The warm morning breeze slid down the slope like a lazy sigh, swaying leaves, nudging bushes, making that soft sound of vegetation that always gave me the feeling that something alive was about to leap out of the brush and bite my ass.
But, of course, that wasn't what happened.
Oud scratched his belly — a motion that made it look like he was about to fall apart from the inside — and grumbled:
— Is it still far to this so-called city?
I rolled my eyes before even answering. He knew I didn't know. But asking was part of his repertoire, like breathing.
— We're close. We just need to cross this forest. — That's what I said, trying to sound more confident than I actually was.
We descended the mountain, stepping on damp branches that snapped under our boots like old bones. The path was narrow, almost hidden by living moss and tall trees that seemed like silent observers. Colorful birds flitted between branches, and copper-furred squirrels followed us from a distance.
I pushed aside a low branch, passed through it, and took the final step out of the forest.
And stopped.
— …Ah, much better — I murmured. — The world's gotten way too lazy with natural transitions.
Behind me, Oud stepped out of the trees' shadow and stopped beside me.
In front of us, there was a line. Not a gradual border, not a natural change — a line. Straight. Precise. As if someone had taken a cosmic ruler and decided to slice the forest cleanly in half with the desert.
On one side, life.
On the other, death.
Pleasant shade, the smell of damp earth, leaves moving in the breeze — and then, just ahead, an arid, silent desert, where the heat seemed to vibrate in the air like a threat.
— I've never seen anything like this — I said, and for a moment I felt small. Small even by Red standards.
— Look! — Oud exclaimed. — A bird fell into the desert.
I ran to the animal without thinking twice. It was small, blue, and trembling in a way that felt wrong. As if the heat were dismantling it from the inside.
I crouched beside it.
— It can't move…
Oud approached and extended his hands — slowly, as if dealing with a fragile baby, not a two-hundred-gram bird.
— Give it to me.
— And what are you going to do? — I asked, already imagining ten bad possibilities.
— Take it back to the forest.
He held the little creature as if it were expensive equipment. We returned to the dividing line.
The moment we stepped back into the forest's shade, the bird began to struggle. A second later, it flew off. As if nothing had happened.
— You've got to be kidding me… — I murmured.
I barely had time to process the absurdity when, in the distance, something moved in the desert.
— There — I said, pointing. — People. Heading somewhere. I think that's our destination.
The heat intensified as we advanced. My sweat evaporated so fast it felt like my body was being sanded from the inside. Oud, on the other hand, walked steadily, as if he were made for that place — which was almost true, considering what was running through his body.
After a while, something unexpected appeared among the dunes: a wooden shop. Small, crooked, with a torn awning threatening to collapse at any moment.
— Oh, of course — I muttered. — A shop in the middle of nowhere. Totally trustworthy.
A middle-aged man watched us, reclining in the shade.
We walked straight past him — because obviously we didn't have time for mysterious vendors in anomalous deserts — but he called out:
— Hey! Where do you think you're going?
— Masterful City — I answered without stopping.
The man smiled like someone who knew you needed him more than you'd like.
— If you don't have the Psychic Element, you won't get in.
I stopped.
Oud did too. Him, by expression alone, because he hadn't understood a thing. Me, because I had — and hated it.
— What do you mean? — I asked.
— City law. You need an amulet, a necklace, anything that proves the element. I sell some… if you've got money.
Oud pulled coins from his pocket. Ancient. Old. Slightly oxidized.
The vendor took them and made an almost theatrical grimace.
— This is from my grandmother's time. — He looked at Oud, his eyes narrowing. — Impressive you're still walking around with that… cancer.
— Where I come from, they call it ultra cancer — I replied. — And that's why we want to get in. We're looking for a cure.
He laughed — a laugh with no humor in it.
— Ah, the city has a cure for everything… but everything there has a price.
I took a deep breath. I wanted to smash my head against a rock, but it would break before solving my problem.
— Fine. Just show me what we can buy with this.
— With that money? — He made a dramatic gesture. — Only the used shelf.
He grabbed a dark, shriveled fruit that looked like it had been dead for three years.
— This lets you walk inside without weakening too fast. Everyone uses something like it. Eight coins.
I took it. Smelled it. My eyes widened.
— This is rotten.
— Not rotten — he corrected. — Vintage.
— If it worked, you wouldn't be living here — I shot back.
He shrugged, completely unoffended.
He picked up another item. A cheap amulet.
— This one keeps Ulzors away. Five coins.
— Hey, didn't you say we needed the Psychic Element? — I asked, frowning.
The vendor blinked, as if caught red-handed.
— Sorry, young man, force of habit… — he replied, half-smiling. — We always try to sell everything.
— Okay, no nonsense then. — He picked up a simple necklace. — Psychic Element. The last one I've got. It's a bit worn… but for ten coins you'll get through the gate. Probably.
Probably. I didn't think it could get worse.
Oud looked at me. I looked at the coins. I sighed.
— Deal.
We crossed the desert with the amulet in hand — and the constant feeling that I'd just made a terrible deal.
When a massive shadow finally fell over us, I lifted my head.
A mountain. Not a normal one. Enormous. Flat-topped.
— The city must be up there — I said.
Oud nodded. His expression was strangely calm, as if he weren't carrying a disease that would have killed any ordinary person weeks ago.
And as we walked toward the stone colossus, an uncomfortable thought hammered at the back of my mind.
Great. Another thought I hadn't invited to live in my head.
Oud resists the cancer… like no one ever has.
Maybe…
maybe he's the key to curing it.
Maybe he's useful.
And I hated myself for thinking that.
But even so, I did.