Heart's tale

Chapter 6 part 1

The storm subsided only when the elder star finally began to decline toward sunset, and it became cooler. The exhausted big guy stood up, but immediately collapsed on the shady side of the dune, instantly snoring. The doll dug itself out of the sand and sat on top of the dune. As it looked to the horizon, it measured the distance with a glance. The City was a little smaller, and the mountain range to the south was a little closer, and if it had been their goal, they would have walked at this rate for a long time. This understanding came without words, and without words it disappeared. A lizard with a high crest on its head ran up to the dune. It looked into the doll's eyes, scrutinized it, tilted its head and stuck out its tongue.

"Are you all right?" asked the one who had no name yet.

The lizard flinched, but then nodded softly and ran down on its way. The doll watched it disappear and lay on the back. Directly above it was the seventh moon, which looked like a blue puff pastry, riddled with mosquito bites. And a little farther, there was the fifth, a soft pink one. The one who had no name yet smiled inwardly and felt a pleasant tingling sensation run through his body to his fingertips. It was as if a small vacuum cleaner had turned on in his chest – an emptiness came, into which he wanted to place all this beauty.

The seventh and fifth had already been replaced by the third and ninth, which looked like coins with incomprehensible profiles, and the doll was still lying on the dune, gradually cooling down. There were curses from below. The doll turned its head and saw that the big guy was finally awake, wiping his eyes with the back of his hands. Then he stood up staggering, picked up the octopus, and continued on his way with a rapid pace. The jacket tied around his waist fell off, but he paid no attention to it. The one who had no name yet came down from the dune, picked it up, and carried it on his shoulder. The doll was very interested in the man. He was unusual. He reeked of something heavy, yet reverent at the same time. Again, it wasn't words; understanding rose from somewhere deep within and drew him after this man who had become his unintentional companion.

When the second sun went down, it began to get cold very quickly. Snorri slapped himself on the thigh in search of the jacket and stopped. When he turned around, he saw the doll. It was holding the jacket in its hand. He hesitated, then carefully removed the octopus, put the jacket on, and placed the octopus back on. Without saying anything, he continued on his way. The sky was clear: the moons fully illuminated it, and numerous dots of stars covered the firmament. The cold wind, which periodically overtook the travelers, made the man wrap himself in the thin leathers where he hid the octopus. The mountains ahead, shining in the cold moonlight, did not seem to want to get any closer. Soon the big guy's legs began to stumble, and he fell several times, but then he got up and continued on his way.

The desert was filled with thin, withered trees, giant boulders of unknown origin, and the occasional wreckage of ships that had apparently crashed in time immemorial. They emerged like ghosts, looming over the travelers from the darkness as if it were not them walking but the ships still floating, even after their demise, unwilling to give up their past.

Sometimes the man stopped near such wreckage and tried to look for water, but immediately stopped when he found traces of long ago plunder. Only once were they lucky enough to find a half-empty flask buried under an eye-shaped rock, and the man gave it to the barely breathing octopus.

As the sky to the south touched the first notes of dawn, the man became delirious. He walked, stumbling and cursing.

"You! Shamaha on you! This is all your fault! Sarashk! You punk! Coward! You made..." Snorri shouted in a hoarse voice, staggering from side to side.

"I! I do everything! Everything! You hear me! You coward! Brashurtamartampa! I hate you," he shouted, and fell down from the dune, waving his arms.

The octopus fell out and rolled after him until they both collided at the bottom, frozen like dancers who had finished their performance. The doll came down after them, picked up the octopus, and tied a rag around its neck so that its tentacles encircled its shoulders, and walked toward the man. Grabbing the edge of his jacket, he pulled, then again and again, and only with all his effort was he finally able to move the body from its place. With great difficulty, he dragged the man to the next dune, and took a breath. The hinges hummed and threatened to be ripped out of the wood, but they still held. The doll shoved the big guy down the dune, and he rolled with ease, quickly ending up in the gorge. Then there was another agonizing climb, and another quick descent, and another climb, and another descent.

The mountains were very close when the first sun reached its zenith, the second time since the doll had started dragging the man and the octopus. The wood on the doll's arms was cracking, and the knee joints were creaking without lubrication. The big guy kept moaning and asking for water. Raud, on the other hand, had not shown any sign of life since last night. The dunes ended, and the doll was already dragging the man with his back to the front. The City was visible in the distance, but it was already like a mirage, lost in a lingering haze.

The doll looked around and saw behind it ledges of rock and blocks sticking out of it in places. The mountains were still a decent distance away, but the desert was beginning to recede. Dragging along the rocks became easier, but soon the man became completely silent, stopped even asking for water, and the doll felt an anxious shimmering of strings in its chest. It dragged Snorri to one of the stone ledges, laid him down in the shade, and, fixing the octopus on its back, ran further to the stones, grabbing all the rags from the big guy.

The doll didn't know what it was looking for, only the vibration in its chest guided it between the rocky ledges. And even if it did, it could not explain it to itself. But soon the doll smelled freshness in its face and ran out to a large puddle formed by a stream flowing down from the mountains. It took the octopus off its back, carefully put him in the water, soaked the rags, and ran back to Snorri.

The one who had no name yet was watching all these actions from the sidelines, having no idea what made him do exactly that. But something inside his being was absolutely certain that this was the right thing to do. And he did not argue. Could he argue at all?

The doll ran up to the man lying in the shadow of the stone ledge, put his head horizontally, opened his mouth, and brought a rag to him, slowly squeezing it out so that drops of water flowed into his mouth. One rag, then another, and then the big guy swallowed hard. The third rag, and he opened his eyes. Still half-awake, he tried to get up, but couldn't. The doll got up, helped him up and leaned his back against a rock.

"Where?" he whispered.

The doll pointed its hand toward the mountains. The big guy twitched to get up, and the doll had to help him again. Leaning on it, he made his way to the puddle where the octopus was swimming, and crouched in the stream. The octopus had already come to his senses and swam up to Snorri's face, who was greedily gulping water. He lifted his tentacle and swung it across the man's face.

"You mustn't," Raud said with difficulty.

Snorri continued to drink greedily, but then he found the strength to pull away from the water and fall back onto the rocks, panting heavily.

The shadow of the nearest stone moved slowly, gradually covering the travelers. The octopus was still floating in the puddle, and the man was lying there with his arms outstretched. Both were sound asleep. The doll sat beneath the stone and watched as the shadows closed and opened the sleeping ones with their petals, and they unconsciously crawled back into the coolness from the scorching corridors of light.