Descending the stairs until I reached the bonfire, I teleported to the Behemoth Ranch to head south, where the desert should be to find that strange rose. I walked along a huge path until I reached a corral gate; opening it with a master key I kept walking along the path until I reached a wooden bridge…
That bridge seemed to have been built over the very fury of nature: a rushing river that roared as if it wanted to devour anything that fell into its current. The planks creaked under my boots.
The wind hit my face, hot and rough, as if it already wanted to announce what I would find ahead.
After crossing this bridge I continued along the long path that seemed endless, a dusty trail that rose in golden spirals. There was no shade, no sound, no rest. Just me, the echo of my steps and the mission to find that rose.
Until I reached what seemed to be a house.
But this one had no door, only eroded walls that led nowhere. The path ended abruptly there, as if someone had torn away the continuation of the world.
However, in the middle of that unfinished construction, there were stairs descending deep down.
I went down the stairs, and when I descended I was in what seemed to be an underground passage. It was completely empty, silent as a tomb, barely lit by some cracks in the ceiling that let through a thin thread of golden light. There was only a narrow path ahead, a corridor that twisted like the spine of an ancient serpent.
I kept walking for a few minutes until I reached another room where, in the center, there were more stone stairs. They were ancient, worn by hundreds of unknown footsteps.
Climbing them gave me a shiver: I didn't know where they led, but something inside me told me that this was not a simple passageway. It was a threshold.
When I did, as soon as I climbed up, I immediately found myself in a completely hot place. The change was so sudden that I got dizzy. The air was heavy, almost solid, hugging me with a heat that seemed to want to rip my breath away. I was completely confused; how could I have reached the desert so quickly? It was as if that underground passage were an ancient portal, a crack in reality.
I looked around: sand, gigantic dunes, a wavy horizon like a living mirage.
And around the place, stone walls that seemed about to collapse. Large worn blocks that had seen entire eras pass in front of their cracks. I began exploring around them for a moment until I found a peculiar animal.
It was round, furry, and its shape reminded me of a small dog, though its body had something of a desert creature, a living adaptation. But it was completely exhausted; it writhed on the hot sand, panting desperately, dying of heat.
I couldn't see it like that. Something in its gaze hit me: a silent plea, a request for help.
I immediately decided to give it something to drink. I searched my bag, but the only thing I had were the bottles of milk I had equipped last time. "Well, better this than nothing," I thought. I offered them to it.
The little being drank with such desperation that it seemed its whole life depended on that moment. And little by little, its body regained strength, shine and enthusiasm. Even its tail —or whatever that fluffy thing was— began to move like a happy propeller.
When it finished drinking, it jumped in front of me with a playful air and then crouched down, clearly offering me its back. At first I hesitated… but it seemed so innocent, so willing to help, that I ended up climbing on.
And as soon as I did, the creature took off like an arrow. It ran as if the dunes were crystal plains. The wind hit my face, but for the first time that day, the heat stopped being a torment: the speed refreshed me, awakened me, made me feel alive.
We explored the desert together, my new companion and I, heading north. That's how we reached a small lake in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by palm trees that seemed silent guardians of that oasis. The water shone like a blue mirror, a treasure hidden in the middle of a world of drought.
We continued through the place, going around the lake, listening to the soft murmur of the wind among the leaves. And further ahead I found myself in a pasture where the grass was incredibly long, moving like a green sea. In the middle of the grass, one of the squids I had found before squawked upon seeing me, as if it recognized my presence.
My new companion kept running upward until we returned to the point where I had given it the milk. It was as if it were showing me the territory, as if it wanted to communicate something to me. So we decided to now explore straight to the right.
We began to advance until we reached walls made of hardened sand and stone, ancient like the ruins of the lost empire. In the middle of these walls there was an extinguished bonfire. Without thinking I lit it immediately. And as always… the moment I did, Leaf appeared.
—But what is this place! It's way too hot~~~! —she complained, waving her hands as if trying to shoo the sun itself—. Let's get out of here. I don't know why you're in a desert, but better come back to the sacred forest at least for a while. I'm too bored without you!
—I'm really sorry, Leaf, but I'm in the middle of something. After I finish what I'm doing I swear I'll go to the sacred forest.
—Alright… but I hate deserts! Stupid, big and empty! Even the enemies here are annoying! Whoever invented deserts should dry up completely and turn into a mummy…
—Yes, yes, whatever you say.
She puffed her cheeks, muttered something I couldn't understand and disappeared in a flash.
With the bonfire activated, I continued my journey without a fixed direction, advancing through stone paths, fallen walls and structures that seemed remains of a city forgotten by everyone. Among these ruins I found a barred gate; behind it some stairs descended to an unknown place. It looked tempting, mysterious… but I couldn't deviate. I still hadn't found the Rose for Rumpuzer.
So I kept searching.
And in another beautiful green pasture, surrounded by five tall cacti like guardians, I found it. There, in the middle of the ground, rested the Desert Rose. Its color was neither red nor pink, but a tone between golden and orange, as if it kept in its petals the eternal light of sunset.
I crouched down, took it gently and pulled it from the ground carefully so as not to damage it.
With the mission accomplished, I returned with my companion to the bonfire I had lit to teleport to the tower of Ghotel.