The monkeys gathered, howling and shrieking in pitched screams of excitement. Hundreds of them swinging from branch to branch, and leaping between trees above. Jed stumbled through the jungle fumbling over the terrain he wasn’t suited for as the chase continued. All plans of finding Fred’s path and tracking him had been dashed. Things had escalated to the point where an individual had to protect his own neck over those who they had sworn an oath to.

Distracted on the run Jed's foot caught into a root and he fell tumbling slowly down a hill over and over. His legs were over his head, and back twisted as he spun down a hill unable to make heads or tales of where he would stop. He was like the speed puck did when children hit it with reverse magnetic tipped poles on the ice.

“SPLASH!”

Jed lay underwater not moving as his mind took a second to catch its breath to re-calibrate what had happened in what felt like an instant and was now over. The water was murky, full of particles dislodged up the river while green and purple algae grew, and thick hairs of water vines that reached up from the dark bottom wrapping at his ankles. The sound was muffled as he bubbled. Finally things made sense and he returned up for air breathing in gasps of the good stuff. Jed wasn’t a Bootlicker.

The Jungle had gone quiet while he had been taking a break from the heat. All that could be heard was the soothing sounds of the water running as Jed floated gently downstream. He needed a bath, this felt good enough for just a few more minutes of soaking. He thought of Fred in danger from the loss of blood, he knew things for his best friend where perilous time was running out, and they were both surely being hunted. Even knowing all this it took another minute of soaking before things were able to snap into gear again. Mud engulfed his boots sucking him in deep with each step as Jed came up the shore. He bent down quickly muddying his face and arms like his father had always told him about doing in combat.

Jed came out of the mud to where the tall grass and treeline started. It finally dawned that he was very lost and probably going to die alone in the jungle as nothing more than a piece of food for the other animals; Either way he would try to survive best he could. He wasn’t about to tap out without a fighting death first. Jed laughed to himself knowing he was too stubborn to let anything break him. He walked back into the forest for another round.

A dark blanket of night engulfed the valley with no moons. The birds had clocked out for a new rotation of nocturnal noise makers who peeped, hooted, and hollered. The breeze picked up and the temperature had lowered. A tree branch broke underfoot while arms held overhead dangling in the air steep enough to break bones. Jed did a slow pull up straining to get higher, his neck was over the bar. Finally his chest rolled on top before he used both arms to pick himself up before sitting down. The stars could be seen from here glistening as the tree rocked back and forth in the wind.

Far below the whips of the empire cracked in order to keep schedule. Goblin slaves dragging giant blocks of ice on their backs over a frozen wasteland. Ice that had been cut with magma from the glaciers near the frozen oceans that had been discovered in the center of Tenare. Soldiers sped past on dog sleds heading to where cabins had been built and hot fires burned in stone places.

“Move it simple brains, c'mon only ten more to go and we can all get some sleep” yelled the commander of this particular block over his communication crystal while sitting far above as they pulled him.

The soldiers cracked their whips again as they came to the final and steepest incline. On top of the small mountain at the destination the queen sat in her throne room made of ice. Her newest castle was under construction, the first she had been the sole architect of. Before the king had died he had strong opinions that she respected for some reason when it came to running the kingdom as his vision. Now it was her turn to rule, and because she had respected him she would expect no less than full devotion from anyone in the family.

Queen Elizibethy the 6th strode out of the new throne room into the adjacent quarters where she sat herself in front of the mirror. This would be the new capital, an impenetrable fortress of ice crystal in a location safe from any enemies while controlling her empire that would span the entire planet. It was only possible with all the crystal they had already discovered. The best part was that scouts were finding more and more everyday, enough to where the empire would never run out. Snaggy had tried to explain that currency of crystal would be devalued with the glut, the fool seemed to think they were a useless thing like gold except the shards had unlimited utilitarian uses and would always be in demand forever. The queen studied herself she had begun to wrinkle below her eyes, running a kingdom was stressful.

"SNAAAGY!" she cried.

The jester came running into the open door.

"Yes queen" he cried bowing.

Elizibethy took out a container of crushed crystals and began to rub them over her face and more into her nose.

"Well any news from the kingdom again since your always being sent back there when I need you most, you know a part of me thinks you've figured out some trick none of the rest of use know" she said going into interrogation mode.

The jester quivered.

"No your majesty I figure I'm such a fool just being here offends the spirits so much they keep sending me back early" he said.

The queen turned crossed her legs and stuck one foot in his face.

"That actually makes sense now how about rubbing my feet after you run and heat some water in the bucket" she commanded.

Far across the frozen core Ned the wizard still sat in a cave by the roaring fire of burning shards at his feet.

“Not much for talking but at least you can communicate” he said to the dead girl who stared at him as she stood in the other corner.

“Hopefully we can return for my revenge before I can sleep again” she repeated in a monotone voice for the 5th time that night.

“Yeah of course I hope so too, you would think we could just teleport back by using another crystal to do so, but after that experiment failed it seems like this is a place you choose to travel too, and it decides when you return” said Ned.

The zombie girl nodded in agreement with the wizards theory. Unbeknownst to her were most old memories, and that one of the royals she wished to assassinate wasn’t far from their location.

“I really hate to ask again but since you're dead and all mind trying to catch me some food out there at some point I'm on my last donkey snack that I had in my pockets” said Ned

The dead looked him over with lifeless eyes for a bit before her frozen armor creaked into action and she headed for the exit.

“Wait! Don't know women, don't you have any self preservation and you will be buried alive out there.. Er you know what I mean by that figure of expression” said Ned pointing to the entrance where a blizzard began to brew.

“No not really” she said walking outside as the snow continued to pile up in a land of night that appeared to never melt and the moon was always full.