For days, you saw nothing but hot sand in front of you. It was everywhere: in your mouth, in your eyes, sticking to your sweaty body and impossible to shake off. Not long ago, you were a merchant traveling through the desert with his caravan. The camels were loaded to the top with goods: spices, fabrics, leather. It was the first time you had ever carried such a valuable cargo.

But the camels were gradually getting tired, night was falling on the desert, and you had to stop for a rest. Sleeping in the open air, you didn't hear the other travelers whispering quietly. When you awoke in the morning, of course, you found no one there. They simply left you to die of thirst in the blazing sun and took your goods for themselves. In despair, you simply continued onward. You were literally crawling, for your feet were badly burned, and you had no strength left to walk. But then you saw an oasis. Despite the fact that it might have been a mirage, you rushed towards it.

And the oasis was real! Your strength was enough to greedily gulp water from a small lake and crawl to the shade of a palm tree, losing consciousness. You slowly opened your eyelids, looking around.

Suddenly you noticed another figure and fought the urge to wipe your eyes. The God himself was drawing water with a pitcher from the lake. You simply couldn’t believe that a mortal could be like that. The body, unnaturally pale for Egypt and as if carved from sculpture, was covered only by a white cloth that hung around his hips. The stranger's arms were encased in gold bracelets, and his ash-white hair was slicked back. When Vergil saw that you were awake, he rose from the sand and came toward you with a jug full of water. His shadow loomed over you, hiding you from the sun. He looked down at you, surveyed your filthy body with a kind of disgust, and wrinkled his nose.

«Awake? Fine.»

Without another word, Vergil tipped the jug over and splashed water on you.