The Advent Child

The Advent Children

Three young mice were chomping on a dead rat with gusto; it would have made Carol disgusted if she were not wishing she had something to eat as well. The young Carol looked at her arm’s appearance, with its yellow skin with bluish blemishes. She was disgusted and felt her lunch try to escape her month. She cannot remember when she last felt the cool night air, it had just been sunny days with no wind for months. All the plants show a similar withering that the people’s cracked skin. The cracks were disgusting to look at as it reminded Carol of a rotting fruit, with unhealthy green and blue hue with a moldy and sick smell. The people will complain for some reason, there was not much to do around the valley. The sandy dunes just outside were not exactly exciting, and the horizon and the sky was just ugly gray. The life was just a constant state of survival and melancholy.

But on this day, there was a bright blue light a few miles away from the valley and Carol was desperate to find it. She needed something that was not just gray, and she will risk walking through the still hot and unforgiving sands and the aggressive wildlife to find it. Dying was a normal part of life here anyway that Carol was orphaned two weeks ago but she lost so many loved ones that she thinks little of it. The young woman was so excited that she didn’t know that aside from her arm, her heels were bleeding and the calluses on her fingers were torn away, causing the skin of her fingers has peeled away.

She reached the base of the blue light; it was in the center of ring of dunes. She was rush rabidly towards it and she hit something hard. It felt like stone, but it was smoother than a rock from a riverbed. The circle made by the formation of sand dunes was odd, now that she pays attention. She still wants to inspect the hard blue light, but she has instincts imbedded in her that tells her that she needs to investigate if she does not want to die. Did people already arrive here?

There were other human settlements but the inhabitants were torrential and greedy. They were some of the worst beings to meet in Womtomb Desert.

Carol started sniffing around, nothing. She stuck her tongue out, nothing. She lick the tips of her fingers and waited, nothing. The young woman was getting frustrated but swallow her feelings and laid down on the sand, belly flat and cupping her ears. She hears a faint scratching.

She slowly raise up follow the sounds, leading to the blue light. She feels a slight push from the light. She spreads her arms out and looks at her arm hairs. She see them moves. She feels a tingle crawl up her spine. She knows that whatever is behind the hard blue light is dangerous.

When the light starts to blink, the scratching stops. Carol steps back cautiously unlatches her pelt belt. This belt was a sling and is more durable than one would think. She had use this hunt down prey and ward off dangerous predators. If anything picks a fight with her, they were in a rude surprise.

As the cracking started and bits of the lights started shattering, she revved up her swings as a long three fingered hand stretched through. The hand slammed down, Carol already jumped as she didn't want to be carried by the literal waves of sands. The shattered space widen and long shout face with big human eyes looked through.

Carol and the alien locked eyes. The alien’s eyes looked pain and Carol felt something. When the alien stretched their other arm, Carol grasped their hand. Carol felt the alien's weak and shaky grip and gave a strong and steady squeeze of reassurance. The alien seemed to understand and pull. Carol gripped the sands and the alien’s head, barrel and hindquarters came through the shattered space.

The blue light fade away but there was a golden glow coming from the alien. Carol looked at the alien, she it was intelligent as she could communicate with it without vocalizing. But it doesn’t look human beyond the forelimbs and eyes. But she did think there wasn’t anything unnatural about the creature's appearance. It all seem to weirdly fit. The creature whinnied, a sound that didn't fit the desert but was a sound that tales of knights, though the creature that made that sound was much larger than those noble stallions.

The creature slammed its hands down, more gently than last time, on the ground, she wasn't surprised that it's rear legs had hands but those had five fingers and there were four legs, maybe these creatures come from a jungle? It had a light fuzz of fur that covered some skin, reminding Carol of a cat. That she thought alerted her that didn't know if this creature would eat humans, creature's long ears twitched, showing its interest in her. It must've sense her nervousness.

And lower its back and allowed her to jump on it showing a sense of care and understanding that was not expected of a creature of that size. Carol did not know if she was doing something sane but after everything she has experienced throughout her life in the valley, she wanted to see if there was more out there more than the Gray skies and sandy dunes, more than the great valley that house miserable and sad villagers.

The future seems to understood and clicked its mandibles, it reminded Carol of an excited small boy there was something told Carol that this thing was female. “What you doing was ridiculous,” was the thought that kept running through Carol’s head but something that she's not questioning is that she trusted this creature and while she didn't know why, she knew it needed her.

So she hopped on and found it’s speeding away, looking for New Horizons. With this new creature and knowing that whatever adventure that comes it would be a great one, Carol found herself quite giddy. Maybe she’ll see some new colors.