Bayacrux Chapter 2

"I think this is where I last saw her", Shed said, his feet kicking small grains of sand off the sand dune they walked up, hundreds of tiny bits of material bouncing off their comrades and forming an invisible hill at the bottom of the dune. Shed stopped and wiped his forehead, feeling sweat wipe off on his hand.
"Did you know that sweat and urine contain small amounts of a waste substance?"
Frecyo, who had been in the middle of licking sweat off his finger out of thirst, stopped and gagged. He spit onto the sand, leaving a dark mark where the saliva landed.
"Damnit Shed", he said."If I was a squeamish person I might've done more than spit"
Shed shrugged. "Sorry"

The sun beamed down on the desert, and the air was dry but still heavy, the horizon seeming to "move" in the heat. Fre saw something dark on the bottom of the sand dune they were climbing.

"Water!", he called out, running, then tumbling headfirst down the dune. His hands met rock, as Shed followed him more cautiously to what appeared to be a stairwell down into the sand.
"The heat is making you crazy. Here, have a drink" Shed held the canteen out to Frecyo.
Fre grabbed the canteen, gulping a mouthful of water. He put the opening up to his lips, but shed pulled it away.
"We need to save our water for the return trip", Shed said quietly.
"What's wrong?", Fre asked.
"See", Shed said, "I was going to give this monster as a present to my girlfriend. It's very beautiful, and I think she would like it. See, she doesn't have an instrument or anything, but she does have the potential to become a Mayao. She's a good singer"
"ah", Fre said. He paused for a second, and stared into the darkness. "Well... there's something strange about this. You're a powerful Mayao, and don't you think it's strange that even your flute couldn't call the monster?"
Shed sighed. "It's a barrier enchantment"
"I know, but aren't those only able to be cast by powerful Mages? We might not have enough strength to beat him"
"Look, we have to get this back! Please..." his voice went from angry to begging.
"Fine", Fre sighed. "but couldn't we have brought a few other Mayao?"
"You're the only one I know well enough to take on this trip", he said.
Fre looked up at the sun and started walking into the darkness. Shed grabbed his shoulder.
"You might want to watch out for those stairs"

The dungeon was dry, but cool. The walls were lined with a grey stone that seemed to fit together well, leaving no space for sand to seep through, although there was some tracked on the floor. The only light came from Glo-Sticks Fre and Shed carried.
"Couldn't we have brought torches?", Fre asked, staring at his own light-blue Glo-Stick.
"We don't want to make it hotter", Shed explained.
As they got further in the tunnel it began to get darker, and Shed took out additional Glo-Necklaces, bracelets, and sticks. The two Mayao looked like Glo-Humans, Shed in green and Fre in blue.
They didn't see anyone in the cave, but they knew something came in and out by the sand tracked on the floor. they both looked around cautiously for any monsters or dark Mayao.
Shed sniffed the air. "I smell something"
"Monster?" Fre asked.
"No...", Shed said. he strained to identify the scent, sniffing at the air for traces of a smell he couldn't grasp.
They finally came to a dead end. Shed threw the Glo-Stick on his neck away. the worn out canister of light rolled down the hall behind them. Shed opened his pack and took out another, this one a delicious shade of lime green according to the color sticker on the package. He snapped the Glo-Stick, hearing the satisfying sound of a working source of colorful light. He put it up to the wall, staring.
"This brick looks different than the others", he said.
"Oh how cliche", Fre sighed. Shed pushed the brick, and the door opened with a grating sound. The room up above was illuminated by a skylight, making Fre and Shed seem like tourists, decked out in their Glo-Merchandise. They stared slack-jawed at the horrid scene they saw in the room.

On the far wall of the room, there was a strange cross-like object, that had been warped into strange patterns, covered with carvings of demons and evil creatures. Pinned to the cross with stakes made of corroded iron was a once-majestic bird. It's body was splattered with deep red blood. It's feathery plume, great wings, and long tail were all the colors of the rainbow, and it's body was purple, but those colors had faded with death, leaving dull, pale ones in their place. The bird creature had it's eyes closed, and blood was dripping from it's open beak into a bowl set on the floor. The bowl was covered in the same demonic designs that were on the cross. Small drops came out of the bird's beak, slowly running down it's tounge and splashing into the bowl. the room was completely silent except for that plunk, plunk noise.,
shed just stared for a moment, the horror of the scene engulfing him. Fre held his head down, unable to turn back time and save the creature.
The silence was broken by an ominous rumbling. Shed and Fre looked around, unable to tell where it was coming from. Suddenly, the brick wall behind the strange cross shattered, snapping what was left of the bird's hollow bone. The bowl of blood on the ground also spilled over, drenching the floor in thick crimson liquid.
A large, squat dragon creature burst through the wall. It had horns covering it's craggy skin, and it was the color of the spilt blood. It let out a mighty roar, one that shattered the glass skylight at the top of the room. Frecyo backed away, but Shed held his staff in front of him, ready for a battle.
"Shed! What are you doing! You're fighting the Fire God!"
"If Iris was sacrificed to summon this thing, I can't let it stay here for much longer", Shed replied. He jumped at the creature without looking back, and chanted the words of a spell under his breath. Suddenly, the earth rose up on the monster, pinning it to the ceiling. Shed struggled to hold the spell, trying to break the creatures bones. But it was too much for him, and he let out a deep breath, the earth lowering into the ground where it belonged. The creature seemed slightly fazed, but it puffed up it's chest and let out a stream of fire. Shed ran to the doorway, barely avoiding it. The creature moved closer.
For the first time, Shed got a peek of one of the creature's eyes. They were hidden under large, sagging eyelids.
"Why does he keep his eyes closed?", Shed mused quietly. "Isn't he at a disadvantage that way?"
then he remembered a tale that a shady-looking Ninja in Kurichaa that each of the gods had a weak spot that they tried to hide. If you could take out the god's weak spot they would leave Earth to heal.
"Fre!", he shouted. "Aim for the eyes!"
Fre nodded and grabbed his sword. he ran against the wall, but turned sharply and delivered his sword into the monster's half-open eye. A clear liquid oozed out of the eyeball where it had been struck.
Fre spat, throwing all the Glo-Stuff off of himself. "I think I've been thourghily grossed out today"
The battle continued, Fre and Shed dodging the creature's strikes and attacking his eyes. He had 8.
when there were 2 eyes left intact, Shed sat down at the entrance to the hall.
"I'm out of power", he panted. "Keep fighting without me"
Not being able to heal him, Fre charged, running toward the creature. But this time the God of Fire was ready. He stomped on the swordsman Mayao as he approached, bruising his bones. he kept his foot on Frecyo, not too kill him, but rather to keep him still, and stared at Shed with his two good eyes.
Shed fumbled through his bag for something that would help him recover, as the monster just stood and stared. Fre groaned.
I can think of a strategy while he's recovering, Shed thought. He began to think about how to get Fre out and take out the God, but he was distracted by voices coming from the ground above.
"Hey, hey, I see water!" It was a teenage girl's voice, one of the lower pitched ones, but still recognizable as female. Shed looked up, and he thought he saw Fre and the monster do too. They heard the sound of sandals on sand, then a cry, and saw a girl fall to the ground in a blur of white. shed looked down and saw she was wearing a white lab coat. She had long, waist-length dark brown hair, and wore light, almost white pants. She sat up, and Shed could see that she had a red shirt, with edges trimmed in gold to form a shape that looked like a red plus sign. In her hands were two swords, curved into semicircles and connected at the handles, which were two snakes curling together.
"Are you okay?", a voice called out from above.
The girl looked at the blood red god creature. "No, I don't think so"