Year E2996

Beck

"It's in the name," Kat whispered while pacing back and forth.

The insect hide tent walls whipped with the wind, sucking in and out like we were inside a heart. Kat's purple hair shined an orange tint from the fire crackling in the center. She paused, pointing at the ceiling, but double-backed on her idea and continued to walk, passing me. I unbuckled my legs from the criss-crossed position and brought my knees closer to my face, tilting on my butt bone for comfort.

"Maybe we are looking at it the wrong way." I played with the animal hair on the floor with my fingers as she glanced at me.

"Obviously, we are looking at it wrong, Beck." Kat rolled her eyes before huffing out and sitting next to me.

The blood from earlier stained her shirt while we waited for a colossus to bring us fresh clothes. Queen Annora insisted we stayed for the night, given the travel back would be dangerous in the dark. As we waited in the guest hut, they walked Ray and her pet around the village.

"Are they going to be much longer?" Kat asked, standing up and peeking her head out the skin door.

She glanced back at me with an evil grin. Kat wiggled her eyebrows before skipping into the outside.

I jumped from the ground, racing after her. "Kitty, they said to stay put!" I yelled, stepping out into the silence.

I glanced around the empty surroundings as the wind blew gingerbread dirt across my shoes. The dust circled up my body, causing my shirt to ride up. I pulled at it while a giggle sounded from behind a tree.

"Ha, Kitty," I said, running toward the tree. "Too funny, come back."

I rounded to the other side, seeing nobody there. Freezing, I glanced around, still alone, hearing voices sing in the distance. The wind whistled between the trees, rattling the leaves.

"Kat?"

A sweet singing voice stung my ears like a bell. Close enough to be behind me, but nobody but me in the dusk forest. I turned on the balls of my feet, spinning until the girl's giggle reflected from deeper in the trees.

"Kitty, come back!" I yelled at her, sprinting toward the voice.

The humming quickened as I sped up my steps, becoming louder and louder. I jumped a log, slipping under the wet dirt. My rear hit the ground while laughter whistled in my ear.

With a huff, I stood up, brushing the back of my pants. I rolled my eyes, giving up on catching Kat. I lifted myself back onto the log as the wind picked up, blowing dust around me again. It hummed by my ears, brushing through my hair.

The wind pulled at my shirt, lifting the ends. With my bare skin exposed, a warmth touched my chest, stroking down to my abdominals. I glanced down, seeing nothing but feeling the nudge of heat.

A singing hum echoed from the wind while the touch pressed, and nails tickled my skin. I jumped back from the invisible hand, bringing my shirt down.

The wind disappeared as a girl stood before me. Her black hair blew in the nonexistent wind while her round black eyes watched me. Red paint marked down from her eyebrows, across her eyes, tracing along her cheeks.

She opened her mouth, talking, but all I could hear was the whistling wind with a sweet bell. The chiming quickened as she stepped closer to me. Her hand reached toward my shirt again, lifting the cloth material.

I froze in the girl's spell, feeling the warmth of letting her do anything to me. Her fingers brushed along my skin as her red pointed nails scraped near my belly button. She let my shirt fall as her other hand cupped under my peck.

The girl stepped closer, placing her lips on my neck. My heart quickened, wanting to run, but my legs would not listen to my mind. Opening my mouth, I choked on my words like the wind blocked my airway.

"Shhh," she whispered before biting my ear lobe.

I side-eyed her, frozen, while she looked me in the eye. Her expression fell before she smirked, showing off her perfect teeth. She brought her face closer to mine as her fingers danced circles on my chest.

A whine escaped my lips, feeling the pain of her nails digging into my pecks. The warm blood dripped down my skin before she pulled her hands away from me.

The girl placed her palms on my cheeks, opening her mouth. As dust flew from her, the sound of the wind echoed. The dirt spun around us, causing her to giggle.

"Beautiful boy with crystal eyes," she said in perfect English. "Come with me to the kingdom of dreams. Would you, please?"

My mouth gaped open, but my throat kept my words from speaking. Go to the kingdom of dreams? A flash of Kat's smile played in my head. I would travel to many worlds to see her smile with love. I would never leave Kat behind.

"Kat," I barely croaked.

"I do not invite her," the girl's voice sounded angry.

I glanced into her deep black eyes, seeing the light within them. She hummed, filling my heart with warmth, the feeling of love. The wind picked up around us as bells of singing surrounded the forest.

"Beck!" a voice yelled from the distance while I looked into the forest.

The girl gripped harder on my cheeks, forcing me to glance back at her. She hummed until her voice sang a tune from the heavens.

"Beck," Kat said, looking for me.

I tried to yell out for Kat, needing her to save me. Looking away from the girl, I watched Kat step around a tree.

"Beck!" Kat screamed, racing to me.

The girl released her palms from my cheeks while the spell on me stopped. My legs stumbled forward as the girl disappeared into the dust. I fell into Kat's arms, and she caught me before I hit the ground.

"Out of here, you wind bitch!" Kat yelled at the dust floating above us.

Kat waved her arms around, trying to hit the breeze. The dust grouped together, forming the girl's shape before flying off into the night.

Rob ran up to us with panic on his face. "Ray!" he yelled. "We found him!"

✧✧✧

Kat ringed the insect cloth in the rock of water, watching the blood and liquid mix. She shook her head with a slight smile, dabbing the material to the cuts on my torso.

