Page 74 of Cursed By Gold

I'm falling...falling through a vortex of screaming color and noise. It seems to last an eternity, until my knees abruptly strike earth. My vision swims back into focus under a blistering sun. The robed mages are gone. In their place...nothing but scorched desert sands in all directions.

Disoriented, I gain my feet and scan the undulating dunes. The arena is nowhere in sight. How is this possible? Some powerful spell must have transported me elsewhere instantly. But why?

Hot wind buffets my face as I turn slowly, searching for anything besides repetitive miles of baked sand. In the distance, something catches the light - an enormous glass wall. My eyes follow it and to my surprise, I find myself entirely surrounded by this glass wall that extends to create a bubble over my head high in the sky.

My mind races to make sense of it all. This must be the final trial - some conjured world meant to test our limits. Focus, Scarlet. What did the mage say? Perception is fleeting...only courage endures. He failed to mention that with the sun glaring into the glass I will bake in here if I take too long. Suddenly my cooking joke seems funny to me in a whole new way. Or perhaps I’ve already had my mind lost to the heat. Either way, I need to do this fast. Whatever it is I need to do.

As I look at the sand near my feet I notice it’s slowly moving. All in one direction. With no other unique identifiers I decide following that would be my best bet.

The sun beats down unrelentingly as I trudge up yet another massive dune. Sweat dampens my back and brow, sand grinding between my teeth. My throat is parched, every swallow painful. But I conserve my limited water rations carefully.

The glass looms no closer despite the endless miles crossed. The repetitive slopes taunt me with false nearness. All I can do is grit my teeth and put one aching foot in front of the other.

Some time later, movement on a nearby ridge catches my eye. Three bulky silhouettes crest the dune, lumbersome bodies swinging. I freeze, squinting against the harsh sunlight.

My hand goes to my dagger. Some desert creatures perhaps? I count only three. If they attack, I may be able to dispatch themswiftly and conserve strength. I sink into a crouch, slow breaths steadying my nerves.

As the figures trudge down the sandy slope toward me, deep furrows trail behind their footfalls. Closer now, I make out thick limbs, oversized torsos, misshapen heads. No natural beast moves like that.

My mouth goes dry for reasons unrelated to thirst. These lumbering giants are each easily twice my height. Their hulking bodies seem to roil and reform constantly amid plumes of sand. Realization hits my tired brain - these are elemental creatures, their frames composed of animated desert sands. Sand gollems!

Fear sinks icy claws into my chest. No ordinary weapon can fell such conjured behemoths. I must flee!

I surge upright and sprint desperately for a rocky outcropping nearby, my stiff legs screaming protest. Risking a glance back, my heart stutters. The gollems are already halfway down the dune, ground shuddering under their purposeful strides.

I pour every ounce of strength into my flagging limbs. But my head start shrinks rapidly on the shifting sands. Angling toward the outcropping, I scramble frantically upward on burning thighs, lungs heaving scalding air.

A massive hand sails past my ankle, seeking purchase. With a final grunt I crest the ridge and half-slide, half-fall down the opposite side, crashing in a breathless heap. Gulping air, I claw behind a tall boulder and huddle trembling. My gambit worked, for now.

Heavy footsteps circle the base below. I clench my eyes shut, trying to slow my ragged gasps. Maybe they'll miss me and continue on...

The boulder blocking me shudders violently under a thunderous blow, sand raining down. I bite back a scream as one enormous gollem after another batters the rock, seeking to dislodge it.

Wedging myself further into a crevice, I fumble desperately for options. I dropped all my gear in my reckless flight. Without tools or magic, I'm utterly defenseless.

The stone shielding me cracks down the middle under the ceaseless assault. We're running out of time! I look about wildly and spot a chunk of the boulder broken loose nearby. An idea sparks.

I wedge my hands beneath the basketball-sized fragment and heave with all my might. It barely budges. Clenching my jaw, I gather my legs under me and push with everything left in my burning muscles. The chunk rises, wobbling.

With a guttural cry I half-lift, half-kick the massive stone at the weakest gollem battering the boulder beside me. The heavy missile catches it squarely, forcing it back a step. Sand spills from its torso like blood but quickly re-forms. Not enough!

Fury overtakes fear. I will not cower helplessly as death looms! Grabbing more broken debris, I hurl every stone and shard within reach at the trio of gollems. They stagger under the barrage but keep coming.

My teeth split against each other from the force of my screams as I continue flinging every loose bit of the environment I can wield. Bloody scrapes cover my hands and arms from wrestling with rubble nearly too heavy to grasp. Still I rage on. If these are to be my final breaths, I will fight 'til the last!

Finally, a lucky stone propelled by adrenaline and desperation strikes the wounded gollem's head clean off. The enormous body hesitates, sand swirling uncertainly. Then the whole form collapses into a harmless pile, blown away swiftly on the desert winds.

The sight reignites hope's guttering flame inside me. They can be defeated! Shouting hoarsely, I redouble my efforts against the remaining two. Step by agonizing step, I force them back under my desperate barrage.

At long last, the second gollem's chest shatters into clumps. Before it can regenerate, I tackle it bodily and we crash down the slope in a tangle of limbs. Its body dissolves completely beneath me as we roll to a jarring stop on level ground.

I lurch up, head swimming with exhaustion. Only one adversary remains now. It pauses warily at the ridge top, observing its decimated allies. Then, with an eerie moan, it turns and retreats the way it came.

My legs give out and I collapse onto hands and knees. Half-crazed laughter bubbles up between ragged gasps. I defeated them. Somehow, impossibly, I held my ground and survived!

As I search for and retrieve my daggers from where I dropped them, I process how long I’ve been in here. None of the others before me had been gone as long as I feel I have been. Was I sent somewhere different? Is there some magic at play affecting the lapse of time in here?

I have to keep going. I’ve lost all sense of time at this point.

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