Romans & histoires Burning Sand 2

(Hannah’s POV) The smell of burnt wood and ash still lingered in the air as I stepped over the caution tape. The building had been nothing more than a quiet corner bookstore—one I’d passed dozens of times without much thought. Now, it was a skeleton of charred beams and shattered glass. I swallowed hard. Standing here, in the middle of what was once a thriving business, made everything feel more real. This wasn’t just a story; it was someone’s life in ruins.

Marco sighed, folding his arms. Next, the roll call took place, and when we were done, the Silvermoon pack enforcer cleared his throat loudly, getting our attention. “One last thing I forgot to mention,” He announced. “The sand has the same illusion as quicksand. So if you are not fast enough, you will get drawn into it. Once you are submerged into it about half your waist down, you will be awarded zero points.” “Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Marco exclaimed with a hand clap. “This is gonna be so fun.”

With the tight deadline, I didn't have time to accompany Leon to social events. That evening, Ella invited me out to celebrate my birthday. "Estie, meet me at Whitmore Hotel tonight. See you there!" The hotel was right by the sea. When I arrived, Ella was already waiting with a mischievous smile on her face. She said she had a surprise for me, then blindfolded me with a silk scarf and led me toward the beach. "Alright, Estie, you can look now!" When I untied the blindfold, I saw a grand, dreamlike castle had been set up on the sand. Fireworks lit up the night sky and rose petals covered the ground.

I stayed like that until the waves of pleasure finally calmed down, allowing me to relax the muscles in my back. I wasn't in a rush to clean myself up. Instead, I grabbed the phone from the stand next to my bed and rewatched the video I'd just recorded. After confirming that there was nothing in the video that would give away my identity, I switched to my other number on my dual-SIM phone, tapped into Austin Newton's messaging window, and sent the video to him. A few seconds later, my phone buzzed with a familiar buzzing pattern. It was from Austin. There were only five words in his reply.

Nina slightly confirmed my thoughts with a nod and opened the box, and I saw a kind of sand there, but it was of a golden hue, a mix of silver and a soft purple hue, a mix of these three colors that made the sand iridescent. "Achilles, I need you to step back." Nina explained. My companion gave me another soft kiss and did as asked. Nina raised her hand, and the sand followed its course, enveloping me, and I felt a strange pain as the sand penetrated my skin, and gradually I could hear the sound of bones breaking, and I screamed.

Zyra, my little volcano, lay crumpled on the ground, her eyes vacant and distant, robbed of the fire that had always burned within her. The air crackled with tension as Crystal, leaped into action, disarming Zyra with a swift, calculated move. The gun clattered to the ground, its significance eclipsed by the sight of Zyra's weakening form. Blood seeped from her wound, staining the floor a vivid scarlet, a stark reminder of the fragility of life.

Water exploded from the ground like a live grenade, shooting the other player high into the air. Danny slowly let go so that he wouldn’t hurt the other player, a fall from such a height would be fatal and illegal. “Terrance get rid of him he’s soft.” Richard’s voice spoke over their radio. “Time for my Sandstorm you can get ready to win the first move.” Terrance said with his usual confidence. Terrance stood on one knee and loosened a pouch from his belt. He dropped a small amount of white sand into his hand and clenched it in his fist.

She screamed, but it wasn’t a human sound anymore. Malick’s POV He found her in the ruins of the clearing. Not Sierra — not the girl who had once laughed, who had once kissed him with trembling courage — but a figure swallowed in fire and shadow that refused to die. The air blistered his skin. Shadows slashed at him, raking claws of fire across his chest, but he forced himself forward. “Sierra!” His voice cracked, raw with smoke. He raised his arms to shield himself, dragonfire boiling in his veins, answering the unnatural blaze before him.

The girl sighed and inhaled deeply before nodding her head. Sonya beamed. “Good.” She started to ignite the fire inside her by getting some heat feeling about Luka. She knew that Javier planned to bring her to Luka’s place and that idea made her started to become angry and flamed up inside. She felt her hands getting warmer before burning and flaming fires from her two palms. Sandra bowed her eyebrows as she was surprised to see Sonya’s hands were flaming. “Your hands are firing up. What kind of wolf are you?”

I shouted, smashing the console. Still nothing. I stepped out again and dropped to my knees, the weight of everything finally crashing over me. My chest trembled as I opened my mouth to shout... “Why—AH! Bloody—!” The words twisted into a yelp as the burning sand bit into my skin through my trousers. I shot back up instantly, stumbling to the side of the machine like a man escaping hellfire. I found a patch of shade, crouched there—ground still hot, but survivable—and slammed my fists into the sand.