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Description
Fun In The Sand

Rael crawled up a sand dune and looked out over yet another vast expanse of sand.  She hoped she wasn't lost.  Reaching into her shirt, she pulled out the small crystal and held it up to the sun.  If she tilted it just right, it was supposed to tell her the direction to the Spirit Font.  Bending almost over backwards to see through the crystal, Rael lost her balance and fell down the opposite side of the dune.  Landing at the bottom, she rubbed the sand out of her eyes and spat to get the sand taste out of her mouth.  Shaking her head, she pulled out a flask from her pack and took a sip of water.  There wasn't much left, so she hoped she came to the Spirit Font soon.  Sighing, she climbed up the next dune into the sun again.  As she crossed the next dune, the crystal inside her shirt started to vibrate.  Pulling it out again, she fell to her knees as a beam of light shot from it over the dessert into a dune a few miles away, destroying the better part of a dune.  Putting the crystal back into her shirt, she slid down the dune and continued on.

Kai stood on the top of a dune further to the west of Rael.  He pulled out a pair of binoculars he had found in the ruins and repaired some time ago.  Looking towards the horizon, Kai saw Rael standing on a dune about a mile away.
"To think that the old bitch would betray me by sending her!"
Shaking with impotent fury, Kai watched Rael make her way down one dune and up the next when he saw a beam of light fly off towards the west and blow a chunk out of the sand.  Quickly putting the binoculars away, Kai stared into the setting sun.
"I can't let her beat me there. If she does I won't have power enough."
Taking a run start, Kai slid down the dune and ran up the next one quickly gaining on Rael.

Rael slid down the final dune into the entrance of what seemed to be a cave.  As she looked around, she realised that it wasn't a cave but a building that had been covered in centuries of sand from various sandstorms.  As she walked further into the darkness, she wished she brought a torch with her.  As she left daylight behind and her eyes became accustomed to the darkness, she realised that there was a light shining further down the tunnel.  Thanking her clan's god, she walked through a shattered doorway and into the main chamber of this long deserted building.  What awaited her she could only gasp at.

The light she had seen emanated from a massive crystal of anaqueda reaching from the floor to the roof of a dome some 20 feet above her.  The anaqueda had continued to grow along the roof, walls, and floor over the centuries creating a thin layer of glowing crystal over everything.  As she walked to the main crystal, the crystal started to vibrate in her shirt again.  As she pulled it out, it flew out of her grasp and fused itself into a hole in the large crystal.
"Oh no!  Lady Arlena's crystal! She'll kill me!"
Rael hurried over to look at where the crystal had fused with the larger one.  As she looked for a way to pull the crystal off, horror overtook her.

There was a creature inside the crystal.

Description
Fun In The Sand

Rael crawled up a sand dune and looked out over yet another vast expanse of sand.  She hoped she wasn't lost.  Reaching into her shirt, she pulled out the small crystal and held it up to the sun.  If she tilted it just right, it was supposed to tell her the direction to the Spirit Font.  Bending almost over backwards to see through the crystal, Rael lost her balance and fell down the opposite side of the dune.  Landing at the bottom, she rubbed the sand out of her eyes and spat to get the sand taste out of her mouth.  Shaking her head, she pulled out a flask from her pack and took a sip of water.  There wasn't much left, so she hoped she came to the Spirit Font soon.  Sighing, she climbed up the next dune into the sun again.  As she crossed the next dune, the crystal inside her shirt started to vibrate.  Pulling it out again, she fell to her knees as a beam of light shot from it over the dessert into a dune a few miles away, destroying the better part of a dune.  Putting the crystal back into her shirt, she slid down the dune and continued on.

Kai stood on the top of a dune further to the west of Rael.  He pulled out a pair of binoculars he had found in the ruins and repaired some time ago.  Looking towards the horizon, Kai saw Rael standing on a dune about a mile away.
"To think that the old bitch would betray me by sending her!"
Shaking with impotent fury, Kai watched Rael make her way down one dune and up the next when he saw a beam of light fly off towards the west and blow a chunk out of the sand.  Quickly putting the binoculars away, Kai stared into the setting sun.
"I can't let her beat me there. If she does I won't have power enough."
Taking a run start, Kai slid down the dune and ran up the next one quickly gaining on Rael.

Rael slid down the final dune into the entrance of what seemed to be a cave.  As she looked around, she realised that it wasn't a cave but a building that had been covered in centuries of sand from various sandstorms.  As she walked further into the darkness, she wished she brought a torch with her.  As she left daylight behind and her eyes became accustomed to the darkness, she realised that there was a light shining further down the tunnel.  Thanking her clan's god, she walked through a shattered doorway and into the main chamber of this long deserted building.  What awaited her she could only gasp at.

The light she had seen emanated from a massive crystal of anaqueda reaching from the floor to the roof of a dome some 20 feet above her.  The anaqueda had continued to grow along the roof, walls, and floor over the centuries creating a thin layer of glowing crystal over everything.  As she walked to the main crystal, the crystal started to vibrate in her shirt again.  As she pulled it out, it flew out of her grasp and fused itself into a hole in the large crystal.
"Oh no!  Lady Arlena's crystal! She'll kill me!"
Rael hurried over to look at where the crystal had fused with the larger one.  As she looked for a way to pull the crystal off, horror overtook her.

There was a creature inside the crystal.