"Sorry, Beck." Princess Ada stood in the doorway of the guest tent with war paint on her face. "I forgot the arid tribe traveled this way for the fire tradition."

"Arid tribe?" I asked Kat as her soft fingers brushed my cold skin.

"They are safforians but live in the desert area of Safforia. An immaterial tribe which embodied the dust mites."

I tilted my head, confused because the girl I saw seemed ghostly. Kat placed the wet cloth over my left peck. I grabbed her wrist, hissing out with pain.

"Sorry," Kat said, glancing into my eyes and freezing.

I could hear her breath inhale without releasing it while my hand tightened around her wrist. Her periwinkle eyes flickered with the fire in them. Kat's curly flyways surrounded her face, pointing out her pink cheeks. My thumb brushed back and forth while I pulled her closer to me.

Kat's eyes glanced down my face to my lips as hers gaped open. "Beck," she whispered, swallowing the lump before looking at Ada.

"Oh." I let her wrist go, leaning away, forgetting about the Princess.

"Anyway," Ada said, swinging her body around the pole and holding up the tent near the doorway. She skipped up, sitting near us. "The arid tribe controls dust mites, like Kat said, so they look and sound like spirits, but they are just your normal boring safforian." She glanced at Kat. "Sorry."

Kat giggled. "No offense taken. Safforians are boring creatures."

"What-ahhhh?" I tensed up as Kat placed a green sticky substance on my cuts. "I thought safforian's always had bright color hair and eyes?"

"Yes, the arid tribe started out as bright, but over time and generations later, the desert changed them to black," Kat said.

"It's because the desert is black sand," Ada added, pulling a meat stick from her pocket and biting it.

I thought of the girl in the forest, appearing out of nowhere in the dust and wind. She seemed unreal or full of magic with the way she controlled me.

"But she just, poof, appeared." I motioned my hands in front of my face, flaring my fingers. "And I couldn't move when she was near me."

"It's an illusion," Ada said, with a twist in her tone. "She layered the mites over your body, keeping you still."

Loud cheering echoed from outside the tent as a shadow walked by. A hum I am too familiar with singing over the loud noises while stomping in a rhythm occurred. They amplified as Ada stood from the dirt, walking to peek outside.

"Looks like the full tribe is here now," Ada said, leaving with a wave.

"Let's go see." Kat finished placing a green goop on my torso, tapping it to show it hardened.

She stood quickly, running to the entry. I stumbled to a stance, grabbing my shirt. Kat stepped outside as shadows danced along the tent walls, showing how large the tribe was.

I strolled to the door, stepping out into the frosty night. Rows of desert safforians danced by us, singing to a tune of their own. The girl sang while being lifted into a chair with a large crown on her head. Her eyes met mine as she smirked with a wave.

Placing my shirt on, I glared as they walked her past me toward the fire. She turned in her seat, waving her hand around. A strong wind picked up as dust flew into my face, dancing in my hair.

Kat waved her hands around with anger. "Out of here, dust poop!" she yelled as they circled me.

She smacked at the air, jumping on her tip-toes. Kat mumbled safforian before giggling and spinning to glance at me. She froze as her curly hair stood straight up toward the sky from the insects, then dropped as the bugs flew away.

Kat ran up to me, looping her arm with mine. She dragged me behind the crowd of desert safforians until the glow from the fire shined in her face. The flames danced purple, changing to green, then to orange as Kat strolled on the outer parts of the group with me in her shadow.

A colossus bumped into me, sending me into another. A hard shove from nothing had me on the ground. I scrambled on the dirt as large legs guided me to the edge of the gigantic fire. The heat masked my face while I looked up, seeing the wind girl from earlier. The dust insects blew behind my head, telling me she brought me here.

She waved her hand as her followers helped her off the throne she was sitting on. I stood, brushing the front of my shirt as she strolled to me with bare feet. The crown on her head rang like a bell as the night sky reflected on the rocks.

The girl waved her hand as the dust mites flew around me, pushing me toward her. Silence filled the air as the crowd hummed to nothing.

Queen Annora stepped around the fire, placing her hand within the safforian girl's and bowing her head. Her enormous palm overshadowed the girl's, covering most of her torso.

"Princess Oryx, this is Beck of the human spaceship Nus," Annora said before kneeling to make us feel less small.

Princess Oryx smirked at the queen, then side-eyed me with an expression of lustful evil. Her black hair swirled around while she stepped closer to me. She placed her hands on my cheeks, forcing my face closer to her.

I glanced around with no movement, seeing everyone watching us. The Princess's nails dug into my skin, causing me to whine and look back at Oryx's black eyes.

"Focus on me, one with beautiful eyes," her voice sang, soothing my heart. "Come with me to the kingdom of dreams." She leaned closer with her lips brushing mine. "The desert would cherish you."

Oryx smiled under our touching lips before giggling and moving away. Her eyes glanced over my shoulder, giving a divulged expression, and then she spun to look at a man with a large crown.

"Beck will be my next to marry." Oryx took a step away from me, clapping her hands.

I spun around, seeing Kat behind me, watching everything go down. Hands grabbed my forearms, pulling me away from her, closer to the fire. She stepped out into the circle, putting her hand in the air.

"Someone had called on Beck already," Kat said with an uneasy face, looking up at the sky. Her eyes met mine. "I am that someone."

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