Yara woke with a long, slow raspy inhale, her lips slightly parted and her upper body arced into a smooth semicircle. Then her spine straightened and she snapped upright; body sitting taunt and quivering. She remained like that for a few seconds then she rose to her feet. Her eyes were covered with a thin strip of cloth yet she moved fluidly out of the room, her bare feel making no noise as she made her way down the corridors of the orphanage. She stopped at a flap, pausing again for a few seconds and then slipped inside. A young, dark skinned girl lay on her stomach, with a hand full of sand and the other under the flat pillow. Yara reached out and touched the girl on her shoulder. It was like pulling a trigger. The girl flung the sand out and there was a flash of silver and the cold blade of a small dagger was pressed against Yara’s neck.

“Magala,” Yara said, “I am hearing voices again. I need to go out.” Magala nodded, pulled away her dagger and gestured to the fallen grains of sand. The sand flowed up and formed a bracelet around her hand.

“How far do you need to go?” Magala asked.

“Far out,” Yara said spreading her hands wide, “I need much space.” Magala took a hold of her hand and led the way out of the Orphanage Tent.

It was cold outside but Yara did not notice it. Her mind was filled with the soft, insistent voices of Those Who Spoke From Beyond. Magala was leading them across the sand to another tent. She stopped not far from it and flicked her wrist. The sand changed shape to a small beetle and it leapt from her wrist and scuttled under the tent flap. In a few minutes a thin boy slipped out with the beetle resting on his shoulder. Magala nodded to him and the beetle streamed away from his shoulder and into her wrist again.

“She’s hearing voices again,” Magala explained, “She needs much space.” The boy knelt down to the sand and took a handful. He placed his other hand over it and closed his eyes.

“There is a place that will be safe soon,” he said letting the sand fall away from his hand, “We should get Horim and then make our way there.” The three made their way to another tent that was larger than all the rest expect the Head Tent and the Orphanage Tent. Magala sent her sand beetle again and Horim took a shorter time to come out. He took one look at the group and then nodded.

“I have all that we should need,” he said and Girah took the lead while they followed his footprints into the dark desert.

They walked until the sky began to change colour from dark blue in a light blue and faint pink. Yara suddenly stopped.

“Here,” she said, “I can hear them now.” She paused. “I can hear her now.” Yara began turning slowly, her head cocked as if she was following the sound of something. She held out her arms, still turning, taking a few steps in one direction then in another. “She is coming now,” Yara said, “She is crying. She is calling out names. She is calling us.” Yara dropped her arms and stood facing empty air. The other three share confused looks.

“She is calling our names?” Magala asked. Yara said nothing. Magala moved to place a hand on Yara’s shoulder. “Yara?”

“Yara! Magala! Horim! Girah!” Yara suddenly screamed. Magala flinched back instinctively. “Oh Great Farilahdanma! Lead me to them! Lead me to them! So much death. Oh Great…. I cannot keep going! Where are they? I am almost done. If I cannot find them all is lost! Yara! Magala! Horim! Girah!” Magala moved again to take hold of Yara’s shoulder when Yara pointed her hand to the ground. The other three followed her arm.

There was nothing. And then the sand began shift, spiraling round and round. Then with a soft sigh the sand bust upward into a funnel; only that the top was a peak and the bottom was the wide base. The sand began to spiral faster and faster and then it burst apart. Kneeling on the sand before was a woman. She coughed twice, blood splattering on the sand in front of her. Then she looked up at them. And she smiled.

“Thank Farilah….” She began then collapsed.

Escape.

Horim sat with one hand on the woman’s head while the other was held over a pile of sand that was resting on her stomach. Yara was sitting beside him humming a little while Magala and Girah were keeping watch. Girah glanced back at them, seeing Horim gesture gently over the sand and a layer of it flowed away to some part of the woman that was wounded. He knew that once it reached the wound, Horim would utilize his gift and the sand would merge in the woman and become whole flesh again. He had been the subject of Horim’s gift many times before but it still never failed to awe him at seeing it done. He turned back to face the desert.

“How long again before we have to move?” Magala asked. He bent to touch his hands to the sand.

“About ten minutes,” he replied getting up and dusting his hands off. Magala turned her head slightly toward Horim who answered without looking back at her.

