2. A Boy & A Journey (part 1)

Character : Nathan Fiore, A Boy and a Journey.

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7 Years Later.

The 'Great Desert', a vast yellow land filled with nothing but sand and heat. The land that separates multiple nations, kingdoms, and cities. It is an abandoned land filled with all sorts of mysteries. But one thing for certain, is that one must travel through this scorching desert in order to reach places.

One thing is certain about this Great Desert, is that one would always avoid travelling when it is in the middle of the day. The main reason is because of just how hot it is during the day. Another reason would be to keep their water consumption at the lowest because of how hot it is during the day.

Simply said, travelling in a desert in the middle of the day is not exactly as bright of an idea as the scorching sunlight that is burning the sands.

However, one large merchant carriage is currently making its move through the desert. The carriage is being driven by a mechanical engine that allows the carriage to move without the pulling force of a horse. And without a horse, the carriage can move in the middle of this super hot desert with no worries of the horse falling unconscious due to the heat.

Under the hood of the carriage, there are five people inside. Four of them were a family of four, consisting of the parents, a boy, and a girl. The last man on the carriage is a simple passenger.

"How long until we reach Ellen, uncle Darren?" The passenger asked the man at the driver's seat.

Hearing the voice, the driver driving the carriage got quite startled since he wasn't expecting it. "Oh, you're awake! From the looks of it, we'll get there in just two hours."

"Wah… that's still so far…" The passenger sighed loudly, which made the driver slightly pissed.

"Hey, at least be glad that we'll make it before dark!"

The passenger fixed his sitting position, from previously laying down on the seat into simply sitting straight. The young man then wiped the dirt off of his eyes and studied the world outside the carriage from the window next to his seat.

It is all still just sand around us…

"Be patient, big bro!" The cheerful voice of a young boy was heard from the seat next to the driver. 

"If only you know what it means to be a merchant, to always move from one place to another. Trust me, the afternoon is not that long. Here, have a drink."

"Ah, thank you..." The boy sitting next to the driver handed me a drink, and I took it from his hand a little awkwardly.

"Airen is right! Don't worry about the time and just believe that we'll make it there. All you need to worry about is if there is going to be an annoyance on the path." Uncle Darren supported his son's opinion, and I realized what he meant in that last part.

The annoyance that he is talking about is the disruptions that might come on this path that we are taking. Even though we are driving the carriage under direct sunlight like this, it still won't completely remove the possibilities of danger that might appear before us. 

After all, bandits only appear whenever we least expect it.

Across where I am currently sitting, the driver's wife and his young daughter are currently asleep on the long seat similar to what I'm sitting on. The two were awake during the evening before today to drive the carriage, and they are asleep now because the role of the driver has changed. Now, the old man is driving the carriage, accompanied by the boy.

I am also wide awake at night, mainly to keep an eye out for potential bandit attacks. In fact, I was up almost the entire night because of how important my role was to them.

As for what my role was, it's quite simple.

"We are already at least 10 kilometres away from Ellen city, so there are probably no more bandits. I don't know about the monsters though." I said while gulping down more of the water that the boy gave me.

"We can never be too safe, boy! Besides, just enjoy the ride while you still can! It's not everyday you get to travel around the world like this." Uncle Darren said to me quite cheerfully, and I can't help but realize just how right he is.

I don't often get many chances to travel around. Even this chance of mine was done secretively. Otherwise, I'd use an entirely different method of transportation instead of becoming a protector or guardian for a family of merchants.

"Bandits are sometimes easily predictable, you know big bro? But if they have a slightly intelligent leader, they can become unpredictable. I studied bandits, trust me!" The young boy named Airen proudly explained his knowledge to me, and I only laughed a little at him because he sounded so confident.

"Haha! Is that so, Airen?" I returned the empty bottle to Airen since he was looking at me, and he frowned seeing that his water bottle had been emptied completely by me. "In that case, I'll pleasure myself with this boring and sandy trip."

