Chapter Thirty-Five: Sandstorm (Part 2)
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
The fierce sandstorm whipped against my face and body, my loose robe clinging to me like an overenthusiastic hug, and I could barely keep my eyes open. The yellow dust billowed around me like a thick fog, and in the distance to the west, a gray wall appeared—like something straight out of an apocalypse movie—spreading from the horizon and gradually blocking the scorching sunlight.
“G-get… back…”
I trudged against the wind, trying to make sense of things, when suddenly I heard Betty’s shaky voice from behind, filled with barely restrained sobs: “Big Sister… Get back! Cough cough… Back… to the cave!”
“Wha…?”
Her words were muffled by the wind, and just as I opened my mouth to ask her to repeat it, I felt fine grains of sand flood into my throat, choking me and turning my face as red as a ripe tomato.
“Cough cough! Cough…”
Ugh…
“Back! To the cave!”
Betty had ducked behind my back, leaning close to shout again: “We can’t go on! Quick, back… to the cave!”
I finally understood what she meant.
Back to the cave…
Right, hiding in the cave sounds like the smart thing to do…
Once I processed this thought, I turned and started sprinting back, coughing all the while, as I used my left hand to shield my eyes. But after just a few steps, when I looked around at the swirling yellow haze, my brain short-circuited. Although my feet were still moving, they were slowly losing speed.
Oh no…
I couldn’t even tell which way I came from anymore…
Where in the world is that cave…?
Panic set in.
Just then, I heard some rustling behind me. Betty was rummaging through her backpack and suddenly presented something to me: “Put this on! Put this on!”
“Cough cough…”
I coughed harder as I reached out to take it, squinting down for several seconds before realizing it was a pair of goggles. I quickly put them on, and with Betty’s help, finally got them secured properly, allowing me to open my eyes without turning into a sand-sculpted statue.
“Veil! And the veil!”
“The veil cough cough… is in the bag…”
“I’ll get it for you! We need to hurry!”
“Which way… do we… go…”
“Straight ahead! Just go straight!”
Betty pointed a direction, and I steeled myself to speed up. She tugged at my bag, rummaged around, and finally pulled out my veil—the one I had taken off to sneak a bite of her bread earlier—and without a second thought, she threw it over my face and we continued our frantic dash.
With the veil covering my face, the wind’s assault suddenly became more bearable; my breathing eased up quite a bit, and I managed to speed up. I pumped my legs like a hamster on a wheel, while little Betty clung to my neck. She seemed worried about choking me, so she held on lightly, bouncing up and down as we ran, and soon enough, I could hear her heavy breathing.
d*mn…
Where is that blasted cave entrance?!
The visibility was rapidly dropping under the swirling storm, while that ominous gray wall loomed ever closer to us from the west.
“Are you sure it’s this way?!”
After another stretch of running, I felt the wind picking up even more, the yellow dust now swirling nearly ten meters high—everything was becoming a murky blur. I was at my wits’ end, desperately turning to Betty for a clearer direction, only to hear her soft whimper.
“Wah… I remember… it was just ahead… right around here… I remember… but… I’m not sure now… wahhh…”
The little girl was terrified, and her cries grew louder, sending a sinking feeling through my chest.
This is bad…
How did I end up in this mess…?
This was nothing like I had imagined… What on earth is going on…?
The sandstorm was closing in fast, and I couldn’t afford to stand still…
Running and thinking at the same time, a wild thought flew into my head: what if I had to run into the Land of Dragons?
But what about Betty… Could I take her with me?
I had no clue.
I hadn’t had a chance to confirm that before… but I thought maybe it was possible… I mean, probably…
Let’s take a gamble; going into the Land of Dragons seemed like the safest bet.
If I couldn’t find the cave, I’d just have to try getting Betty to that world with me…
But what if it didn’t work?
Then I’d end up going in alone, leaving Betty behind…
Here, I might at least be able to save her, but if I vanished, she’d be surely doomed…
What on earth should I do…
My thoughts were spinning with no better plan, when suddenly I was jolted back to reality. The wind had intensified to nearly gale-force, and we had plunged deep into the yellow fog. All I could hear besides the howling wind was the incessant ‘thud’ of fine sand smacking against my robe.
“Big Sister! Ah—”
I turned around in confusion at the little girl’s screams, glancing to the west.
That gray wall of doom was charging towards us like a freight train.
…Not fast enough—
Boom—!!!
The gust hit like a thunderous roar, carrying a tsunami of sand that rushed towards me with a destructive force. In that moment, I felt my instincts kick in. I braced myself, bending my knees and unleashing all my strength to resist this terrifying natural force, but it was utterly futile.
Even with my body restored, I was still far too light to hold my ground against the storm. Before I even had time to react, my feet lifted off the ground as I soared into the air, and I suddenly felt a weight lift from my back.
…Oh no! Betty!!
I spun in mid-air, seeing the little girl’s figure shrink to a dot, spiraling higher and farther away, unable to even let out a shout—like a piece of rag being flung into the storm.
Big White!!!
“Roar—”
In that critical moment, I desperately called out to the white dragon. Crystalline branches burst from my chest, and the powerful roar of the dragon echoed from those branches, sending visible waves radiating outwards that sliced through the sandstorm.
For just an instant, the wind seemed to stop.
The roar of Big White actually managed to disperse the sandstorm, clearing an area of several dozen meters around me in an instant. As I began to plummet back down, a thin, white barrier enveloped me. The branches floated above, emitting a soft yet dazzling light that put me at ease.
…Nice work!
What a pleasant surprise—I didn’t expect Big White could unleash such might with just its voice. My spirits soared as clarity returned, and I thrust my palms down towards the ground, my eyes glowing with a ghostly blue light.
Boom, Boom!
Two muffled thuds echoed as frigid Ice Mist erupted from my palms. The powerful recoil interrupted my fall, and in the next moment, an azure ice platform formed beneath me. I twisted in mid-air and landed on it with one foot, soaring upward, the wind howling loudly as I ascended once more.
“Betty!”
Boom, boom, boom, boom—
Ice platforms continued to materialize beneath me, then shatter as I leaped from one to the next, using the Moon Step to rush toward the direction the little girl was swept away. Sand and wind howled from all sides, but once again, the roaring dragon’s cry echoed, clearing my surroundings. In the blink of an eye, I spotted Betty’s little figure reappearing through the haze.
Save her…
That was the only thought racing through my mind. The ice platform below me began forming faster, and I shot out Ice Mist from my palms repeatedly, shooting skyward, quickly closing the gap between us… twenty meters, ten meters… five meters…
“Grab my hand!!”
I reached out, but Betty seemed to be fading in and out of consciousness. She didn’t respond, and while the dragon’s roar cleared the surrounding sand and wind, her body began plummeting toward the ground.
“Ah!”
With a shout, I leaped from the last ice platform, soaring towards her, and caught her just in time.
The thin barrier enveloped both of us, allowing me to see her pale little face and tightly shut eyes. In the next instant, the rushing sand engulfed everything in our line of sight once again.