“I’m am…” he paused for a few seconds, “done.” With that he pulled both hands together palm against palm and then slapped his hands hard down onto the woman’s body; one on her chest and the other on the stomach. The woman let out a long, wheezing gasp, arched high in the air then dropped limply back to the sand. Magala and Girah moved to close in the circle, walking backwards so that they would not take their eyes off the desert. The woman was awake and breathing in short, soft gasps which lengthened out into deep even breaths and then she sat up. She extended her arms, clenching her fists, rotating her shoulders, twisting from side to side and finally got to her feet.

“It’s just like I remember you doing it,” she said in awe, “I had forgotten how good you were at this Horim.” Then she spun to face Magala, who had her arm extended to the side with a sand blade already formed and waiting to be used. “I am not your enemy here, Magala. We are still on the same side.” Magala said nothing. Yara stood up and took Magala’s free hand.

“She speaks the truth,” she said, “She is not our enemy here.” Yara turned to face the woman, “But elsewhere.” She paused, cocked her head as if listening to something very far away, “But elsewhen. Another time. In another place.”

“If you will become our enemy,” Magala said, “Why have you come here? To kill us? And from when have you come?”

The woman swallowed hard and all at once seemed to grow small and frail. “The story is not an easy one to tell…” she began then Girah held a hand up. He dropped to the sand placing both palms flat.

“Something is coming,” he said, looking out into the darkness, “And it isn’t something I know.”

Both Yara and the woman spoke at the same time, “Black Sand.”

Then they all saw it. A shadow running across the sand but the moonlight that fell on it seemed to just sink into it. There was no change in the shadow from the angles of the sand dunes that it flowed over. It was simply an all compassing darkness. It flowed till it was but a few feet away from them and then it began to bubble. The woman hissed and spoke urgently.

“Come closer to me, take hold of each other’s hands. Do it now!” Magala glared at her but nodded to Yara. Yara took hold of Horim who took hold of Girah. The woman stepped to face Magala. “I know you don’t trust me but right now I am the only one that can get us out of here. I promise that I will explain everything once we are safe. Please. If you don’t come with me, everything is lost.” Magala narrowed her eyes and glanced at Yara. The younger girl nodded. The woman held her hand out for Magala to hold.

“If you betray my trust,” Magala said returning the sand blade to a bracelet and taking the woman’s hand, “I will bury you.” The woman shuddered as she took Magala’s hand.

“I know,” she said as she reached into a pouch and pulled out a handful of gold coloured sand, “I’ve seen you do it.” Then she cast one look back at the Black Sand that was now forming into shapes. “We must run,” she said and began running. Magala saw the woman hold her hand in front of her and a fine line of gold sand began to fall. The sand beneath their feet began to shift and swirl, just like before when the woman appeared out of the funnel. Then then the sand began to lift around them, funneling faster and faster, going up into a peak, Magala turned her gaze from the funnel and saw that the fine line of sand was coming to an end. When the last of the sand dropped from the Woman’s hands the funnel bust apart and they were standing in a large stone courtyard.

“Where are we?” Horim asked as the woman collapsed to her knees. Yara was the once who answered.

“No,” she said softly, “When are we?” 

Yara walked up to the Woman and touched her. The Woman jerked once and then grew still as Yara connected to her mind.

"Tell me," she whispered. The woman shuddered. Yara frowned and moved around so that she was facing the Woman and took hold of the Woman's head with both her hands.

"Tell me," she said louder. The woman tried to pull away but Yara took firmer hold of her; using the connection to drive the woman to her hands and knees. "Who are you?" Yara hissed, "Where are you from? What is your name?" The woman opened her mouth then shut it with a loud click of teeth. Yara growled a bit and the reached up to rip the cloth from her eyes. Milk white orbs moved to lock gazes with the woman's own dark eyes. The Woman let out a low whine. "Tell me what I want to know!" Yara screamed, "TELL ME!"

The woman's whine began to grow higher and higher in pitch until it was a siren's wail. Magara leapt forward, snatched up the cloth and yanked it down over Yara's eyes. Yara let go the woman's head as if she had been burned. The woman's fell to the ground; her body convulsing. Magala glanced at Horim who was already rushing to the woman's side with sand in hand. Yara stood like a statue as Magala gently adjusted the cloth over her eyes and tied it back. There was a sick silence that was broken only by the woman's guttural moans of pain and Yara's hard breathing.

