Page 31 of Joy Guardian

A funnel formed around her feet.

“What do I do?” she asked softly, holding as still as a mouse.

I froze too, afraid to breathe with my mind rushing in search of a solution.

“Give me your hand.” I reached for her.

She nodded, stretching her arm toward me. But our hands never connected.

“Ah!” With a single sound, she disappeared, swallowed by the sand at once.

I fell to my knees, digging in the sand for the woman I couldn’t stand to lose.

“Ciana, Ciana, Ciana…” I chanted like a prayer to my new goddess, the only one I prayed to.

My tendrils unfurled, spurred not by logic but desperation. I speared with them through the sand, sifting and searching.

How long could a human live without air?

How long had it been since she fell?

It felt like ages had already passed with me searching through the sand.

Fully extended, the tendrils reached deeper. Deep underground, I sensed the pull of herleilathasand let it happen. I let my tendrils connect to her emotions.

Her fear overwhelmed me. It was so raw and base, slamming into me like a mountain of darkness. But it brought relief too. Shefelt. It meant she was still alive.

I reached deeper into the funnel in the sand. Following the tendrils with my hands, I found her by touch.

“Ciana.” I pulled her up, freeing her face and shoulders.

She coughed. Her eyes opened wide. She saw me, and recognition softened the terror on her face.

“Oh my God, Kurai.” She threw her arms around my neck, clinging to me like to a lifeline.

“I’ve got you.” I pressed my cheek to the side of her face, savoring the warmth of life in her skin. I touched the side of herneck with my lips. The pulse of blood in her veins gave me reassurance. “Let me get you out.”

I pulled her up, but the sand wouldn’t release her. It moved around her body, sifting and pushing her down.

“I’ve got you,” I repeated stubbornly, ready to fight the desert, the sky, and the sun for her.

The sand shifted around us. The funnel widened, burying my legs.

“We’re falling!” Ciana screamed in panic.

Letting go of her was unthinkable. I hugged her to me tightly, and we went down together.

Sand enclosed us in an airless tomb. I couldn’t hear or see Ciana anymore. But I felt her with my tendrils. Her fear exploded into panic, but she tried to hold it at bay. She couldn’t breathe, but she wasn’t dying yet.

The sand slipped by us like a dry, abrasive shroud, releasing us into nothing but air and darkness. Then we fell into a pile of sand below.

Muted daylight filtered through the stream of sand falling from the hole above that Ciana and I had fallen through. The sand kept falling over us like a waterfall.

“Kurai? Where are you?”

I found her hand and pulled her with me, climbing out of the sand pile and onto a hard stone floor.

“Are you all right?” I turned to her.

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