Chapter 2: A Strange Beginning

Six Weeks Ago

It was an ordinary Tuesday morning, I had just finished working a night shift and was doing grocery shopping.

This week's special featured two for one on bread, 3.99 for 10 pounds of potatoes and 1.99 for a 24 of water bottles.

Having just finished a night shift, I was in almost zombie-like stupor, slowly pushing my cart down the aisle until someone grabbed my attention.

"Sir, we have a great offer on these knives!"

Said the man behind a small folding table, proudly presenting a variety of designer kitchen knives of all sizes.

"They're guaranteed for life and you'll never need to sharpen them! Here, why don't you give it a try?"

Glancing down at the table, an assortment of hard to cut foods like carrots and potatoes lay on the cutting board. Reaching down and grabbing a knife, I effortlessly slice the potato in half.

 "Err, yeah, I suppose I could use some new knives"

"You won't regret it sir. Would you like to sign up for our newsletter? We just need your name and Email"

Wanting to get rid of him, I agreed. "Okay so it's Mathias and the email is Digital@Hotmail.com"

The man handed me a set of five knives, all having its own fancy metal sleeve and I put them in the shopping cart.

Going down the sweets aisle, trying to resist the urge of buying unhealthy binge foods, I noticed a rather beautiful woman, bent down, emptying chocolate bars and Pocky from the shelves into her basket. Actually, beautiful didn't quite cut it, she had an aura of elegance, almost Goddess like. 

Behind her, she had dropped a card. Silver and glistening. Noticing that she did not seem to be aware of it, I bent down and picked it up, gently tapping her on the shoulder.

"Hey, I think you dropped this?"

"Oh, yes! Clumsy me, it'd be quite bad if I lost this. Thank you."

After a few more aisles and picking up some meat, fruits and other things, I headed towards the cashiers. 

"That's about all I need for this week" 

Getting in the line and glancing to the front, I could see the lineup at the cashier's come to a crawl as an older lady utters the dreaded words:

"I have some coupons..." 

A long yawn escapes me. 

"Let me go home already..." I uttered before resting my head on the cart's handles. 

It had been a long night, twelve hours of manual labor to be precise and the only thing I wanted was the sweet embrace of my bed. I knew if I had went to sleep straight after work that I'd not have gone shopping after waking up. 

Closing my eyes to the monotone beeps of the scanner, I imagined myself anywhere but here. My routine was dull and boring, only having some fun on vacations that occurred thrice a year.

The air started to feel hotter and the sounds more distant as I drifted closer to sleep. Suddenly remembering that I was still in the store, I lifted my head and opened my eyes to a large desert.

"Uhhh, what? I must have really fallen asleep"

Looking around, nothing but dunes and rock as far as the eye can see. 

"For a dream, this sure feels real".

Pinching myself only served to yield a sharp pain in my arm. 

"I know I wanted adventure...but this is a bit much. I don't even have anything on me!"

Frustrated, I set off in the direction of the sun. My brisk pace quickly turned into a slow one and it wasn't long before I was panting and dragging my feet. 

"This is unbearable." I muttered, trying not to say too much as I have no water.

" If I don't find anything soon, I'm probably going to die out here"

After what felt like an eternity but was closer to an hour, a large rock shaped like an L stood out on the horizon. The shade of the rock looked very enticing after an hour spent in the sun.

Hoping to maybe find some humidity or in the best case an underground stream, I quickly hurried off towards the tall rock formation. Finally reaching the shade, I laid down and soaked in the moist ground, not cold but compared to my body it felt that way.

After dozing off for a few minutes and taking a better look at the surroundings, I noticed a figure leaning against the rocky surface on the other side . It appears to be a man, gravely wounded and dehydrated, wearing some kind of armor.

Approaching him slowly, I ask the stranger "Hey, you okay? I have so many questions for you man, don't die on me." The man seems conscious but doesn't acknowledge me.

Sitting down next to him, I take a deep breath and think. It is possible he doesn't speak my language, could also just be very thirsty and saving himself. If only I had some water, like the one I bought at the store.

Closing my eyes and imagining the beautiful 24 pack of Crystal clear water almost made me cry but what surprised me the most was the feeling of touching it. Like it was within my grasp, I just needed to pull it out.

Pull it out of where? Doesn't really matter, it feels like it's right there and I yank on it. When I open my eyes, my arms were heavy with the weight of the bottles now resting in them.

"What the fuck!?" I screamed and jumped, the plastic bottle pack landing next to the stranger who now looked with incredulity at me. "Quado! Quado!" The stranger said over and over, before bending down and prostrating himself before me.

"I'm very confused but I'm so thirsty that I don't care. "

I just sit down and rip the packaging open, taking a bottle for myself and offering one to the stranger.

"W-A-T-E-R, drink up. God knows we need it." The stranger reluctantly takes the bottle and looking it over like some kind of curiosity, unable to open it. Until he savagely bites into it and ruptures the plastic exterior, gulping down the water from the small opening.

"So let me get this straight" I say aloud after throwing away the empty bottle.

"I'm stuck in some unknown world, with some stranger who doesn't speak my language, with nothing on me but I'm able to what, summon things from my imagination?"

After screaming internally for a few seconds, I calm down and think about this.

"I've seen this before... I'm not some chosen one! I'm not going to save this world! Where are even my powers or godly weapon!? "

" I don't give two fucks about this place! " The lack of any answer or changes surrounding me told me all I needed to know.

"You'll regret this..." I muttered to myself.

Looking closer at my companion, I noticed many cuts and bruises on him, as if he was beaten and left to die here. Also on my mind was the fact that the stranger bowed down to me and that strange word he used.

Maybe he was just very grateful for the water, I can't be worrying about this now anyways, we have more pressing matters like surviving.

Clearing my throat, I address the stranger. "Well, let's start with names I guess."

Pointing at myself and after saying "Mathias" a few times, I then point at the stranger and tilt my head questioningly and shrug my shoulders.

The stranger looks at him for a few seconds then points at his face and says "Mordain".

"Great, this is a good start. Okay Mordain, you're from here, so where do we go now?" 

I get up and walk a little in place, pointing north, south, east and west, then back at the stranger while pointing at him and then the directions.

Mordain points at the sun which is slowly setting and then the ground, mimicking sleeping using his hands as rest for his head.

"So you're saying we might as well start tomorrow." Sighing, I lay down on the sand and use the water bottles as a pillow.

"I'll never be going back home, I'm just going to die here aren't I? "

Panic grabs hold of me, imagining all the scenarios that could unfold. Mordain could use a rock and kill me in the night to take the water for himself, some creature could crawl over and sting me, I could fall in some sandpit and never come out. All I manage to do is cry myself to sleep.