Welcome to Cariam (I)
The sun was shining on my bald head which reflected the vast desert before us. The hot weather and dry air made my already dry lips crack as I opened my mouth to drink.
Gulping the last drop of water in my bottle I nervously looked at my companion, seemingly unfazed by fatigue as he walked steadily towards our goal he didn't bother looking back on me. I couldn't understand how such a small creature could be so determined to accomplish his mission.
We had been together for a while now, after that faithful day we spent most of the time travelling but still, he rarely tried to struck a conversation, especially after the fight we had before this "small trip". He had always been a man of few words, to say the least. But from the few words we exchanged I could feel the determination that leaked from his cold demanor.
His small footprint were getting further away the more Time passed. Looking at his webbed footprints in the sand I got lost in my own thoughts until, after the umpteenth dune, we could finally see a forest.
'The forest of the edge'…a grand name for a mere forest. And the last difficulty before our destination. If you are wondering how it got its name, the reason is actually quite simple. Its location. The forest was at the edge of the border with the desert and it represented the southernmost border of the Lux's empire.
That damned empire, if it wasn't for the mess they made a few months prior we wouldn't be walking toward it's borders to infiltrate its cities.
As a my constitution was naturally strong I never bothered thinking of how weak and measly we are when faced with the strength of nature, especially the heat.
Dehydrated by the weeks long trip on foot in the dunes, I could feel my consciousness sleep away more and more with every step I took. As the world started spinning I finally lost control of my legs, my vision got blurry and the sounds started to disappear. As my face approached the ground my eyes closed. In the end, this is how I die.
….
I have always been an hard worker, not because I liked it, not at all. But it was necessary. As a loxodont coming from a traditional family my future was already set in stone the moment I was born. And I mean it quite literally.
Loxodont are best known for 2 things: having elephant like features and unparalleled ability in sculpting. We could create a beautiful sculpture in a few moments with the right material at hand. It sounds nice and all, but in reality most of us lived a poor life. The market was oversaturated with sculpture from our race and the only way to make it big was to be that much better than the rest.
Knowing this and the limit of my talent I decided that I needed to do something different. Fortunately a job that never knew inflation was right before my eyes. As soon I got the right age I enrolled to be a soldier.
Why a soldier? Easy the world was in need of them. The continent was riddled with war and tragedies, thanks to that damned empire and his expansions policies people died and suffered on a daily basis. It's not like I wanted to be a hero of justice like the one you hear about in stories, but this job paid well, extremely well. After years of war new soldiers were needed and sought after as not many remained that wanted to fight.
Still it was a dangerous job, but I had a plan. A good one at that, a truce was made five years ago, and beside a few skirmishes here and there, most conflict stopped. Of course that didn't mean it was safe now, but compared to before the difference was like heaven and hearth.
The plan was simple: enroll, train, serve for two years and finally become a town's guard in the countryside. The best job I could ever ask for, good salary and safety. I could kill two bird with one stone. The only difficulty was to survive the mandatory service.
And I almost made it , but my plan got ruined by a fucking fish. Well that might sound racist as he is actually a locathah. But it didn't matter.
We enrolled together, served together and became friend, best friend, or so I thought.
The first time we met we didn't even speak to each other. As we went through the training camp we rarely exchanged greeting. I caught him staring at me during training a couple times, almost thinking he could swing that way but I never actually cared. It was only after we got assigned to the frontlines in the same place that we started bonding.
He was a man of few word, but he knew how to have fun. After a while we found ourselves hanging out together more and more . And as I almost reached my goal he dragged me in this mess, and he even volunteered for it.
'You damned backstabbing bastard, I'll grill you one day. Prepare yourself.'
Anyway, I guess it's true that you can plan but life never goes as you want.
While reminiscing a stinging sensation came from my cheeks, as I opened my eyes water was dropping on my face. I could see leaves covering the sky and feel the soft grass under my body. Tilting my head a small Green fish wearing an worn out purple tracksuit was looking at me with his big black round eyes.
"You took your sweet time waking up Boja. We arrived at the forest. Let's get moving."