Chapter 103: Land of Black Sand (Patreon)

I was the last to leave the ship. The pilot, Rigser, stayed aboard. I was last for a reason, that reason being that I was slow. More than that, I wanted a good vantage point unobstructed by glass, so that I could get a good sense of what I was stepping down into. I felt the wind blow my black pants strongly against my legs, and threw my bag’s strap across my neck so that I wouldn’t worry about it falling off. 

I clambered down the ladder as quickly as three limbs could allow. Once I’d gone down low enough for my head to drop out of the ship, I looked out across the land. It was no less of a wasteland here than it had seemed from space. Above, the bright star that illuminated the planet bore sunlight ever downwards. The planet was rotating very quickly, it seemed, for the movement of the sun was visible in the sky. My eyes started to burn from staring, so I turned away and started back down the ladder. 

Far down below where the ladder ended, there was a black building, black both because it was made of black stone and because black sand had settled onto the roof, like volcanic ash from a distant volcano. C’mon, you took geology classes for a bit. The sand’s black because of a high iron concentration. Or… hmm. Maybe that would make the sand red. I don’t know. 

The building we were entering was a fair distance away from the cluster of cities. Far away in the distance, like temples in the sky, were floating islands shielded by blue aura. From my limited experience of the world, I wasn’t entirely sure what the barrier might be, but the first thing that came to mind was obviously Primordial Energy. It was like the barrier in the Archduchy, only more solid and visible. 

I took my time descending the ladder, examining my surroundings as best I could. Not seeing any bandit camps… maybe they’ll light a fire, let me know where they are. Any takers? But my plea was not answered. I saw only miles and miles of the blackest desert I could ever see. Doesn’t matter. Vast is going to be the first one looking, not me. 

Black has a very interesting property. It absorbs heat quite well. As I understood it, white tends to reflect heat, while black absorbs it. Certain materials also absorb heat well, like metal. If my original guess about the sand having iron being true—something I wasn’t confident in—then it would explain the heat that I felt. 

As I descended the ladder, I could veritably feel the heat rising from the ground below. It was like standing near an intense or large fire. It’s an energy that someone can feel from very far away. I was only thankful that the metal ladder had been inside the ship, or I’d be feeling the same coming from it. 

We entered inside the black building, and I was hit by a wave of air that evoked nostalgia. It’s like… walking from hot air into air-conditioning. One of the best feelings. I came to the last rung of the ladder and jumped off. Zinuetet had been waiting at the bottom of the ladder for me. She wasn’t alone, though. Day was there, as well. It seemed I was starting to form a little posse.

“It’s hot. My skin is crawling.” Day veritably spit out the words, irritation evident in his tone. 

I pulled the bag off my neck, letting it relax on my shoulder again now that there wasn’t any wind. “You could shave your fur. Be like a Sphynx cat.”

Day scratched at his neck and “What? No. I’ve worked a long time for this glorious coat. No heat’s gonna make me cut it off.” He shook his body like a dog who’d just come out of water. “Besides, I’d need some help with that, and no one here knows what they’re doing.”

“We should get going,” said Zinuetet, looking behind her. “Everyone else has moved on.”

I answered with my actions, walking past them both without a word, looking around the place. It reminded me of construction without carpet put in—all gray, no windows, no furniture, nothing on the floor. A welcome mat wouldn’t kill them. Behind us, metal groaned as the ladder was raised back up into the ship. 

There was only one way to go. One fairly long, twisty hallway that led to a big room. The whole place was very poorly lit, degrading at points. It looked abandoned. There probably would’ve been bugs, but bugs probably couldn’t survive in this hellish wasteland. 

I realized I was breathing a bit quicker, and questioned if I had any reason to be nervous. Hmm… hold on. This is a different planet. Maybe the composition of the air is different? Maybe I should learn these things before I come down onto a foreign world…

Everyone was waiting just before the big room. Grendel was in the back, so I asked him, “Why’s everyone stopped?”

“Ruel can’t find the light switch,” Grendel explained very succinctly. 

“It’s not a switch,” he answered in the distance, his voice echoing in the empty hall. “It’s a button. And I think I—oh, that’s the front door…”

There was a loud noise, and the sounds of metal clattering. Gray pushed past the crowd, held her finger out, and sent out some small balls of flame that illuminated the room. The room was filled with beds—around one hundred, and nothing else. With the lights, Ruel found the button quickly, and turned on the lights. Nothing seemed to happen, but after a few seconds, blinding light filled the room, making us all flinch. 

“Welcome to the Archduchy’s outpost on Sector 114. Normally, there are supposed to be some people here to greet us… but it seems they’re dead. We had rats in the house.”

Ruel walked to the front of the room, holding a skull and other various bones in his hand. The rest of the skeleton was clearly visible on one of the beds. The dried blood was still barely visible on the white mattresses that’d been turning brown over the passage of time. 

“What? There are people here?” Vast called out from the back. “Those bandits you spoke of?”

“I don’t know. Something is very, very fishy.” Ruel tossed aside the skull without a care, and it shattered upon hitting the ground. “Considering our client used this outpost to set up the job around… say, one month ago, I think we can rule out it having happened in that time. You don’t get full skeletons after only a month, unless your foe is using something to rot the flesh.”

“Could they still be here? Are there any other rooms?” Vast was immediately taking charge.

“Perhaps. There’s one other room—the basement.” Ruel walked to one corner of the room, where there was a large hatch. He grabbed the handle and tugged at it, but it didn’t move. “It’s locked. From this side, of course.” He pushed a button on the hatch and then tried again. It creaked loudly, but did open.

“Oh,” Ruel said simply. I walked up to be the first to see what he was seeing. There was a ladder heading down for a bit, but then it was entirely covered in black sand. I reached down and tried to shovel some aside, but there wasn’t anything much deeper.

“It’s caved in,” I said. “Even if there could be something down there, which I doubt, it’s probably not worth the time to dig it up.”

Ruel sighed, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his flask. “Damn it all, man. I wanted a break, not a job. I might have to contact headquarters at this rate…” He took a long drink. “Ah, well. Maybe some people are trying to pick a fight. Could be more fun than I predicted,” he said, as though trying to be optimistic.