“ROOOOOAAAR!!!”, with a scream full of irritation, the giant monkey’s rocky front paws punched into the ground hard as it used all its remaining body strength to launch itself upon them.

Even though Reizel was exhausted to the point of no return, his eyes never lost sight of the monster’s figure. The moment its rushing figure showed signs of jumping he screamed with all his might. “Now!”

The two almost instantly ceased running and turned to face the airborne creature. With his hands raised up to his chest, Reizel was hugged tightly from behind by Zeke as the giant monkey’s fist neared them.

Reizel couldn’t help letting out a muffled gasp. The cold sweat he felt running down his spine earlier seemed to have turned into ice cubes as the three-meter-tall giant’s fist engulfed his vision.

“Ah-”, a failed attempt to scream reverberated throughout the cave as the two human figures were sent flying backwards.

“GRAAAAHH!”, the stone king screamed in excitement the moment his fist connected with Reizel’s hands. Satisfied at the crunching sound coming from breaking bones, it couldn’t help thinking it finally won. Alas, it turned out to be a short-lived victory.

Flying through the air, Reizel and Zeke’s bodies passed over rocks and rumble before falling heavily on the ground with a thud. However, due to inertia, their fall didn’t end there. The two kept rolling and rolling along the path before finally coming to a stop.

“ROOOOAAAR!”, an angered roar resounded from somewhere behind them as the giant monkey finally realized what was going on. Even though it didn’t show it, the stone king had endured quite the heavy blow during its earlier struggle with Reizel. Not to mention that, the moment it slipped away from under the rumble, it saw the prey it was painstakingly chasing running away.

That being said, the stone monkey’s decision-making was clouded as it rushed to finish them off, failing to realize this was exactly what Reizel had wanted since the beginning.

⚔ ⚔ ⚔

A minute or two earlier.

“Haha… Wanna make a bet?”, Reizel asked as a crazy idea flashed by his mind. “Sure!”, Zeke’s response came almost instantaneously. He knew Reizel had something crazy in mind and, if there was a slight chance of them making it out alive, then they should bet on it.

“Great! Here’s the plan...”, Reizel hurriedly explained how they would block the stone monkey’s punch to Zeke before being sent flying towards the exit.

“This is ridiculous! No way is this gonna work!”, Zeke exclaimed as soon as Reizel was done talking. He didn’t turn to look back at his friend though, before adding with a grin. “I’ll block the hit.”

Even though Zeke’s initial words showed signs of disapproval, Reizel didn’t expect anything less from him. Nodding mostly to himself he uttered. “No, I’ll be the one to block the hit...”

“Do you have a death wish or something? No way can you block the impact with those injuries... I’ll be the one to the hit!” Zeke’s firmness could be distinguished by the sound of his voice.

Sighing inwardly, Reizel explained. “No, I can barely lift my hands anyway. It would be in our best interest if one of us can use his hands.” As soon as he heard Reizel’s reasonable explanation, Zeke couldn’t help but grudgingly agree with him. After all, their chances of escaping would be even higher if one of them was physically fine. And, right now, Zeke was far less injured than Reizel.

Gnashing his teeth with enough strength to draw blood, Zeke uttered. “Fine...”

⚔ ⚔ ⚔

Back to the present.

*Cough! Cough!*

Zeke’s rough coughing resounded throughout the cave as he tremblingly tried to stand up only to fall back down on his knees. Glancing around, he searched for Reizel’s figure amidst the dust particles they had raised.

Not too far away from him, approximately two meters, Reizel lay motionless.

“Rei... Reizel...”, Zeke uttered, crawling his way to the unmoving figure. A quick inspection revealed a multitude of injuries along with the newest addition of jagged bones protruding from the sides of his arms.

“F*ck...”, Zeke couldn’t help cursing as he pulled closer. The pain assaulting him was probably only lesser to the pain his friend was going through. Nudging him lightly, Zeke said in an almost inaudible voice. “Reizel... Reizel! Wake up!”

