The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was the hand of the sorcerer Mintuk on my forehead. He had a cold expression on his face as though he was doing me a great help without wanting to. I realised upon seeing my health bar that my health was near optimum and it was only going on increasing. Mintuk was healing me.

When my health became full, Mintuk removed his hand from my forehead. I recalled that whenever Lia healed me in the past, she would end up looking pale and drained of energy. However, there was not the smallest trace of weakness in Mintuk’s face, even though I in my monster rabbit form was many times my real size and should be harder to heal.

Mintuk was skilled and powerful, all the same I didn’t understand why he hadn’t used his more powerful spells to deal with the apes. Of course he had helped me get rid of the ape that had bit my rear, but he could have used his magic to prevent the ape from biting me in the first place. Maybe he had just wanted me to experience the pain?

“Now get up,” Xoris said to me. I pushed myself back up, noticing that my paw had completely healed. “Just keep moving, pick any direction you want. But move fast.”

I thought Xoris’s idea was crazy. There was every possibility that we might run back into the apes. But I reckoned there was nothing else to do either. The mist was in all directions and each direction looked the same. I began moving.

***

“Are you sure this would work?” Rozy asked Lia. Their group had reached a well. After Rozy had regained full consciousness, their group had kept moving south as fast as possible as south was the direction Rabbi had gone. And then abruptly Lia had slapped a hand on her forehead and cried out that they were being stupid and that they could simply use the Well to Everywhere to find Rabbi instead of moving south on their legs.

They had changed directions and after an entire day of wandering about the forest they had reached the ancient looking well. Rozy had doubts about the well. Despite being born and raised in the Lazaki mountain she hadn’t known about the existence of the Well to Everywhere in the forest relatively close to the mountain. Lia, Dani and even Slia knew about the well. Ian hadn’t known the exact location of the well but he had known that there was such a well in the forest.

Years ago Rozy had taken all the trouble to go to the civilised realm when she could have just used the Well to Everywhere.

“It will, trust us,” Lia said, her eyes swimming with hope.

“How does it work?” Rozy asked.

“We must jump into the well at once,” Lia explained. “I think we would be better off holding hands.”

Rozy thought that sounded suicidal. At that the same time Lia, Dani and Slia had used the well previously with success, so she let her fears go. The five of them, including Ian, held each others’ hands. They counted to three and leapt into the well.

They had only fallen a few metres when they stopped falling, much to Rozy’s surprise. A dialog box appeared in their midst.

Welcome to the Well to Everywhere! I see familiar faces. I reckon you liked your previous experiences with my service?

“Yes, your service is very helpful,” Dani said.

Where would you like to go now? And would all of you like to go to the same place?

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Yes, we would all like to go to the same place,” Lia said, “we would like to go to the place where Rabbi is.”

Unfortunately, I cannot transport you to the place where Rabbi is. I can only transport people to other places on earth.

Slia gasped, and it was a moment before Rozy understood why. If Rabbi was in a place where even a well that can transport people to everywhere cannot transport them, then it could mean only one thing—That Rabbi was no longer in this world… that he was dead. Rozy’s heart sank and she noticed Lia and Dani’s forehead veins pop up because of extreme emotion.

And then another message appeared.

However, I can transport you to the place from where you can access the place where Rabbi has gone to.

Rozy did not understand this. One could die anywhere. You needn’t go to a particular place to die and access the place where Rabbi was.

Lia looked with some uncertainty at Rozy as though asking her approval. Rozy nodded, not knowing what else to do.

“Then transport us to that place,” Lia said, wiping a tear near the corner of her eye.

And the next moment all of them were falling again. An opening appeared at the bottom of the well and they fell through it and had a soft landing, which Roy found odd because they had been falling really fast.

Rozy quickly got to her feet, taking in the place where they had come to. There was a massive vertical structure right in front of them and at the bottom of the structure there was a hooded man sitting. The massive structure was green in colour and went up to the skies such that Rozy couldn’t see the top of the structure. There were wing like structures on the sides of the structure at regular intervals.

“Is that a bamboo tree?” Slia said, who was also observing the structure as were the others.

“I know what it is,” Ian said, looking at the massive bamboo tree in awe. “It’s the Bamboo to the Heavens! It’s located a great distance south from the Lazaki mountain, so this is where Rabbi had come.”

“But why would he come here?” Rozy asked.

“To travel up to the heavens, what else?” Ian said.

“But why would he want to go there?” Lia asked.

“I feel the answer might be Xoris, who resides within him,” Ian answered.

It was at this point that the hooded man got up from the base of the tree and approached them. Rozy couldn’t quite see the face of the man, which was in the shadow of the hood, however her eyes fell on the skeletal hands of the man and she cringed.

The man extended his skeletal hand at their group. A notification appeared in Rozy’s vision.

Make the blood payment to use the Bamboo to the Heavens

“Do each of us have to make the blood payment with our own blood?” asked Ian, who also seemed to have received the message. The hooded man nodded.

Ian turned to Rozy and the other wives.

“I reckon you all are going? I for one am very keen to see what the heavens looks like.”

And he took out his rusty sword and was going to make a cut with it on his palm, when Dani stopped him.

“It might be better if you use this,” she said. She took out an arrow from her quiver of unending arrows and threw it to Ian. She gave arrows to Rozy, Lia and Slia as well.

Rozy was about to make a cut on her palm with the arrow when a blood curling cry of some monster pierced the air. The hooded man let out a fearful gasp.

“What was that?” Slia said, casting a nervous look in the direction from which the cry had come. A pop up appeared in Rozy’s vision.

New side-quest available!

The Bamboo Eaters are coming! Once every year the Bamboo Eaters come to destroy the Bamboo to the Heavens. In the previous years, the Bamboo Protector has successfully stopped the Bamboo Eaters and chased them away. However, during this season the Bamboo Protector is in his weakest form. His flesh has rotted away and only his bones remain. As such he would not be able to protect the Bamboo to the Heavens on his own. Would you like to help him?

Yes/No?

Rewards: You level up and receive a better version of the ability that you were born with

“Interesting,” Ian said, “so are you ladies going to help the protector?”

Rozy thought over it. It was not mandatory to accept the side-quest. They would probably get to Rabbi faster if they didn’t accept the side-quest. All the same here was a chance to receive better versions of their abilities. Who knew what kind of obstacles they were going to face in the heavens? Rozy had the ability to turn her hands into chains and it had been a while since her chains had lengthened or thickened.

As a rumble took over the ground, the Bamboo Eaters approaching closer, Rozy nodded to the others.