Samuel didn't know whether he could trust what the old man was saying.
"Could it really be true that these gods exist? That Beginning and End have been fighting each other for eternity? I saw those men in the cloaks create fire out of nothing. That shouldn't be possible. And then these orcs… Such beings shouldn't even exist."
It felt as if he were trapped in a dream.
The children slowly grew tired and lay down to sleep. Samuel, however, stayed awake for a while longer. Too many thoughts were racing through his mind. The information he had only recently learned weighed heavily on him.
The old man slowly lifted his head and looked directly into his eyes.
"Tell me… what is your story?"
Samuel's gaze drifted toward Gustov. Sooner or later, he had expected this question.
Should I tell him the truth? He is old and has seen much. Maybe he knows a way back home.
The rhythmic humming of cicadas filled the night until Samuel finally spoke.
"I don't belong in this world. I should actually be at home… with my parents."
Gustov remained silent for a moment.
Then he began speaking in a calm voice.
"We all get lost sometimes in life.We wake up one day in places we never intended to reach—in jobs that have become foreign to us, in roles that feel like invisible cages wrapped around us. And often, we don't even know when we started losing ourselves along the way.Life happens quietly.It flows past us like a river in the night, and suddenly we find ourselves in the morning without understanding how we got there or where the next step should lead.Fear becomes a silent companion. Despair sits down beside us and whispers that there is no way out. But keep calm within yourself. Not every door opens immediately—some are only waiting for us to find the courage to keep going.It is no mistake to feel pain.No mistake to be tired.No mistake to feel lost.The real loss only begins when we allow our fear to close off our future.Past and present are made of the same stones. For some, they become a burden that drags them down to the bottom. For others, they form a path across the raging river. It is not the stones that decide this, but the hands that learn to carry them.And never confuse acceptance with satisfaction.Acceptance does not mean giving up. It only means looking at the truth without running away from it. Satisfaction, however, can become dangerous when it makes us immobile. For anyone who stops walking will eventually stand still—and forget that beyond the horizon, new life still waits.Or… in your case, perhaps a way back home."
Samuel's eyes grew wet. His vision blurred.
And finally, he broke into tears.Sobbing, he sank to the ground.
Gustov sat down beside him without a word. He did not speak empty promises. No "everything will be fine." No false hope.He simply stayed by his side.
And that quiet presence alone filled Samuel with a warmth he had not felt in a long time.
For a while, they sat silently next to each other.
Above them, the night sky stretched like an endless sea of black velvet, threaded with the silver glow of countless stars sparkling like scattered diamonds in the darkness. The moon hung calmly and majestically between them, bathing the world in a soft, almost dreamlike light. A cool wind brushed gently through the night while darkness wrapped everything in deep, peaceful silence. For a fleeting moment, the sky seemed so endlessly beautiful that every worry faded away, leaving only quiet wonder.
Samuel continued crying into the night. It was as if the tears were slowly washing the pain out of him.
And Gustov did not leave his side.He remained seated there, still and calm, as if his mere presence was already enough.
Eventually, they stood up and went to the sleeping places.
Gustov showed Samuel his spot. It was a simple pile of hay covered with a blanket. It was not much. Yet for Samuel, it was more than he had ever dared to hope for in this world.
He lay down and looked one last time up at the star-filled sky until his eyes slowly closed.
Gustov stayed beside him for a moment longer. Only when he was sure Samuel was asleep did he retreat for the night as well.
The golden rays of the sun settled on Samuel's head like a quiet, warm breath of morning.Not warm enough to be pleasant. But distinct enough to pull him out of sleep, as if something were slowly lifting him from a depth he had not willingly fallen into.
He blinked.The light was not harsh, but filtered, softened by the thin morning air of the altitude. It lay over everything like a silent veil. On the stones, on the blankets, on the bodies of those still asleep or already beginning to stir.
It took Samuel a moment to understand that he was no longer dreaming.Then another to understand that he was here at all.
His body felt heavy, but not painfully so. More as if he had forgotten how to move and had to relearn it. He was still lying on the simple campsite, somewhere between rolled-up blankets and the rough mountain ground.
The wind moved softly across the area, tugging at fabric, at loose ends, at anything not held down.
Samuel slowly sat up.Very carefully, as if a sudden movement might throw the world off balance.
His fingers first searched for support in the ground, then for his own body. He felt cold, dust, the hardness of the stone beneath him. His breath was visible, short and calm at the same time, as something still undecided whether it fully wanted to be awake.
A little farther away lay Gustov.Already awake.Or never fully asleep.
He was not sitting directly by the fire, but slightly to the side, where the heat existed only as a memory. His posture was the same as the day before: calm, steady, unhurried. Next to him lay a few rolled-up supplies, an old bag, tools glinting dully in the morning light.
The others also began to stir.Not abruptly.More like the slow awakening of a large, exhausted group. Someone sat up and paused briefly, as if checking whether the day had truly begun. A child rubbed their eyes and simply remained seated without immediately standing. An older orc woman pulled her blanket tighter around her shoulders and stared for a long time toward where the sun was just beginning to rise over the mountains.
No one spoke loudly.The morning demanded silence.
Samuel finally stood up.Slowly at first, then more steadily.
His legs felt stiff, but they carried him. Every step he took still felt slightly unfamiliar, as if it did not fully belong to him. He moved closer to the edge of the campsite, where the ground sloped away and the view opened.
There, the world began.
The mountain path they stood on stretched narrow and unyielding toward the north, a grey band of stone clinging to the side of the mountains. To the west, the high peaks rose dense and massive like a wall of ancient darkness, touched only at their edges by the morning light. Some summits still lay in shadow, while others carried a cold shimmer that made them feel almost alien, as if they were not part of the same world.
To the east, the land dropped away.Wide and continuous, as if someone had simply tilted the ground sideways.
The view fell across multiple layers. First onto rocky slopes, then small scattered forests lying like dark islands in the light. And even further below, vast meadows opened up, stretching in gentle waves toward the horizon. The wind moved the grass down there visibly, as if the earth itself were breathing.
Everything felt both near and unreachable at the same time.
Samuel stood there for a moment, simply looking down.He had the feeling that this landscape was not just space, but direction. As if it were quietly reminding him that everything up here kept moving forward, whether one was ready or not.
Behind him, the group began to fully assemble.Wagons were checked, ropes tightened, supplies packed away. Steps started moving again.
Gustov stood up.Without haste, without any visible transition from sitting to walking.
He glanced briefly at Samuel but said nothing. Instead, he set off along the path that already curved northward, as if it left no doubt about where it led.
Samuel took a deep breath.The air was clear and cold.
Then he followed.Step by step.
While on one side the mountains stood like silent guardians, on the other the world fell into the depths—wide, open, and unwavering.