Kanu walked through the plains until the golden grasses turned to golden sands dotted with stone structures. The heat turned every grain of sand into a blazing wound on Kanu’s bare feet. He had lived his entire life in heat, but this was a different environment. There were no trees or grasses to shade him, no winds to cool him, only sand, stone and his thoughts. Even the clouds in the sky seemed to have been burned away by the sun’s heat. For two days and nights he walked without stopping.

“Why have you forsaken me? Where is the constant advice,” Kanu shouted into the emptiness.

He was searching for a response from the voice in his head. The voice that told him to run instead of fight. Home brought him nothing but hatred, but it was still home and he longed to be there. The voice had convinced him that he could never return home, and he was unsure if he could find his way now.

As the sun set on the third day a cave like structure came into sight for Kanu. A hole in a giant orange stone would become his safe haven. Sound echoed through the cave, sounds that should have been unnerving to Kanu. However, after all of his time walking, he was happy to have ground to rest on. Sitting with his back against the wall he noticed the strange symbols scratched into the cave walls. Sun, moon, a human skull, and a few others were understandable but many looked odd. Similar to the symbols the village shaman would draw, but different, more twisted. Kanu thought of the village and wondered if anyone would be upset with his absence. Probably not, his last thought before drifting off to sleep.

It wasn’t a restful sleep. The nightmares that haunted Kanu through his entire life were present as he slept. Yet this time they were different, more vivid, real. He crawled from a pit of blood, the sticky red substance sticking to his skin, shining in the bright sun. He gripped a sword, a long and wide sword, larger than any he had ever seen before, a glowing blue color, he had never seen before. He stood before an army of manlike creatures with pointed ears and spotted flesh. With a single swing of his sword he cut dozens in half. The screams of silence echoed in his head as he prepared for another slice. With his fifth slice the army had fallen but he was not satisfied. A large building made of stone stood in the distance, he rushed towards it. Barreling through anyone who would stand in his way. A large wooden door blocked his entrance to the structure, but it was no match for his sword.

He stepped forward and the color vanished from around him. His sword was gone, his clothing was gone. There was only a naked and confused Kanu in an empty white void. Visions of brutal wars, or being tortured were not new in his dreams but this void it was different.

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“Welcome my child,” the voice spoke to him again. The same voice that had told him to run.

“What is this,” Kanu asked.

“A place where we can speak without interruption, but not for long.”

“Why did you tell me to run? Who are you?”

“I told you to run, because you must leave the village to grow. Only then will you be of any use to me,” the voice answered. “Who am I? In time you will come to know who I am. At that time you’ll have no choice but to work with me. You may hate me, you may love me but for now, you only need to listen to my words.”

“I don’t want to hear your words or riddles,” Kanu shouted. “I want to return home.”

“There is no home for you. There was never any home for you. Those people hated you, no, they were envious of you. You, are something more. Something more powerful than they could ever be and because of that they feared you. You will have no home until you take it yourself.”

“I will not play a role in your game,” Kanu continued to shout.

The voice was unmoved by his pleas, “this is not a game, this is your life and you are already playing the lead role.”

“Face me you coward,” Kanu shouted.

“Face the world. You need to wake up. Do not go with those that greet you warmly. Follow the moon to the watering hole and from there follow the man who attempts to kill you.”

“Who are you,” Kanu shouts, not realizing he’s already left his dream.

“We would like to ask you the same thing,” a child no older that twelve asks Kanu.

He’s instantly unsettled looking at the child. Chills run down his spine, instantly cooling him from the heat of the desert. His head began to pain him as his gazed into the milky voids of the eyes of the child in front of him. These were not the eyes of a blind person, there were empty spaces, lacking a soul behind them. Kanu glanced away, reaching for his sword. Simply looking at the child caused an itching sensation behind his own eyes.

“Please don’t use your weapon,” the child spoke again. “I mean you no harm.”

“I mean you none either.”

“Would you like to stay with us, we are deeper inside the cave.”

“I have to be going,” Kanu rose to his feet taking a step towards the exit.”

“Would you like to stay with us? We have to read.”

“No, I must be going,” Kanu continued to avoid the child’s gaze.

“Would you like to stay with us? There are waters that must be cleaned.”

The child’s words made no sense; a combination of repeated sentences and odd phrases that meant nothing to Kanu. He could no longer stand to be in the child’s presence. He could feel the small amount of energy he had being drained from his body. He turns his back to the child, dragging the feet that suddenly feel chained away from the cave. He doesn’t look back, but also doesn’t hear the child following. Despite the simple words, kind tone and gestures of welcoming there was ill intent that had to be escaped. Kanu turns to the moon, sighing in disgust as he once again takes the advice of the voice and begins to follow.