Chapter 7：Blood Sand Canyon
1690words
"Temperature readings have exceeded the instrument's capacity," Leo remarked, meticulously cleaning crimson sand from his gun barrel. He squinted through the window at the heat distortions warping the landscape. "If there's a Guardian here, they clearly prefer their visitors well-roasted."
Eileen monitored Norton's deteriorating condition. The scholar—if that term still applied—had become increasingly transparent, with luminous blue energy pathways clearly visible beneath what remained of his skin.
Most disturbing were his eyes—featureless orbs of crystal blue that showed only occasional flickers of humanity when his gaze fell upon Mary.
"He mentioned the War Guardian resides here?" Eileen whispered to Mary. The memory mage's crystal ball hovered above Norton's head, continuously releasing silver filaments that temporarily stabilized his fragmenting consciousness, though their efficacy visibly diminished with each passing hour.
Mary nodded solemnly. "Blood Sand Canyon marks where the Great Conflict reached its bloody conclusion. The War Guardian preserves both the final desperate cries of the vanquished and the hollow victory of the conquerors." She suddenly gripped Eileen's wrist with surprising strength. "Norton's individual memories are rapidly merging with the Crystal Folk's collective consciousness. If we cannot locate the Purification Spring before complete fusion occurs…"
Eileen didn't need to hear the consequences verbalized. The crystal mark on Norton's neck now pulsed with ominous red light, resonating visibly with the Star Tear Stones embedded in Gordon's staff. Since their narrow escape from the Airship Graveyard, an oppressive silence had descended upon their group.
Lydia's apparent betrayal followed by her unexpected redemption, the Governor's shocking revelation as an android, the Starchaser's apparent sentience—too many earth-shattering revelations had occurred in rapid succession, leaving everyone reluctant to address any of them directly.
"Movement approaching," Kyle announced abruptly. Though still characteristically terse, Eileen noticed his dagger now bore a new hilt, inscribed with archaic symbols entirely different from Crystal Folk runes.
Gordon emerged from the cockpit, his mechanical eye emitting a soft whirring sound. "Not something—an army." He projected external footage onto the cabin wall—at the canyon entrance stood rows of figures in ancient armor, arranged in perfect military formation. Most disturbing was the absence of bodies beneath the armor plates—only swirling crimson sand filled the empty spaces.
"Sand Guards," Gordon explained as his mechanical eye adjusted its focus. "The War Guardian's sentinels. It appears we're expected."
Leo whistled appreciatively. "Hoping the invitation specifies 'formal attire optional, weapons encouraged.'"
The Starchaser activated without prompting, gliding purposefully toward the sand sentinels. Eileen felt the map fragment in her pocket grow uncomfortably hot. When she withdrew it, she discovered its material had transformed into something resembling cured leather, with new routes marked in what appeared disturbingly like fresh blood.
"Environmental adaptation," Mary observed, studying the transformed map. "The Starchaser and these artifacts possess consciousness beyond our comprehension—they respond to their surroundings like living organisms."
The sand sentinels pivoted in perfect unison as the Starchaser approached, then turned to lead them deeper into the canyon. As they progressed, the walls rose ever higher on both sides, their surfaces scarred with countless weapon strikes. In some places, entire sword blades and arrowheads remained embedded in the stone—severely corroded yet somehow still radiating malevolent purpose.
The canyon ultimately opened into a colossal amphitheater resembling a Roman colosseum, though ten times the scale. Countless sand-formed spectators filled the tiered seating. At the arena's center stood a towering figure three meters tall—unmistakably the War Guardian. Its armor told war's dichotomy: exquisite elven silver plate covered its left side while crude, primitive beast hides protected its right. Its helmet featured an asymmetrical design, one half ornately decorated, the other brutally functional.
"Ah, fresh combatants," the Guardian's voice resonated like the overlapping echoes of ten thousand battles. "I've arranged special entertainment."
The ground trembled violently as seven iron cages erupted from the arena floor. Each contained a different monstrosity: a two-headed werewolf snarling and snapping, a crystalline scorpion larger than a horse, a humanoid specter composed entirely of writhing flames… In the rightmost cage stood something unexpected—a human knight in tarnished silver armor who became visibly agitated upon spotting Lydia's family crest on their equipment.
"Uncle Drake?" Lydia's voice came from behind them. Eileen whirled to find the noblewoman standing at the cabin entrance—her elegant attire tattered and stained, but her expression resolute. In her hand, she clutched a multifaceted prism that emitted soft, pulsing light.
"You survived?" Gordon's mechanical eye whirred as it rapidly focused on her.
"Barely." Lydia stepped forward, holding up the prism. "This memory crystal contains irrefutable evidence. I was rescued by the Silver Wings—a resistance movement fighting against synthetic human infiltration. The Governor's replacement occurred three years ago, and nearly half the Eastern Federation's leadership consists of mechanical imposters."
Leo arched an eyebrow. "And you kept this fascinating information to yourself because…?"
"I needed to verify which of you remained human." Lydia fixed Eileen with an intense stare. "Particularly you, Pharmacist. Your mother's research directly enabled synthetic human technology proliferation."
