Barry’s eyes fling open to the dryness of his throat. He immediately sits straight and starts coughing for his life. His throat felt like Sahara desert. His throat is dry and sore; every lungful of hot hair robs more water from his body. There is a pain at the back of his head that threatens to grow into a powerful migraine, a sure sign that dehydration isn’t far away. If he had a liter of water right now he’d drain the whole thing, but as it is he have none and he isn’t sure how long before he gets some water

He isn’t sure how long he had been stuck on the Island. After encountering the rabbit and monkey, he was expecting anything and everything.

He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do but one thing he was sure about: he needs water & he needs it as soon as possible.

‘I’m stuck here anyway. The least I can do is not dry myself to death.’ He said to himself and started walking towards the Greek architecture that stood right in the middle of the Island.

Somehow, it made sense to Barry that he might find a ‘fountain’ of water inside the architecture.

Barry was walking on a path surrounded by teas from both sides.

It seemed never-ending, but Barry wasn’t tired. Infect the more he walked and explored the Island, he felt a ting of excitement within him. The ‘uncertainty’ made his adrenaline rush, and he was okay with it. He didn’t know what to expect of the Island. All he needed was water and he was ready to explore the Island.

He had so many questions like, is he even going to find his friends? What happens if he doesn’t find them? How is he going to get off the Island? And Barry had no answers. He didn’t want to think about it. He kept ignoring the reality.

The path was rocky, which made Barry stumble after every few steps. He wasn’t used to walking on passages like this, and he was resting after every few minutes.

“I – I think I should rest now,” Barry said to himself and sat down under a tree. He closed his eyes but popped open them. His dry throat wasn’t going to let him sleep.

“I still need to find water,” He said and stood up, “Drinkable water” Barry corrected himself and started walking on the path again before coming to a halt. He knew he could keep on walking straight, and he will never reach an end. At least it didn’t seem like it would. He didn’t even know how long had he been walking on the same path, and except for a few birds that scared the crap out of him, he hadn’t really seen anything else. It was useless to hope he’ll find water if he keeps going on the same path.

“Only if I can at least hear water running or something. I’m sure waterfalls are pretty loud” Barry twitched his nose when the statement came out more like a question, but Barry wasn’t the one to lose hope.

“If I can find monkey who throws fire, I sure as hell can find water on this darn island!”

Barry stopped in his tracks when he looked in front of him,

“It that…” He took a deep breath and hung his head low in disappointment, “Fuck.”

In front of him stood a rocky, giant mountain. The mountain was vampire-white. A wave of white snow went rumbling down the sides. It was also crumpled at the base and sky-stabbing at the top. The legs of the mountain were weirdly wide, and the peak looked like harpoon tips. It was shrouded in ghost-grey mist.

Barry could feel the Island laughing at him. He almost felt like this was a joke, and the Island kept throwing the worst things at him.

“Fine, let’s see who wins,” Barry said and smirked.

He could feel his adrenaline kick in as he braces himself for the mountain. He cracks his neck sideways and takes a deep breath.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“Let’s do this.” He says under breath, and before he knows it, his face hits the ground, “Fuck!” He yells in pain, hugging his knee,

“Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry.” He says to himself while holding back his tears.

It took him almost five minutes to get back on his feet. The ‘adrenaline wasn’t anywhere near now. He just wanted to pass the mountain.

The air was chilling and numbing. He stumbled along the mountain path. An unusual humming sound vibrated in the air. It sounded like a swarm of bees. Then the buzzing transferred to the rock beneath his feet. It traveled through Barry’s body, and he felt a tingle that ran up to his fingertips. He rounded the corner, and the source of the sound revealed itself.

It was a waterfall. At this distance, it looked like silver tear tracks on the wrinkled face of the mountain.

It was tiered and plunged into the depths of a paradise-blue pool. As he began to get closer, the noise of the cataract increased. It was growling and rumbling. Then it foamed into a lather at the base. The waterfall seemed to fuse itself into distinct threads of light fabric as Barry approached. It was as if a loom of liquid silver was pouring down the rocks. The sound was cacophonous now. The spout was hitting the cavernous hollow of the pool like a thunderclap. It rushed down the mountain, roiling and bubbling, boiling and churning. The pool fed two other smaller waterfalls, but they were not as deafening.

