A wind buffeted Grace as she floated up and looked around their surroundings. Joan had decided to leave with them the next day. They stayed an extra day at the small store, gathering supplies and figuring out what they should do. Even though Grace had lived here for several years she didn't know where the nearest police station was but Joan said it was down a few miles from here. But Grace couldn't tell where they were. She scanned for the landmarks of the casinos, but all she saw while she floated in the sky was mounds of sand dunes. Eventually she saw something she recognized, the 15 freeway. The sand dunes covered most of it.

She said, "Joan, I see the 15 freeway."

Grace floated too high and they couldn't hear her. She looked down and saw them staring at her. She was about to start to descend back to them, but turned away to look behind her and she saw something that almost made her shout. A wall of sand was coming to them. They needed to find shelter. But then she remembered that her powers could protect them. She descended.

Lawrence sensed something. "What did you see?"

"I saw the 15 freeway, but I saw something else. Another storm is coming toward us."

Joan said, "What do we do?"

Grace heard a whining noise and the ground rumbled. She started to radiate intense heat from her chest and arms. She heard the beating of her heart. The wind blasted through their small area in front of the store.

Lawrence said, "Grace, what should we do?"

The boy grabbed her arm. Grace looked at her hand and saw the ring on her finger start to glow.

She said, "Gather close to me."

Joan and Lawrence moved close to her. The wind started to whine louder and Grace felt power gather within her. It was as if the power of the storm raged inside. She lifted her hands and a white glowing barrier surrounded them. The sound of the storm was deafening. The ground shuddered and a wave of dirt, ground and sand hit the barrier.

Joan tried to speak to her, but Grace couldn't understand what she was saying through the noise of the storm. She focused and they floated into the maw of the tempest. Lawrence hugged so her tight that she almost couldn't breathe. Her magical powers seethed and thundered inside her. She felt the fury of the storm. Grace had never felt so powerful. She moved her hand downwards. The sand storm changed into a large hurricane. Large chunks of building walls, stone and other things she couldn't recognize flew around them. They were inside the eye of the storm. The deafening sound faded to a whine. And Grace knew that if she let the glowing force field disperse they would be torn apart.

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Slowly, by degrees, the storm started to lessen and change direction, leaving them. They were floating several hundred feet from the ground. Grace saw that Las Vegas was completely covered by sand and dirt. She couldn't see the 15 freeway or the store. The sands of nature finally took over the manmade structures. She descended to the ground.

"Where are our supplies?" Grace asked.

Joan said, "I have them in my backpack."

"I also have some food in my pack," Lawrence said.

"I tried to speak to you, but you were in a trance," Joan said.

Her face was flushed with sadness when she gazed at the area where her father's store was covered with sand. Grace saw sand dunes everywhere she looked. Nothing could have survived the second tempest.

Joan said, "What do we do now?"

"We leave. There is nothing holding us here. Even the creatures must be dead."

The sun was high in the sky and Grace felt the heat burning into her skin. She lifted her hand and sand floated above them, creating a canopy shading them from the heat.

Lawrence said, "That’s neat."

Grace was about to speak then an odd feeling came over her. She needed to find him, the person who would show them the pathway, the doorway to the ancient city. A place they all needed to find. It was The Calling.

Lawrence said, "Do you hear me?"

"What? Sorry, I didn't hear you. What did you say?"

"You said that you have to find him. Who are you speaking about?"

"I don't know. But I know where we should go. We are going to California."

Joan said, "That is hundreds of miles from here."

"Yes, I know."

"How do you expect us to get there from here?"

Grace was not sure but she was sure about one thing. "You don't have to go. I need to do this alone. We will find you a safe place."

She said this with conviction and realized there really was no safe place anymore. The safest place was with her.

Lawrence gave a sad and sheepish look. "Where are you going, and why can't we go with you?"

Grace shook her head. "Lawrence." She knelt by him. "I don't mean I will leave you alone right now. But when we find some people to help, you can go with them."

The desert looked desolate with some of the tallest buildings poking through the surface. A wind picked up and she sensed her powers had changed and morphed into something more powerful and stronger. She knew where to go and she felt like a compass pointed due west toward the Leader, but she also sensed something else, a deep vastness of strength had been released into the world and was changing everything.

"Come with me for now. It’s up to you."

Joan and Lawrence had no choice at the moment. Las Vegas was swallowed by the sands of magic and nature. They nodded in agreement.

"So be it."

She knew the first place they would go would be the State Line. There were several casinos there and hopefully the buildings were still standing. Grace saw the remnants of the 15 freeway snaking out of the sand several hundred feet away. With her magical compass showing where to go she decided this was the path toward the State Line.

Grace said, "We don't have to walk."

Her powers had grown and she knew she could easily levitate all of them. Grace focused her powers and they all floated off the ground.

Joan yelped.

Lawrence said, "Whoopee, let's go."

They started to move across the sand. The wind buffeted their clothes.