As if coming back from the dead, Reizel’s facial features turned into a frown as he wriggled in pain. Unable to endure the strain in his unconscious state, his eyes opened widely and he coughed out a few mouthfuls of blood.

“Cough... Ptew! Haah... Hah... How... How long was I out for?”, he muttered, blood all over his face as he glanced at Zeke with blurry eyes. “A... A few seconds at most?”, Zeke answered truthfully and tried to grab him by the shoulder.

“Ouch! Ahh!” Reizel’s scream echoed inside the cave as he felt a scorching pain coming from where his arms were located. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to!”, Zeke exclaimed as he instantly retracted his trembling hands.

Taking in several deep breaths, Reizel’s vision seemed to slowly return as he spoke through gritted teeth. “Don’t worry... Can you stand?” With the pain Reizel was going through reflected in his eerily blue eyes, Zeke nodded lightly and stood up with a small grumble.

“ROOOOOAAAR!”, right then, the stone monkey had finally made it all the way to the entrance of the tunnel as it let out yet another angered growl. It could see the two of them fumbling to get up and couldn’t help feeling indignant to let them leave. After all, its massive size didn’t permit it to enter the narrow opening of the tunnel.

“GRRRR!!”, growling in their direction didn’t seem to change anything as it hurriedly looked around.

*Rumble!*

Picking up a massive boulder, the giant monkey swung its arm sideways, effectively sending it flying into the tunnel’s entrance.

*Crash!*

The boulder heavily crashed a dozen feet away from where Reizel and Zeke currently stood, making them stumble and fall due to the cave’s shaking. “Cr*p! This bast*rd is trying to bury us in!”, Zeke cursed as he deciphered the gigantic stone monkey’s intention.

Looking back from where he stood, Reizel saw the stone king punching at the walls of the tunnel, desperately trying to widen the hole’s space. Alas, strong as the creature might have been, it was impossible to make enough space for it to get through in such a small span of time. ‘Phew...’

Sighing inwardly, Reizel locked eyes with Zeke and motioned for him to help him up. Being unable to use your hands was truly inconvenient, he thought and kept gritting through the pain. “Can ya walk?”, Zeke whispered as he slowly helped him up, and to that Reizel answered. “I think so...”

“GRAAAHHH!!”, maddened as it was, the stone creature never lost sight of them. It hurriedly scavenged for the broken stone fragments it had taken off of the wall and threw them in their direction. Bits and pieces of stone flew everywhere as the two made a rush for their lives and, even though they had made it through the most dangerous part, it wasn’t unlikely for them to get hit by stray rock fragment.

“Huff... Huff... Just a little more! We are almost out of its range!”, shouted Zeke while dragging Reizel along with him. His trusty club had already been dropped somewhere along the way, freeing him a second hand to use. Tiredly looking at his friend’s rough breathing, Reizel said in a considerate manner. “Let me go, I can walk on my own...”

“Na way, not until we are out of its range... If ya fall I don’t think I can help ya up... Ag... Again!”, probably due to exhaustion, Zeke’s voice crackled a little as he tried to finish the sentence. Or at least that’s what Reizel thought before nodding slightly.

“Graaahh...”, the stone king’s wild screeching echoed in the distance as they hurriedly traced along the path they had come from, successfully escaping from yet another predicament.

⚔ ⚔ ⚔

“Haah... Hah... We... We made it Zeke, we made it out...”, said Reizel as soon as the sun’s rays fell upon his eyelids. It was late into the afternoon, and the orange tinge of the sun wasn’t strong enough to blind his vision.

Lightheaded and hurting all over, Reizel fell backward onto the comfy grass bed by the edge of the forest. He didn’t need to look at the status window to know many things were broken and out of place, his body told him all he had to know about it. Very, very clearly.

‘How did I survive?’, his thoughts drifted as the gentle breeze ruffled his hair. Not only was his body hurting all over due to the injuries he sustained, the broken bones protruding out of his arms constantly added to his pain.

