The Diary of Zartoon

ENRTY 19

ENTRY 19

30.03.63.00.10

The next morning, when I awoke, I decided it was time to continue my journey in search of the white sword. The Zartoon and the Humans were very kind and gave me two days' worth of food, that weird horse thing, and a ten-gallon container of water. They also offered me some of the herbs that they were smoking and, of course, I accepted. I was still tired, but I wasn't stupid!

The entire group surrounded me when I was starting to leave, and they were chanting something that sounded strange yet was very relaxing.

"You are one of us," one of them said. You are welcome back anytime you wish to return."

Hell, that was the only welcoming thing I had encountered, other than Pandorica since I got to this God forsaken planet. I told them that I would be honored to come back and see them after my mission was over. One of the Zartoon females and a Human female ran over to me and kissed my cheek, and then I was off again.

I got my bearings at last, which had been almost impossible to do as the terrain was new to me, and I started traveling in as good of a straight line as I could. It was still at least a two-day trip, and I wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.

The entire day I thought back to those people who had so welcomed me, and the stories they told me, but the one that interested me the most was the one about the white sword. They told me that it was in an ancient castle and protected by a kind of specter, who refused to let anyone ever even see the sword.

"We just wanted to see it, to worship it as it should be, and these spirits attacked us, just for wanting to see the sword. These spirits did not harm our bodies, their attacks on us were more insidious. They attacked our minds. They made us doubt and fear each other. They made us see creatures that weren't there. They even made us see our friends die when they were still alive. You cannot protect yourself from them."

Remembering this story, made me nervous as I was traveling closer and closer to that castle. But I knew what I was there for, and I was going to get that white sword no matter what evil might befall me.

The food my friends gave me was good, but the water was sooooo much better. I had to ration it, but God, that was so hard to do.

The ground I was traveling on was even worse, I'm sure, than our Death Valley back home. There was nothing, nothing at all. No grass, no animals, no water, nothing. Eventually, I found a rock which offered some shade, so I camped down there for the night.

The sky was the darkest black I had ever seen. I could even see Yartook clearly as it shone, just a small blue glow in the distant universe. Still, all I could think of was Pandorica and how much I missed her, but even those thoughts disappeared when I rolled a smoke and lit it up. Before long I was not asleep, but I was relaxed... something my body truly needed so I just settled back, finished my smoke and turned off the rest of the night.