"I know,"Yara said her voice low and broken, "I know. I should have waited. I should have asked. I never ask!" She slapped her face into her hands her body shaking violently as she began to cry. Magala moved to hold her tightly against herself. No one said anything as they waited for Yara to finish crying and for Horim's verdict.

When Horim finally looked up the woman was sleeping. He looked pale and was drenched in sweat. He rose to his feet, staggered a bit and then came over to Yara. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "You almost killed her. I used all the healing sand I had to save her life," he said in a low dangerous voice, "Don't ever do that again Yara." She nodded and sniffed. "She will not be awake for a little while," he said to the group, "I think now is a good time to find out what Yara got from her." Magala let Yara go and genstured to the ground. The sand moved to form a smooth, firm floor. They sat down and Yara began.

"She is from our future," Yara said, "We become friends with her when we come upon her Caravan. They were attacked and only a few people survived. She was one of them. Then a man came from seemingly nowhere called the Prince of the Dark Sand. He began to destroy and take over all the cities and enslave the people. When he came upon our Caravan we fought him but we couldn't stop him. He took us prisoner. I couldn't get beyond that. Those memories were so deeply hidden I couldn't reach them without pushing harder." She paused… "But then I would have killed her to get them."

There was another sick silence and then a hoarse voice spoke out. "He tortured us." They turned to see the woman, staring up at the sky with tears running down her face. "He broke us and remade us into his perfect weapons. We were the most terrible people you could imagine. We destroyed and killed without second thought. Ripping through minds and bodies with easy."

"What happened?" Girah said, "Something must have happened for you be here."

"I woke up," the woman said, "One day on the battle field we fought a group of men that just wouldn't give up. They were crawling out of the sand with limbs missing and they wouldn't stop. I couldn't figure out what made them keep coming. We were all brainwashed into believing that what we were doing was the right thing. But it was them that made we stop and look around after every battle we fought afterward. And there was nothing that we were doing that was right!" The woman's hoarse voice became clogged with tears, "We were monsters and the man that made us that was the worst monster of all." The four glanced at each other with heavy, sick feeling in their stomachs.

"There was no way to kill him?" Magala asked, "Or us?" the woman sighed.

"I thought about it," she said, "But I couldn't kill you. You four were my friends. We had held each other up, stuck by each other. We were like family. I couldn't do it. So the only thing was to kill him. If I figure out a way to kill the monster that made us, maybe we could have found a way to stop being the monsters that he had must be. But it could not be done in my time. I had go back. I had to find the place in time that he was most vulnerable and stop him."

"You are going to kill him?" Girah asked slowly. The woman gritted her teeth and with a low groan pulled herself upright.

"I am not going to kill him," she said, "According to what I found out. A few miles from here, a young man would be walking across the sands. He would find a box. In that box would contain a vial of cursed black sand that he would take home with him. That would be the start of the Prince of the Dark Sand. All we need to do is to make sure that he does not get that box."

"Are you sure that will be enough to stop him?" Magala asked.

The woman shrugged painfully, "I don't know. But I hope that it is. That hope is all I can give you."

"Your name," Magala said, "What is it?" The woman smiled.

"I'm Jia."

Yara made apologies to Jia while Girah worked his magic. Jia nodded to her and they shook hands. "I promise I won't do it again" Yara said earnestly, "I really won't."

"You may have to," Jia said, "Sometime, somewhere, in order to save lives; you may have to. Just make sure that you know when that time comes. And be prepared to deal with the consequences." Yara looked at her for along moment and then nodded. Girah stood up and dusted his hands.

"I found it," he said his voice tight, "It is like a black spot. A darkness in the world." He looked over at Jia. "This Sand needs to be destroyed, you know. How can we do that?" Jia shrugged.

"Let's just get that box first," she said, "Then we can figure out what to do with it." Magala gestured to sand in front of them and it began to rise and twist. They watched as she framed a massive Sand Beast.

"Get on," she said, clambering onto it, "Girah will ride with me and navigate." They all moved quickly onto the beast and Magala placed he hands on its back. And then it was off. Girah was whispering directions to her as the wind blew in their faces and their ears were filled with the soft sound of sand against sand as the Sand Beast glided its way across a strange desert.

