Finally, Alex was ready to leave.
He woke up early in the morning before sunrise, with everything ready, and walked out of the door.
The old man standing in front of his door for some time now finally looked up with a warm smile on his face.
“Are you ready to leave?” Tala asked.
“I am.”
The two walked toward the west of the city, a cool wind blowing through the streets as they passed through. It was mostly empty with only the occasional warriors that returned from their work.
“Have you decided where you will be going?” Tala asked. “Did the chief give you any names for which cities you can visit? Personally, I think you should go to the Stonecrater city next. The people there are—”
“I won’t be going to any place that is close by,” Alex said. “I am going to skip past most of the cities and go directly to ones much deeper in. I don’t want to waste any more time than I already have.”
The old man seemed surprised. “But… won’t you need to rest? You can’t survive all of your days in the desert.”
“I won’t be there for that long,” Alex said. “It should be a week or two before I settle in the next city I find.”
“Be careful,” the old man said. “The beasts get much stronger the deeper you go. Don’t cross the desert too far during the day since you will never know how strong the beasts have gotten. And always keep Sunhearts with you to survive the heat of the desert.”
“I know,” Alex said. “Thank you for the advice nonetheless.”
The old man nodded to himself and walked away silently, a hundred thoughts moving through his mind. Alex walked alongside him in silence for a while before asking, “You have questions, don’t you? Don’t hesitate. Just ask.”
The old man paused for a moment and nodded. “You are correct. I do have questions. I just wondered that they may be prying too much into your life.”
“Just ask,” Alex said. “If I don’t want to, I won’t answer.”
The old man chuckled. “Alright, first question. Where are you from?”
Alex’s eyes narrowed. “Why do you ask that? I thought I told everyone where I was from the first day I met the chief.”
“You did. I just wish to hear it again. Forgive me, but I just can’t see what you said as being true. I just… I have never heard of any place that is remotely like what you talked about. Sure, the world is large, but I should have heard of it at least a few times in my entire life.”
“Am I just oblivious, or did you lie?”
Alex thought for a bit. “I lied,” he said. “I am not from there.”
“Where are you from then?” the chief asked. “Someone so strong like you, you could only be from deep in the desert, but you’re trying to go there, so…”
“I’m not from this world,” Alex said.
Tala failed to grasp the meaning of Alex’s words for the first few seconds. When he finally did, his eyes narrowed. “Are you saying you have come from somewhere beyond this world? As in from up there?” He pointed to the sky.
“Something like that,” Alex said. “I’m not far too sure where this place is exactly.”
Tala was clearly surprised, but there seemed to lack a level of doubt in his expressions which confused Alex.
“You don’t doubt what I’m saying.”
“I do have some doubts,” the old man said, “but I have also heard of people coming to this world from outside too. Old records of such things happening do exist. Although, they are said to have happened thousands and thousands of years ago. Are you really telling the truth?”
“I am,” Alex said. “Are you sure there are such records?”
Alex couldn’t imagine anyone having come here in recent days unless a ticket to hell was that easy to come by.
“Why did you come here?” the old man asked. “Where do you come from?”
“I come from many worlds, really. But it wasn’t my choice to come here. I was sent here by force, as a sort of imprisonment so that I may never return.”
“Imprisonment?” the old man asked with slight surprise. “I have heard of the records speaking of our world as a prison.”
“It should. There should be a reason why your sky is called the Prison Walls.”
The old man vaguely nodded. “I wish you had told me all of this much earlier. I have so much to ask you. So many things you could teach us.”
“I’m sorry. I would love to tell you things, but I do not want to change the status quo of this world too much,” Alex said. “I was sent here without my consent, so I am trying to leave as soon as I can.”
“How will you do so?” Tala asked.
Alex shook his head. “I do not know. That’s why I’m going deeper into the desert. Either to find ways to leave, or get strong enough so that this world can’t keep me anymore.”
They finally arrived at the edge of the plateau on the west. The rays of rising sun scattered throughout the cascading dunes that seemed to stretch for eternity.
“Here,” the old man said, bringing out a storage bag. “This is not from me, but from the entire city. We thank you for everything you have done for us, so we hope you will accept this gift of ours.”
Alex took the storage bag with a curious expression and looked inside. His eyebrows raised when he saw that there were nearly 30 different Sunhearts of varying strength within.
“Use it well,” the old man said. “I know you can.”
“Thank you, Tala. I will make good use of it.” Alex tied the storage bag to his sash. “Now then, it is time that I leave. Thank you for everything too. Live a good life.”
Alex turned, and walked out of Sunspear.