too, was probably just a hallucination.

"I am not sure how the sand people work. I'm not even sure if they were alive, but Tugark seems to say they were. Very fascinating, I say," Lady Samsara commented. When Glixenheimer dashed forward, the Lady gathered her remaining strength and trudged after him.

Tugark looked to Lady Samsara. "Are you feeling alright, m'lady? You look like you are falling ill.." He said, although he worried he would insult her with the last bit. No lady likes to be told they don't look their best. He gently re-positioned his wings on his back and looked like he would hold her if the need rose.

But then Glixenheimer dashed off towards something he saw. Tugark trotted after him, keeping just behind Lady Samsara. Just in case.

What the little Gnome had reached appeared, as his first diagnosis had been, to be a landing pad. "It's a Landeration pad," he shouts back at them. "I Told you I could make a Zeppelifalier here!" He runs around on it for a moment before checking his detector. "But... this seems to be hollow," he then says, stooping to the ground and knocking on the solid metal. It was apparently thick enough that he couldn't make it resound beyond a dull 'thrump.'

Looking behind him at the others, he gesticulates wildly. "Come, come, quickly! I want to find out what this is!" He seemed to have forgotten he had declared it a landing pad, with it being hollow and all. "Help me find a notificiate!" He starts prowling around on it, looking for any discernible markings, notations, or 'how to' guides.

"I ... am fine, Tugark," Lady Samsara managed. The heat really was getting to the lady. She wasn't dainty by all means. Not at all! It was just that unbearably hot! Why of all the groups that had been gathered did they have to be the ones sent to a desert wasteland? It was ungodly to sent a woman such as herself to a place like this!

Lady Samsara's boots thudded on the metal landing. She all but collapsed onto her derriere. The metal was hot but so was everything else. She fanned herself with her hat. It was a small reprieve from the searing heat. Her skin was turning a vicious shade of red too.

"I am ... suddenly feeling ... very tired. We might ... want to rest for a moment, yes?" Lady Samsara suggested.

Tugark watched Lady Samsara worriedly. "M'lady.. I can carry you if you are too tired.." He said, his voice a low whine. He stepped onto the platform carefully, as if afraid his weight would make the thing collapse. His sharp claws clicked against the metal and only when he was sure it would not immediately collapse underneath him did he relax.

"Master Glixenheimer, if we cannot find shelter soon, we may need to make some for Lady Samsara.. She is not fairing well in this heat. I know you are excited about this metal platform, but I shall take care of m'lady by any means necessary.." He commented, pulling nervously at his snout. He did not want to upset either one of them. "We could always build shelter and come back within the night when it has cooled off from the day's heat.."

Glixenheimer looks over at the two of them. He could create a structure for them to stay in, but they had been using the device quite a lot. It could be over-heated. Quite complex! He would have reminded them of this had he not just found what looked to be a very obvious button. No, not just any button; a very obvious one. One that was shaped like an arrow. It was right next to another one, but that one went in the opposite direction.

Gnomes are renowned for their sometimes reckless curiosity. They are oft to be found dead by their own experiments, simply because they want to test something they don't know won't kill them yet.

Glixenheimer was a lucky Gnome, in that his experiments hadn't actually managed to off him yet, nor had any of Al'Kaera's enemies. It placed in him an inflated sense of invulnerability, not helped by some of his gadgets that protected him from harm.

So it was that he rushes over and presses the down-arrow-shaped button, then clenches his fists and looks around wildly, waiting for something to happen.

Lady Samsara blacked out. She fell onto the metal platform. The heat had finally gotten to her just after Glixenheimer had pressed the button.

The elevator groaned like a metallic throat trying to clear itself of rust. There were several clicking noises before it shuttered. A whine kicked up and then... silence.

And then the elevator fell. It traveled downward with or without its passengers. The elevator had not be used in centuries since the citizens of City 18 stopped coming to the surface. It was in disrepair and for obvious reasons!

It continued to fall straight down for hundreds of stories.