Will of a Prince

Jacob continued carrying Maria while everyone huddled close behind Slimo. The terrain only seemed to get rougher as they travelled along the hot stone. There was only one thing missing that the group desperately needed to survive: sustenance. In the current wasteland they were travelling, there wasn’t any nourishment or water for miles.

Slimo was doing his best to track a beast as fast as he could, but there were no tracks or prints for him to follow. The group became more desperate with each passing hour, and it was clearly starting to affect most of them. The ones who were in most dire need of food and water were those who battled the hardest in their previous fight.

"We need to find something to treat ourselves with our we’re finished. Is there anything we can do? We weren’t even able to eat any of the rat monsters who attacked us before."

Slimo looked back at Lidia. Desperation rooted in his eyes.

"We just have to keep walking. It shouldn’t be more than three days until we escape here alive."

"And what waits for us beyond this wasteland? More rock?"

"No. There should be a grassy field with plenty of fruits and animals waiting for us. We just have to keep pushing."

Even with the group pushing their limits, the terrain was still too harsh for anyone to endure. Some of their people started to collapse on the floor from exhaustion. Gabriel was the first to fall. After he did, Slimo walked over to him and tossed him on his shoulder. Abby was next. Harold was able to catch and hold on to her in time. He looked at the group while holding her.

"I’m going to run ahead and try to get help. I promise I’ll return as soon as I can."

Slimo nodded his head.

"There should be a river just beyond the first few hills. Try and recuperate there."

Harold aimed his body east, inhaled deeply, then shot forward, disappearing in the distance. The next person to fall was Luna. Slimo once again stopped and threw her over his other shoulder, continuing on their perilous journey. Jacob was gritting his teeth as he walked.

’Are we in hell? What kind of landscape is this?’

Steel, Bo, Lee, and Doc all seemed to collapse at the same time. Jacob looked at their limp bodies in horror.

"No... We can’t carry them."

However, Slimo stubbornly stacked them all on his back, panting heavy as he walked. His face was sweating profusely, and his legs started to shake, but he never complained. He was carrying six people all by himself. Lucy, William and Sydney fell not long after. Lidia passed Squabee over to Jacob and walked towards them with distraught on her face. After taking a moment to breathe, Lidia lifted each of them up and continued walking in Slimo’s path.

"Jacob. I think we’re missing some people."

Sarah seemed to be struggling immensely as she walked, but she refused to pass out to burden her friends. Jacob looked at her weakly.

"Who is missing?"

"I don’t know their names. One was bald, one had short brown hair and the other was a tan older fellow."

Jacob turned around to see where Bryce, Jack and Caleb had gone. Hundreds of feet behind them, they all seemed to be lost in a daze, staring off into the distance. Jacob tried calling out to them to get their attention, but his throat was too dry from the lack of water. All that came out was air. Suddenly, a monstrous howl echoed through the landscape, causing Slimo to turn around. His face looked even more deprived of hope as he limped towards Lidia and guided her to a large stone to hide behind. He gestured to Jacob and the others to get down and hide. They all followed his instructions and hugged the scorching rock. Slimo looked at Lidia who cried with no tears coming out of her eyes.

"I’m... sorry."

Clicking sounds reverberated around their deluded comrades before three monsters dashed toward them in a frenzy. Jacob witnessed three of the people he had just saved be gutted and eaten alive right in front of his eyes while there was nothing that he could do to stop it. They made no sounds as massive mandibles tore through their flesh and bone. Perhaps, it was because they couldn’t. The monsters reminded Jacob of oversized ants that stood on their hind legs. Lidia tried walking out of her hiding place to save them, but Slimo held on to her desperately. She was so weak that all she could do was lean on the rock and curse the world around her.

’This world...’

An arm flew into the air.

’This world...’

Blood boiled on the stone surface

’... needs to change.’

One day later, the only people awake were Jacob, Lidia, Slimo, and Zoey. Zoey seemed to have an extra bit of resistance to the heat thanks to the nature of her power. However, that didn’t mean she was losing energy any slower compared to everyone else. Zoey was carrying Serena and Emma. Jacob ended up carrying Squabee, Sarah, Bart, and Maria. Lidia and Slimo were carrying everyone else. No one shared any words between each other. All they could do was desperately hope they could make the journey.

Twelve hours later, hope finally seemed to appear on the horrizon as Harold was speeding back to them carrying massive wooden barrels of water. Everyone stopped in their tracks looking at the beautiful sight. The moment he set them down, all four of them pounced on the three barrels and drank greedily from them. Harold himself seemed to be in a much better condition.

"I brought back as much water as I could. I’m sorry that I don’t have food. I couldn’t take everything back with me. Where is everyone else?"

After panting heavily for a few moments, Jacob met his gaze with sad expression.

"This is everyone that’s made it so far."

Harold rubbed his face before responding.

"What the hell happened? You couldn’t just carry more of them like Slimo?!"

Slimo dunked his entire head into the water and stared at Harold with his deep blue eyes.

"Monsters attacked. Killed right in front of our eyes. All we could do was helplessly watch. I’m sorry."

Harold choked back tears.

"We just escaped together... this wasn’t supposed to happen. THIS WASN’T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!!"

Harold dashed away, leaving everyone the large barrels of water. Jacob leaned everyone against a rock surface and used his hands to scoop water into all their mouths. A few of them chocked the water back up, but Jacob forced more down their throats anyway.

"Forgive me, but you all need to survive."

Between everyone, the barrels were all drained. The water refilled their energy enough to continue trudging through the hellish terrain. It took them another day and a half before they finally reached the grassy plains that Slimo promised. Harold seemed to be waiting for them with a large assortment of roasting food right on the border of the lands. However, the very moment that all four of them crossed the threshold to thank him and Abby, they all joined their friends and passed out.