I couldn't help but close my eyes as I stepped out of the cave, the brightness of the sun made me raised my hand by reflex, in an attempt to block it.
It wasn't long before my vision adjusted and as I open my eyes and began to scan the area i from of me.
The first thing I noticed was the ground, while scarce, I could finally see some plants and trees that still had some of it leaf's.
That temperature had decreased by a notch, while it was still hot, it wasn't to the point you would fell like melting, making it more bearable.
Looking back at the cave I notice the exit was the same as the entrance on the other side, a rectangular like hole with no embellishment, no statues or adornments.
The only difference was at the top of the entrance, huge letters I had never seen before were carved into the rock, estrange enough, I could understand them.
"Entrance to The Caldera"
"So the place I was in is called The Caldera" interesting.
Staring at the strange yet familiar letters a frown began forming in Alex face.
"But why I can understand what is say? I only know two languages I am damn sure this isn't from either"
Thinking about what was going on for a few more seconds, trying to find answers to his dilema Alex let out a sight and turned his back to the entrance and began look at what laid in front of him.
"I have no information about what is going on nor why I have some knowledge about this writing, it's frustrating having this feeling of helpless inside you"
While thinking about how weird his situation was getting at each passing day, he kept his eyes forward, scanning everything his range of vision could see, and eventually he noticed parch of green slightly to his right, that extended all the way until the end of his sight.
"That looks like…. A forest?
That should be impossible right? There should be no way a forest could be this close to a desert, their climate and topography should make it impossible to be near each other….unless.
Looking back at the entrance, Alex raised his head and let a chuckle as he notice the difference he missed earlier.
"I see, The Caldera uh, a well fit name indeed"
The mountain that made him impressed because of it sheer size alone was now around half its size, and while still impressive was a mighty difference from what he saw before.
"So that was the reason I felt my ears clog and pop
constantly, I was gaining altitude as I advanced"
As pieces began falling into its places, everything stared making sense, the cliffs I saw earlier around this mountain was actually surrounding the place making even hotter since it was at a lower altitude than normal.
But it will also explain why there is a forest nearby, since I'm now at a higher altitude the temperature obviously falls, making easier for trees to grow.
Kneeling, he place his hand on the ground and grabbed a handful of dirt, holing it for a few seconds before throwing away and wiped his hand in his leather pants.
"The ground even feels less arid, I guess it's not impossible for a forest to be near here"
Looking back to the green sea far into the distance I began to think what should I do.
"There is no trace of a path, and I don't see any structures around, ahhh this is a pain in the ass"
Alex sight as he scratched his head, he was tired and wanted a nice meal and a confortable bed to sleep, but it looked like it won't come anytime near.
"Standing still and complaining won't do me any good, so I better keep going, plus's the forest is more doable than the desert.
Making up his mind, Alex began to move toward the forest he saw at his right, the main reason for his destination was simple.
It's easier to find water and food in the forest, his supply's were starting to run low enough for him to seriously worry, he need it to replenish them if he wanted to keep going, and it was easier to find food an water there, and if worse comes and he can't hunt anything he could eat some insect, they were easy to find and while disgusting, they were highly nutritional.
…. Still disgusting duh.
As he got nearer to the forest Alex notice how the scenery began to change, césped began to be seen on the ground, slowly becoming a green carpet, bushes and flowers of different color became more common as he got closer and closer to the sea of trees.
As he kept walking trees began to be seen all around him, at first it was one or two but as he kept advancing more and more trees began showing until before he knew, he was completely surrounded by nature.
"It is a different kind of beauty from the desert, but still is breath taking"
Were his honest words as he admire the infinite amount of trees that surrounded him, they were huge, so tall that they could easily give the Giant Sequoia a run for their money.
On its tops you could see many different types of birds, their melodious song emptied his mind from any thought, so he could enjoy their voices to the max.
He could smell the scent of humid tree trunk, rooting wood and fallen leaves, but it wasn't repulsing one, but a very familiar one, a scent that relaxed his very soul, the smell of the forest, no, the smell of nature himself.
But as much as Alex wanted to enjoy being one with nature, he knew it wasn't possible right now, he had just entered a new environment, and like any other, it got his rules.
Animals will be roaming inside this place soon enough, an while he had still a couple of hours before the sun sets, he needed to find a place to pass the night.
Not only was visibility worse at night but many animal began hunting at that time too, and while he like me nature, he also like being alive, so he needed to move fast.
Moving forward the took out his sword and one of the smaller daggers and while using the sword to cut through any bushes in his way, he used the dagger to make cuts on trees, marking them to make sure he didn't get lost or moved in circles.
As he moved he tried his best to focus all his attention around him, not only his vision but ears and nose, the slightest noise could warn him evade an ambush and any smell of blood could meant either someone was eating are hurt, both cases he don't want to deal with, so carefully, he kept navigating forward, trying to find a river, or at least a body of water which he could use to replenish his water pouches, but still it was his second priority right now, he needed a place to pass the night.
And as the sun began to fall and a couple of hours of fail search he finally found a tree which had a hole at the base of its trunk, and to his pleasant surprise it was big enough for him to easily fit.
After making sure there were no weird smells like animal urine, and no animal hair inside, he felt it was good enough for a momentary base, and move to a nearby bush and cut it from the bottom down with his sword, and place the bush on the entrance making less likely to be found.
And with adding some leave's on the ground, making some kind of bed, and also a insulators everything was golden for the night, he would had love to make for kind of elevated bed to gain some height from the floor in case insects came in but this would do for now.
Dealing with his sleep, he entered the hole and blocked the entrance with his bush door, and after laying in the left bed, he quickly fell asleep as fatigue was getting on him from his long day.