It felt as if they had been riding for just a few minutes before Girah shouted that they had arrived. Magala gestured and the Sand Beast slowed and gently collapsed, depositing them safely on their feet. They didn't need to look for the box. They could feel the power of it, reaching up for them. Magala gestured again and the sand began to shift making a hole in the ground. Then the box emerged. Magala stopped as it reached the surface. They all stood looking at it; both repulsed and attracted to its power.

"Thank Farilahdanma," Jia said and reached down to pick up the box. She shuddered as she held it and looked like she wanted to retch. Girah spun around.

"We need to leave now," he said looking across the sand, "Someone is coming. I assume that it is him." Jia nodded and tucked the box under one arm. She reached into a pocket and took out a small vial of gold coloured sand. She placed it into the hand that held the box. Then she held her hand out to the others.

"Take my hand," she said, "Let's go." They took hands as before. Jia flicked the top of the Vial open with her thumb.

"We are not going to run?" Magala asked.

"We don't need to," Jia said and tilted the vial down. The sand began to fall, glowing as soon as it left the vial. They watched it fall and as it hit the ground the world around them spun wildly; blurring and the ground began to distort. They watched as the sand was replaced by dirt, then grasses. The grasses blended to become water and then the water erupted into flames and molten rock. Then the rock smoothed into a dark stone floor and the floor began to crack. White light speared out of the cracks and then the floor shattered into nothing but a glowing field of light. The sand stopped falling. They looked up to see that they were in a massive building made of glowing white rock. They turned to see massive steps leading up to a huge Dias. On top of the Dias there stood a figure. Jia let go of thei r hands and walked over to the steps. She placed the box down of the first step and walked back to them. They watched as the figure flashed once and then was at the bottom of the step. The tall woman, dressed in a gold dress looked at the box and then walked over to them.

"Welcome," she said, her voice low and melodious.

"Farilahdanma," Jia said bowing her head a little. Farilahdanma smiled at her and reached out to touch her shoulder.

"You have done well to bring this to us Jia Time Killer," the woman said, "Now your future and the future of your friends can be redone. No more will you need to bear the names that the Prince of the Dark Sand has caused you to have."

"You are the Woman Time," Yara said in a hushed, awed voice. The Woman looked at her.

"Even now you power grows, Yara Mind Slayer," she said, "But a Mind Slayer you will not become, if you will it. That course can still be yours if you take it." She then turned to Magala who had her fists clenched.

"For once these rocks and sands do not obey your call Magala Destroyer," the woman, "Your own will to control all will lead you down dark paths. You need to learn that you cannot have control over everything and that lack of control is not a weakness. Trust in the wisdom of others as well as your own." Magala let her fists fall open and nodded.

The Woman reached into her robe and took out a small vial. She handed it over to Horim. "Horim Life Ender. May you use this wisely. Your gift is one of life and not death. Follow the goodness of your heart when you learn the dark side of your art." Horim took the vial and gasped. He looked as if to speak but the Woman shook her head and smiled.

She moved to Girah. "Do you know where you are?" He nodded and swallowed hard.

"We are outside of time," he whispered, "We are nowhere and everywhere. I can feel it." She nodded. "Girah Death Seeker. Never forget that there is a place that cannot be found except with the heart. And when you find that place, never stray from it."

Then in a flash of light, Farilahdanma was back atop of Dias. She raised her hands and they saw her smile before the world went white.

Epilogue.

They came upon the burning Caravan in the dead of night. It was eerily surreal. Then Magala sprang into action, gesturing so that the sand was moving like water dousing over the flames and subduing them. Their people were already moving towards the caravan searching for survivors. Horim and his family had split up and where going wherever they got a call from someone. Girah was checking to see if there was anyone around that may have caused this and may have been circling back. Yara was telling the Caravan Elder what she could glean from the voices of the dead. It took them to the wee morning hours before they found that they only had three survivors. Magala met Horim as he emerged from the Healing Tent.

He looked tired but happy. "They are going to make it and without a scar too." Magala smiled with him and patted his shoulder. "By the way," Horim said grinning as the other two came up, "The survivors names as Furi, Norel and Jia." They all shared a short moment of silence and then they broke out into big grins. Horim gestured to the tent. "She's awake and wants to see us." They all glanced up to sky for a brief moment, each one remembering a white Hall and a tall Woman. Then they moved together to enter the tent and welcome the missing piece back into their lives.