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While Krayth might later confess to slipping a few times too many, and Azur's pace was far from breakneck, their race up the Grand Dune prove invigorating as well as entertaining. It took a few minutes but by the time the Lord reached its peak he felt fully alert and ready for the day's challenges. All of them. He reminded himself how it came to pass that he and Azur overpowered The Devil's Eye's With Doctor tyrants, and of all the hardships that had come before. Then he reminded himself that together, Azur and he had overcome them all. A thin, determined line curved across Krayth's mouth as he gazed out over the glass dunes in all their wonder, and turned back to his lover as he was silhouetted in dawn's rays.

"You let me win! This calls for a rematch. Soon. Look-"

He hardly needed to tell her. He turned back around and found a seat with space for Azur to rest beside him, gestured for her to join him, and turned his eyes back to the sunrise. All around them, the dunes were alight with golden hues dazzling along their glass contours, and within those crystal hills were glittering motes of rainbow light. Above them, the cloudless sky was aflame with rich tones of pink, violet, orange and red as their golden orb rose triumphantly to greet the day. It was far more beautiful than he had imagined it to be, and now the smile that came to his face was unforced.

"In all of my life, the only thing I have ever seen that can compare with this beauty is you. My Blue Bascule."

He reached one arm outward, to lay it along her shoulders and draw her into him. Now more than ever, he felt that deep appreciation for companionship -something he had never expected to find, in all of his life. Now, with his lover beside him, Krayth fell into silence to witness the rest of the sunrise.

For some time, neither of the lovers spoke. Krayth's hand slid from Azur's shoulders to the cool, glistening scales of her neck; his fingers glided across her neck and into the rich folds of her hair, where he cupped the back of her head. He was gentle, and she would be the only woman to ever know that softness of his touch. As he shut his eyes and rested his face in the scent of her lustrous mane, he set a kiss upon the crown of her head. It was so easy to forget the horror that had just relapsed into his memory... and yet it wasn't. In that moment, he clung to her presence with desperation; out of fear that she would suddenly be taken from him forever. As he opened his eyes, that feeling of paranoia was replaced by confusion and curiosity.

Not far from the base of the Grand Dune on the opposite side from whence they'd ascended, the lighted seemed to refract back in on itself. The slope of the glass seemed to curve too quickly backwards, as if...

"Azur, do you see that?"

For a moment, he thought his eyes might be playing tricks. But he knew his eyes did no such things.

"Is that a tunnel?"

Krayth looked back to Azur as she spoke, and when he returned his gaze out towards where he'd though he'd seen it, he nearly lost sight of it all together. But sure enough, as he studied the area closely, he could see it. That bizarre curvature; the circular refraction of light. Had it not been the morning, and had the sun not risen just now, it might have been entire invisible to their eyes. Now, he couldn't mistake it. Krayth raised his arm and a finger to point exactly to where he saw it.

"There. I'm not imagining it, there is a tunnel in the glass! Can you see it?"

The Anima was standing now, watching his lover curiously and hoping that she saw what he saw. His heart was beating slightly faster... excitement was beginning to hum through his muscles.

"How could a tunnel be formed in these dunes? Magic?"

Azur didn't have to ask twice. Krayth nodded briskly and position himself on the side of the Grand Dune. Climbing the glass dunes was treacherous, but descending them was rather simple. He slid down the smooth glass with little effort, focusing his attention on his balance and doing his best not to lose sight of the tunnel.

"It doesn't seem far off. This way."

His eyes continued to focus on the strange structure, and as they drew closer the scope of its size became apparent. Its mouth was nearly twenty feet wide, and was so seamlessly blended into the dune above it that it seemed to have been carved by running water. Of course, this couldn't have been possible and it only caused Krayth's intrigue to grow.

It was once they had reached the lip of the tunnel that Krayth felt his breath catch in his lung.

"Azur.. look..."

N deeper than 20 yards into the tunnel, still gleaming in the morning sun, was a colossal skull that filled the channel from top to bottom and side to side; its glistening black mouth opened wide so that they could see further in. Its spine and ribs continued further down into the tunnel, and out of sight, creating an unnerving but awesome passage.

"A giant serpent of some kind...? How long has it been here, I wonder?"

Maybe since the very dunes had turned to glass. It was impossible to say, but one thing was for sure. The way ahead remained clear. He looked back to Azur with questioning eyes.

"What do you think? Shall we proceed?"

Krayth did not respond immediately. He studied the monstrous skull before them, stepping tenuously up to him as he observed its massive onyx colored frame. It was truly awe inspiring, and in some sense he felt fear -knowing that the creature, had it lived, would be capable of destroying him as though he were dust. It was humbling, and so he approached with reverence.

"I do not mind at all... I wonder how far it goes..."

Curiously, he raised a hand to caress one of the mighty serpent's great fangs and withdrew his hand sharply in surprise. The tooth, over a foot in length, was still razor sharp, and it was evident by the fact that a gash now bled on his palm. He did not wince, but looked to Azur in shock.

"I can't even imagine its power... it could bite through stone and metal with ease."

He continued forward, observing the ribs and the long spines of its vertebrae as he continued onward, and onward and onward. Nearly one hundred feet into the tunnel, sunlight still providing a dim illumination through the dune's semi-translucent mass, the bones continued. The major difference now was that on each rib was engraved words in a language he could not understand. As he turned his attention away from these mysterious runes and back down the tunnel, he sudden realized there was more light in front of them than what came behind him. That, and the massive serpent's skeleton was finally beginning to taper off.

"Azur... do you think this is the work of the tribes? Or should we be more cautious?"

((Indeed! biggrin I will post there now))

-Condition-
*Healthy

-Skills Used-
*

-Energy-
*1900/2400