Backed against the tree with many slithering Mal'kee heading his way, Rodent wasn't left much time to think as he checked from side to side for escape. Scattered, individual Mal'kee blocked the way while a wall of them started to close in. Defeating them all would be impossible.

Rather, he needed to blow through.

Wait…

Holding his pole with one hand, Rodent twisted and dug into his satchel, rummaging through until finding it. His hand pulled out the pendant Issac had left, one that had a white glow to it that, as time passed, it did dim. However, Rodent wrapped it around the pole the best he could—securing it to where his hand held.

Just then, the pole became brighter, exuding more of an aura.

Rodent took a moment.

This necklace was your life. It meant a great deal to you—it represented a lot.

It's a special item because of the care you had for it and the emotions it evoked in you.

That energy has somehow become real, a force of some sort that still lingers around it even as you're gone, implying what it meant to you… how much it meant to you.

Forgive me for using this energy like this.

But I, at the very least, promise to get it home to your grandmother.

“…do…you…have…a…plan…?” Stick vibrated, and this time, its speech was more clear.

"Yeah!" Rodent replied, taking a wide stance and holding Stick directly forward. "It's a real dumb one!"

“…do…it…”

"Thatta Stick!"

With that, Rodent leaned back and unleashed a loud, dumb battle cry before leaning forward and charging in the same direction. He blasted off, using his pole like a battering ram, slamming through the Mal'kee that splattered upon impact, his form not caring if any touched him.

This did become the case, a miniscule amount smacking onto his skin after a couple of blasts, though the sludge did not last long. It burned a bright, white death in milliseconds—removed from existence.

Rodent wasn't aware of this, reaching the wall, too swept up in his motion to even comprehend the odds of this working. He just sent it and hoped for the best, knowing there was no point in being bogged down, either making it through or being consumed.

The pole stabbed through the wall, and at once, it opened a hole equal to its glow, which wasn't enough to fit Rodent. Rodent, however, didn't give a shit and blasted through that anyway—feeling the weighted presence of the Deskar even if it hadn't touched him yet.

Surprisingly enough, however, that hole opened as he approached, his speed and determination not giving it much time to react. He passed through the wall, which melted and spread across the ground, slithering after him.

Rodent didn't check behind him as he ran around the platform's disc, seeing a bridge on the other side of the tree, one that was slightly chopped in places.

Shit. Time to see how good I am at jumping.

More black blobs fired from the sea like droplets falling in reverse, shooting upward and crashing downward onto the platform, feeling like artillery as Rodent dodged around them, sprinting, panting, trying to keep his face from faltering.

He could take some of the Deskar…

…but this amount would consume him for sure.

After rounding to the front of the disc and seeing the bridge ahead, Rodent didn't let off on the speed. He reached the edge without hesitation and pushed off with his foot against it, soaring through the air and descending, his stomach crashing against the end of a panel.

Quickly and against burning muscles, Rodent, hanging from the panel, pulled himself upward and crawled back on it. He was dangerously out of breath as he was wheezing and not taking in any oxygen. Around him, the dark forest loomed, as though he would die in this strange twilight place.

Looking back to the platform he had jumped from, the multiple black orbs came to its edge, starting to extend out from it, each joining blob making it bigger. Others just dropped back into the sea to be refired back at him. Rodent rolled his eyes as he was forced to push a hand against the ground, rising even though his legs wanted to buckle, forcing himself to gather his wits.

You got this. You got this.

On the wooden disc, however, some of the other blobs came together on the edge of its curve, the musical notes still bursting from their backs, their form diminishing. Rodent's left eye twitched at the song. "H-Hey! Quartet over there. Shut it!"

Their music kept playing as Rodent annoyingly shook his head and turned around. He kept on the run as multiple panels of the bridge were out, forcing him to jump.

At one jump, he stopped, watching a current of Deskar blast upward and then come exactly back down. The same happened in the other open spaces, causing his eyes to roll.

"WILL YOU ALL KNOCK IT OFF!"

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Rodent neared the end of his road.

He was no longer running at full force, and he was no longer draining air. Everything blurred around him, and his mind was in a daze. He tried not to stumble but failed. He tried not to let his mind wander but couldn't. He was falling apart at every possible intersection and could feel himself faltering.

N-No. S-Still. Have… a-a little… l-left…

The trees started to become wider apart, with fewer platforms that diminished the further he went ahead. He watched as the very plane of the forest started to tilt and change. But Rodent was running out of steam—and so close to the end as well.

Only a couple of platforms were left, each in a single line that only went forward, sparking some hope in the man's heart. However, Deskar was behind him, keeping at a distance as though watching him, playing their song, waiting for his collapse.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

They kept enough pressure on him to ensure he was forced to run.

They wanted to see the man's breaking point.

Shit. SHIT! FUCK! I STILL CAN'T DO ANYTHING!

Just then…

…there was a vibration in his hand.

“…leave…me…”

Rodent's head shook as he looked at Stick in his hand. "W-What? No… way!"

“…I…can hold… them off… for a… time…”

Rodent struggled to focus on the stick, his vision bouncing and spinning, everything blurry as the inside of his mind resembled a fire pit. Breath escaped his mouth instead of words. The level of rejection he felt at this idea did not have the supplies within him to be adequately expressed.

“I-I’m not… g-gonna… leave you… to…” Rodent breathed, hardly even able to do that, speaking very much like Stick.

“…let…me…ward…them…off…”

Rodent struggled. "B-But…"

“…you…said…I…a tool…can decide…for…myself…”

Rodent felt like his heart had been plucked.

“…we…are a team…only you…have heard my voice… except for… Him…”

Rodent wanted to close his eyes, coming around another tree, each one taking so long to get around, a never-ending forest. Behind one tree was an infinite more of equal stature. It made him want to end things—but he pressed on anyway.

