Origins: Sphinxes

The Desert

***

Tonight was the third night since she had left.  Dune Sea could no longer wait; she had little water left and the desert was a cruel place to those without water.  Her sister had never been gone for more than one night, and she always told Dune where she was going.  Wherever she went, she was in trouble or something had gone wrong.  Dune Sea may have been young, but she knew she had to do something. She needed to find her sister.

She couldn’t achieve that by staying in her hut and dying of dehydration.  She needed to get to Supplicium City, the capital of the Empire.  Somesphinx there would be able to help her.  Her big sister had always told her that Supplicium City was the gem of the Empire; a place where the sand was still silver and the Sun never touched a sphinx.

Dune Sea waited until sunset; when the air began to cool and the Moon began to rise.  She took the jug that held her last sips of water and drank it all.  She wouldn’t have the strength to carry it with her, and she needed all the hydration she could manage.  Supplicium City was only a single day’s travel from her home, but crossing the desert alone was a dangerous and draining experience.  If she did not do it, however, she would die.

With nothing but a blanket folded across her back, Dune Sea left her shack.  The shadows of the sand dunes in the west  were already stretching near to the opposite horizon where the cool darkness of night was inviting her.  Supplicium City was to the east and slightly southerly from her home, and her heading was in that direction.

Dune Sea needed to travel with care; the Golden Ocean was vast and if she missed her initial heading by too much she would be lost and, very likely, die.  Youth was naive, but Dune Sea had lived out on the edge of civilization with only her sister, and her sister had forced her to learn many of the basic survival techniques, including how to keep your bearing in the desert at night.

In many ways, desert survival was instinctual to a Sphinx.  They were born in the sand.  They died in the sand.  They were created in the sand by The Moon Queen.  The Golden Sea was there world.  It was as much part of them as they were of it.  Dune Sea felt no fear of the desert as she crossed it, but she did feel fear for some of the creatures she might find in the desert.

Scorpions and vultures were the most dangerous, but Dune had been educated in how to deal with them.  For a vulture, use the claws.  For a scorpion, use the paws.  A vulture was a coward; a strong bird that can do harm, but a coward nonetheless.  She could fight off a vulture.  Scorpions, though, were very dangerous creatures.  If she spotted a scorpion, she would be running as fast as her little paws could carry her.

Spiders, snakes, coyotes, the number of dangerous beasts in the desert was quite staggering.  It was also rather terrifying.  But death from dehydration was just as scary.  More scary, even.  Creatures were merely a possibility.  Dehydration was a certainty.

Dune Sea crested the top of a sand dune and looked out over the expanse of sand before her.  Golden grains of earth glowed with a burning orange intensity as the setting sun cast its final rays across her field of vision.  The dark purples and blues that grew on the shadow side of the dunes were inviting; they would be cool in short order.  When the Sun had fully set then all the desert would be safe for her.

The air was cool enough now that she could travel.  She had to take it easy and move slowly.  She never climbed up a dune this early in the night; the air was still warm, just not hot.  Sweating was dangerous in the desert as it lead to faster dehydration.  When the cold chill of the night could be counted on to keep her body temperature regulated then she could exert herself. Until then, she had to stay calm, keep to the shadows, and keep her heart rate down.

Dune Sea thought of her sister as she walked through the shadow side of a long sand dune.  Loess had only been gone for two nights yet the younger sphinx missed her so much.  Tears were a waste of water though.  Crying was a luxury that could not be afforded by one so poor as herself.

The sun finally vanished and the Moon was rising higher in the sky.  Dune Sea looked up and saw the silhouette of the Moon Queen against the great silver-blue orb in the velvet black sky.  She closed her eyes and began to pray.

The Sun goes down and the Moon comes up,

The sands go on and on.

There is little water to drink from my cup

I trek until the dawn.

Hide from the light, remain unseen.

The day is flawed, the night pristine.

The world’s true glow; a silver sheen.

I live to serve the Moon Queen.

After the traditional litany, she appended her own desires.  She wanted her sister back.  She wanted to find her in Supplicium City.  Dune Sea needed her sister to be there.  She needed to find her.  She would give anything to find her older sister.

Loess she thought mournfully.  She closed her eyes and sniffled a little.  No tears though.  Never tears.  No tears allowed.

Tears and sweat must be kept.

Breathe only through your nose.

Wasting moisture is inept

Drink blood of your foes

It was another lesson taught to Dune Sea when she was younger.  Still young, she knew the truth of it all.  They all pertained to keeping yourself hydrated in the desert.  Do not cry, do not sweat.  Breathing through the mouth waisted ten times as much body moisture- expelling it into the air- than breathing through the nose.

