The next morning was quiet and the air was slightly chilly. Fern crawled out of his bed and wrapped his silver fur tightly around his neck, thing would get warmer as they went south. The day was bittersweet because it was his birthday and he had no one in his family to celebrate with. In his family's culture, today would have been the day Fern would have been able to start traveling around the world to increase his knowledge about the beasts that lived within it.

It didn't matter too much since he already started that journey about 25 years ago though he never really went south. He spent most of his time in the swamp not far from his home. Now he truly felt ready to explore the world, it was just unfortunate that he couldn't get the birthday gift that was customary for the day. A father or grandfather would bring the child a powerful beast for the kid to master transforming into. This transformation was meant to help the young druid survive their pilgrimage to find a stronger beast than those that came before them.

The druid hoped he would find a stronger creature today on their way to Cadamem, though the trip was still over a week long and they were going to detour to Mount Kendor to do a hunt. He didn't have high hopes but he was allowed to have a birthday wish.

He went downstairs and ate breakfast with everyone before rounding up the cart and horses. He could feel that it was going to be a boring day but he guessed not every day was an adventure. They got on the road early and went on the way, the roads were surprisingly barren but smooth. Very few people passed by and the ones who did, Fern took any opportunity to flirt with a beautiful hot woman but hurried the horse past older people.

Night began to fall across the sky, and the Jellybeans began looking for a place to set up camp for the night.

"Nice," yelled Ciylia. "I found it, it's mine."

The group looked around for whatever Ciylia was looking at and there, in the beautiful moonlight, shone a pink gem. Fern moved the cart closer to its location and everyone got out. Ciylia greedily tried to scoop up the stone but it seemed stuck to the ground. She started using both hands to pry at it but nothing seemed to work.

Suddenly, the gem began to glisten. A massive circle of pink light started to form around a large area but it happened so quickly, that no one had time to react. In a blink of an eye, the Jellybeans were transported to an unfamiliar place. The cart was not present when they appeared, the front of the cart that allowed the horses to tied to it, were magically floating in the air. Gene tried to move them but they didn't budge.

The ground around them wasn't covered in dirt but looked like large red and white squares that covered the ground as far as the eye could see. Fern reached down and touched the ground beneath him. It was soft and felt like fabric but he couldn't crumple it like cloth. In the distance, tall multicoloured and multi-patterned buildings were sporadically placed around the area, and some very tall multiple layered pyramid near the center.

Fern let the horse go from their temporary shackles and they ran off in a random direction.

"Where the fuck are we," asked Blaine.

"No idea," replied Gene. "But we aren't going to get anyways standing here. Let's get the hell out of this place. That temple looks like a good place to ask for help."

"Assuming there are people here," commented Meowlynn.

The group headed toward the pyramid in the center, it was a lot further than it originally seemed. The weird patterns of the buildings and the unsettling feeling of the ground beneath made the trip very long.

Finally, the group arrived at a tall purple and green striped building. It was very tall and the group walked around it looking for an entrance. There was one hole in it but it didn't look like a door. The entrance was misshapen and had scratch marks around the edges, revealing a brown wooden textile underneath. A weird sense of nostalgia passed Fern's mind as he tried to grasp at some memory that was just out of reach.

"It's pretty dark inside," mentioned Aliya as she poked her head in.

Gene got a lantern from his bag, filled it with oil, lit it, and then placed it on the red scarf that Fern had bought him. The sound of thunderous footsteps started marching towards them and regardless of if the party wanted to go into the hole or not, they all ducked in. Massive knights and stick-like figures formed ranks as they passed. They didn't look like real creatures but more like children's toys that were made far bigger than required. Maybe they were the toys of a giant but there was no own playing with them unless they were also somehow magical.

The Jellybeans moved away from the entrance in fear of one of those toy creatures noticing them. The building was hollow and very spacious. The only thing that seemed to occupy the room was a giant creature or statue that appeared to be sitting down. Gene approached it cautiously and tried to touch it. His hand sunk into the thing slightly.

"It's soft," announced the monk. "It also seems to have fur. I'll climb up its back and see what's at the top."

The monk moved to the back and began climbing, his lantern light swayed as he climbed. The rest of the group stood around waiting for him to reach the top. A terrible skittering noise came from the side of the giant centerpiece as Blaine moved over there. The biggest rat anyone had ever seen was staring at him. It was bigger than any of the members of the Jellybeans.

