The Guardian

A worm tries to eat me

I woke up on a stone floor. I couldn't remember anything that happened since I woke up last at the Jinjaga village. Where was I?

The walls were covered in mushrooms. Most glowed, making the stone room I was in glow. At the end of the long stone room, there was a big mushroom in the shape of a chair. I couldn't remember what happened for the life of me. I could think of vivid split second memories, and considering the burns on my hands and the cuts on my body, I'd guessed I'd got here myself. But other than that, I had no clue.

I picked myself up, shouldering my backpack as I shuffled to the mushroom chair. My legs felt like they'd been walking for hours, and my mouth tasted like dirt. I could feel the crust in my eyes peeling as I rubbed them. A pounding sensation erupted from the inside of my head as if there was something trying to get out. Everything just felt off.

I sat down on the mushroom chair and relaxed. Even though I've been sleeping for a few hours, I felt exhausted. Something crumbled in my pocket as I sat down. I reached in and pulled out what looked to be a note. I must've written it because it had my handwriting.

"Write down fire pattern to remember."
Followed by a few rectangles with numbers. I had no clue when I'd written this, but I didn't have time to think about when I might have.

A stem sprouted from under the mushroom, and it slowly started raising me up. It was strong enough to lift me up without so much as bending a little bit. Above me, the ceiling started to part, letting daylight in. It practically blinded me, but it felt amazing.

The mushroom chair stopped once I made it to the surface. I still had no clue where I was, but I could say for a fact that it was beautiful, lush oasis. I felt deja vu, like I had been here before. Maybe I was.

I stepped off the mushroom and watched as it receeded back into the ground, being covered up by other mushrooms. That's when I heard a voice call for me.
"Harlen, I see you've made it back, and with your whole memory, I hope."

I expected to see a wise old man talking to me, but instead, I saw a four humped camel. Just then, in that moment when I saw the strange looking camel, it all came flooding back. I had been here before, but there was a problem. I was poisoned, and I couldn't remember anything. Everything, from getting pricked by that first cactus, to the mushroom god Demigarus, to the trials I went through all came back to me.

The four humped smiled as he read my mind, seeing how I've finally remembered. But there was still something wrong. I had my bag, I was in the desert, and I seemed fine. No missing fingers or limbs or anything.
"Your friends, Harlen. You're missing your friends."

Oh no. He was right. The last time I saw Mamble and Rosslyn was out in the desert. Then I got poisoned by those cacti in that sandstorm... cacti, that's a funny word.
"Avedar, we have to find them! They could be anywhere."

The camel just chuckled before turning to get a drink from the pond behind him. "You'll find your friends, Harlen. There's no need to worry. Fill your canteen full of Fresher water, and let's get out there while the sun's high and the bad monsters aren't out."

I didn't know what he meant by "bad monsters," but I'd rather not find out. So I pulled my metal bottle out from my bag and filled it to the brim with water before chugging it down and refilling until my stomach was full. I would be hydrated for a while with this much Fresher water in my stomach, and I'd probably feel amazing before long, too. As I filled the canteen one last time, capping it and putting it away, I felt the pain in my stomach go away pretty quickly. I felt brand new and ready to take on the world.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Harlen. We still have a few good miles before we reach the closest town. Now, hop on."

Hop on?! I was gonna ride a camel for the first time! I'd totally brag about this when I get back home. How many people can say that they-
"Harlen! Now."