Chapter Nine

It was then as we began staggering through the sand that I really began to notice my surroundings. We were not far from the first bridge, maybe a couple hundred yards away. It seemed less menacing now, but it still sent an shiver down my spine when I thought of what had occurred there not a day ago. We were walking in the direction of the miniature desert. The desert was beginning to darken, with only so much light left to see. The sun was casting shadows on the ground beside the rocks, cacti, and tumble weeds. The pieces of red rock that were scattered all around the deserts inhabitants did not seem red any longer. Light was not hitting them directly, therefore they seemed more of a grey than the smoky red they had been hours ago.
    I focused my eyes further away to the mysterious seaside. The sun glistened off the water in one straight line and got thinner as it drifted closer to the shoreline. It cast dancing shadows on the brown sand. The clear blue sky was now turning a brilliant shade of orange. The whole sky was being illuminated by the sun which had begun to sink into the horizon. This startled me, we only had so much light left. Soon there wouldn't be any at all..I stopped walking and watched as Alec trudged past me without noticing for a brief moment.
    "Alec? How are we going to see once the sun sets?"
    He halted where he was, a few paces ahead of me, and turned to look at me with a thoughtful expression on his face. "We'll find something. Even if it means heading back to the lava. Lava glows, right?" He grinned.
    All color left my face. He expected us to go back? And to what point? We would be going back to the place that had almost taken our lives! "Alec..we can't go back. We barely escaped death last time; and that was when we didn't have battle scars. What about about the next time? Will we escape with our lives? I know I sound like a complete coward and you told me to trust you..but..but.." I wouldn't finish.
    "You're right. You do sound like a complete coward." He snickered and walked toward me, throwing his arm around my shoulders. He was very careful and did not put any pressure on them.
    "Ugh. You're no help at all. Be serious for a moment and realize the situation we're in, will ya?" I shrugged away from his grip and slowly began walking again. Our climb towards the desert was already beginning to take its toll on my slashed leg.
    He sighed deeply. "Abby, please. Just listen to me, OK?"I stopped walking to listen to what he had to say, but I did not face him. As irritated as I was, I was eager to hear his plan. "I know that this is completely..terrifying..and utterly- well, bizarre would be the only way to put it, but you've got to trust me. I have a feeling about this..it seems very familiar and strangely..unharmful. Can you understand that? Can you trust me?"
    I closed my eyes for a moment and sighed. Did he just say UNHARMFUL? "No and yes." I answered finally, taking in a deep breath. I then turned around to confront him, my eyes slowly opening. "But..I still don't understand." I looked at him intently, hoping he would give me the answer I wanted to hear.
    "Neither do I..but I'm sure things will be clearer soon..I can feel it. You've just got to trust me." He said, his eyes looked very understanding. I nodded without thinking. "Now that we have that all settled," he began to say, wiping some invisible dust off his hands,"lets set sail for our next adventure. That..desert thing!" He raised his hand in the air and pointed his finger towards the sky.
    I raised an eyebrow. "Right. Lets go..toward the 'desert thing'!" I felt exceedingly calmer, but I wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because Alec seemed so sure of everything. Maybe it was because I trusted him more than I thought. But I couldn't be sure of that, I wasn't sure of anything right then and there, and yet I let myself walk on with Alec following close behind me.
   

Author's Note

That's all I'm going to post for now. The next part-well-lets just say that I'm going to be spending a lot of quality time with it. haha

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