“you said we will use magic to get there?”

“Yes, I will be using magic to make the sand act as a liquid so that we can do what is similar to surfing but on the sand.”

As he said this I could feel the sand starting to move under my feet. The sand I am standing on hardens while the sand beneath the hardened sand starts to act like a liquid. Does this work like a fluidised bed does?

“Ready?”

“Yes”

As I answered the sand moved to form a wave of sand that pushed the hardened sand I am standing on forward.

Our journey has begun. We are moving east at a speed that I would estimate to be thirty MPH.

At first, we moved slower as it is my first time doing this, but as I got used to it we started to get faster.

Wolfram is about five metres away from me.

“Is this sand magic?”

I shout to him.

“I'm using wind and sand magic. The wind magic makes the sand act like a liquid and the sand magic which is a type of earth magic to solidify the sand we are standing on and to make the sand move in the wave-like motion.”

He uses wind magic to make a fluidised bed for the solidified sand to move on. How is he doing this for both of us? He must have trained a lot in magic control, I can only just about control my magical energy.

“How long did it take you to learn to do magic like this?”

“It took about two hundred years.”

Did he just say two hundred years? How old is he and how long do elves live for?

“ How old are you?”

“I’m about four hundred and seventy-six years old. Elves have long life spans it depends on the type of elf. The oldest sand elf I know of is at least ten thousand years old.”

“you don’t look that old.”

“Elves stop ageing around the age of twenty-five. Vampires are the same. Vampires stop ageing around twenty-five to thirty and have very long lifespans. Elves and vampires can live for thousands even tens of thousands of years. Elves and vampires are the only races that can do this, others have more limited lifespans.”

Awoooo

Interrupting our conversation was the howl of a wolf. Looking in the direction of the howl I can see about ten wolves.

“There sand wolves, wolves made out of the sand.”

While saying that he held out his hand and in a tornado of colour coming from his body a crossbow formed. Is this soul magic?

“Ignore them, I will deal with them.”

Saying that he fired a bolt that hit the first wolf in the head. As soon as the wolf was hit is dissipated in a cloud of sand.

Pulling the bow back he loaded another bolt and fired hitting another wolf. Like the other, this one too turned into a cloud of sand.

Again he fired another bolt but this time it looked like it moved in mid-air. Did he use wind magic to move the arrow in the air?

“We will have to travel through the night unless we want the wolves to catch us.”

Throughout the night we were being chased by the wolves. Occasionally Wolfram would fire at them taking down one or two.

By the time the sun was rising the town was coming into sight. It is a large town surrounded by sandstone walls that look to be about ten metres tall, with battlements on the top. However, there did not seem to be an entrance. How do you get in?

As we approached the wall the guards stationed on it started to notice us and the wolves. Over the night the wolves had increased in number. Each of the guards of which there is about seven picked up a bow or a crossbow and aimed.

As we get closer to the wall the guards start firing at the wolves along with Wolfram. They all seem to have excellent aim as almost all the arrows hit. Are they all using wind magic to change the trajectory of the arrows.?

As Wolfram fired another bolt it hit a wolf at the back but it did not turn to sand like the others. Wolfram hit it with two more bolts after the third the wolf finally turned to sand. After wolfram managed to kill that wolf the remaining eight wolves also turned to sand. But why did they?

“That one was the leader is created and controlled the others. Once it died nothing was keeping the other together.”

Wolfram explained as if he read my mind.

As we approached the wall I expected it to open or something similar. Instead, the sand wave increased in height until we are at the top of the wall. Wolfram stepped off as if this is normal. If everyone can use similar magic there is no need to go through the wall. They don’t need to leave weak points in the wall.

Now that I am on top of the wall I can properly see the town. The entire area inside of the wall is filled with buildings with roads running between them. Two main roads in a cross shape meet in the centres of the town. No one space has been wasted. Every space has houses, shops, inns, farms, storehouses and workshops. In the centre where the roads meet is what looks like a keep on a hill of sand it like all the buildings are made of sandstone. It is similar to a Mott and Bailey castle.

The streets of the town are bustling with people. People buying and selling, people working. Everyone looks like they are having fun, no one looks unhappy and it doesn’t look like there any slums or the like.

“Welcome to the town of Zava.”

Author note

If you do not know what a fluidised bed is here is a video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My4RA5I0FKs