Chapter 181

Chapter 181
David

As they stepped through the door, David once again found himself being blinded. This time it was from the sun bouncing off of sand so still and flat that it reflected like a mirror. Once all of the Kindred were through the door, it disappeared just as before.

He turned and looked to see nothing but sand all the way around him. It was blistering hot and he instantly felt as if he were being beat down by the harshness of the sun’s rays. Instinctively, David put his hands to his eyes.

“Do you think the objective is simply to cross the sand?” Dean asked.

“I don’t know what we need to do. But, I’m certain of what I can’t do. I won’t last in this heat. I may be a day walker, but I'm still a vampire. My skin is already starting to burn.” Damian said through gritted teeth.

“I say we try to move.” Dean said. “But which way?”

David turned and looked out at the playing field around him for a clue, but it looked identical no matter what direction he looked. He shook his head.

Dean shrugged and carefully began to take a few steps. The ground was firm for about thirty steps but then David noticed that Dean was beginning to sink, He reached out and grabbed Dean’s shirt and pulled him back.

“Quick sand” David explained when everyone gave him a funny look.

“Thanks,” Dean said. “Shall we try another direction?”

David watched as Dean started several walking different times. He chose a new direction with each attempt and after each one, he had to be dragged back to safety by one of the kindred. The sand all around them seemed to be nothing but a lot of death.

“Maybe we need to try flying again.” Drew suggested. He still hadn’t returned his glamour from the chasm test and his wings flapped with emotion.

“I considered that. But I’m unsure as to where we would land. How do we know we have made it across the shifting sand?” Dean said as he rubbed his chin like it would give him the answers.

“I could shift. My range is larger than Drew’s, maybe I can find rocks, the exit or something?” David suggested.

The Kindred all nodded in agreement so David stripped out of his clothes and shifted into his large Golden dragon. He began to flap his wings and lifted up off of the ground. He took flight and moved toward the sky. Once he was a few feet into the air, a gust wind blew so hard that it almost knocked him down. He struggled against it, but couldn’t reach enough altitude to see anything beyond his immediately area.

He decided to stay low and try to fly below the winds. He made it about five hundred yards before he ran into what felt like a solid wall. It was invisible to the eye but it definitely kept him from going forward.

David decided to follow along the edge of the wall in hopes of either finding a hidden door or a way around the wall. He kept an eye on the Kindred as he flew, basically using them as a way marker. David flew for about five minutes before he realized that he had only gone in a circle. The wall around him and the wind had created a dome, keeping them trapped. David flew back to the Kindred and explained his findings.

“Clearly we are not meant to escape, so what else can we do with sand?” Dean groaned.

Damian shifted quietly and David noticed that smoke was starting to curl off of the vampire's skin. His eyes were already red and his lips were starting to crack. David felt a sense of panic wash over him because if they didn’t figure it out soon, there was a real possibility, Damian would die.

David walked over and spread his wings over Damian’s head in an attempt to block out the worst of the rays. Shade cast over the sand and he noticed Drew and Dean also moved so that they were sheltered beneath David’s wing.

“Maybe we are supposed to build something?” Drew suggested with a shrug.

Dean used his hands to scrap some of the sand into a pile but it just slid down itself. It flattened back out as if he had never disturbed it. “It’s too dry.” He said. We would need lots of water to make it wet enough to stick.

Damian slowly began to assess his skin. The shade from David wing had stopped it from physically bursting onto flames. But the air and the heat from the sand was still making it peel and crack.

“Maybe we need to dig. I mean we tried going up, and out. The only other direction is down.” David reasoned.

Dean walked out from under David’s wings and began to strip. He shifted into his wolf and began to dig a hole in the sand. However the more he dug, the more the sand shifted so that the hole filled itself back in. After a good try, Dean gave up and went back into the shade created by David’s wing.

“There has to be something we haven’t thought of.” Dean said. “Everything else has been a test, I don't see this being any different.”

David didn’t argue. His wings hurt so bad he didn’t have the strength. He had been holding them up and still for what felt like hours. The ache of fatigue was endless.

He tried to keep them up to save Damian’s life but he was feeling himself get weaker and weaker. His wings began to droop lower as he clinched his teeth against the strain.

“David, are you okay?” Drew asked with a voice of concern. He crawled out from under David’s wing and walked over where they could see each other.

David nodded weakly. “My wing is tired but it’s okay. Damian needs the shade.” David explained.
Drew looked thoughtful for a moment before he used his healing ray to alleviate the ache. His wings no longer hurt but he barely had the strength to hold it up.

Drew studied him a moment before he walked over and held David’s wing up. “Is this helping? Maybe Dean and I could take turns holding it for you” He suggested.

David let out a sigh of relief. His wings already began to feel better. He stbeatend to answer but was interrupted when the world around them once again became blinding white. David blinked and waited for his eyes to adjust again.