"Where am I?"
I woke up in the middle of an empty grey desert.
The sky was gloomy.
I tried to remember how I got here.
Nothing.
"You are finally awake. O ordained."
A deep voice. Coming from nowhere.
I looked around. No one.
"'Ordained?' Who are you?"
"You shall know soon enough. Follow the winds."
I couldn't locate the source of the voice. However, I did what it said and walked in the direction the wind was blowing.
Not much time passed before I heard a shout from afar.
"You there!"
A figure in the distance, waving, moving toward me.
"A man who can be trusted," the voice said.
It was an old man, dressed in nomadic clothes not unlike my own.
"Greetings, stranger. Are you lost?"
"I think so."
"What's your name?"
"My name... I can't remember."
He studied me for a moment.
"Come with me. The storms are coming."
I followed.
The winds picked up fast. Dust filled the air.
The old man's steps slowed.
"We're here."
A small clay hut, barely visible through the haze, as if it had been placed there after we arrived.
"Come on in."
After we settled inside, he spoke first.
"Not many people pass through here."
"Where did you come from?"
"I don't know. All I remember is waking up outside. And a voice."
"A voice?"
"Yes. It told me to go with the wind."
"A gut feeling?"
"No. I heard it clearly. And it called me 'ordained'."
His expression settled into worry.
"Look, son, it's easy to lose your mind when you're lost in a place like this alone for so long. Just get some rest, and hopefully, with time, you'll regain your memories, and never hear voices again."
He went quiet for a moment.
"Though, it is strange. The prevailing winds have been blowing west for a while now. That leads to the south of Apiru. Why would it ask you to go there specifically? Nothing out there but mountains and an abandoned temple."
"It's probably nothing. You should get some sleep. We'll talk tomorrow."
He prepared a small bundle of cloth, spreading it carefully on the floor. "This will do for the night."
"The name's Kaelum. Let me know if you need anything."
"Thank you. I'm in your debt."
I lay down, thinking about what he said. It made the most sense. But that voice was clear. I was almost certain it was a person talking to me.
I let it go and closed my eyes.
—
I found myself in a dim place that looked like a cave. Ruins were scattered around me. A beam of light fell from somewhere above.
The voice could be heard again.
"Come to me. And your questions shall be answered."
—
I opened my eyes to find myself in the hut again.
"A dream?"
I stepped outside. Twilight still lingered along the horizon, its faint light barely separating the land from the sky. Dawn was beginning to spread above it, slowly thinning the darkness that remained.
Kaelum stood by the side of his hut, packing scraps and metals into a worn sack.
"Did you sleep well?" he asked, without turning.
"I had a dream. Ruins, a cave, a beam of light from above. The voice beckoned me there. Said my questions would be answered if I come to visit it."
He turned around. His expression shifted, disturbed.
"You should ignore it. Brush it off!"
"Why? The place I saw in the dream could be the temple you mentioned!"
He picked up his sack of cloth.
"Come with me to Apiru. Long walk. I'll explain on the way. Once we reach the city, you can head south to the temple if you still want to. It'll take longer than going direct, but there's no road from here, so it'll be dangerous."
I agreed to accompany Kaelum with no hesitation.
"Let me carry that. I insist."
"What are all these for anyway?"
"I find things out here in the desert and sell them in Apiru every once in a while."
"What kind of place is Apiru?"
"A half-abandoned city, controlled by thieves and criminals."
"Its residents are low-trust, not people you'd want to deal with."
"But they still need items. And I still need to eat."
"I see."
"So, about the dream..."
"Look around as we walk. Tell me what you think is worth noticing."
"The air is dusty."
He remained silent, not satisfied with my answer.
I looked around again.
"The sand has no color to it. The sun's light fell in unnatural tones. Neither warm nor cold."
"We've been walking for a while. There's no one else out here."
"True."
He kept his eyes forward.
"Everything around us feels wrong, and yet none of us can remember anything before it."
"We were not meant to live in a place like this. All the uncertainty and emptiness drive us to insanity."
"There are almost no people left out here. The remaining few have either lost their minds, turned into criminals, or both. Anyone who is still holding on is forced to sit alone with themselves."
"And the self is a scary companion. It knows every doubt and fear. At first, it questions the choice of path. Then it questions whether stepping out was a good idea in the first place. Then it questions the ability to decide itself, and from there, it only goes downhill."
"Do you see now? This is why I ask you to ignore the voice and forget about 'chosen one' nonsense."
"Your mind is trying to lead you astray. Again."
...
"You're right."
"But still, I'll have to go there."
"There have been many signs. It doesn't sit right with me to label them all as madness."
"Maybe it is nothing. Maybe it is all in my mind."
"But things keep... lining up."
"Us being alive. Still not having lost our minds. Meeting in this empty space."
He looked at me, unconvinced, yet didn't intend to argue further.
"You have until we reach the city to decide. Think wisely."
And so the road to Apiru continues.