Chapter 2
As evening approached, the ranger woke from his slumber and wasted no time getting up. He walked over to his supplies to drink some water and then soon noticed he had nearly ran out. He put on his torn and damaged jacket, made sure his boots were tight, donned his ranger’s mask, slung his trusty, elegant, dark-wood bow and quiver over his shoulder; took a sleek blade from a pile of his possessions and fitted it into his belt. He left his den – dragging the corpse of the dune lizard out and burying it under the sand a safe distance away as to not attract scavengers or predators.
The sky was turning orange, there was strong wind in the air, but no predators in sight. he then began to walk at a brisk pace, which turned into a jaunt, then soon a swift, maintained sprint; jumping over dunes, rocks and bones of fallen creatures with elegance. but before he could get far he noticed something through some air-born sand; a roar and thudding, getting closer and louder. He took swift cover behind a large rock that was as tall as him.
He looked out at the oncoming noise to see what it was. The figure soon became clear; it was unmistakable, the large and armoured body of a sand drake; a creature that moves surprisingly fast and has earth magic at its disposal.
The ranger soon noticed that something was not right; it was clearly after prey, but the prey was not him. He took a closer look and saw in its path, another human, running for her life. the keen ranger took his bow and made careful aim, slowed his breathing and focused until all he could hear was the creature’s large, heavy body pounding against the sand and all else went silent for a moment. He shot, the arrow flew past the human and struck the creature on its front, right leg dead center of the knee and the arrow head came jutting out the other side. The creature speeding across the desert, tumbled to the ground; unable to stand and riving in pain.
The woman was overjoyed and relived. She came to greet her savior, but the ranger was hit with sudden regret at not shooting a lethal shot. The creature was just taking in a deep breath; undoubtedly to cry for help and now this woman he had saved was standing right in his line of sight between him and the drake.
he knew it had to be silenced – there wasn’t a split second to spare. He didn’t hesitate; he drew another arrow and took aim. The young woman was shocked and stunned and just stood still. He let the arrow fly and the arrow shaft went clean through her shoulder, with so much force that it continued its flight, taking with it a stream of blood. The determined shot struck its intended target; the drake, right in the forehead and the arrow pierced its skull and ended its life. The girl; shocked and serverly injured, fell to the ground and passed out.
The keen ranger walked over to her and applied some basic bandages and healing salves, then hauled her up on to his shoulder and brought her back to his den – rare sanctuary for such a hostile place. He briefly checked her pulse and whether she was breathing, then set out to complete his original task of gathering water, leaving her there alone.