Barry walked along the edge of the rocks, leaving the swollen noise of the large pool behind. The sounds changed to a gentler swoosh-plunk and hiss-plop. It was still a salvo of sound, but it had a gentler slushiness to it.

The two waterfalls streamed into one infinity pool of bliss.

From it, the last spillway flowed, as smooth and fluvial as silver dew. It spilled over the gravelly bed with the sweet sensuality of a lover’s kiss. It was chiming as it slid, svelte and slinky, past his feet.

The chinking, tinkling sound was caused by its languid slickness echoing from rock. It looked like the sleek robe of a water witch as its glassy brilliance pinged and plinked. Its edges were seamed in silver and glinted in the aureate light.

A massive rush of relief washed over Barry. His smile grew wide as droplets touched his face. It felt so…fresh.

Without wasting time, Barry started taking sips from the water that flowed near his feet. The water was cold and sweet.

Once Barry was done drinking water, he decided to stick by the waterfall for a few minutes. Just then, the clouds moved a little, and sun rays caught the watery slide, giving it a trance-like quality. It turned it a-glitter, like shreds of silky silver. The light sparkling of its spray was magical. It looked like a spritz of fairy dust, flickering in the slanted light. It had the dreamy and illusory façade of a Renaissance painting and the same shimmering sorcery a mirage brings. Barry couldn’t believe his eyes. It looked like a scene out of a movie.

Indeed the drizzling spray created a filmy mystique above the pool, dazzling Barry with its beauty. It gurgled from the depths and tinkled on the surface, swishing with a sylph-like melody.

Barry knew it was time to go. He had to find a place to spend the night.

The noise subsided as he walked away. It became a distant humming again. He ventured one look back over my shoulder. The willowy waterfall flashed silver one more time. Its soul-swelling magic looked surreal.

Barry walked for a few minutes before he decided to sit down a little bit. He could feel his stomach growl, and he had no idea what he should do. The last thing he wanted to do was die on this Island because of a ‘damn mushroom.’

“That’ll do it,” Barry said, pointing at a huge tree. The air was getting chilly, and he didn’t have enough clothes to cover himself. He was still in his shorts and a t-shirt he found.

Barry sat under the tree, deciding to tackle all the problems after a bit of rest.

A large mass of some thick, heavy, whitish liquid fell onto his shoulders and almost drenched him. Above him, on the branches, rested a menacing, slavering creature.

It was large with bony limbs. The creature’s forelimbs were rather lanky than the rest of the body, and the back legs were short. From its stomach grew two more stubby arms, which were caked entirely in blood. It had two more arms, probably used for actually eating the prey. The head appeared to be a solid sphere. Still, it opened its jaw extremely wide to let out a horrifying, slavering snarl, unfolding its head almost like an onion and revealing rows and rows of yellow teeth.

Barry’s first reaction was to…scream.

And then, run.

He screamed, sprinting away in the exact direction opposite to the creature. The creature crawled after him in long strides, keeping his same pace. It clambered toward him on its knuckles, which were covered in tiny hairs similar to a spider’s. Beneath the hairs were small, thick spikes, which it stabbed into the ceiling to stay up. It left a trail of saliva on the ground over which it moved.

Barry dared to look back, and his eyes fixed in the creature’s taurine eyes which were glittering with hostility. They were as wild and fearsome as any bull. Barry almost didn’t even notice its long tail lingering behind it.

“Shit!” Barry yelled as he ducked and dodged a huge branch. He was out of breath, but he knew if he stopped, the creature would prefer to rip and gorge on his flesh and also because Barry was losing his mind at the moment, running away from a creature that he can’t even recognize.

Barry looked for a place to use a huge rock or a cave to hide. His eyes grew wide, and he turned back to look at the creature when he heard him growl. Its voice was as lifeless as a burial chamber.

“Run, run, run!” He yelled at his legs, which were almost giving up. He hadn’t run for as long as he can remember, and now, running away from a creature for the sake of his life seemed a ‘little’ overwhelming.

Barry’s eyes grew with fear as his feet came to a halt. A huge rock blocked his way. He had nowhere to run to. He slowly turned around while trying to calm his breath. His chest rose up, and he snuck in a breath, and his eyes landed on the creature which stood in front of him with his deadly eyes fixated on Barry.

It gave him a leer as he swung his tail with power. The battle fever rose up in Barry, and he tried to block him, but before Barry knew it, he was sent flying across the Island. His back hit a tree, and his almost lifeless body hit the ground with full force.