The Singing Sands

The odd drone didn't let up as Kiera trudged through the desert. Instead, it seemed to get louder the further she went. However, it never seemed to become unbearable...was it just a trick of the mind? Regardless of whether or not it actually got louder or not, it certainly was bothersome. As she walked, she'd spot something in the distance. It looked almost like a man, crawling on all fours through the sand. As it approached ever so slowly, she'd see that it actually was a man, dressed in rags and little more than skin and bone. He spotted her and reached a limb towards her, but was unable to make a sound.

The man accepted the waterskin gratefully, taking it gingerly in shaking hands. Lifting it to his mouth, he drank deeply, clearly on the verge of death by thirst. When he was done, he handed it back, struggling to his feet.

"T-thank you...I thought I was going to die out here. I don't know what happened, I got separated from my caravan. I think the humming drove the camels mad, and they all bolted...no wonder most people use giant lizards out here. Who are you, what brings you to this god-forsaken place? I'm...Alfie. I think."

He rubbed his head, groaning.

"Ugh...my head is killing me. Probably dehydration, and this god-awful buzzing...The water helped, though."

The man shook his head, rubbing his scraggly, sand-filled beard.

"I don't know...a week? It's been at least that long since I was separated from the caravan. Before that...another two weeks, I think. I spent a lot of time unconscious after I ran out of water...don't know how I woke up and made it this far."

He rubbed his head again, and sighed.

"Do you have a caravan, or a shelter? It's dangerous to travel the desert alone. Dangerous with a caravan, too, but more dangerous alone. You could get carried off by vultures, or eaten by the sand lizards. They grow pretty big around here. The small ones are pretty tasty, though. And cactus fruit. Have you seen any cactus around here?"

The man glanced around, but saw nothing but empty, blowing sand.

Alfie stared at her, shocked. His mouth hung open for a second, before he managed to compose himself somewhat.

"You...you're here alone? How? Why? How much water do you have? Do you have a mount? A beast of burden? Sail sled? Anything at all? Where are you trying to go, anyway? Are you one of those people who believes in the shining oasis? Are you searching for it? I don't believe it exists, but some of the other members of my party did. They were constantly talking about how they wanted to search for it, and return home laden with riches..."

He chuckled, which soon turned into a dry, hacking cough.

"Can we get out of the sun for a bit? We can rest under that rock in the shade..."

As they sat down in the cooler shaded sand, the man let out a sigh of relief. He leaned against the rock, closing his eyes as he spoke.

"You don't know about the oasis? Why on earth are you here, then? The Shining Oasis is a mystical garden around an oasis. The sand there is made up of the finest gold dust, and you can find uncut rubies and emeralds in the sand. I don't believe it exists, but I've seen stranger things than that out here, so I wouldn't be surprised if it did. I found a fountain, with naked statues and everything. Only...it wasn't water running through it. It was oil. Just a fountain in the middle of nowhere with oil running through it. Where did it come from? Who built it? There are so many mysteries here in the desert."

He coughed again, splattering blood on the sand beside him.

"Ugh...I guess my throat is so dry it cracked. Talking isn't doing me any good. What's your name, miss? Where did you come from?"

Alfie sipped the water gratefully, before corking it and setting it aside. Leaning back against the rock, he closed his eyes once more and went to sleep, snoring softly. The sound brought the attention of a small lizard, which stared at the pair from the edge of the rock's shadow. It stood there, unmoving except for its tongue flicking out intermittently.

A moment later, Alfie began to cough and choke, convulsing violently.

Alfie convulsed on the sand, clearly in a lot of pain. He clutched at his throat, coughing and gagging. All of a sudden, he straightened out, back arched and head back, and let out an excruciating gurgle. As Kiera watched, something began to rise from his throat. Some sort of insect, as long as Kiera's forearm, forced its way out of Alfie's mouth, tearing his jaw open as it did so. It tore itself free, landing on the sand. Now fully exposed, Kiera would see that it was a pale, dusty yellow that matched the sand. The insect was covered in jagged spikes, and had a menacing pair of pincers on its face. Ignoring Kiera, it bit into Alfie's body, which was still twitching as he bled out. The lizard ran off.

The insect let out an earsplitting screech as the bolt struck it, sticking in one of the armor plates on its exoskeleton. Springing off the man, it fled out into the desert with the bolt still stuck in it. The insect ran quickly, speeding through the sand like a lizard, until it was finally out of sight. What could that thing possibly have been? Whatever it was, it had made a mess of poor Alfie. The man laid face-down on the ground, jaw torn wide open. Blood pooled on the sand underneath him, soaking through and staining it a brownish red. If she looked out to the distance, Kiera would see what looked to be some sort of caravan at the very edge of her vision, parked on a dune.

As Kiera approached, the shape would become clearer. A caravan, with covered wagons and tents. However, it was immediately apparent that something was wrong. There were no animals to pull the wagons, and Kiera would notice the distinct smell of corpses as she approached. Once she wandered nearer, she'd see huge holes torn in many of the tents, as though something large ripped through to escape. If she peered into any of the holes, she'd see be met with a gristly sight indeed: bodies on cots, all looking like they'd been chewed on by some sort of scavenger. Each one had the jaw torn open in a now-familiar manner. More bodies could be seen on the sand in the center of the camp, with the same injuries.