‘For the number of injuries I have sustained, I should long be dead by now... And yet, why is the pain so... Bearable?’, he wondered while gazing at the leafy canopy above his head. Questions such as this were soon discarded from his mind however, he already had a ton of things to worry about and searching for answers to inexplainable questions shouldn’t be one of them, at least not for now.

Closing his eyes, Reizel could hear the vibrant grass blades shuffling somewhere in the distance. ‘Zeke?’, he thought, lifting his droopy eyelids slightly. From the corner of his vision, Reizel could see Zeke’s stumbling figure as he headed deeper into the forest. ‘Where is he going?’, he queried to no one in particular while tracing his buddy’s figure out of peer puzzlement.

‘Where is he goi-?!’, before he even finished thinking about it, his eyes opened wide as Zeke’s figure suddenly fell flat on the ground with a thud.

“Zeke!”, he coarsely shouted and tried to get up. Seeing how his arms were broken, it was very difficult for Reizel to do without external help but, in the end, he managed to get up and rush over by his friend’s side. “Oh no...”, his words drifted as his gaze followed the trail of blood Zeke had left behind.

“No, no, no... NO!” Falling down by Zeke’s side, Reizel could clearly see where the blood trail originated from. “Why? WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY ANYTHING?!”, he screamed at the motionless body with tears dripping down his face. A stone fragment the size of a knife had been firmly embedded in the lower side of his back, drawing blood unceasingly.

It was a miracle he had actually managed to make it this far without collapsing. Gnashing his teeth hard enough to almost crack them, Reizel used his forearms in an attempt to remove the foreign object stack in Zeke’s back.

“Ahh! Ughh... Sto- Stop, please...”, waking up due to the pain, Zeke stopped his friend from trying the impossible. Reizel, gasping, immediately stopped in his tracks and turned his friend over.

Having a clear view of the leafy canopy, Zeke uttered in a low voice as he glanced back at Reizel. “Much... Better.”, tears and snot could be seen all over Reizel’s face as he leaned over his friend. There wasn’t much he could do right now; Zeke’s condition had deteriorated to a point where even if he used his [First Aid] skill it would be pointless.

“Do... Don’t cry... I... I chose this.”

“But... But... *Sniff* Had it not been for me...”, Reizel uttered but stopped midway as Zeke coughed out a mouthful of blood.

“Zeke!”, with blood dripping down his mouth, the light in Zeke’s eyes slowly dimmed. All Reizel could do for his friend right now was try to hold tightly onto his hand but, with his broken arms, even that proved to be pointless as Zeke’s hand escaped his embrace and motionlessly fell on the floor.

“...Li...ve...” were the last words to escape Zeke’s lips before his body turned completely cold.

He was dead. Zeke was actually dead. It took a few moments for Reizel to realize what was going on but, even then, he still couldn’t believe it. “Zeke... Hey, Zeke... Talk to me... Hey.”, nudging at his friend’s motionless body, all he could feel was the scorching hot blood flowing out of him, but even that was slowly turning cold.

“No... This can’t be real... Haha, I must be dreaming right? Right Zeke? This is just a nightmare, right? WHY AREN’T YOU TALKING TO ME?!”. Reizel screamed amidst his cries. Alas, no matter how much he screamed and shouted, Zeke’s cold body still lay before him.

“Ah...” All of a sudden, he came to realize something. ‘All of this is the stone bast*rd’s fault... That’s right... If it hadn’t been for that accursed bast*rd Zeke would still...”, standing up, Reizel’s gaze screamed of murder as he looked back at the cave. Had it not been for that monkey, Zeke would still be alive he thought. And yet...

The moment he took the first step towards the cave, Zeke’s last words echoed in his mind.

“Li...ve...”

‘It doesn’t matter... I’ll take revenge...’, taking another step forward, the words resounded in his mind once more.

“Li...ve.”

‘Sh*t up... As you said, I am going whether you like it or not...’, ceasing in his steps momentarily he took yet another step towards the cave.

“Live!”