The last line tended not to be understood by the youth of the sphinx culture until they were old enough to be told explicitly what it meant, but Loess hid nothing from the young Dune Sea.  They were alone out in the desert; she needed to be ready.  To have a foe was to expend moisture when fighting.  Either with sweat or when cut and blood loss.  Once your foe was dead, it was most useful to drink their blood to replace what you lost and gain their extra moisture.

Dune Sea had drank blood already.  A vulture had attacked her one day when she was fetching water.  The water had spilt and been lost into the sand.  When Dune Sea succeeded in breaking one of the vile bird’s wings with her claws and a lucky swipe, she drained the beast of as much body moisture as she could stomach before fetching more water from the oasis.

It had tasted absolutely disgusting and Dune thought she would get sick from it, but she managed to keep herself composed and stomached the terrible taste until she could drink it down with water.  She never wanted to do it again, but she knew if needed she would have to.

Now, her prayers finished and her mind set to her task of travel, Dune Sea picked up her pace.  She bounded across the sand as fast as her paws would take her.  It was not a full out run; the loose surface of the desert would never allow that.  But it was fast, and it was efficient.  Most of the strain was in her upper legs as she pressed her paws into the sand as little as possible.

She sprinted short distances before walking.  She had to keep her aerobic muscles relaxed so that she used little air.  The more air she used the more her blood would need to circulate, and that would use more energy and cause more heat within her.  She could not afford to sweat.

After a few miles her muscles began to burn terribly.  Without proper oxygen circulation, they were not getting the refreshing air that they needed to function at optimum efficiency.  Dune Sea slowed.  She knew her own pace from countless trips through the sand.  Never so far and alone, but the presence of others would not change her pace nor would distance traveled.  Efficiency of movement was the key.  Once your pace was known, it was your own.  The wealthy who could afford luxuries had the time to adjust their pace over time, but the majority of Sphinx life was spent on basic survival.

The young sphinx went on for miles.  The Moon slowly moved through the night sky over her head; every time she looked up she could see the Moon Queen looking down, watching her progress across her Silver Sea.  It heartened the youth to imagine the great Moon Queen overseeing her journey and keeping her safe.  She still yearned for the safety and comfort of her sister Loess, but for now the face on the moon would be enough comfort.

The Moon was at its zenith when Dune Sea saw the first blemish in the otherwise smooth sandscape.  In the distance there was a shadow on what otherwise should have been a completely moonlit face of a dune.  From where she was, Dune Sea could not make out exactly what it was, so she altered her trek a little to approach it.

Sliding down the slip face of a sand dune, she kept her gaze on the distant shadow, trying to discern it.  It was not moving in any perceptible way, so she lost the hope that it was another sphinx.  She could trade her blanket as shade when the sun came up for some water.  She was not yet thirsty, but the promise of water later would be welcome by the next night.

By the time she reached the base of the dune her hopes had been dashed.  The shadow on the sand face was naught but the exposed skeleton of a long dead creature.  Likely having died years ago, the bones were preserved under the sand of many sandstorms and exposed similarly as the dunes shifted over time.

Possibly a sphinx, possibly a sand shark.  She had no way of knowing unless she climbed the dune to examine the bones.  There was no need to though; it was further out of her way and up the dune.  It would waste time and energy.  Whatever it was, it was dead; the dead had no bearing on the world.  They were gone.  The bodies were used for whatever they could be used for and the spirits left this realm.

The youth continued on.  Her life, quite literally, depended upon her efficiently crossing the desert of the night while the air was still cool and the sand still silver.  With no reliable markers of land or sky to gauge her distance, Dune Sea needed to travel far and fast.  She could survive one day in the golden sand beneath her blanket.  Two would be fatal.

As she left the barren discovery behind her, the bones did force thoughts of her sister to her mind.  Where could she be?  Dune truly hoped that Loess did not return home after she had left and then set out to look for her.  They had both understood that, in an emergency, they would meet in the capital city.

The memory of their emergency plan gave Dune Sea some more heart.  It was possible that she might fight Loess during her trek to Supplicium City.  Not very likely given how vast the desert was and how easy it would be to pass her on opposite sides of a dune, but possible nonetheless.

The new spring in her step helped the young Dune Sea cross the sand swiftly, almost as though a new wellspring of energy was tapped within her. A ‘second wind’ of sorts.  Unfortunately, this boost of energy inspired by good spirits only lasted a few more hours.  As the night dragged on and the Moon fell more and more back to the horizon, Dune Sea knew she would need to find or construct a place to hide soon.  Once the sun came up and turned the Silver Sea back to Gold the heat would be dangerous, if not deadly.

