The world around him blurred, the heavy air of the present softening into something lighter. Pheo smelt the scent of pine and heard the gentle rustle of leaves. He knew this place, he was back at the forest he had lived in.
Smoke curled lazily from the chimney of the cabin he lived in, carrying with it the smell of stew floated through the breeze.
Barefoot, Pheo ran along the mossy path, his small legs moving as fast as they could, laughter spilling from him without thought.
His mother sat on the porch steps. Shelling peas into a wooden bowl while humming a tune he didn't know the name of but somehow could hum along to.
His father was by the woodpile, the sound of the axe chopping wood sounding steady and sure. When Pheo reached the steps, his father set the axe aside and swooped him up with one arm, spinning him until the trees blurred.
"Gotcha, little fox," he said, smiling in a way that made Pheo smile back. "Only cause I let you!" Pheo giggled, wriggling free.
His mother laughed. That soft, gentle laugh that made him feel safe. Later, the three of them sat on the porch, the setting sun making the forest look like it was dusted in gold.
Pheo leaned against his mother's side, her fingers combing through his hair. The wind carried the quiet creak of branches and the call of a faraway bird.
Everything felt untouchable, like nothing bad could ever reach them. "Pheo" She called out her name. "Watch closely." she whispered, cupping her hands together.
He leaned in, curiosity pulling him forward. She opened her hands just a little, and from nothing, a tiny wooden bird appeared in her palms.
It was perfect in detail, its beak slightly open as though it were mid-song. "Where did that come from?" he asked, eyes wide.
"A magician never reveals her secrets," she teased, brushing her finger over the bird's wing before setting it gently in his hands.
He squinted at her. "But... you didn't have anything with you. You didn't go anywhere. It just suddenly..." He frowned, thinking hard.
"...Is this your gift, mother?" She blinked at him, her smile softening. "It's not a gift, Pheo," she said, brushing her thumb over the wooden bird in his palm. "It's something very old... something that's part of who we are. It's called..."
The words after never came. The cabin's warm glow dissolved into a blinding white light. The scent of pine and the sound of her voice were ripped away.
When Pheo's eyes opened, the heat of the desert slammed into him. The scene of the forest was gone, replaced by the endless sand and hisses of the Badlands.
He woke to see that he wasn't in the bandit's camp anymore, but in a different part of the desert. "You're finally awake." Adam said, resting in a nearby rock.
Pheo rubbed the gunk off his eyes, this wasn't the first time this happened. "Where am I?" He asked him, trying to see if he could recognize the landscape.
"In the Badlands, far away from where you were a while ago." Adam explained. "You did great out there, but you were also reckless for suddenly falling after the fight."
He got out two pieces of jerky, tossing one to him and having one as a snack. Pheo grabbed it, but also felt annoyed. "Why couldn't you just let me rest back there at the camp? There were a lot of useful things I needed there."
He had wanted to see if there was any useful information there related to personal gifts. "Should've stayed up then," Adam told him. "It was only a matter of time before the other bandits came to check the cause of the smoke."
Pheo realized he had made the same mistake he did before. He got up and looked around, he hadn't been to the part of the desert they were in now.
"So where are we going?" Pheo asked him. "We?" Adam asked him. "I just helped you out. Paid back for that time you helped me out."
Adam got up, "We're going our own ways from now on." Pheo didn't like the situation he was in. He was back at the start, except this time in unfamiliar terrain.
Before he could reply, Adam was already on his way. He got up and jogged to keep pace with him. "Come on, you're not seriously gonna leave a kid like me out here, are you?" He asked, trying to come up with a way to join him.
Adam didn't slow down however, "You'll manage. You've done it before." He was right. Pheo could easily find a way to survive in the Badlands, but he couldn't accomplish his goal alone.
"That was different," Pheo argued, sidestepping a jagged rock. "I had things then, I knew where I was going. Now I'm in who knows where of the desert, with no home or anything to keep me safe from the night."
Adam shrugged. "You seem to be pretty crafty seeing how you took down that camp. I'm sure you can think of something with that brain of yours."
Pheo clenched his jaw. If he wanted to actually get somewhere with his goal, he needed to get out of the dunes.
"I can help you, you know. I'm not useless." He tried to convince him of his value. "You saw how good I fought back there. When it comes down to it, I can hold my own."
Adam kept going, "I'm not saying you're useless. I'm saying I work better alone." Pheo blinked. "Right, because alone worked so well for you when you almost died in front of my place." He shot back, quickening his pace until he was walking right beside him.
"I had it covered." Adam gave him a flat look. "No, you didn't." Pheo said, matching his tone. "You need someone to watch your back when things get dicey. And I need someone who actually knows where they're going here."
"Seems like a fair trade to me." Pheo said, making Adam exhale sharply, gaze fixed ahead. For a moment, it seemed like he'd just keep walking and leave Pheo standing there.
Then his pace slowed. "One wrong move, one time you slow me down, and you're on your own. Got it?"
Pheo smirked, the relief hidden behind it. "Got it." Adam glanced at him once more, "Don't make me regret it." He told him before going back to his original pace.
"So where are we going?" He asked him, this time cheerfully. "The Free City." Adam told him, "I might find some clues as to what I'm looking for there."
Pheo knew about that place, he had read about it in books. It was described as a sanctuary, the only city to be built in the Badlands. It would surely be an interesting place for him to visit.
