The Search For The Dakyal
You walk into the center of a circle of 7 giant glass statues. Each one, facing toward the middle, with their heads uplifted to heaven, and each resembling a different desert creature. You scanning each animal in carefully: gombabaem, fauxon, vulture, saja, addax, tortoise, and moraeani.
Finishing one rotation, you stop, eyes settling on the gombabaem. Unlike the swamp snakes you are accustomed to, this giant glass desert serpent manages to instill a tinge of fear in you. It's appearance is so lifelike, causing you to remember the stories you've heard of the creature. Apparently it's the most deadly reptile in the desert; only the fauxon is known to even try to eat it. You‘re a little awed at this incredibe statue of a creature so greatly feared by so many.
Feeling uncomfortable with this image, you move your attention away. The book had said to “find the one with eyes of gold and scarlet”. You look round, confused, as the statues are all of clear glass. Anxiety creeps into your chest and your hands clench. Your brothers are counting on this. The glass castle would never release them unless you complete this mission. But how are you to figure out which animal the book spoke of when this is where it led you?
“Come on! I don't see any color here!” your voice is loud, full of frustration. You've got through do much, only to be stumped, staring at 7 glass statues? It’s ridiculous! You sling your pack off your shoulder, placing it on the ground and opening it. You pull the old book out, briefly glancing at the foreign-looking characters on the cover before flipping through the pages to find the right place.
“...and one shall be sent...the silver scar...but shall bring back the...” you mumble half of the words as you go. “...find the one with eyes of gold and scarlet!” you finish with emphasis on the last part of the sentence. “Riiight. Give me the book with weird writings and expect me to bring back your stupid,” you look back down at the book for the right word, “dagyal.” You slam the book back shut and growl into the sky. “Whyyy?!”
Only desert silence answers you. “Fine! You want gold and scarlet eyes? I'll show you what they have.” You turn your attention back to the figurines around you. Their faces, uplifted to the skies made it a little difficult to see their eyes fully. “I guess I'll be climbing, then.” You let out a whimper, but begin the process of picking a statue, and the climbing it. It is quite painstaking as they are made our of smooth glass, and are giant in size.
Finally, with help from a rope, you reach the head of the addax, its spiral horns proving quite useful in the process. Pulling yourself carefully around its head, so as not to slide off the smooth surface, you find its eyes to be...clear glass, just as the rest of him had appeared from the ground. Tired and disappointed, you clamber over its head, cautiously down its neck, and onto its back before sliding down the shoulder and off the animal altogether.
“One down, six to go,” you wipe some sweat off your face. If the temperatures rise much higher, you might be in danger of best stroke. You take a swig of water from the flask in your pack before continuing on to the tortoise.
You check each creature in turn, but find no eyes are gold and scarlet. The gombabaem was the most difficult to climb, considering it's a serpent, so there wasn't really anything to attach the rope to except its fangs protruding from its opened mouth. That had been an uncomfortable climb, to say the least. You had to climb the rope, almost hanging in midair due to the angle and position of its head and body. And yet, when you finally did reach the head, you found nothing worth your climb.
A few hours after you began, you complete the search, coming up with nothing. Growling at nobody and everyone, you wall back to your pack and flop down on the ground, your bag under your chin, feeling exhausted. The sun is going down, but you still haven't found the eyes the book spoke of. You close your eyes, feeling frustration, anger, and worry for your brothers. If you can't finish this stupid, stupid quest, will you ever see them again?