“Mhh this is delicious,” I mumbled while chewing down the dried meat. According to Pecta, these strips of dried bobar meat were very common travel rations and tasted like absolutely nothing. Maybe human biology was different from my own, because these treats tasted like they had been created by the world itself, to fill an aching hunger I hadn’t know I possessed.

This was one of the many pleasant aspects of traveling with another living being. My loneliness had magically disappeared and I was gaining more information than I had ever dreamed of. The thought of just leaving him and going straight to the nearest city had never even occurred to me. Sure, it would probably be safer but it would also require me to leave the first sentient creature I had come across to die. A voice inside of me told me to just abandon him but I shut it up. No way.

After packing everything up, Pecta had asked me to wear something called "clothing". Apparently, human society was very sensitive about showing skin or scales and required one to wear the garment I had observed the other humans wearing. He gave me a whole assortment of different clothing and showed me how to put them on.

There was a slightly blood covered cloak and shirt, pants that started of too long before I cut them, and a belt that looked like a piece of string. He also gave me a brown chest piece that I could wear beneath my cloak. It was called armor, meant to protect its owner, which made me question the fate of the previous wearer. The holes and cuts that littered it told the story of a brutal struggle.

We also took a couple of weapons, even though I really hoped we wouldn’t need them. The staff I had been holding was called a "spear" and it was used to stab stuff. I also took the curved blade I had found, which was called a "dagger". The blade was black, with green streaks running from tip to bottom looking like veins. The hilt had three blue crystals embedded into it and strange script that looked a lot like the one on the ring. The thought of asking Pecta about its meaning was quickly discarded after considering his reaction to the scriptures on the ring. Maybe I would do it later but right now I didn’t want to upset my traveling companion. Nonetheless, he gave me a strange look after picking the dagger but didn’t comment further.

Pecta was a treasure trove of information and during the trip, he explained a few interesting things to me. This desert was called the Scorching Barrens and it was part of the human kingdom of Sanktrum, ruled by Idina the Third. Pecta’s way of speaking about her made me think that he wasn’t a big fan.

Speaking of Pecta, the reason he was in this “hellish place” was because he had needed money, which led him to be employed as a guard for a trading caravan. A decision he would come to regret. However, despite the horrible situation he was in, his mood kept improving. He started to become more open and put real emotions into the words he said. Looks like giving someone a chance at survival cheers them up. Who could have guessed?

But let's stop talking about horrible stuff and appreciate my new love: food. It was a great invention and I was eager to taste more. The water, on the other hand, was refreshing but tasteless. Still, I was eager to see what other nourishment existed in the world. I also asked about the potions that had been in the bag. The red one was a healing potion, the green one poison, and the black one super poison. They had actual names but I disregarded them. When I asked my companion why they were at the camp, he had just shrugged and said he didn’t know.

Although, I kind off doubted that he was telling the truth. Instead of driving me away, this just made me even more curious. Another cool thing I learned from him were insults. Did you know, that pemerix means,-

“You shouldn't eat that much. You can apparently survive without food, but I can't,” Pecta casually stated. I immediately felt guilty and put the half eaten piece of meat back into the bag. Pecta rolled his eyes and asked, “Not to sound rude, but what are you? I never heard of a monster with your features. Also, you can finish that piece.” I happily munched down the meat and thought for a moment. What was I?

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“I don't know,” I honestly answered. “It's one of the many things I still have to figure out.” I had told him about my story in exchange for his information. It wouldn’t be fair if I just took without giving back. However, I didn’t tell him about the beast or my visions. Somehow they felt more personal than the rest.

“You look human but clearly aren’t,” Pecta stated. “My first reaction would be to call you a shapeshifter or a samrax but that obviously isn’t correct. You only have one claw and can’t change shapes.” We continued moving as Pecta kept thinking. Meanwhile, I closed my eyes and imagined turning into a human. Nope, I definitely wasn’t a shapeshifter. “Your answers might lie in one of our cities.” I stopped and turned towards him. “What do you mean?”

“Well, we humans have existed for a long time and thus gathered a lot of knowledge. Most of it is horded by the rich and powerful but it’s there.” A pause as he thought about what to say next. “I could help you get it.” I stared at him, this time in amazement. “You’d do that for me?" He let out a small chuckle. "It's the least I can do for saving me. I may not be an expert in monster knowledge, but I certainly am an expert in getting into places I shouldn’t be in. So, monsters-“

Tendrils worm towards my head. I try to escape but my hands are tied to the chair. The emotionless tone that I have come to hate sounds out, “Test number 12.1 commencing. Goal of test: testing the defence of ADAM against hostile mental intrusions.” The creature moves forward, its tentacles drilling into my body. I try to scream but I can’t. Suddenly everything goes dark.

“Hey, are you okay?” I look up to see the concerned face of Pecta staring down at me. I climbed to my feet and dusted myself off. “Yes, everything is fine. Let’s continue.” My companion still looks confused but doesn’t question me. The word monsters had triggered that vision, no doubt about it. But why now? The previous times I had thought about monsters, nothing had happened. Then why now?

Suddenly, I saw something black out of the corner of my vision. I turned and froze. Pecta noticed my sudden stop and looked to check if everything was okay. He stopped moving, also seeing the monster flying in the air. The creature was around the size of my torso and covered in black feathers.

The word “bird” popped into my head but the feathers were where the resemblance ended. Its neck was grossly elongated, with a round head attached to it. The upper half of the head was completely covered with human-looking eyes, that stared into every direction at ones. I couldn't quite see from my position, but the red tint made it seem like all of them were bloodshot. Then there was the beak, or the place where a beak should be. Instead of a beak, it had a hole leading into its skull that was circled by tentacles. They moved in sporadic bursts, like they were looking for something to grab and pull into the endless depths of the skull.

I felt myself drawn to it. There was something about it that connected this abomination to me. We came from the same place, I could feel it.

Pecta was the first to break from his trance. "Shit, shit, shit, what is a deathstalker doing here? By Persa, there should be nothing of interest here. Unless... DON'T FUCKING MOVE!" I froze, with my spear tightly grasped in both hands and whispered, ”What is that?" The feeling of closeness had vanished.

Pecta looked grimly into the sky. “Deathstalker. Vultures that feast on death. Not dangerous themselves, they will merely watch as you die and consume your soul.” His cryptic reply gave more questions than answers. "So, why am I not allowed to move?" The deathstalker continued silently watching our conversation. Not even its wing-movement created sound. “You should pray that I'm wrong,” Pecta stated, while opening his bag. Before we started our travel we had made another bag out of some silk and distributed everything evenly.

He took out the now empty vile that had contained the healing liquid and threw it as far away as possible. The vile hit the ground with a silent thud, but didn't break. I was about to ask him why he had done that, but was interrupted when the ground started shaking.

Suddenly, an enormous creature broke through the ground where the vile had been, spraying bits of sand everywhere. I was tempted to take a step back, but remained motionless out of instinct. The creature consisted of a string-like body, twice as thick as a humans one, with brown scales cowering everything. Its "face" was a singular round mouth with teeth surrounding the inside that continuously moved in circles, giving it a hypnotic look. It faced us and if it had eyes then they would have pierced us with their gaze. The silence was only broken by the crunching of the vile, that was now being effortlessly shredded by the creature’s teeth.After what felt like an eternity, it sunk back into the ground returning from where it had come from. Still, I couldn't bring myself to move.

Pecta was the first to break the silence. "That my friend, is one of the reasons why no sane person would willingly traverse this god-forsaken desert.”