Chapter 11: The Drying of Sahara and the Journey to Central Africa, 3900 BCE

[Algeria, 3900 BCE]

It's getting hot.

Like, literally.

We're in the Sahara right now, and the grasslands are starting to dry up. There are trees starting to lose leaves, dead animals, and we also noticed that there are a lot of wildfires.

Thena is now sitting below a tree with a makeshift fan to cool herself down. While I'm out here burning in front of a fire, as I'm cooking a meal right now.

"I've noticed that we barely see animals anymore." Thena suddenly commented.

"Starting to miss them now?" I said sarcastically.

Thena ignored my remarks and continued. "It's strange to witness it... This place was teeming with wildlife a few centuries ago, but now? Empty. "

"It's the cycle of life, I guess." I said as I finished my so-so cooking. "Here is food."

She walked over to me and grabbed her portion of food. "Turn off the fire, it's hot." She added.

"Oh, I didn't notice that it was hot." I remarked sarcastically again. I turned off the fire and sat with Thena.

"We're almost done killing the deviants." She informed me.

"Yes." I nodded.

"So it's time to go back to the others."

"Well..."

Thena narrowed her eyes. "What do you want to do now?"

"Just one last stop after we finished..."

"And where would that be?" She questioned.

I pulled out a map that we drew along the way, and pointed to a place near Uganda. "We're going here." I pointed to an area on the north-eastern side of Uganda.

"And what is in there?" She questioned.

"My weapon material." I casually said as I rolled back the map. "Though I don't know if there'll be a tribe guarding it yet..."

"What do you mean?" She asked once again, confused at my words.

"Well, you'll see." I spoke. "But we still have a lot to do here."

She sighed. "Fine."

The next day, we were getting ready for another expedition to central Africa, the only place we hadn't visited yet.

It's morning, but I can feel the radiating heat of the sun hitting my pale ass skin. It's not pleasant at all. I hate hot weather.

Thena got out of her tent and said "Let's go."

"Constructs or walking?" I offered.

"Definitely a construct." She answered, looking at the scorching sun.

"Good choice." I snapped my finger, and two winged deviants appeared before us.

"Knock yourself out." I let Thena ride my construct, and we both flew to the sky, but fucking hell, it's hot.

We flew for a couple of hours under the scorching sun, when Thena finally said. "Let's rest a bit."

I nodded, and we both landed again, and we walked to a nearby tree and rested.

"The heat is getting stronger and stronger by the day…" Thena commented, as Thena sat below the tree.

"Yeah, no kidding." I sat beside her, and she rested her head on my shoulder. "We should've gone through this area first when we started... That way, we don't have to deal with this heat every day. "

"But then we wouldn't have met those people that we rescued…" Thena refuted.

I hummed. "Are you enjoying the adventures we have had so far, Thena?"

"I am enjoying it." She nodded weakly. "It's been a great adventure with you. I've enjoyed your company. "

"More than Gil?" I teased.

She rolled her eyes, not amused at my words. "You and Gilgamesh are different."

"How so?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Gilgamesh is caring towards me, while you're more like an annoying brother." She stated.

I laughed. "Are you older than me? I don't know at this point."

"We're eternals; age isn't one of our concerns." She pointed it out.

"True..." I murmured. "Immortality is one of the perks of being an eternal..."

She hummed. "We don't age as well, strangely, like Sprite..."

"Yes, I wonder how she's dealing with it." I said. It must be tough being a child for so long."

"Is it?"

"Imagine not being able to do things that adults can do." I pointed out.

"Like what?"

"Sex?"

"She can do it in that body."

What the fuck did I just hear? "Pardon me?"

"I said she could have sex in that body." She repeated.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, that's just wrong, so wrong..."

"Why?"

"You've got to be joking, right? Imagine a human having sex with a child…"

Thena thought for a while and frowned. "Yes, that's definitely wrong... I always thought that Sprite was not a child because she's an eternal. "

"Only perverted and disturbed people will accept her as a sex partner."

"Hmm... now that I think about it, Sprite is really unlucky..."

"Yeah, no kidding..." I spoke. "I wonder why we don't age..."

"Because we're eternals?"

"Yeah, but why?"