A thin, pink line began to emerge from the eastern horizon.  Dune Sea saw an adequate dune valley up ahead; two large dunes on the east and west, leaving the direct sunlight for the middle hours of the day.  The hottest hours, yes, but still only a few hours rather than half the day or more.

She would find the lowest point in the valley of sand and dig a pit down into the sand until she found the cool, packed sand that hadn’t known sun in many moons.  She would use the blanket on her back to pitch a roof that would prevent sand from falling down onto her and burying her alive.

Once she was between the sand dunes, Dune Sea was surprised to already find a pit in the sand.  Not a complete pit; sand was still being tossed out of the top.  Whoever or whatever had dug the hole was still in there, digging it.  The young Sphinx slowly approached; intent on inspecting the hole’s current owner; examining a carcass that was out of her way would have been a waste of time, but potentially finding a friend in the desert with a pre-dug hole for her to rest in was more than worth her time.

Near the edge of the pit, Dune Sea closed her eyes to focus her magical powers.  Her sister had trained her as best as she could, and Dune showed exceptional promise, but she was still young and still needed to focus, even for something as simple as packing the surface sand so that it did not shift under her paws and fall back into the hole.

Leaning over slightly, Dune looked down and saw the back of another sphinx in the hole, its paws digging away at the sand.  It was a flying sphinx, and the large wings on its back were half-flared.  He was putting sand on the tips of his wings and flicking the wads of sand up and out of the hole with them.

“Hello!” Dune Sea said, projecting her voice so that she was not really shouting but spoke loudly and with confidence; she was greeting him on purpose after all, and she did not want him to be startled if he didn’t hear her.

The winged sphinx stopped his digging and turned in the hole to look up at her over his shoulder.  The two looked at each other warily for a few seconds.  Dune sea could see age lines in his face, but they were not so numerous as to make him appear aged; he was older and well traveled.  His fur had the hardened quality of one who traveled in the desert for much of their life.

“Hello,” he said in return, giving her a friendly smile.  “Are you seeking shelter from the sun?” he asked.

“Yes,” Dune Sea said, “I can provide a blanket to cover the entrance if you will permit me.”

“Never turn away a stranger in the sand,” the winged sphinx said, “For you are friends with a common enemy; the Golden Sea.  It is our way to help one another.”  With a smile and a nod he said “I believe I have time to widen my pit some.  You are magically inclined, I see,”  He had observed the green aura that existed within Dune Sea’s eyes.  All active magic caused the aura around the eyes, and as long as Dune maintained her hold on the sand around the edge of the pit she would have the glow.  “Will you be able to secure the blanket on your own?”

“Yes,” Dune said.  She sat down at the edge of the pit while the other sphinx began to widen his pit.  He didn’t need to make it too much wider, and with Dune holding the sand in a semi-solid fashion he was able to dig with greater ease and swiftness.

“Do you have any water with you?” he asked at one point.  Dune told him that she did not and he gave an understanding shrug of his shoulders.  As soon as the hole was wide enough for both to fit comfortably in, the younger sphinx jumped down into the pit and stood beside the older sphinx.

She sized up his height and used her magic to lift the blanket from her back.  It unfolded and spread out, filling the area of the hole above his head all along the circumference.  She had to focus and part the sand along the outer edges of the pit so that she could fit the edges of the blanket into it evenly.  Once the blanket was stretched and firmly planted in the sand- both Dune and the stranger tested it- she released her hold on the sand at the top of the pit and pulled some of it down over them. The faint light that came through the blanket was blacked out as the sand covered it and provided a layer of insulation against the sun.  Now in the complete darkness, both of the sphinxes laid down on the cool sandy floor to rest.

“My name is-” Dune Sea began to say, but was cut off by the deeper voice of the other sphinx.

“Do not exchange names just yet,” he said, “I am glad for your gift of magic and cover, but I do not wish to die with you.”  It was an old axiom of the Sphinxes; never travel with anybody you would not wish to die with.  If they exchanged names, it would be a sign of companionship.  As of now, it was just an alliance of convenience.

“Then what shall I call you?” Dune asked.

“Call me You” he said, ‘And I will address you similarly.”

“So...we’ll both be You?” Dune asked.

“Of course,” he said, “If you address me and I address you, there are only the two of us here, so who else could You be?”

