Deeper into The Caves

I wake to the sound of falling sand, and the light of many tiny Xiu,

bugs with glowing shells, they usually live near water,

the blue and gold light they emit fills the cave,

and I can see that the girl is by my side, asleep still in the sand,

I notice again how strikingly beautiful she is, especially from the Xiu's light,

she stirs and I quickly avert my eyes, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

I am not completely sure how we fell in, but I know for a fact things could be worse,

we are still surrounded by sand,

the cave is large, perhaps we fell into an old shelter,

whatever the case may be, I see no way out.

A sound comes from behind us,

I turn to find a person clothed in what I recognize to be traditional Homrah clothing, 

clothes made from the thin but durable skin of Jokkyl, the beasts that would have ripped me and the girl to shreds,

their skin reflects heat well, a trait necessary to survive long exposure to the heat up above,

flat thin slippers, and a large water satchel,

the Homrahnn aren't known for their weapons, they are people of peace.

The person removes their hood,

what was hidden underneath, a woman with dark hair,

the look in her eyes is soft, and she has an ever softer smile,

are you alright, she asks us.

Yes, I reply,

I ask her if she knows what happened,

I noticed you two as I was patrolling, she says,

the light from the girl's fire spell saved you from a pretty nasty death.

I dropped you down into one of the old underground shelters, she continues,

fortunately I made it on time, but if it weren't for the fact that you were standing on an old entrance I probably wouldn't have been able to save you.

Her name is Luunar, she's a Homrah night patrol rider,

I notice the sand board behind her, a Homrah machine made to swiftly travel over sand,

a tricky machine to master, harder still to find the resources to make,

the sand board is capable of racing against Jokkyl, but make one wrong move at those speeds and it could be your last.

I thank Luunar for saving us, she tells us to follow her,

I double check to make sure I have everything, the girl follows suit,

when we're ready the girl and I follow Luunar out into the sand.

She leads us down, and we find ourselves going through many more caves,

all strangely lit by Xiu,

the sand begins to thin the deeper we go,

ask we continue our descent the air becomes cooler.

What were you two doing up there anyway, Luunar asks,

I am no genius, but being out in the open desert in the hunting hours is an open invitation to a Jokkyl dinner,

the three of us laugh, I explain where we were headed and Luunar seems to understand,

the girl and I realize how unprepared we were.

You know I once dreamt of getting out of this place too, Luunar says,

feeling the cool air on my sand board is quite an experience, but honestly I'd do anything to ditch this life and explore the world,

I've been here all my life, the scenes never change, 

that's the only problem,

because while the world I live in is beautiful, it never changes,

and so I am stuck, I end up feeling like a counter-clockwise cog in a clockwise machine,

ah, but at least I am something I guess,

the girl laughs, but her attempt at a smile gives her away.

We continue descending, 

now there's hardly a trace of sand, the air is damp,

I begin to hear what sounds like a waterfall,

and I cannot believe what I see next.