‘SH*T UP!’

“LIVE!”

“GOD DAMN IT I SAID SH*T THE HELL UP ALREADY!”, Reizel shouted to none other than himself as his feet finally came to a stop. The tears rolling down his cheek showed no signs of ending as he turned to look back at his unmoving friend one more time. He sniffled and, with a scream that could scare even the wildest of beasts away, scuttled off into the forest.

⚔ ⚔ ⚔

When night fell upon the misty forest, the white veil of mist hindered anyone and everyone’s senses. Be they man or beast, none could escape its restrictive effects. That was because, without the sun’s warmth to lessen the veil’s thickness, not only could one barely see their feet while walking, their other senses were impeded as well.

“Huff... Huff...”, if one could suppress the mist’s side effects, he would be able to observe a wailing figure wandering aimlessly inside the mist. Needless to say, that figure belonged to none other than Reizel as he slowly dragged his ragged body onwards.

Due to the high humidity, Reizel’s body was drenched in sweat, his lips were dry and his eyes red from all the tears he had shed.

“Huff... Huff...”, like a ghost, he stumbled from one tree to another and kept walking onwards. Did he have a destination in mind? No, he didn’t. However, anywhere away from that accursed cave would be better, he thought.

“Huff... Huff...”, his broken arms swayed lightly along with every step he took.

“Huff... Huff...”, breathing roughly, Reizel’s tattered body no longer had the strength to move forward. Alas, he didn’t stop... He couldn’t stop. For if he stopped moving, thoughts and memories would flood his mind again. Memories he didn’t want to see, happy ones, sad ones, all of them would be tearing away at him.

“Huff... Huff...” and so, he moved. He kept moving, wishing he could go on like this forever.

Alas, the world didn’t work that way.

“Hu-”, he almost bit his tongue as the familiar prickle of the grass below his feet was nowhere to be seen.

*Crash*

With a loud crashing sound, Reizel’s figure began rolling down a slope as he kept going on and on. The pain receptors of his body were instantly put to work again as he hit one massive rock after the other.

*Splash*

A few seconds of rolling and falling later, his battered figure finally reached the bottom of the cliff only to be submerged underwater. Unlike his expectations, the ice-cold water was quite soothing for his tired body, the sweat and blood covering him being slowly washed off as he slowly drifted deeper and deeper.

Reizel didn’t resist. He neither had the strength to resist nor did he wish to. He just tiredly stared at the bright blue moon’s shine silently waiting to reach the bottom.

‘I am sorry, Zeke... Looks like I’ll be joining you shortly.’, Reizel thought and closed his tired eyes. His willpower had run dry and his will to live was no longer there. All he wished for now was to rest... Rest once and for all. Alas, the muffled voice struggling in his head thought otherwise.

“LIVE!”, it screamed and persisted with all its might.

‘Whose voice is this...’, Reizel wondered as he slowly opened his eyes once more.

“LIVE OR I’LL TURN INTO A GHOST AND HAUNT YA! YA JERK!”, the suppressed voice kept shouting.

‘Who is it... That’s right... Zeke... ZEKE!’, opening his eyes wide to the limit, Reizel mustered the last of his strength... No, the last of his willpower to raise his hand upwards indignantly.

And, as if he was trying to catch the moon, his hand was clenched tightly into a fist as the last bubbles of oxygen escaped his lungs.

‘Ze...ke...’, the demise of his friend was the only thing he could think of before the light in his eyes slowly faded away.

In Reizel’s last moments, a blue radiance seemed to fill his vision. And then... And then everything turned dark.

⚔ ⚔ ⚔

“Cough! Cough! Gasp... Huff. Huff... Hu...”, inside what seemed to be a single person’s room, the figure of Kyle abruptly stood up. His face was red and out of breath, coughing incessantly for a few seconds and then breathing roughly for a few more.

All of a sudden, a streak of tears fell out of his azure green eyes as he muttered in an almost inaudible voice.

“Zeke...”

[A Twisted Game]