Ortynos awoke coughing violently, his chest burning, his mouth filled with coarse sand. He slowly opened his eyes to see a brilliant white glow in the sky—but it was not the light of the sun he knew. He tried to stand, staggered, and collapsed again.
"Romilius? Nikos? Can anyone hear me?" he shouted hoarsely.
One by one, his companions began to awaken, and the shock was overwhelming: the ship Astreia was gone—no trace of wood, no supplies, no sign of the sea itself.
They stood in stunned silence, staring at the surreal landscape. Behind them lay an invisible line dividing two worlds:
To the right: towering mountains covered in thick, never-melting snow, with icy winds that lashed at their faces.
To the left: a vast desert of red sand stretching endlessly, heat already rising rapidly.
Darius (brushing sand from his clothes):
"Father, tell me I'm still dreaming, and that the strange creature ate me and I'm now inside its stomach."
Nikos (in disbelief):
"Even a monster's stomach wouldn't be this absurd, my son. We are not in our seas—and I don't believe we're in our world at all."
Pikos (muffled scream):
"The ship! The food! The barrel of salted meat! Where did everything go? How am I supposed to live in a place that's half frozen and half roasted?"
The Decision to Move
Romilius approached Ortynos, who was staring at the impossible divide between snow and sand.
Romilius: "Ortynos, are you all right?"
Ortynos: "Where are we, my teacher? Is this Acadia? Have we reached hell?"
Romilius: "I don't know. Neither philosophy nor science can explain how winter clings to summer without transition. But staying here means death. We must move."
Nikos: "The snow will slow us and kill us with cold within hours. The sand is kinder—at least we can see for great distances."
Pikos: "I vote for the sand! In the snow I'll freeze into a slab of meat, and in the desert… well, maybe we'll find an oasis."
The group began walking toward the sandy region. The sand beneath their feet was strange, whispering softly with every step.
Darius: "Everyone… have you noticed something? No birds. No insects. Even the wind here has no smell."
Romilius: "A sharp observation, Darius. This place feels… artificial, or abandoned for thousands of years."
Ortynos: "My father… how will I reach him now? How will I take vengeance when he is in one world and I'm trapped in this cursed place?"
Nikos: "Listen to me, my young king. The sea we crossed was no ordinary water, and that gateway did not open by chance. Some force wanted us here. The real question is—why?"
Pikos (panting):
"I don't care about 'why.' I care about 'when' we eat. I feel like my stomach has started eating itself."
Darius: "Quiet, Pikos—you're using up the little oxygen we have left with your complaining. Look… are those mountains on the horizon moving?"
Everyone froze. The ground beneath them began to tremble—light, rhythmic, as if a massive heart were beating under the sand.
Ortynos: "Stop! Don't move!"
Romilius: "The ground is unstable—fall back!"
But it was too late.
Without warning, the ground beneath them collapsed. The sand split open into a massive circular pit more than fifty meters wide. It was no ordinary hole—its edges were terrifyingly smooth, as if a colossal mouth had suddenly opened to swallow them whole.
Pikos: "Aaaaaah! The ground is disappearing!"
Nikos: "Hold on to each other!"
Darius slipped, nearly plunging into the unseen depths, saved only because Ortynos caught his hand at the last moment, while Romilius and Nikos clung to thick roots that had burst from the edge of the collapse.
The roar of sand cascading into the abyss echoed as the companions clung to the rim—and to life—suspended above a bottomless chasm, unaware of what awaited them below.
Ortynos (shouting as he pulled Darius up):
"I won't lose anyone else today! Hold on!"
From deep within the pit, a strange sound began to rise… a noise like massive metal gears grinding into motion.