I had somewhat expected that we’d be walking back to the head guy’s HQ so the monkeys could take turns beating me black and blue, just as Four-Eyes had done; however, when I heard the faint soughs of the wind and felt the air brush past my ears, I was excited, if very confused. Like I mentioned earlier, I wasn’t expecting to have a very happy ending here, but for them to simply lead me to freedom? It was a breath of fresh air, both in the literal and figurative sense.

The wind was a bit dry, however, and when we neared the exit of the cave I could see that sand littered the mouth of the cave.

“Yo, where we goin’?” I questioned, honestly confused as to how we could move from white willow trees in the forest to sand in what appeared to lead into the wastes. How far did they drag me when I was knocked unconscious a little while ago?

I got no response as we continued walking against the soft, and for some reason dry, wind. I could spot what appeared to be the statue of a Chinese dragon – Mushu from Mulan, it looked like – near the gape of the cave.

The statue was partially eroded from age and wind, but the figure still looked sturdy. Sand was jammed into every crevice that was created by both environmental exposure and any nook and cranny that was already carved into the statue originally, and as I walked up to it, concerning the monkeys had stopped for a moment, I looked up into its eyes.

I reached out to touch it before its lifeless eyes moved to my own, making me tear my arm away from it in fright. A soft expletive crossed my lips as I looked back towards the statue, which no longer seemed to be staring back.

I stared for a while longer before shaking my head as the Kung Fu King stepped up next to the statue, Four-Eyes and the goons in tow. They all bowed and began reciting some dead language in hoarse, airy tones as I stepped out of the way. The statue’s eyes began to glow red, and I noticed that something in one of my pockets was glowing the same color. I threw my hand into my pocket, fishing around my phone for the crimson stone I acquired.

Sure enough, when I pulled the stone out it was what was making the demonic glow. Holding the crimson stone in my hands, I could feel that it was very warm to the touch, and as the eyes of the statue emitted the otherworldly red light, I could see what looked to be a flame form inside the stone, much like the flame that was contained within the fire-fruit I had eaten from the tree branch back in the forest.

The soft echoes of laughter rang once again in my head as I glanced from the stone back to the statue, which seemed to be fueling the flame within the rock. A small feeling of trepidation welled up inside me as I hypothesized just what the source of this energy transfer was, the heat the wind carried on it not helping in any way with the small spike in my heart rate.

The volume of the chant picked up noticeably, as did the zeal, as the light inside the statue radiated brighter and brighter until finally the chant ceased. With the end of the murmurs of the monkeys, the glow in the eyes of the statue died out, leaving deep cracks in its surface.

KFK and the others slowly rose, seeming to be slightly drained of vitality as they moved shakily to their feet. He turned his eyes to me as he spoke in a withering tone. “This…shall grant you power…whenever you need it. The stone…is the key…to your salvation,” he said cryptically as he looked up to me, his age for the first time actually showing.

“The key to my salvation.” I softly mimicked. “What’s that supposed to mean? If I use this I’ll be able to go home?”

“The stone…is key…to your salvation,” he repeated gravely.

“So…am I able to go home?”

I was answered with a headshake. “Damn it all,” I whispered. “So where do I go from here? You can’t honestly expect me to venture through the...” I gestured to the dry, cracked landscape of the flat desert. “You can’t expect me to go through the desert like this.”

With a snap, the goons produced two medium-sized water canteens and a small bag with objects that clanged like loose change within. They walked up to me, holding up the offerings. I took the items from their small hands, tying the strings of the bag with the loose change around one of the belt straps on my pants and choosing to simply hold the water canteens in my hands.

Another fire-fruit was offered as well. I would have declined it, but after remembering how limbered up I felt before the excruciating pain took hold made me reluctantly remove the fruit from the hands of one of the goons. If I did end up in agony once again after eating it, I took solace in knowing it would only last for about a minute before vitality and hydration once again made themselves known.

“Thanks, I guess. Though y’all’re assholes for beatin’ my ass an’ stuffin’ my head in a tub of demon ejaculate, I’m willing to let bygones be bygones. Except for one thing…” I looked down at Four-Eyes, the both of us narrowing our eyes at one another once again. “This ain’t over, Four-Eyes. I’mma cash in on that ass-whoopin’ I owe you before I leave this place for good, I promise you that. So prepare thyself, Four-Eyes, cuz you an’ I got unfinished business between us,” I determined as I stared the monkey in question down.

In what seemed to be an unexpected move to him, I held out my hand in the first friendly gesture I made toward him. Four-Eyes gaped, perplexed at the display of sportsmanship, looking from me to my hand before reaching out to grasp it.

We shook hands for a brief moment before breaking the gesture. Four-Eyes looked up to me, that playful twinkle in his eyes replaced with disbelief and a trickle of respect as my own carried a glimmer of grim determination and a small amount of anticipation.

“Peace out, mothafuckas,” it was with that farewell that I turned around and walked purposefully into the unforgiving desert, the monkeys all turning around and walking back into the bowels of the cave. Four-Eyes looked over his shoulder at me as he walked, pausing for but a moment before smiling.

“Hoo,” he affirmed before turning forward to follow the others into the cool tunnels of the cave.

Author's Notes:

Only took an hour of time this time around. I've been drawing blanks the past few days about how exactly I'm gonna get this story moving the direction I want it to. So far, I've got a great idea for where I want the story to go in my mind's eye, but I just don't yet know how to steer myself there without making the story uninteresting altogether.

I've been making character sheets for characters I know I want in the story, prettying up their biographies and everything! Laziness was only a minor factor in me not getting this out sooner.

Anyway, sorry for the short chapter guys, but I hope my work's been improving since my debut into the authorial world of FiMFiction. Thank you to all of you who are still following this story! And on that note, peace out mothafuckas!