The Sand Queen, Part 1

My name is Madnia. I was once the youngest daughter of King Raul the third. We lived in the beautiful stone palace Balliast, on the coast of Derihana, a rich and prosperous nation, we traded in salt and Spices and made soft and delicate silks. But the gods grew jealous of our happiness and brought a great storm upon us. The winds grew strong and all the water left the shores of our beaches. People thought it was a blessing, rushing to gather fish. But then all at once the gods sent a monstrous and angry wave to drown us all. My hand maiden and i where in the top most tower of the right wing of the palace. We saw the whole thing, holding each other in fear as the left side of the palace was destroyed and much of the right wing filled with water. We saw so many on the roads, in their houses, by the shores drown. Mothers screaming for their children, men rushing to help their neighbors, dogs, poultry, cattle, horses, even my Farther the king who had been lunching in the garden's was swallowed up by the sea. The building shook violently. threatening to give its last. With one final shake the roof fell, and we lay unconscious sinking slowly into the sea. I woke several hours later in the middle of Santinadi the great desert. My hand maiden Vilina was at my side, her hair filled with dried blood and a large wound above her right eye. I felt my own face, it seamed untouched. But on the back of my head a large chunk of my hair was missing, and the exposed skin was sticky with blood and sore to the touch. One of the rafters that held up the roof must have hit us both at the same time. I was immediately thirsty, my mouth dryer than the sand around me, i shook Vilina lightly and she opened her eyes. She looked at me in horror, before reaching for the large cut above her eye. We both sat silent for a while, in shock, not knowing how we had survived or arrived in Santinadi. Soon we became overcome by thirst and spoke for the first time. We could not sit still any longer we needed to find water and dress our wounds. As we stood up to have a better look around us the sand at our feet moved. Had we not been so over whelmed by thirst we would have screamed but as it was whispering was painful. We stood another moment trembling, and the sand moved again. "Sand demons" Vilina whispered hoarsely her eyes filled with fear. The sand moved again, but this time separating to form a sort of path. Still we did not move, our body's trembling, our feet glued to the spot, eyes bulging from our heads. "Come" said a voice, it was as if the sand had spoken itself, soft grainy and masculine "Come" it said again. "SAND DEMONS!" Broke Vilina's
horse voice as tears began to streak down her cheek's. "But, what choice is there, do we die of thirst, or the demons? Surly they are quicker." My voice surprised me, it sounded so confident when my eyes where heating ready to tear at any moment. I stepped onto the path and Vilina followed shaking at each others side, hobbled along the path slowly tripping over our own feet
and the dizziness of our heads....................