Thena thought for a while and answered. "Cosmic Energy?"

Hmm... now that I think about it... we're powered by cosmic energy I guess. "That's... a possibility."

She hummed. "Do you like it?"

"Like what?"

"Being immortal."

I shrugged. "Like I said, I've got no qualms with it. It allows me to do things that a mortal can't do, but I can see that there are negative perks to it. " I said. "What about you?"

"I don't know, to be honest…" She answered. "I haven't decided if I like it or hate it."

"Well, we're immortals, so you have time to decide." I chuckled.

As we rested for another couple of minutes, I saw a herd of elephants walking towards the south. The ground rumbled as they passed through our vicinity.

"Looks like they're migrating." I noted.

She hummed. "I can't blame them; the weather is just too bad."

I thought for a while before saying. "Hey, how about if we tag along?"

"With the elephants?" She questioned.

"Yes, we'll ride one of the adult ones. They look cool." I added.

Thena thought for a while before shrugging. "Why not? I think flying is a bad idea in this heat."

"Well, let's go then." We both stood up, and we got close to the elephants. At first, they were a bit alert when they saw us, but then they must've sensed that we didn't have ill intentions, so they dropped their alertness, and started to treat us nicely.

Elephants are great.

Me and Thena rode on one of the adults, and we tagged along in the journey beneath this scorching sun.

I lay on my back on the back of the elephant and continued to talk with Thena.

"Now that I think about it, do you want to bring something for the others?" I asked.

"Like what?" She questioned me back.

"I don't know… Bananas? "

"They probably have those in there as well…"

"Hmm…" I thought about it for a while, then I thought, I'm going to Wakanda, right? There's a great 'thing' there.

"You know what? I know what I will bring. " I stated.

Seriously? Well? What is it? " She asked.

"You'll see later."

"Why don't you just tell me?" She asked, although she looked like she didn't really care about it.

"It ruins the surprise." I shrugged. "What about you?"

"Same as you, I suppose…" She answered. "I'm getting what you're getting."

I sighed. "Probably not as easy… but sure, whatever. "

"Right…" She murmured. "After we cleansed the central, we'll go to your destination, and after that, we'll go back to the others, right?"

"Yep."

"I'm curious to see what they've accomplished there…" She murmured.

"Probably not much." I shrugged. "They're just watching the humans, I guess, Ajak's a pacifist, so her policies are a bit boring."

"That I agree with you…" She hummed. After that, it was a comfortable silence as we enjoyed the ride with the elephants towards the south.

"Speaking of Ajak…" Thena suddenly spoke. "I never asked you this, but I saw you fighting with Ajak a lot."

I hummed. "Sersi said the same thing to me a couple of centuries back…" I commented. "Fight is a strong word… I prefer 'not seeing eye to eye'. "

"Why is that?"

"What do you mean, 'Why is that'?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"As far as I'm concerned, you're the only eternal who doesn't obey Ajak's words."

"I obeyed her words once in a while." I refuted.

"No, I mean, you didn't always agree with her plans, you always had your own thoughts about the plan."

"True…" I said. "Ajak's line of thought is quite slow, so I must boost it in order to finish this mission faster."

"I can see why you said her thinking is quite slow…" She murmured. "But I always get a sense that you don't trust Ajak."

"I don't." I nodded, surprising Thena. "She's hiding something from us…" I started to put the seeds of doubt in Thena, though it'd probably be useless as she had that mind sickness.

"Hiding?" She questioned me curiously. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know… I just got a feeling that she's hiding something from us. "

"You don't know…" She giggled. "Right, gather proof first, then talk to me about it."

I sighed. "Well, I get a sense that this mission is not what it looks like."

"How so?" She questioned.

"I get a sense that Ajak is dragging the mission." I said. "It's like she's waiting for something…"

"Dragging the mission?" She questioned quietly. "I don't know about that... And what do you think she's waiting for? "

"I don't know. That's what I'm trying to find out." I know it, I just don't want to make Arishem hate me for the time being.... I'm not powerful enough.

She hummed. "Well, if you find anything, tell me."

"Sure…" I said dismissively as I closed my eyes, enjoying the ride with the elephants.