The Badlands stretched endlessly before them as they made their journey. Pheo had taken to carrying most of the supplies without complaint, it was only right after all.
Water skins, bedrolls, even the bundles of dried meat they bought from a wandering trader, all of it ended up on his back.
"You're quieter when you're working," Adam said one afternoon, walking a step ahead of him. "Well, not that it's a bad thing."
He thought that by now, Pheo would've left. "I'm quieter because I'm tired," He muttered, adjusting the straps digging into his shoulders. Adam's lips twitched, almost into a smile. "Good. Tired people make fewer mistakes."
Days passed by like that. Pheo cooking at night, patching the worn straps in their gear, and keeping the fire going while Adam scouted ahead. As they spent time together however, Adam began to throw small lessons at him.
A stick tossed his way with the order, "Hit me." A sudden sweep of the leg when Pheo wasn't paying attention. The sharp correction of his stance when he tried to block. All the small yet important things in a fight.
One evening, under the blood-red light of sunset, Adam demonstrated to Pheo on how to read an opponent's movement. He had given him a wooden staff, a weapon to defend himself with.
Adam crouched low, muscles shifting beneath his worn shirt. When he moved, it was with the silent precision of a desert lynx. "You're quick with your hands," Adam said, "But speed isn't enough for a fight. Listen closely."
"You don't just watch the hands," Adam told him, circling. "Every creature telegraphs what it's about to do. The shoulders, the hips, even the way the feet grip the ground. If you can pay attention to how they move, then you can predict what comes next."
Pheo nodded, trying to mimic his stance. "And when you fight," Adam continued, his voice low but firm, "You fight to end it fast. This isn't a storybook duel. It's survival." He said before going in.
With a sudden burst, he lunged, the muscles in his arms surging like a predator's. His movements had the coiled grace of a panther, every step silent but deliberate.
Pheo barely managed to raise his staff in time, the shock of the impact jarring his arms. "Too slow," Adam muttered. He began to circle around Pheo, his eyes narrowing like a hawk spotting prey.
Then, without warning, he leapt. Not forward, but up, unnaturally high as if he was a gazelle. He came down hard, striking him at a single point.
The staff cracked, causing Pheo to stumble back with the sand spraying under his boots. "You can't just block," Adam said. "Think. Predict."
It didn't feel like Pheo was fighting a person, it was like he was fighting nature itself. In each of Adam's movements he could see a different animal, a different way of moving.
He needed to come with a plan if he wanted to break free from his flow. The next time Adam darted in, Pheo stepped aside and swung low, aiming for his legs.
Adam shifted mid-step, his stance becoming more like a wolf's with his weight balanced and feet light. He sidestepped the sweep and countered back with a jab to Pheo's ribs.
Pain flared, but Pheo gritted his teeth. He tried again and again, until sweat stung his eyes and his arms felt like lead.
Adam's blows were relentless but measured, each one testing, teaching him something new. Finally, Adam pressed forward in a rush, forcing Pheo to the edge of the clearing.
Instead of retreating, Pheo ducked under the final swing and jammed the butt of his staff into Adam's midsection. It wasn't much, but it was enough to make him take a step back.
A smirk formed on Adam's lips. "Better." Pheo, panting, lowered his staff. "Does this mean I passed?" He asked him. Adam turned away, retrieving his pack. "It means you're not as useless as I thought."
The words were rough, but the faintest trace of approval lingered in his tone. And as they continued to go towards The Free City the next morning, Pheo had noticed that Adam walked just a little slower, just enough for them to walk side by side.
A week later, Pheo's arms ached from training, his clothes stank of smoke and sweat, but something inside him had shifted.
He was beginning to move differently. Not as a boy who had been thrown into the Badlands, but as someone who might walk out of them alive.
The desert wind tugged at their clothes as they crested a low ridge, boots crunching against the brittle sand. The jagged silhouette of a city shimmered faintly in the distance.
Pheo squinted ahead. "Looks like it's close, do you know if the city's as great as people say?" Adam's mouth twisted into something between a smirk and a grimace. "Great? Sure, if you're looking for a slightly worse version of hell."
"Everything that can ruin you is in there. Gold, power, vice... All of them, it's there. And all of it's guarded by people sharper, hungrier, and more ruthless than you've ever met. Don't get fooled by its charm or you might become another victim."
Pheo frowned. "Doesn't really sound like it lives to its reputation." Adam notic3ed his expression, "Not like it's all that bad. You're free to be anything you want to be there."
"King, killer, thief, or corpse. Which one you end up as depends on how quick you learn."
"What even makes it a city if it's so lawless?" Pheo asked him. "The city's the only place where the dust devils can't get into. There's something in the ground there, some old world tech that messes with them when they get too near."
The Old World. The world before everything went wrong. There weren't many records of how the world came to be as it is now, but back then the world was peaceful. Or at least, that's what it said in the books.
While some of the technology back then was scavenged, others were lost. The technology too complicated for those in the present to understand, built with knowledge and precision that had vanished.
Even when the fragments of knowledge were found, they were like puzzle pieces without the rest of the picture. Useless without the missing steps. The present could only mimic the shapes of the old world's creations, but never their brilliance.
They walked in silence for a while, the wind howling faintly over the sand. Then Adam raised his chin toward the horizon. "Look. There it is." Through the wavering heat, the city loomed over.