He was nearing a bridge.

“…just…try…to…come back…to…me…”

Reaching the bridge, Rodent turned around and faced the Deskar that consumed the platform behind him. The odd-shaped figures that rose out from the sludge were all heading toward him. Standing tall with his back straight, Rodent gripped Stick almost as if he were in prayer.

Rodent closed his eyes and thought as deeply as he could of the help and comfort the pole had been since being thrown into this world, how it was the one thing that hadn't disparaged him, and the appreciation he felt toward that.

Even more, he thought about the further fun that they were to have, the kind of adventures they were going to have, the campfires along the way where they would chat and look at the night sky.

He thought greatly about the past, present, and future as positively as he could.

The glow around the weapon became bigger and brighter, while inside Rodent, he felt weaker, looser, and dimmer.

Sticking the pole to the ground, Rodent wobbled back, seeing the necklace wrapped around Stick, offering extra protection from a friend who didn't know him.

"STIIIIIIIIICK!" Rodent screamed as he stumbled back on the bridge, suspended over the sea of Deskar, with no trees nearby except for the few ahead. YOU… HOLD THEM BACK… WITH ALL YOU GOT!" He burned what remained of his lungs and oxygen to further instill in his friend what he felt for it. "AND I'LL… BE BACK... WITH THAT SWORD… AND TOGETHER… WE'LL FREE… DULA VILLAGE!"

Rodent couldn't hear what Stick said, no longer able to feel its vibrations, but knowing what he did about the pole, he smiled at it and turned around, starting to run off to the resting place of the blade.

Meanwhile, the Deskar tried to wash forward, crashing into the glow of the pole—which acted like a bubble shield.

The Deskar that touched it became bright and burned from the inside and disappeared from existence, though more rushed forward in its place. Despite holding, the glow became weaker and smaller, starting to dim.

However, Stick held out the best that it could—which was something that just a tool couldn't do.

----------------------------------------

There were just three trees left, and though he was no longer being chased, the man still ran as hard as there was something for him to return to. Each platform was higher than the last, a slanted bridge connecting the two, the ascent being yet another 'FUCK YOU' to the struggling man.

And it was at the last tree that the man came around it, finding… nothing on the other side.

Rodent blinked as he slowed, coming around the tree to see over the curved end of the platform he was on. He saw the vast, open sea of Deskar without another tree boxing the area in.

His heart sank when he saw the large, terrific thing that rose from the center of that sea.

Rodent smiled. He nearly started to laugh. In the middle of that sea, at the center of the forest itself… stuck out a sword nearly reaching the branches above. It was massive. Only its base could be seen as the rest of the blade was dug into the Deskar.

Just then, from far behind… those same musical notes had somehow made it forward… the song reaching its end… the last bubble popping as Rodent couldn't be bothered to try to stop it. Upon its completion, there was a rumbling in the sea, a great stirring that vibrated the very air.

And from the Deskar… rose a whale beyond comprehension… a fraction of its form breaching its surface… swimming toward Rodent. Rodent, seeing this, looked back at the tree and stumbled toward it, resting his back against it, sliding down and resting—feeling the relief instantly.

Death raced toward him. Torment was in store for sure. Despite everything that had happened, the man couldn't help but crack a smile, white teeth becoming revealed… until a chuckle escaped his lips. Quickly afterward, another game, much louder and longer, the lighting of a fuse.

Just then, Rodent started to laugh, laughed and laughed, throwing his head back with a huge, genuine smile, with a hand resting on his stomach as he laughed his heart out. The whale became even larger as it swam toward him. Rodent even clapped his hands to welcome it toward him.

Still smiling after his laughter, Rodent came to lower his head and place fingers upon his ring, twisting and playing with it. There was a moment of peace and relief as his last exhalation left his system. For a second, Rodent was transported to the past—against a tree where she and he sat.

She was no longer in her wheelchair. She was fully grown and in a wedding gown, seeming—at least to him—like a princess.

----------------------------------------

"Rodent?"

"Yeah?"

Their hands were clasped together, resting on the grass, their backs against that tree.

"Promise me something?"

"I already said: 'Until death do us part,'" Rodent said. "And I won't leave you even after that."'

"Rodent. Please. For me?"

"…what do you need?"

"It's more what you need, Rodent."

Rodent shook his head and looked at her, the breeze blowing, lifting some of her hair. "I don't need anything."

"You do." She looked back at him with a smile that could make him cry. "You're not yourself unless you have someone to annoy."

Rodent didn't speak because he couldn't speak.

His throat was sore.

"Just… promise that… when I'm gone… you'll find another person to annoy."

Rodent wanted to refuse.

But all he could do was cry instead.

"I love you, Rodent."

She rested her head on his shoulder as the rest of her frail body leaned onto him. Her skin was so very pale, and her breathing was very faint. Rodent did his best to breathe, to inhale breath, but everything from him was a pained gasp. He stroked her hair and kissed her forehead, needing to be strong even though this was the weakest he had ever been, holding a wobbling smile as tears brushed quickly past it.

“I… l-love you too… A-Angela."

There wasn't a response.

"A-Angela?"

Their hands were still clasped together.

----------------------------------------

Rodent felt his death.

I’m… sorry… Angela…

The whale was at the platform now.

I could never fulfill that promise.

His lungs were still deprived of breath.

Sorry, Issac… Beatrice… everyone in the village…

He raised his head, a smile still stretched across his face. His eyes opened to narrow into the opening maw of the whale that was planned to crash against the tree to get him. Rodent, despite looking into that endless mouth and throat, felt no fear as his smile and vibe held.

Guess I was all talk after all!

And just like that…

…the whale leapt.