Succumb to the dunes

Sand. Tiny specks forming a greater whole. If an ocean of water is the ocean of life, then an ocean of sand is the ocean of ****. You're sitting in the middle of a desert. You might be drowning soon. Completely surrounding you towards the horizon is a layer of air so thick and so sizzling it almost looks like you're trapped in a glass dome.

"How long do you think they'll stay convinced?" a voice rings out behind you. Its characteristically arrogant tone is instantly recognizable.

"Leave me alone, sister." you whine.

"How long can you keep up the appearance? How long till you unleash it?" your sister asks ignoring your words.

"What are you even talking about?" you ask annoyed.

"Do you like sand?" she says avoiding your question again.

"Used to it." you reply thinking her question is stupid and pointless.

"Sand is interesting. It degrades and erodes everything around it. It looks so harmless, but it infest great structures, turning them to rubble. Even the greatest of societies will one day succumb to the sand." she monologues.

"Your point being?" you growl.

"The poison in you will eventually be your downfall." she says rather monotonously.

"What poison?" you ask rather angrily.

"Oh, are you getting angry? Good." she smirks: "Keep sinking."

You feel the sand creeping up your shins, it's slow, but it's consistent. It's swallowing you. You take a second to breathe in, hold the breath, then slowly breathe out.

"What poison?" you ask again, this time calmer.

"The orc spirit. The anger. The brutality. The possessiveness. It's inside you. You don't let it show. You keep it suppressed within you, because you fear their reaction if you let it out."

The sand is now over your knees. You look at her with hatred plastered all over your face.

"Who cares what they think?" your sister continues: "You are stronger than them. Engineered by years of training and centuries of breeding. You can take what you want and they can't do a damn to stop you."

"That is not who I am!" you yell: "Not anymore!"

"You're a rod of dynamite, and by leaving the orc camp you have lit the fuse. It's only a matter of time, before you can't suppress it anymore. It's only a matter of time before you explode, and take everyone around you with you."

"I can change!" you struggle against the sand that has already reached your chest: "I can become someone else."

"Wrong." your sister smugly replies with a leering smile: "You are who you are... and you can never be anyone else. And even you will erode. Even you will be lost to the sands of time."

That's when you realize where you are. The air isn't so thick that it looks like glass... it is glass. You are trapped in sand in a big glass dome, and you know exactly where you are headed.

You manage to see the insulting smile of your sister one more time as sand envelops your head, and you are subjugated to the darkness. You can't move. There is nothing you can do but feel the pressure of the sand above as it guides you further down. As the glass walls start to cave in on you, you feel yourself getting lost in the wrath. Your anger, however irrational, is getting to you and you can feel its effects deep within your core. And from the pressure you finally release a deep guttural roar... and then... release.

You feel yourself falling. The sand streams with you from the sky and downwards. At the bottom of the hourglass you see your final destination. A sea of blood.

As your body hits the surface you wake up.

It's quiet. Some might even say idyllic. The only sound you hear is the deep breathing of the raccoon woman next to you. Emily is still sleeping. She fell asleep on top of you, but she must have turned over in her sleep, as she is lying with her back towards you.

It's dark outside. You wonder what time it is. You move out of bed. A dark wet silhouette of you has been placed in the bed like a shadow. You are caked in sweat. Another night terror. You don't feel like falling back asleep. You don your clothes and move outside.

As you leave you can't help but notice that you're angry. Why are you feeling angry?