The accusation struck Eileen like physical blow. Her mother's research—the foundation for this entire nightmare?
Before she could process this revelation, the War Guardian stomped impatiently, dislodging cascades of crimson sand from the stands. "Rules are simple!" its voice boomed. "Defeat my champion, claim the War Key. Fail and join my collection." It gestured toward the silver-armored knight. "Current champion grows tedious—constantly raving about finding his niece."
Lydia's face drained of color. "We must rescue him!"
"Naturally," Gordon replied, checking his weapons methodically. "But first, let's focus on surviving. Look."
The Guardian snapped its fingers with a sound like breaking bones. Seven cage doors crashed open simultaneously. The monstrosities charged forth with bloodcurdling roars while the human knight remained kneeling, apparently too injured to stand.
"Combat formation!" Gordon bellowed. "Kyle, secure the left flank! Leo, right flank! Mary, field control! Eileen, support position! Lydia, with me to extract the knight! Norton—"
The increasingly crystalline Norton had already risen several feet into the air, his multi-layered voice resonating strangely: "I hear weeping beneath the sand…"
Battle exploded into chaos. Kyle engaged the werewolf with preternatural speed, his dagger leaving silver arcs in its wake. Leo's conventional ammunition proved ineffective against the flame wraith, prompting him to switch to specialized azure-glowing rounds. Mary's crystal ball shattered into countless fragments that reformed into a prismatic cage around the crystal scorpion.
Eileen worked frantically preparing combat elixirs. As she tossed an enhancement potion to Kyle, she glimpsed Gordon and Lydia surrounded by sand sentinels. The imprisoned knight lay just meters away, but each step toward him exacted a brutal toll—Gordon's mechanical components smoked from overexertion, while Lydia's elegant but impractical swordplay failed to create an effective path.
"Norton! We need assistance!" Eileen shouted desperately.
The crystalline entity that had once been Norton turned toward her voice. For a terrifying moment, Eileen questioned whether any human consciousness remained within him. Then, without warning, he plunged his transformed hands into the ground. The entire arena's sand erupted upward, forming a swirling anti-gravity vortex. Sand sentinels disintegrated into their component particles while the monstrous combatants moved as though trapped in molasses.
The cost proved immediately apparent—Norton's remaining human features dissolved further, his body becoming almost completely transparent. Through his chest, Eileen could now see the pulsing energy core unique to fully-realized Crystal Folk—the final stage of transformation.
Seizing the opportunity, Gordon sprinted to the knight, hefted the armored figure over his shoulder, and retreated. Lydia covered their withdrawal, her prism projecting blinding radiance that disoriented pursuers. As they regrouped near the Starchaser, the War Guardian's laughter boomed across the arena. "Impressive opening gambit! But the true challenge commences now!"
The scattered remains of monsters and sand sentinels swirled together, coalescing into a towering colossus of crimson sand that loomed ten meters high. Embedded in its massive chest gleamed a golden key—the War Guardian's emblem.
"One shot, one kill?" Leo asked hopefully, loading his final specialized round.
Gordon shook his head grimly. "We must neutralize all energy nodes simultaneously." His mechanical eye identified seven pulsing points distributed across the colossus. "We require—"
Before he could finish, the Starchaser emitted a resonant horn blast. They turned to see the vehicle's external plating reconfiguring to reveal concealed weaponry—seven crystal cannon barrels extending and aligning with precision targeting.
"I'm developing a genuine affection for this vehicle," Leo remarked with a delighted grin.
The crystal cannons discharged in perfect synchronization, striking six nodes with impossible precision. The seventh, located at the colossus's nape, received Kyle's dagger—thrown with unerring accuracy. As the sand giant collapsed into a formless heap, the War Guardian nodded with something resembling respect. "At last, worthy victors." It tossed the golden key toward Gordon. "Remember this truth: war never truly ends—it merely slumbers, waiting to awaken."
The instant the key connected with Gordon's staff, Norton emitted an agonized cry that seemed to originate from multiple throats simultaneously. The energy core in his chest projected a brilliant beam skyward, forming an elaborate hologram of Everdusk Island—now clearly depicted surrounded by seven pillars of different-colored light, each emanating from a distinct guardian-like figure.
"Seven keys, seven guardians," Mary whispered as her crystal ball rotated with increasing speed. "We're being guided to collect these keys, but toward what ultimate purpose?"
Lydia, supporting her grievously wounded uncle, suddenly pointed at the hologram's center. "Look there—at the island's heart!"
The image magnified, revealing that the central structure wasn't Eileen's mother's laboratory as previously shown, but rather an enormous hybrid construction—part mechanical, part biological—pulsing with rhythmic activity.
More horrifying still were the hundreds of Crystal Folk corpses surrounding the structure, their essence being systematically extracted through elaborate conduits that fed into an oval-shaped chamber at the very center.
Within that chamber floated a humanoid figure.
Eileen's blood turned to ice in her veins. Despite the hologram's limited resolution, something about that suspended figure—its distinctive posture, its proportions—struck her with terrible familiarity.
"Mother?" she whispered.
