The boulder budged but only slightly. I put in more strenuous effort, and seeing me so determined Tulip and Kanim too assisted me. They had been watching me with confusion all along. They were just kids that were not even ten, but the three of us combined were able to put in enough strength that the big boulder, partly thanks to its round shape, rolled away. It went a short distance and then fell onto the ground with a great sound, suspending a lot of dust and creating a brown haze.

The job was done.

Never in my life had I been so proud of being a human. To think about it, humans had created the whole of Dharti. We were a smart bunch.

As I was staring at the hill face dwelling on the great human race, a cavity appeared in front of us. I acted instinctively. I picked up the two boys and leapt into the fissure. Seconds later we were cut off from the outside world and were in darkness.

“I am scared, father!” Tulip said, hugging me tightly. Kanim clasped my hand.

“It’s okay,” I said.

“What is this place?” Kanim asked.

“I have been here before,” I said. “Now follow me.”

The sage was missing.

It came as a big surprise. Without the sage’s magical radiance, the cave was enshrouded in pitch black darkness.

“Why did you bring us here?” Tulip said, sobbing, “I am afraid!.”

Where had the sage gone? Had he left voluntarily or did the time bomb had something to do behind his absence? The sage had been my go to person for advice from the start. Without him, I felt abandoned.

Some time passed. I was getting worried, especially when Kanim said that he was hungry and Tulip added he wanted to drink water. They were NPCs after all, unlike me, so they required food and water. The fissure appeared once every twenty four hours. Without food and water the boys would have a tough time. I should have thought about it before entering the cave. I had acted stupidly. I had been too lost pondering over the marvelous human race. What I had forgotten was that humans did supremely idiotic things sometimes.

“I want to go out,” Kanim demanded. And immediately what a strange thing happened! