The forest flew by them as they scuttled through the trees with all of their might. The arboreal snakes, bird people, and fat balls of feathers were stuffed to the back of their minds as they tried their hardest to get out before anything else could happen.

Their exit was going so smoothly, they almost couldn’t believe their luck when everything turned south.

They crested a hill and hopped down it as fast as possible, utilizing the momentum to speed up. The mad dash came to an abrupt end as they all caught sight of what lay before them.

The trio froze in place as they stared at the wall of creatures that seemed to appear from nowhere.

It wasn’t any dangerous beast or insurmountable behemoth.

No, it was much worse. It was a whole flock of bobos.

The birds stared through them as they froze in place.

They looked amongst themselves, unsure of what the best course of action was when their opponents made the decision for them. The flock took one large step in tandem, closing the gap ever so slightly.

“Do we go for a bunker?” Cinera asked while staring straight ahead.

“And do what then? Wait for them to pass? Go around them? I don't even see an end to them. I have a better idea.” They took a few ginger steps back as they watched the bobos follow their every action.

His Qi flooded the ground and hardened beneath them. Egosum tensed up as he noticed the growing signs of the birds getting ready to pounce on them.

“Follow me.” He forced the ground upwards and over the birds, causing them to converse on the stone in a bid to try and eat the amphibians.

They watched from above as the birds leapt into the air to try and get a nibble.

The platform extended as new pillars surged from the ground below them to ease the strain on his concentration.

“The flock ends there!” Cinera shouted to get his attention while he focused on supporting the trio.

The birds below grew more and more rowdy as they traveled overhead when one of the larger members failed a jump and landed on another's legs.

The force caused an audible crack, eliciting it to wail in pain piercing all of their ears in the process.

“Damnit! Hurry, we are almost there! Then you can wall them off or something. If it comes to it, we can just hide underground!”

The whistle of wind through feathers stole their attention away from the task at hand.

They turned their gazes to the sky as the bird people descended on them with their weapons poised for action.

“We shall get our revenge for your dishonesty!” A series of squawks and calls ended with anger-filled common as they hefted their spears over their shoulders.

“Keep going! I’ll focus on defense!” She screamed back at the toad while readying a crackling spell in her hand.

The first spear missed the platform and pierced the ground below them, miraculously avoiding the frenzying bobos.

He willed the platform to begin weaving through trees and landscape, flexing his core as much as possible. The flow of his Qi reached its peak, dropping his reserves at a tremendous pace as he projected it to the ground far below them.

Clouds of supercharged ash billowed from the salamander's hand as they raced amongst the limbs. The bird people bobbed and weaved between the many obstacles, barely registering her attempt at defense until a fast lighting bolt caught one of them straight in the chest.

A cacophony of noise spilled from their pursuers, undoubtedly cursing them.

“We should of just gone underground and risked it!” She shouted in between throwing her magic out.

“Shut it! It wasn’t my best plan but we aren’t dead yet!” The platform finally made its way to the edge of the flock below, but safety wasn’t quite secured yet.

Up ahead, the orange sand of the desert peaked through the trees.

The trio dodged spears and nippy birds that slowly fell further and further behind as they moved for dear life.

His Qi reserves were in their worst state yet and the fight they had coming made him fear for the outcome.

A few close calls later and they broke through the treeline and into the dunes without stopping.

They leapt over the first dune and got ready for the fight.

A few moments of silence passed as the rain of spears ended abruptly and the sound of wings flapping didn’t break through.

The trio slowly made their way to the top of the dune and peaked over the edge. Some of the bird people were still flying around while others were gathering their spears. The bobos were nibbling the low-flying humanoids, completely devoid of interest to follow them any deeper out of the forest.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“I think we are safe.” She slumped into the sand enjoying the new warmth it brought with it.

“What on the..map?” He gulped halfway through the sentence as the words got caught in his throat.

“Um, It just looks like they drew a whole bunch of little flames all around the desert. Nothing else.”

The heat backed his back as he sat still.

Each breath he took stole more and more moisture from his body.

“Holy fuck it’s hot.”

“Feels good to me.” Cinera flipped her hat's flaps up and loosened her coat to get some airflow.

Egosum turned to his froggy friend and fought off the urge to moan in frustration. Coyotl sat under the same blazing sun without a care in the world.

His skin gleaned with moisture like he wasn’t in an oven disguised by sand.

“This is…. Bullshit. Dehydration can’t be the thing that kills me.” He turned back to the forest and then in the direction of the mountains in the distance.

‘It’s so close. I could do it. I just need to adapt. Find some way to persevere.’

The tightening of his skin conjured memories that he tried his best to forget.

