Aegis: Rider on the Storm
Aegis tore across the dunes, as a sandstorm raged around him. Phlox and Carmine lightning cut the khamsin like jagged rips in paper. Rumbles like beasts could scarcely be heard over the squall. A power greater than his or one he could fathom. With each bolt that streaked through the sky the vessel under Aegis’ feet dipped, the Cerulean glow on the keel dimming and flickering, before coming back to life. With each burst of turbulence, Aegis had to correct his stance. Adjusting against the scouring sand, digging in and rubbing any exposed skin raw. He shook his head to clear his goggles of accumulating sand. On the seat behind him a cloth tarp billowed, in whipping snaps as it caught each gust. The form hidden beneath letting out small sharp yelps with each bursting thunderclap. A single Pistachio green eye peeked out from a small gap in the sheet, only for a moment before hiding again from the blasting grit.
The skiff dipped again, grinding its bow gouging a line in the sand that was quickly erased by the sweeping winds. Aegis tumbling forward, hands smashing against the wooden floor, shooting pain thrummed up his arms from the shock of a locking brace to prevent his face from being smashed against the cockpit. Aegis wanted to swear, he wanted to shout but he knew opening his mouth would be a mistake. Even with the mask over his mouth he’d surely inhale an amount of grit that would have him coughing for weeks. The form behind him let out a squeak as if they were about to speak but coughed, wrapping the protective sheet tighter around themselves.
A bitter idea crossed Aegis’ mind. He wanted to teach whoever caused this storm a lesson but he instantly thought better of entertaining the notion he could contend with something powerful enough to cause even a disaster half this big. Had he known beings nearly god-like in power were behind the events unfolding he’d have never considered letting the thought of having the thought cross his mind.
With each new burst of lightning that made the sky look like Kintsugi, the skiff took longer to come back to life, dipping lower and more fleetingly with each flashing burst. At this rate they would either be walking or risking doubling the ship's speed and hoping to not be blown off course.
“Lie on the floor.” Aegis said to the bundled form, pointing to the bottom of the skiff. “Keep your head down.” he said, placing a hand on his own head, and pointing at her.
The form let out a small feminine sound of understanding, muffled by cloth and scantily open mouth, slowly and gracelessly shifting to a prone position in the bottom of the skiff. Bracing in whatever way they could.
Aegis moved his right hand in a loping gesture, a fainting golden glowing tesseract formed quickly encased in a mirror policed obsidian like stone. Closing his hand around it in a knuckle whitening grip. He grabbed the rope hanging from the sail wrapping it around his wrist and forearm for control before letting the sheet free. Aegis raised his right hand, “
Ferrum Cutis”, he said and the cube flashed with an incandescent golden glow, washing over the skin of his left arm. “Ossa Infringi” Aegis said, the cube flaring into brilliant light this time under the skin. His bones glowing momentarily. “Nervos Firmare.” The process repeated again, this time his muscles glowing and tensing. “Ready?”
The passenger signaled in the affirmative, Aegis letting the sail free the skiff lurched forward. Pulling his arm tightly and rope, had he not cast the spells on himself would have cut his skin to ribbons, pulled muscle from tendon, and crushed bone to dust. But that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt, in fact it was agonizing. The wind ripping the sail forward, Aegis could still feel the ripping and crushing pull of the rope. He really wished it could cast something to pull away the pain, but in this situation it could lead to far more damage to his mental state than was worth the effort, so he just gritted his teeth to the point he felt his jaw groan in protest. The skiff shuddered as Aegis poured more magic from himself into the Float Stone on the keel of the boat, causing it to rock from side to side like if in the middle of the sea during a hurricane as it rocketed forward across the dunes.
Aegis grunted as he held up his right hand, the cube’s seams glowing with that radiant golden light as the black material flattened out into a disc like shape, a tiny orb of light at its center a second point somewhere off to where would be north on a traditional compass, that wobbled slightly from side to side ahead of them as the skiff swayed against the gusting storm. “It can’t be that far away.” he thought, watching the two points of light not draw any closer to one another. He turned his wrist slightly causing the disc to rotate, the northerly point to light bobby and floated back into position. “At least we are going the right way.”
His passenger was making sounds behind him. Words arduous and sluggishly spoken, he couldn’t fully understand, broken in hiccuping syllables as the words were cut in arrhythmic beats as she bounced around. She was being harshly bounced around but Aegis couldn’t do anything about it but focus on getting out of the storm. The wind cut sideways for a single gust of powerful wind and something slammed into view crashing into the sand and bouncing out of the right of light provided by the float stone, causing a wall of sand. By the way it limply ricocheted off the sand it was clearly dead before landing, it looked human…but too long. But it wasn’t worth dwelling on. He couldn’t have stopped even if he wanted to.
They broke through the wall of sand caused by the collision, on the other side Aegis pulled the ‘compass’ up again the far dot wavered and moved towards the center slightly. Far in the distance off to his left he saw an explosion low to the ground. In the obscuring cloud of sand it was merely a plum of warbling light but it was huge, and a moment after he felt the pull of it against The Weave. With the extra power Aegis was supplying the skiff it didn’t feel the effects but he knew had he not provided the extra mana they skiff would have likely failed and at this speed it would have been smashed to pieces.
The ship pushed forward for roughly thirty more minutes before an anomaly appeared ahead. A darker spot in the blowing sand. And suddenly without warning the howling wind stopped as they burst through some unseen wall. Cut off from the world surrounded by an invisible dome, the sand flowed around like a stone in a river. A grand palace sat on a rocky escarpment. The moment he saw they were in the clear he dropped the rope then the spells and they came to a slow stop.
At the door a strange construct that looked to be between the size of a gnome and dwarf but mostly a shapeless only marginally humanoid blob of wet looking clay. When it saw Aegis it made a series of clicks and chirps. Aegis turned to shake his passengers' attention to him. Helping her out and the strange construct took the Skiff by a rope and trundled off.
Once Aegis saw the little creature off he turned to the woman, getting her attention so she was looking at his face. He began to sign and speak slowly. “Welcome to my Home, let's get you acquainted with the other girls.”