"At least it won't be too boring and sandy once we get near Ellen city." The old man commented, and his words somehow reminded me of a question I never got to ask.

"Oh, that reminds me. How long will you stay in Ellen, Uncle Darren?"

"Less than a week, probably. We have nothing much to do there, anyway. We will probably just go sightseeing after we deliver these goods." Uncle Darren tilted his head slightly to glare at the crates inside the carriage that is right next to me, and I turned my eyes to them as well.

They are a family of merchants. Their job is to sell things, but at the same time, travel around to deliver the sellable items to be sold at different places. Once they get to Ellen, they will sell these crates of veggies and fruits to the people at Ellen. And when they are done with that, they will obtain sellable goods from the Ellen people and bring them somewhere else to sell them.

That's just the life of a merchant. It's filled with endless business bargaining and travelling. I really have a lot to learn from this old man and his family.

"What about you, boy? Are you sure you want to enter the famed academy?" Uncle Darren asked from his seat, and he caught my attention.

"Yeah. It was a place I've always wanted to visit ever since I was young. I was told that it was where my mom got her education, and I wish to follow her footsteps." I told him about how I honestly feel, and the old man was quite startled by that answer.

"Whoa! Your mother must be really rich to go into such a place! And do you have the capacity to enter? From your ragged clothes…"

"No need to worry about the entrance fee, Uncle Darren. Somebody already assisted me in that part." I told Uncle Darren something I'm supposed to keep secret about, and it seems like he is convinced that I am someone special.

"All right~, if you say so." Uncle Darren ended the topic right there, which made me glad because I didn't want to spoil too much regarding my identity.

I can't let the world know about my presence just yet. I need to keep myself hidden as much as possible. Because once word gets out that I am around, for sure things will not be as easy as currently.

"Huh… Would you look at that." Uncle Darren suddenly spoke out of the blue, which attracted both mine and Airen's attention.

"What is it, Dad?" Airen asked his father, but the old man only stopped the carriage in the middle of this desert.

I quickly noticed that something was wrong, and the old man only pointed his finger forward. I followed where he was pointing at, and my eyes was able to pick up a certain object very far away from us climbing a small hill of sand.

"It's… a sandworm?" Airen guessed, and Uncle Darren nodded firmly.

"Yeah. It's a rather big one, as well. Gotta be over fifty years old." Uncle Darren gave his analysis to us who don't know much about sandworms. He then tilts the steering wheel of the carriage really hard, and the carriage starts moving again.

"We'll go around it. Don't try to fight it no matter how strong you are, Nathan!" Uncle Darren firmly suggested me, and I only lifted my hand at him.

"Sure… I don't really wanna get out into the hot sunlight, anyway."

"Why do I feel that you're more afraid of the heat than the sandworm…?" Airen awkwardly mumbles, and I can't help but agree with what he said.

Uncle Darren then proceeded to bring the carriage really far, circling around where he previously saw the sandworm. For sure we travelled three times the distance than we would've gone through that area had we just gone straight. But, this is all for the sake of safety. I don't really have much to say about it since Uncle Darren forbids me from facing the sandworm.

And after we drove for another thirty minutes, Uncle Darren finally declared. "It looks like we're in the clear. No signs of sandworms."

"Haha! That was really scary! I always hear about what sandworms can do to travelling merchants in the middle of the day!" Airen said while wiping his sweat, and Uncle Darren only laughed.

"Well, thankfully we won't have to wake Priscilla and Arlene--"

BOOOMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Very suddenly, the sand hill twenty meters in front of us exploded massively. A large wave of sand hit the carriage from the front, and everyone quickly covered their faces from being hit by the thrown sand.

Once the sand was cleared from our faces, we landed our eyes again at the area in front of the carriage. Standing tall with over ten meters of height is a massive yellow sandworm with gigantic pincers in front of its gigantic circular mouth. The body of the sandworm looked shiny as if it was made of metal, and it is covered with many-many long legs like a centipede.

It… is technically a centipede, isn't it? This is the first time I'm seeing it, and I have only ever read it in a book.