It was another two weeks before the Bastard tried writing again. This time he made a new character called Berethore Ashborne. Rava only knew his name because he said it every fifteen seconds. Much like the amnesiac detective, he also didn’t accept that his whole existence was a lie, and when Dave tried to break the news to him he got violent.

“I’m Berethore Ashborne. Born of the ashes. I will not be tricked by some foul warlock!” he proclaimed as he drew his sword from its sheath.

This time it was Dax who delivered the knockout blow. He clubbed him on the back of the head with the hilt of his sword, and Berethore fell limply to the ground.

As they were putting him in the wheelbarrow, ready to dispose of him, Rava asked if she could come along this time.

“Sure I don’t see why not,” Dave said. “Be glad to have the help.”

Together, she and Dave took turns wheeling the unconscious man through the forest, while Dax led the way. After a few hours of hiking they came to a small village with a dozen thatch roof houses with shale rock foundations.

“What is this place?” she asked.

Dax let out a moody sigh. “This was my home,” he said, swishing his long black hair to the side. “Once it was a lively village, but then everything changed when the Wizard kiNg attacked.”

Dave sighed. “Now Dax, we been over this. There never was any village. This place has always been empty.”

Dax sulked. “Right. Sorry. Sometimes it’s hard to remember that.”

“It’s okay. Now help me with this guy. He may be ash born but he certainly ain't made o’no ashes. Fellas heavier than a sack of rocks.”

Dax and Rava helped Dave carefully removed the man from the wheelbarrow and rested him gently on the ground.

Rava looked down at the unconscious man with a large welt on the back of his head. “What will happen to him?” she asked.

“Don’t rightly know,” Dave said, wiping some sweat off his brow. “All I know is that when we leave em out here they don’t come back.”

“It’s the Wizard KinG,” Dax said. “He’s probably eating them.”

“Would you stop with that Wizard King nonsense? I’m tired of hearing about that guy,” Dave said.

Rava looked out at the village and then back to the forest where they came from. “So let me get this straight,” She said, “all the places we woke up in are technically part of this world. Which means my home, the castle where I was born, is still out there, right?”

Dave frowned. “I see where you’re going with this, but if you go back it won't be the same. The place Scarlet came from was once a big city in a magical land called Oregon, now it's just a couple of empty buildins.”

Rava shook her head. “You misunderstand. I don’t want to go back. I want to go forward. If there is more to this world than the endless forest, then that means there may be an edge, a place where the world stops.”

“Maybe. But I don’t see why that’s important.”

“Don’t you see? If this world isn’t endless then maybe there’s a way out.”

Dave and Dax stared at her with puzzled expressions.

“Out?” Dax asked. “Out where?”

“Out of here. To the world where the Bastard lives.”

Dave sighed and put a hand on her shoulder. “Now Rava, there ain’t no escapin’ this place. Only one way for us to find peace and that’s havin’ our stories finished.”

Rava shoved his hand off her shoulder. “Screw that. I don’t want to wait around for the Bastard to finish our stories. I want to get out of here. C’mon what’s the worst that can happen?”

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“Maybe she’s right, Dave,” Dax added.

Dave shook his head. “We could get lost. We could lose our home and never be able to return. We don’t know what’s out there. We could die.”

“I’d rather die than live like this for the rest of my life,” Rava said.

The whole way back home she kept pestering him, only for Dave to brush her off and try and poke holes in her plan.

That night, as they sat around the table to a dinner of mac and cheese and hot sauce, Rava explained her plan to the rest of the group. Other than Dax, none of them seemed to be very keen on the idea. But Rava never gave up. As the weeks went by she continued to pester Dave about her plan. And every time she did he would come up with excuses as to why it wouldn't work.

“What about food?” Dave said as he was pulling weeds in the garden.

“We have The Banana Man. We can live off his bananas.”

“And what about water?” Dave asked.

Rava didn’t have an answer for that one yet, so she gave up and went back in the house.

Two days later she had come up with a solution. With the help of Dax’s sword she cut out one of the faucets from the sink in the downstairs bathroom.