Dune Sea thought about it, but found that the more she thought the harder it seemed to understand.

“Um...do you know how far we are from Supplicium City?” Dune asked.

“I do not,” her desert ally said, “I have been lost for several days.  I used up my last water two nights ago.  If I do not find any next night, I do not think I will live to see another moonrise.”

Dune Sea knew what he spoke of.  He must have drank abundantly to survive two nights without water, and he must have practiced desert discipline with master-like skill.

“I know which way to go,” Dune said.  She knew vaguely which way the city should have been.  However if she was wrong, than her fate would be no different from his.  They may not wish to die together, but they very well could.  “Can you carry me in flight if I show the way?”

The darkness was silent for a little.  Dune could hear him breathing unevenly so she knew he was still awake.  She wondered what he was thinking; it did not seem like that hard of a question.  Unless he was taking mental reckoning of his strength; it was very likely that he might not be strong enough anymore to carry her.

“I can try,” he said finally, after almost a minute of silence.  “But I need to rest now if we are to attempt this,and I will need to have you do all the work of digging us out in the evening.”

“I can do that,” Dune Sea said.

“Then I can fly you.” he responded, “Good morning.”

“Good morning.” Dune replied.  She closed her eyes against the darkness of the sand and relaxed.  In no time at all, she was asleep.

She woke up several hours later and used her magic to move the sand above them.  When there was only a very dim light coming through the blanket she knew the worst of the day was past.  Without waking up ‘You’, she concentrated her magic to lift the sand away from the blanket, then removed the blanket from the hole.  The sky was fading orange to purple above them and the warm air that drifted down was not a fraction as scalding as a true desert day would have been.

‘You’ woke up at the urging of Dune Sea, and together they tore down sand from the walls of the hole and climbed out.  They took a few silent moments to stretch while Dune looked up at the sky and at the surroundings.  No signs of shifting sands from the past day, so the two long sand dunes that they had burrowed between were still oriented the same direction relative to the path that Dune and ‘You’ needed to take.

“Okay,” the older Sphinx said, “Which way shall we go young one?”

Dune Sea was finishing folding her blanket on her back when she pointed.  “That way,” she said, “I’m not entirely sure the dist-aaaaaaaaance!” she felt his arms wrap around her midsection and suddenly she was in the air, soaring high over the sand.  The soft beating sounds of You’s wings was barely audible over the sound of the air whipping past Dune’s ears and through her mane.

The desert extended beneath and before her.  It was massive.  Dune knew it was massive,but seeing it from this new elevation, this new vantage point...it put the entire scheme of things into a new perspective for her.  Having a mental understanding that it was massive did not compare to seeing it stretch beyond the horizon you were used to seeing.

Dune Sea was captivated by the snaking shadows cast by the setting sun, and the growing sheen of soft silver where the sunlight had all but vanished.  She was so entranced by the desert that she did not see the city on the horizon.

“I believe we have found our salvation,” You said loudly, loud enough for Dune Sea to hear.  She was brought from her thoughts and looked out ahead; on the horizon was a large dark mass that seemed to twinkle in places.  As You flew closer and closer, details began to emerge.  Large stone buildings with light coming from windows carved in the walls.  Palm trees and plants visible within the streets.  Even sphinxes soon became visible; walking around and flying through the air.  They had made it to Supplicium City.

The winged sphinx landed just outside of the city gates and the two approached.  The gates were open now that it was night and the city was awake; traders were pushing carts into and out of them.  The two entered and looked around in wonder for a moment, but then both were drawn to a sound that had escaped them in their amazement; running water.

They ran to the edge of a fountain and dipped their heads into the cool water.  Both drank as much as they could stomach before withdrawing their heads, panting contentedly.

“Thank you,” Dune said to him, “I don’t think I would have made it here if you hadn’t flown me.”

“Thank you as well,” he answered her, “I would not have come this direction without your aide.”

“So, what are you going to do now?” Dune Sea asked.

“Me?  Well, I do not quite know.  I shall see what the city has to offer.  What of you?”

“I’m going to find my sister,”

“Well, I wish you luck in your venture.  I hope we meet again.”

“You’re...you’re going to leave?” Dune Sea asked.  She scarcely knew the sphinx, but she felt some connection to him now.  They had gone through an ordeal together and both had escaped death with the help of the other.

“Yes,” he said, “But I will not be leaving the city.  Not for a long time.  If we meet again, may we both be fat with water.”  He bowed his head to Dune Sea and said “Farewell for now, young one.” before turning and leaving; leaving Dune Sea alone in Supplicium City.