Despite the ruggedness of the terrain and the now fully-stuffed satchel which Savo carried at his side, the path led onwards at a consistent pace. He was able to take several breaks, scanning each passing environment carefully for any signs of a settlement. As for sustenance, Savo dared not consume the colorful fruit from several collections of shrubbery, thus he continued on with an empty stomach. Slowly inching to what was presumably west, Savo hastened his steps. The night would surely fall upon him, as the skies went from clear to a mellow brightness, signifying the end of the afternoon.

Before drawing in from his surroundings the new sceneries and landscapes, Savo would contemplate about how the city life had altered his perception of what he considered normal. While he had leisure trips to resorts and exotic lands, he never truly experienced the open wilderness, but rather only the commercialized versions. As Savo trekked past the curves of a dirt path coursing at the edges of a shallow hill, his yearning for home became a bitter motivation. While he knew he wanted to return to his city, his soon-to-be empire, he had no means to begin his journey home. He was trapped in this foreign world, unknowing of what he may encounter at each breathing minute. It was a sort of limbo for him, one he didn’t particularly resent. The repeating scenery soon shaped into another clearing, a valley extending down from the hill. Rivers coursed and collected into dense paddies of evenly spaced plants and vegetation.

Within the still countryside, a collection of cottages surrounded a grand, unproportional tent, which centered the distant settlement. Savo ran with a near ferocious pace, sliding and slipping through the paddies before he found himself at the mouth of the town, which bustled with an unfamiliar sound. Busy, but rustic, the sounds echoing from the settlement were the bangs and clangs of pots, the scratching and shuffling of dry earth beneath collections of movement, and the nasally yelling of what sounded like English. Savo became restless, presenting himself swiftly by stepping into the town. There was a sudden pause of movement and noise around him, and, as he observed, Savo lost a sense of reality.

Upright, talking geckos huh. A rumbling grew in his belly, creeping up to his chest and eventually to his head. There was a moment where he tried to speak, though no words came out. His eyes grew groggy, meeting familiar darkness. His legs collapsed beneath him, though as he fell, he finally felt the solid earth crunch beneath his body.

West, journey west. All I have to do is to keep going west. Then, I can finally go home.

***********

“It’sh a human,” a voice slowly drawn out brought Savo back to the brink of consciousness. “What should we do with thish shpeshimen?”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

The word to Savo had a malicious undertone, no matter how he saw it. In particular, this situation was likely even more alarming.

“What are you planning to do with me, huh?!” Savo suddenly snapped up, startling the collection figures surrounding him. Only after he blurted out did he feel the give beneath him; he was swaying to and fro on a hammock. Savo collected himself, sighing deeply, then pronounced his name.

“Savo. It’s my name. I’ve been wandering westward all day.” He hesitated to continue because the grumbling began once more in his gut. “I don’t mean to be a rude… guest… but would you all by chance have some spare food and water?”

The initial silence frankly made Savo anxious, for he only could watch the look of slight disturbance remain on the faces of the humanoids. They were, above all, large-eyed, and Savo soon witness the length of their tongues lathering the sides of their scaly faces before retracting back.

Well, this is it. I’m going to be eaten by reptilian humanoids.

“Ish you a human from the kingdomsh?” One of the figures asked.

“I don’t believe so, I actually don’t really… remember where I came from.” Savo replied, suppressing the flow of intrusive thoughts which followed his statement. By the time he had made himself still on the hammock, two figures pushed aside the crowd, one grasping a large pot and another a bowl.

“Pleash eat if you are hungry. We can ashk you queshion later.” The same figure spoke. Within the pot, a generous pool of water shimmered slightly within the shade, and in the bowl, two handfuls of brown grain sat next to a slice of bread. It was meager, but Savo indulged himself ravenously before onlookers, still bearing the same expressions as initially. After he had finished consuming the offerings, Savo looked back to his saviors. He had likely succumbed to dehydration and overall weakness, having trekked for nearly an entire day. As he gazed into the eyes of the creatures, he no longer reacted with the same surprise, now completely calm.

“Sho, you sheem to be losht then. You shaid you were going wesht, yesh?” A large sac-like structure under its neck pulsated with each enunciation. Amazingly, the tongue only moved slightly as the humanoid spoke, which seemed to fascinate Savo more than their actual ability to speak.

“I believe so, at least, that’s what I feel is right. To be honest, I’m quite lost. Would you happen to have a map or anything that could give me an idea of where I am?”

“Well, you are shtanding on the groundsh of Mythron!” the humanoid replied.

It still tells me nothing, but it does seem like I’m not on earth anymore.

“Mythron… Is that the name of this settlement?” Savo asked in return.

“Don’t be shilly!” The voice became almost comical. “Mythron ish all the landsh around! Our little village ish the village of Arro, or sho we call it.”

Savo blinked rapidly, then repeated the words to himself again.

“I am Shunup, you can ashk me all you like!” the figure exclaimed.

It’s not gonna be so easy… He collapsed once more.

Westward… westward… west...