Grace and her group soared higher. Lawrence yelled in joy. Joan looked pale and didn't say much during their travel. Grace wanted to go faster, but looking at Joan's face made her fly slow and closer to the ground. After they left the remnants of Las Vegas, they had to fly several miles until the bottom of the actual ground showed. The sand storm which covered all of Las Vegas create mounds of hills which made the ground disappear. The freeway became a two way lane. Several abandoned cars stood mute on the stretch of the street. Most of the automobiles had the doors either ajar or smashed open.

She said, "Lawrence, don't look at the bodies or inside the cars."

Most of the dead were ravaged by a creature or ripped apart. Grace knew the wolves must have done this damage and she moved away from these scenes when she could. Grace called for a stop in the afternoon. Her mind and body were getting tired, and they had finally reached the outskirts of the State Line where California and Nevada divided. She saw the tops of the casino, Buffalo Bill, Gold Strike, Nevada Landing, and Whisky Pete’s still a half a mile from their position. They took several candy bars and drinks from the packs and started to eat. They were covered head to toe in sand and dirt even though Grace had shielded them the best she could while they traveled. She wanted to take one of the cars stranded on the road, but none of them were usable.

She created a sand shade over them and they ate on a barren area of the ground. Stunted bushes and shrubs were scattered along the landscape. Lawrence drank most of his bottled water.

"Slow down," Grace said. "We need to conserve our supplies."

He nodded in agreement. Grace didn't know what she would do with these two. She couldn't bring them along with her, for her mission was dangerous, or she imagined so. She turned to the casinos still far off in the distance and she realized something.

Joan said what she was thinking. "The casino's lights and signs are on."

Joan shielded her eyes and peered at the casinos. Grace followed her gazed. Even in the blazing sun, she could see the lights and signs were on but she was not sure. She wanted to start their journey again and rush toward the buildings, but her excitement was tempered with having seen the carnage and terror the Grog creatures caused in Las Vegas.

Lawrence said, "We should go. Maybe we can find my parents there."

Grace came closer to Lawrence and knelt by him. "I thought your parents died in the hotel."

His eyes grew huge and he nodded. She saw his mind was trying to comprehend this awful truth.

"I know. But I sometimes think this is a nightmare and I will wake up back at home."

"Yes, I think the same thing."

She gave him a hug. He stifled a cry. Joan looked away from them.

***

Grace had an odd feeling looking at the Casinos. They hid behind a sand dune between Whisky Pete’s and Nevada Landing several feet from the road. She was not sure if the lights were on or if the heat of the desert was playing tricks on them. Yet she felt a foreboding around her mind and her body. She wanted to fly to this casino and see if somebody, anybody, was alive, but it looked too easy.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Joan said, "I think we should go. We need to know if somebody is there."

"I don't know," Lawrence said. "It looks wrong."

Grace understood. The casino looked wrong.

"They have already seen us."

Joan was right. They could have seen them if they looked out the windows. But who would be looking, that was the question.

Grace knew they didn't have any weapons. They had her magic to defend them, but what if they surprised her and knocked her out? The others would be defenseless.

"We could wait until nighttime and then check it out," she said.

"Yes, let's do that," Lawrence replied.

Joan looked nonplussed and shook her head. "I want to go now."

"No, we should wait. There’s something wrong. Can you feel it?"

Lawrence said, "Yes, I can feel it too."

Joan started to stand. "I don't care. You are not the boss of me. My dad always bossed me around and now he’s dead and I will do what I want."

She started to walk forward. Grace shook her head. She couldn't make Joan do anything. But she knew she was right. She watched Joan walk down toward the Casinos. It would take an hour to walk there. She should go with her but she had an obligation to protect Lawrence. He was a minor and couldn't look after himself. And she thought it was imperative she found a safe haven for him.

Grace moved Lawrence a few feet down toward a high sand dune to watch Joan walk the last few hundred feet to the nearest casino, Buffalo Bill. She saw a large fake mountain with the roller coaster that maneuvered in and out of the casino. Dusk was coming with the cool breeze of the desert. Lawrence lay on the ground watching Joan. The lights of the Casinos were on and bright. Joan reached the parking lot which had several cars stationed in neat rows, as if people had arrived for a weekend of fun.

A flash came from the sky and clouds appeared out of nowhere. And then a noise like thunder arose and Lawrence moved down. He looked away from Joan, his eyes darting around.

He said, "Should you help her?"

Grace's eyes were transfixed on the lights and the buildings. She sensed deep magic awakening from the very earth. She was about to fly toward Joan when her slim figure disappeared. First she was walking down an embankment in the dim light, next she was gone.

"Where did she go?"

Lawrence was next to her. She felt his hot breath on her arm.

"Look!"

The ground rippled and moved like water. Grace sensed the leviathan before it broke through the surface of the ground. It rose higher than the tallest buildings of the casinos and roller coaster. The leviathan was a long scaled worm with a round open maw. Even from their vantage point, Grace could see the many rows of razor sharp daggers in its mouth like dozens of shark teeth, all in concentric rows.

The giant worm reared up high and stopped in midair. Grace almost screamed while Lawrence next to her was mute. The leviathan fell to the ground and disappeared into the sands.

Lawrence clutched her arm, digging into her skin.

"What is that thing?" he asked.

"I don't know, but I don't want to walk down there and find out."

Grace was searching for Joan but she was nowhere to be found. She had disappeared underneath the sands. Grace placed her hands on the ground. She was not sure if she could do this, but she gave it a try. She focused her senses outward toward the Casinos, trying to find out what was hidden underneath.

Her mind started to flow through the sands, feeling the layout of the earth. It was a harrowing experience as though she was being swallowed into the ground. Yet her body was still on the surface. Lawrence was her anchor. The boy still held her arm and he didn't say anything to her while she was in a trance. She sensed the leviathan under the buildings and structures. It awoke and came into being after the magical storms brought forth destruction. The creature's mind was not open to her, but she saw its lair. It was a large cavern filled with dead bodies. Grace scanned and saw Joan. She was eviscerated and dismembered. Other smaller worms were feeding on her. Grace couldn't take it and rushed back to her body.

She awoke from the trance in a breathless small scream.