Twisted gnarly teeth bit in Blaine's shoulder, causing him to bleed. It tried to mount the curse-bloodied male but Fern transformed into a bear and tore the rat off of him. Ciylia and Kira unleashed a few arrows into the vermin but it kept twisting and squirming to get free from the bear's maw. It was fighting for its life, realizing it had made a grave error. Aliya healed Blaine as the rat broke free from its capture. It dashed out the best it could as Meowlynn roasted a hindleg as it ran out of the strange building.

A light squealing sound moved closer towards the group, becoming louder and louder. Everyone looked up as another giant rat flew down towards them. With a large crash, the rat landed and then scurried to its feet. Foam was building up in the beast's mouth and its eyes darted around like a user under the influence.

Fern tried to attack the crazed rat but it was able to squirm and twist out of harm's way. Kira fired an arrow into the beast's left back leg and Ciylia did the same. The second arrow tore the leg open, causing a large amount of blood to pour from it. Meowlynn shot a bolt of fire across the back of the encircled critter, enraging it further.

The rodent's wiggling tail swatted the poor cleric out of its way and it bit the hemomancer because he was the closest creature to it. This time though instead of just accepting the bite, Blaine ignited his blood into flames making the rat's eyes boil then pop. Melted brain gushed from its nose and ears. THe curse-blooded man then tossed the vermin to the side as Gene landed in front of them gracefully.

"Are you alright," asked the monk.

"How high was that jump?" Fern was stunned. Since when could the monk do that?

"Not too high," shrugged Gene. "I used to train on the tallest mountain in our country so falls like that are nothing. My father pushed me from worse heights."

"Looks like some sort of magic," said Meowlynn. "But who cares really. What is this thing?" She pointed at the giant soft thing.

"It looks like a teddy bear," deduced the monk. "It had a giant green F on the back of its neck as well."

"Well the exit is obviously not here so let's keep going," demanded Meowlynn.

Everyone left the building and started moving towards the pyramid in the distance. Moments later, the group found the rat that had escaped skewered by spears and arrows. Immediately, everyone was on edge, waiting for something to attack them as well. The Jellybeans didn't have to wait long as a group of centaurs and knights started filing out from behind a blue structure with yellow dots all over it.

"Run for it," yelled Gene.

The group broke into a mad sprint as spears and arrows whizzed by their heads. Fern glanced back to see that Gene was mostly running backward as he would catch spears or arrows out of the air, making sure they didn't hit the rest of the group. Ciylia was in the front leading the group through twists and turns around the multicoloured structures. After what seemed like an hour the forces that were chasing them suddenly stopped save for a few.

Most of the Jellybeans stopped as the few pursuers suddenly stopped and looked to their right. The longest pause in history happened before two tall theropods that had two stubby horns on their heads, pounced on top of two of the knights and tore out their throats. Blood flew into the air like confetti as huge thunderous footsteps moved quickly over to the final two pursuers.

A colossus-sized theropod appeared, towering over everything, even making the other two lizard-like creatures look small. It whipped its tail into a knight, hurling its body into a red building, causing a cringe-inducing snapping sound as the knight's spine collided with the edge of the structure. The massive beast then bit the torso of a centaur off, leaving the horse half to buckle under its weight after it ran a few steps.

At this moment the other knights and centaurs fled as did most of the Jellybeans except Fern and Gene. The giant theropod roared in their faces, spraying bits of flesh and blood all over them.

"We need to distract them while the others make their way to the pyramid," yelled Gene as the two men started running away from the rest of the group went.

"Okay," screamed Fern, "Just let me change into a bear."

Fern attempted to change into his signature form but something was preventing him from doing it. A swirl of green leaves and pink petals magically appeared and started circling Fern as he ran.

"What is happening to you," Gene was running slower as to not leave Fern behind.

"I don't..." Fern was cut off by the flora attaching itself to his body like some kind of armour. All of Fern's nerves suddenly quit functioning and he collapsed. His mind still worked fine and he was able to see Gene turn around and start trying to drag him. One of the smaller beasts tried to jump on him but the monk rolled out of the way. The second one took a bite at his head but Gene bobbed his head out of the way in time but was the theropod's claws raked across Gene's ribs as the monk tried to evade them.

