Desertium Ryan Lenney I: Cortus In this sand, a black beetle seldom survives, but a gleaming back rendered matte black in darkness increases the chances. Wind need only release a small breath to tickle the sand and the creature would find itself buried. Conveniently, for those specks of life, there is no wind - nor sandstorms. Either they survive, or everything dies with them. Peeking its head from underneath the cloth in which it made a home, it begins shuffling and scurrying alongside the slab, looking for some form of substance. The beetle is tossing the smaller sand behind, propelling itself forwards. Dust falls, and our attention is drawn to the lurching spider trying to hide beyond a stalagmite. The beetle breaks into a frantic scurry and marks a path through the floor, carving a tunnel of fear and surfacing next to a bulky rock. It ascends the walls and doesn’t look down to examine the chaos caused through irrational fear. For the time being, the spider waits – motionless unaware of the tiny speck that is scampering from fear. On top of the slab, the beetle finds a crack in the rock, and nestles inside. More dust falls and settles on the ground as the spider repositions and the beetle remains calm, far enough away to not notice the dust settling behind. Underneath, a row of sand seems to shuffle and slide. Long lines of yellow, and the occasional chevron-shaped chunk of brown, move as a unit along the ground. The sand coils to the chime of ancient flutes. A column of snake silently embraces the rock that lays dormant in the centre. Shaking off any sand it collects, the snake now slithers undisguised, progressing upward. Its reflective scales are pointless in the black abyss. The snake folds over the top and manages to curl next to a black spot slightly protruding from the slab. Specks of dust crumble from the rotting roof and settles close to the snake - it is unphased. A sea of red begins to flow inside like blood, staining the sand like wine seeping through bread. A red halo surrounds the rectangular slab in the centre. In a quick motion, the snake pounces onto the black spot and suffocates the beetle below. Its last breath is unheard, even to the snake. The snake swallows and begins to descend, following a small corridor along the sand, filling the line and blending back into the darkness. Screeches and scratches sear through the cavern, like the screams of Angels; the sound eradicates silence and opens a rusted gate of noise. The stone slab that topped the structure in the centre, slams into the floor and skewers a snake in half. Its blood splats and taints the sand.
40
