Adam quickened his pace toward the figures resting near the edge of the room — three strangers sprawled unnaturally still in the blistering desert heat.
Though his own heart hammered with uncertainty, he moved with careful precision, unwilling to disturb whatever fragile balance kept this place from collapsing further into the uncanny.
They were asleep. Deeply, impossibly asleep.
As he approached, the details of their appearances sharpened into focus.
The first was a man perhaps in his late twenties, powdered blond hair swept back neatly. He wore a white vest beneath a blue tweed coat paired with black trousers — formal attire that mocked the desert's desolation.
Beside him lay a foreign-looking youth, and the third — a striking young woman in casual dress that, while simple, still felt foreign to this land.
None appeared to belong here.
None matched the villagers he had glimpsed before the devastation.
Could these three be responsible for the destruction of the village?
The thought surfaced unbidden, chilling him.
No… they hardly look capable of surviving this heat, much less causing such ruin.
Shaking away the suspicion, Adam knelt and began gently nudging them awake. Whatever answers existed in this forsaken place, they might be the only ones capable of providing them — and perhaps the only ones who could help him escape.
Slowly, life returned to their eyes. Confusion clouded their gazes as they stirred beneath the blazing sun. When they finally looked up at Adam, their pupils widened — a mix of awe and relief tightening their faces.
The angle of the sun framed Adam's silhouette with a radiant corona, an accidental halo that lent his presence a sacred illusion. To them, he must have seemed like a deliverer.
He offered a warm, steady smile.
"Hello. My name is Adam."
The blond man was the first to rise, brushing the dust from his attire with trembling fingers. His voice was refined yet hoarse as he replied,
"My name is Valentine. These are my acquaintances — Ryan and Leah."
The two younger figures nodded, murmuring quiet thanks — gratitude tinged with the lingering fear of what might have happened had the sun continued its assault.
Once they had regained their composure, their attention drifted — almost involuntarily — to the ruined village behind Adam. Their expressions twisted… bewilderment, dread, mourning.
Adam observed them carefully.
Did they live here? Do they know the cause of all this?
Unable to contain his need for answers, he stepped forward.
"Do you have any idea what happened to this village?"
His voice wavered slightly, betraying the weight of everything he had seen since waking. The silence that followed dragged on, growing heavy with unspoken horrors.
Their gazes shifted — toward the towering thorned wall encircling them, toward the shattered dreamlike ruins beyond it — and then toward each other… as though confirming that the nightmare was indeed shared.
After a long, grim pause, Ryan swallowed hard and answered,
"We'll tell you… what we can. But first— we must leave this place."
Adam gave a short nod, determination settling like iron in his bones. He looked again toward the ruins — the birthplace of his confusion, and perhaps his destiny.
I will uncover the truth of Cordu's destruction.
Turning back to the three strangers, he forced a spark of confidence into his voice.
"All right," he said, lips curling into a hopeful grin. "Lead the way."