I had explained everything to Valex.
My grandfather, the letter, the oasis, the beauty — I told him everything that had happened to me.
Throughout my telling he listened without interruption, his expression serious.
When I finished he looked at me and said:
"Are… you sure this oasis exists?"
I answered, "I can't call it sure — it's closer to an attempt."
"What would you do if it didn't exist?"
"It does exist. I know it does. That flower is proof of it. That's what I hope."
"And what about that demon? Are you sure it's not a nightmare?"
"No. I know when I'm haunted by nightmares. There's no way I'd forget that."
"That's hard to believe, to be honest."
I looked at him and said:
"Yesterday we defeated a giant bird with a giant gorilla."
An awkward silence filled the air.
He said to me, "When you put it like that, it sounds logical."
"All right—my turn to ask you something."
"What do you want to ask me?"
"Why did you lie?"
Valex's expression twisted in surprise and he asked, "What do you mean?"
"I know you lied when you said you two roamed this world. That whole thing is stupid — you must have been living somewhere."
"You're sharp… all right. We lived in a camp."
"A camp?! You mean there were other people?"
"Yes. Actually, quite a few. The camp had tents, some creatures were tamed there, food was plentiful, and there was water too."
"Why would you leave a place like that? It sounds perfect."
Valex's look turned angry and he said:
"No. It was the opposite… it was hell for the poor. It was run by bad people who treated needy men like slaves and did awful things to women. I don't know how, but they had firearms."
"That sounds horrific. So why were you one of them?"
Shock crossed his face again and he said, "How did you know?"
"You have no cuts or signs of torture, your build doesn't look like someone treated like a slave. Flit too — isn't that suspicious?"
"I'm sure you guessed right… fine, I admit I was one of them, but I hated it. I had no choice. Flit was still an infant, and their leader liked me and made me his friend. If I refused, I wouldn't have had a place to feed Flit.
I hated myself for it. I hurt a lot of people, forced a woman to breastfeed Flit… I swear I didn't want to, but I didn't want anything to happen to her."
"Why?"
"What do you mean why?"
"You did what you needed to survive. What you did was logic itself. Getting close to their leader was luck and you used it and—"
"Shut up!" Valex shouted so loud it scared me. Rage filled his face.
Then he continued in a raised voice:
"To hell with your stupid logic. I felt like a monster. Men and women wept and begged, and I just ignored them. If not for Flit, I would have killed myself out of hatred."
He screamed and tears streamed down his face. It was… sickening.
I stood and started shouting too:
"You don't know them, and you benefited from what you did — so why complain now?"
He stopped shouting and looked at me with a sad expression.
"I thought you were kind, kid… but now you actually disgust me."
"You—"
I stopped because I saw Flit awake, looking at us frightened.
Valex noticed at once and began soothing her while telling her everything was fine.
I kept thinking about what he'd said. I didn't understand — his actions had been logical, so why did he hate himself for them?
After a while Valex said to me:
"Let's end the conversation for today and continue tomorrow. But know this: from now on don't call me a friend. Consider it a partnership for survival only."
I said, "Fine," and lay down to sleep.
Although I didn't feel remorse for what I said, his words left me with a strange feeling — as if they had wounded me.
---
In the morning when I woke up, I saw Flit talking with Valex.
The moment Flit noticed I was awake she ran over and said:
"Faril, let's dig like pirates."
"…What?"
"A long time ago Valex told me about people called pirates who loot and plunder ships. But more importantly, they find treasures by digging where an X is marked."
"Yes, I've heard of them. You mean we should dig at the X marked on the tree?"
"Nothing wrong with trying."
Thinking about it, it was worth a try.
Valex dragged Flit away from me and said, "If you want to dig, do it quickly and don't waste time."
Obviously he was still angry.
I stepped up to the X mark and started digging with my hands.
Valex came to dig too, and Flit followed.
After a short while I felt like I'd hit something.
I kept moving the sand and then found it.
It was a box… another box like the one that had my father's letter.
I picked up the box, and Flit began asking questions.
"What is it? Is it what we're looking for?"
I opened the box slowly.
I could feel Flit's excitement and Valex's tension.
Then I opened it and… there it was… another letter.
It looked like the one my father had left.
Flit kept asking, "What is this? Are those symbols letters too?"
I pulled the letter out of the box and started to read:
"Hello my son, if you are reading this letter then you have found the nest. Great work, I'm proud of you. You must be excited like me to find the oasis. All you need to do now is head east. I can't write much on this paper, I'm sorry. I just want you to know that I love you. Good luck."
I was angry.
"Damn. Is that it? Even the box is empty."
Valex looked at me and said, "How can you say that about a letter from your father?"
"It's useless. Just one piece of information? Head east? Then what? Survive murderous creatures?"
"What else did you want him to write?"
"I don't know… anything that would help me get there faster."
"Okay. We know what to do now, so let's just do it."
I packed my things and we started walking.
We headed east.
---
Elsewhere, a group of people entered a large tent.
As soon as they entered they bowed before a man sitting with his back to them, singing.
"Forgive me, my leader."
The man stopped singing, turned, and said:
"Ah, you're finally back. I was dying of anticipation. Well, did you find him?"
"Um… no, my le-"
A shot rang out, blood splattering through the tent, and a terrifying silence filled the place.
That man's head had been blown apart, and the remaining men were terrified.
"So why did you return? Go at once, and if you come back empty-handed again I will drink your blood for breakfast."
"Yes, sir."
They fled hurriedly and terrified.
The man resumed his singing and said:
"You'll be mine again soon, Valex. Just wait."
End of Volume One.
To be continued...