Dave came in shouting about the noise, and then went ghost white when he saw what Rava had done.

“Now what in the heck…”

Rava, holding the detached faucet, turned the knob at the top, and even though it wasn’t connected to anything it still poured a stream of clear water onto the floor.

“Ha! I knew it!” she said. “That’s how we’ll have water! What about that, Dave?”

Dave snatched the faucet from her and shouted. “Try this again and you’re gone sweetie. You hear me? I see you leave another scratch on this house and I’m kickin’ you out!”

Dave stormed out of the room grumbling under his breath about repairs.

Rava went into the living room and plopped down next to Scarlet on the couch.

“What’s his problem?”

“This is his home. You can’t just ask him to leave it.”

“Why not? I left my home.”

“That’s different. You were chased out. Dave is comfortable here. Heck, we’re all comfortable here. This place keeps us safe from the madness out there.”

Rava watched the Teevee, which was showing the Bastard playing a video game called Skyrim, a game he played often, and a game that bore an uncanny resemblance to her home town’s aesthetic.

“That’s exactly the problem,” Rava said. “This place is too comfortable. All we do is sit around watching Teevee and complaining to each other about how miserable our lives are. And we’re all too damn comfortable to do anything to change it.”

“You might have a point, but it’ll take more than that for Dave to decide to leave.”

“Screw Dave. He can stay if he wants but I’m leaving. I know Dax will come with me, but what about you?”

Scarlet sighed and looked at the Teevee wistfully. “Sure, what the hell.”

Rava, feeling empowered, hopped off the couch. “Hey Banana Man, you in?”

The Banana Man was making a pile of bananas in the corner and stacking them on top of each other in a little tower.

“I’m The Banana Man. If you need a banana I’m there.”

“Great. I’ll go tell Dax and we can leave in the morning.”

While everyone packed up their stuff to leave, Rava went outside to the shed on the back side of the house. She planned to tell Dave they were leaving, to rub it in his face that everyone else thought her plan was smart, but when she opened the door, all the fervor went out of her.

Dave was crying. He was sitting on the ground looking at the detached faucet as it dribbled water onto the floor, and he was sobbing in harmony with the leaky faucet.

“Dave, are you okay?” she asked, bending down next to him.

He wiped a tear with the back of his hand, trying, and failing, to stifle his sobs.

“I know what you’se is plannin’. Y'all gon leave me, ain’t you?”

“You’re more than welcome to come with us.”

Dave shook his head. He stood up and went over to a box that sat in the corner of the room. From inside the box he pulled out a small picture frame. He paused for a moment, staring at the photo in the frame, then handed it to Rava.

“There’s nothing in the picture,” she said, lookin at a blank white space inside the frame.

“Exactly!” Dave said. “Wadn’t always that way though. It used to be a picture of my wife. See, before y’all came here I wadn’t alone or nothin’. I lived here with my wife Sara. Now Sara was a lot like you, she thought she could escape, and no amount of convincin’ could tell her otherwise. When she left that photo was still there, but now it’s blank. Now I can’t even remember what she looked like. All I got left is her name, and some days I struggle to even remember that.”

Rava looked down at the blank picture frame, suddenly understanding Dave in a new light. She felt bad for him, and she felt tears well up in her eyes.

“Maybe she did escape. Maybe that’s why the picture’s blank,” Rava said, trying to sound hopeful.

“We both know that ain’t true. This place right here, this house is the center of the Bastard’s mind. Go too far from the center and you get forgot about. Just like Jill.”

“I thought you said her name was Sara.”

Dave snatched the blank picture frame back and stashed it in the box once again.

“I won’t stop you from leavin’ but I sure as heck ain’t gonna let you take the others with you. If you want to be forgotten that’s on you.”

“If everyone else wants to leave you have no right to stop them. Besides, you don’t know that’s what happens. Nothing you said here has changed my mind. If you want to stay here by yourself forever then that’s fine, but I can’t live like this anymore, and neither can the others.” Rava grabbed the faucet from the ground and left Dave alone once again in the shed.