Instead of saving himself, Gene grabbed Fern and kept trying to drag him to safety. Fern begged his body to move, to do anything besides be a limp sack of potatoes but nothing was happening. Earth-shaking footsteps were getting closer by the moment as Fern kept watching Gene dodge attacks, sometimes get slashed by claws across his back, while fruitlessly dragging the druid.

"Run you stupid fool," cursed Fern in his mind. "Leave me and save yourself!"

"You have a good friend," a familiar and friendly voice entered Fern's mind. "Do you wish to save him?"

"Of course!" Fern wanted to yell at the top of his lungs.

"Two hours," said the voice. "I can lend you the power for a couple of hours."

The name of a creature flashed into the druid's mind, allosaurus. Fern had never heard of such a creature before and didn't really believe it to be real. The anatomy of the lizards attacking Gene entered his mind as well, along with all relevant information the half-elf would need to successfully morph into one.

The giant version of an allosaurus finally reached the two men and made a lunging bite at the struggling monk. With every ounce of energy he had, Fern prayed to transform into one of these beasts to help his friend. As the giant beast's jaw passed over his head, Fern sprouted a new body and slammed his two bony horns into the soft underside of the jaw of the bigger creature.

Grinding of teeth vibrated across the top of Fern's skull as he forced the larger one's mouth shut. Without needing a signal, Gene jumped on the tail of the 'Fernsaurus' and the druid sprinted out of danger. The other beasts tried to pursue them but Fern was more clever than them and was able to weave around the building and confuse them. Finally, he made a last-ditch effort to sprint to the pyramid in the center of the buildings.

The massive creature collapsed one of the oddly coloured structures to pursue them. Gene had climbed his way to Fern's next and was preparing to launch himself from the head of Fern.

"When I jump," instructed Gene. "You should change into something that can dig and tunnel your way up to us. That creature has very small arms so I don't think it will be able to climb up."

Fern gave the monk an acknowledging nod and slightly lowered his neck so the monk could get to the little bumps on the allosaurus's head. The druid dashed at full speed towards the pyramid and watched the distance close with each giant step he took. Thankfully this lizard form was slightly faster than the massive one chasing him because he needed the extra breathing room to dig to the pyramid in front of him, though it looked more like a temple as he noticed the top was flat inside if pointed.

Tension from Gene's legs made themselves known as the monk crouched down preparing for his jump. With of flick of Fern's neck, Gene launched himself towards to top of the bottom layer of the pyramid that was still very high. Fern crashed into the structure that was soft and tasted like cake. He then changed into a giant mole and started digging his way through the soft substance. He felt the giant beast collide with the structure as well but focused on tunneling his way up.

When Fern emerged, he was on the top of the third layer from the top, as was Gene. The monk had put on his snowshoes as the surface was too soft and was causing him to sink. Fern watched the monk struggle for a bit but then used his massive shovel-like claws to build him stairs to the top.

The others were already there examining signs trying to figure out what they meant. There were five signs placed along the top of the structure. Fern and Gene went and examined each one.

The first sign was a puzzle, "The words you see are different than how they are written. When you solve their true meaning scream it to the sky to leave."

The other signs said, "1. Joyous", "2. Creation", "3. Morning", "4. Bush"

"Well I think we need to figure out other meanings for these words," said Fern flatly.

"I think we need to do it quickly," yelled Kira as she pointed to what would be the sky.

An enormous blade was stabbing down at the platform, trying to impale the people on top. Chocolate and frosting splashed onto the Jellybeans as Fern realized they were standing on the universe's biggest cake.

"Joyous," screamed Aliya. "That means happy."

"Morning could be..." Kira ate a mouthful of frosting. "Day"

"Happy Creation Day Bush," Gene repeated to himself. "I know, thank you, ladies."

"Well," Blaine narrowly slipped past a blade. "What is it? More of these things are coming by the second."

He wasn't wrong. The sky above had dozens of these large blades coming down towards them and the roar of the giant lizard echoed nearby. It seemed the monstrous beast had found a way up and was now using the stairs Fern had created.

Gene ran to Fern's side, "Happy Birthday Fern!"

Without any sort of transition, the group was back next to their cart under the night sky. In the middle of them was a cake identical to the one they were just on. It had a single lit candle on it and smelled fresh.

"Happy birthday," echoed a voice in Fern's mind. He knew it but couldn't place it.

With a shrug, he turned to the Jellybeans, "Anyone want cake?"

Some rolled their eyes and others were still in shock but Gene laughed and hugged the druid. "I'll take some," he grinned.