The scalding heat of the meteor at his back was all too similar to the feeling he was being subjected to.

He could almost imagine the imminent death it brought along creeping closer and closer to him as the heat beat at his senses.

“The desert isn’t very big. I am sure we could make it. We will drag you if it comes to it.”

He merely shook his head in agreement before closing his eyes.

His Qi reserves were so low and the constant trickle and of ambient Qi back into his system was nowhere to be found, regardless of how hard he tried.

No matter the force of concentration, he only lost more with time.

He willed it to harden the surface of the skin, trapping the moisture that was still inside from leaking free and looked at the towering peaks in far away.

“Let’s go.”

They traveled through the lifeless dunes, tumbling down the loose sand and following the wind-carved valleys.

Hours passed under the boiling sun with small cracks forming in Egosum’s Qi shell with each passing moment, growing wider and more broken under the constant assault.

Drift after drift of sand, they continued on.

Clouds seemed to completely avoid the sun as they made their way deeper into the borders of the hellscape.

Dunes came and went when Egosum caught sight of something in the distance.

A glistening pond sat cradled in the desert. He hopped forward with more vigor in his legs than they have had all day and sent him rocketing to the sight.

An oasis of water and greenery sat perfectly within the crevices of two domineering sandy hills.

His mouth cracked open as the skin split thanks to the tightening skin. He dipped his head low to the ground and took in a mouthful of the warm liquid, letting it roll around his mouth with pleasure.

A few rapid slaps on his shoulder finally drew his deliriant attention away from the life-giving well before him.

“Spit it out! Spit! It! Out! It's sand! S A N D! Just stop!” She punctuated each word with another hit, trying to break through his torpor.

The fine grit coating his mouth finally registered as he came back to his senses.

“No. Water, somewhere, ground, dig.” He thrust his hands into the sand and threw it to the side. The scratch of crunching sand filled the air as he forcefully gnashed his teeth together while straining under the pressure.

He pushed his small Qi reserves into the sand and tried to force the earth away from his hole to no avail.

The Qi laden material refused to listen to his calls.

“No.”

‘It is responding? But It's my qi, it always listens. Please.’

His head ached with pain as he struggled to comprehend what was happening.

“Hey, get it together. Let’s get out of here. The mountains are only a few hundred hops away. You can do this.” He turned to her before swallowing the drying, sandy, spit in his mouth.

They all turned in the mountain’s direction and continued on. Each hop took more effort than the last. He could feel his life essence bleed from him as delirium set back in.

The burning of his skin ate away at his thoughts and the rough sand, rubbed its way through his tough toepads.

“Hungry.” He fought out the singular word, unsure of what he actually said.

“Just keep going. We are almost there!” He forced his legs to push him further. Each one brought him closer to salvation, but also to death.

The heat began to fade at his back. Salvation was so close but so far for them.

He closed his eyes as he forced himself to keep going.

Struggling was something he knew well, but with nothing to struggle against but the elements, the only thing that could save him was belief. The belief that they will make it through to the paradise that was so close.

His body finally refused to answer him. It was over. He had no more Qi and no more strength left to push himself forward.

His consciousness faded away as he passed out, unable to keep his mind awake.

-

Attention! Egosum! You can’t stay unconscious the entire time. I would like to be around for much longer and that won’t happen if you die right now!” The familiar voice startled him awake.

The discomfort of dehydration and cracked skin wasn’t eating away at his mind and the complete exhaustion was nowhere to be found.

“What’s going on?” His mind was foggy as he stood up and looked around.

All around him, wilted plants, cracked earth, and dried pools sat barren.

“You are in your soul domain. You ran out of Qi earlier. Going ahead wasn’t really your best move, but you committed to it so I guess I can’t say much.”

“What? Why is everything so…dead? This isn’t a swamp at all.” He struggled to fully understand what was happening with the stress eating away at him.

“Yeah, this is what happens when you don't have any Qi left at all. Your domain dries up. At least yours does. Mine extinguishes when I run out but same concept.”

“I’m alive?”

A few moments passed in silence before Pangu spoke up

“Yeeess. You are. For now at least. I would be a little worried about this though. Usually means you aren’t that far off from croaking. Heheheheheh.”

He couldn’t force himself to get mad at the stupid response as he took slow and deep breaths.

“I definitely feel like I am dying. What can I do? I couldn’t take any Qi in and I couldn't force my Qi to do anything outside of my body. I feel… trapped.”

“Well, I know how but you would need to promise me that you won’t sit on me even if I am being an ass.”

Egosum wanted to growl at the request before resigning himself to his fate and asking for the solution.

“Eat the core you got from the worm thing.”