Killing life

She stood in front of me, in the darkness I could just barely make out her red hair and her face, her sword was unsheathed, she said to me “who are you?” I barely heard those words my mind was spinning, I was terrible at fighting and I had never learned properly, anyways all I had was a knife and there was no way I could get close enough with her swinging that sword around, I could maybe manage one fire with the manastel, enough to distract her while I stabbed her sword arm? I hope so… my body was tired of the manastel but I had no choice. Slipping my dagger to my side I raised my hand in front of me and felt the fire bubbling, vibrating making my arm feel like liquid, the surprise on her face as the fire formed was almost funny but I had no time, I could barely hold this for more than ten seconds. I pulled my fist back, level with my shoulder and ran at her. I punched with my fire fist waiting to see where she would go. She dropped to the ground and swept at my foot, it connected and cut deep, it hit something important because I couldn’t stand on it anymore, it hurt too, so much that I couldn’t think straight, I rammed the dagger into her shoulder and somehow it stuck but I couldn’t pull it out, the tears were blurring my vision and my leg looked mangled , her sword had a jagged edge and the cut was near vertical, almost along my entire calf down to the back of my foot, I could only think of getting away, I pushed the some of the energy in my arms out, it propelled me away from her, towards the doca. She looked at me with disgust, I looked pathetic tired, crying, unable to even stand, as she stared, she pulled my dagger out of her shoulder, she screamed at me while doing it. I knew what I had to do now. With her caravan dead and that wound on her shoulder, if I took the doca that carried their supplies, their water, she wouldn’t make it back to an oasis in time,As I half dragged myself, half crawled to the doca, she realised what I was doing, in a mad rush she sprinted after me, again I pushed more energy out of my arm and jumped forward, this time it physically hurt this time, I can't do that again. But I wouldn't have to, I was so close now, almost to the doca, I was close enough to touch it now, to see it up close. It was large, about twice my height and covered in sand coloured hair, it's nose was split in two, each part twice as thick as my arm and thrice as long with the ability to move around like a tail. It's cargo on one side, and a ladder slung on the other, I climbed onto it but I was exhausted, my good leg was on one ring my arms on its back, my injured leg hung uselessly hung and I was too afraid to use it, again I pulled myself up with my arms and pushed with my leg and somehow made it up. She had almost reached me, in the pale starlight i could make out her features, red hair her eyes were green and her skin dark brown, she looked almost beautiful in her mad rush at me screaming curses at me, I wondered whether she knew what I had done to her family, her friends... whether she knew why nobody came out of the tents to help her, just like me maybe she too had hope, when she might loose everything else that's all she could have. Was I exhausted to the point of madness? If she caught up to me she would kill me, if she saw what I had done she would do it slowly and painfully. I had to get away, a doca could run fast if threatened but only for a short burst, if I used some fire it would start running but It would hurt even more this time. I might pass out, but I have no other choice, so I let the fire out. It hurts, hurts to my very core and I'm screaming but I feel it formed in my arm and I hit the doca on its backside, it screams and runs, my vision is blurry, my body feels cold. Out of the corner of my eye I see her further and further away, as I speed off into the sands, I can't keep my eyes open any longer, it hurts too much. I black out. Bitter, sour and sweet: I jolted awake as I hit the ground, and cold washed through my body as I scrambled to my feet, my heart beating hard for a moment before calming down as I looked around me, I had fallen off the doca, it walked ahead barely paying heed to me, as I rushed to it, afraid to get left behind. There was white and cream as far as the edge of the horizon, where the morning sun stained the frosted white sands like the blood that ran from their necks. I didn't know where I was, but I would have to get used to that now, I was in the desert proper now, I didn't know how far the doca had brought me but the rocky patches in the ground were now few, and far apart. The white was blinding, the sun at its highest, warmed me slightly, but even at midday, the cold was getting worse as the deadland neared. I was hungry, but the doca had half the supplies of the massacred, even when they had nothing left, I took more from them, the doca was moving quickly, it seemed like it had been bred for speed but I somehow managed to grab it's side and climb on, but I seemed to be forgetting something... As I looked down I realise that my leg is no longer torn to shreds, all there is now is a red throbbing scar. How did that happen? Perhaps it was the manastel? Whatever it was, it would definitely make it easier for me to survive in these dead sands And so I looked ahead as the gentle breeze blew through my hair and the gentle rocking of the doca walking brought me into a sort of lull, I found their water supply, enough to last me a month if I measured it out, their food supply too A month of going In a straight line into the deadland would make me the one to venture the farthest into it, it stretched infinitely in all directions, the legends told and the gods roamed it, often clashing in battles that shook the earth and made the very air around us thicken, even in the gentler hills and mountains where the tribes of wanderers made their homes. Three hours passed and the bleeding sun was setting, the dunes were getting bigger, eventually the world dunes would appear, so large they would block out the sky, after that no one knew, there were only faint whispers of stories, of the endless nothing, of the souls of the dead, of monstrous behemoths and gods, and the edge of the world itself, all I could do now is see for myself, I decided to stop, the doca was meant to walk and as long as it kept a slow pace it could go all night as I slept, but I would have to feed and water it and myself at least once a day, Digging through the bags on its side, I found something, wood and metal, a sled? Maybe I'd try it out later, first I had to properly take inventory. I sat there for a while, occasionally scrambling around on top of the beast as it fanned it's ears cooling us both from the harsh light that was slowly fading away, five leather skins off some young carnats, a sack of yams, two sacks of millet. I kept counting as the time passed, it was strangely relaxing, I thought of nothing else but what I was doing and each little trinket piqued my curiosity, I found old swords long and jagged, a suit of metal armour, that was noght more than an assortment of metal plates from one of the sacred gardens tied together with straps of hide. I sat there for a while, counting and sorting the equipment, no other thoughts but the ones about what was right in front of me, like staring at the ground beneath you as chaos itself stares you down. It feels peaceful.

Nightfall came and the deep vermilion sky faded away into darkness but no fires would be lit in this desert, attracting unwanted attention here would mean death. The world seemed quiet but all around me was death and you could feel I with every sound that the wind carried easily, In the distance howls of