Several days. For several days, the camel I was riding had been walking through this endless desert. From time to time we stopped at an oasis, but aside from wild quails, desert hares, camels, and desert spiders, we saw no other signs of life. I captured those, of course — after all, I still needed my camel. I also found a few date palms, whose fruits I later fed to it.
For about a day now, we had been lingering in a forest. A forest that had died years ago. The trees no longer carried even the faintest trace of ever having been alive. Yet, in the distance, a light shimmered. The light of a city.
When we arrived, we found a rather underdeveloped culture, likely due to the poverty of its inhabitants. I tied my camel to a fence with a rope and gave it another date to calm it down.
The city consisted of only a few buildings; one could more accurately call it a village.
"Who are you?" a voice suddenly called from behind me.
"A traveler," I replied instinctively. I understood what he said. But why?
"A traveler? And where do you come from? You don't look like someone from around here."
Where do I even come from?
I didn't know.
"Have you swallowed your tongue, or why aren't you answering anymore?"
"I… don't know." He laughed — for a long time. Around thirty seconds, until I interrupted him.
"What is this place? Where are we?" He looked at me in confusion and handed me a map.
"Here. It shows you all the important places in this land."
And indeed: the current location was marked, as well as all the surrounding cities.
"Atum."
"Yes, that's the name of the land. Named after our beloved pharaoh." Yet his voice lost enthusiasm as he mentioned the pharaoh.
"And we are in…?"
"Ptah," he said quickly. I gave him a slightly annoyed look to show him that his interruption bothered me.
"Ptah, then… And what is there here?"
"We are an independent village in the northernmost part of Atum. Named after our guardian god. If you want to meet him — he's probably in the forge."
A guardian god?
"Thanks for the help…"
"You can call me Aydin," he interrupted again. I would have liked to chop off his head, but since he had helped me, I decided to let it go.
"Thanks for the help, Aydin."
"Always welcome." He waved and walked toward a small field.