Alex was ecstatic to finally get out of the village and see more of Kogronia. Although it was getting dark, there was still enough light to see a little bit of the grassy plains that surrounded the village.

“Does the village have a name?” Alex asked Lika’so after they had been walking for about an hour and a half.

“It does,” she responded, “It’s called Jigo’ned.”

Alex turned back to look at the village. “Jigo’ned,” he said with a smile. He stood in place, admiring the view. The village was so big it looked more like a small town. From this distance, the village appeared as if it were ablaze with white fire as lights from every building blurred into one large glow.

“Alex!” Lika’so called, “Keep close!”

Alex turned around. He was surprised at how far ahead of him Lika’so and the other woman were already. He jogged over to the others, quickly closing the distance.

Patches of greenish light began to form throughout the seemingly endless expanse of grass. It was such a spectacular sight that Alex couldn’t help but excitedly cackle. To the others, it must have looked like he was losing his mind, but he didn’t care. He was having too much fun.

“We’re stopping here,” Lika’so announced a few minutes later. She said something else to the other woman that Alex couldn’t hear and then gestured him to come to her. She took a blanket and a pillow out of one of the large bags that were attached to the saddle of the horse and handed it to Alex. “Hojet’ka,” she said (which meant “make your place”).

Alex nodded and wandered around in search of a suitable spot to set up his bed. The air was surprisingly warm and there was only a very slight breeze. Finding a comfy-looking area about a dozen meters away from the horse, Alex unrolled his blanket. It was as large as the bed back at Lika’so’s house, so he decided to fold it in half to make it thicker. He placed the pillow at the end of the blanket and let gravity take him down face-first onto the makeshift bed. He let out a long “ah” of satisfaction as he made contact with the blanket. He buried his face in the pillow. Alex was pleasantly surprised by how good it smelled.

Alex lay there, his face still on the pillow. He listened to the hypnotic chirping of the crickets and felt almost as relaxed as if he were in a warm bath.

Alex heard footsteps in the grass approaching him. He turned his head to see the mystery woman that Lika’so seemed to be friends with walking up to him with a friendly smile on her face.

“Hi,” Alex said.

The woman, once she had gotten a bit closer, sat on her knees next to him. Sitting on her knees highlighted how much muscle she really had in her legs and Alex was impressed.

“Lika’so gave me instructions to watch over you,” the woman said.

Alex was annoyed by that. “Ugh…” he exclaimed, expressing his irritation, “She needs to stop treating me like a child.”

“I agree,” the woman replied genuinely.

Alex hadn’t expected that response, but he was glad somebody else felt the same way. He assumed Lika’so was treating him that way solely because of his age, which he didn’t think was fair. Or It could have been because he knew so little about this world. A bit of both perhaps? Whatever the case, it got on Alex’s nerves. He still respected her, even if she didn’t share that feeling with him.

Alex didn’t know how to express all of this in Kni’il just yet, but once he did, he would. In the meantime, all he said was “Thank you.”

“What is your name?” the woman asked Alex.

“Alex,” he responded.

“What does that mean?”

Alex was confused by the question. It was just his name.

“It has no meaning. To my knowledge, it’s just a name.”

“Alex…” the woman said, as if tasting the name, “I like it.”

“What’s your name?” Alex asked.

“Nijo’tika” the woman answered.

“Nijo’tika...” Alex repeated her name as she had done with his, “I like it,” he said smiling.

They both laughed.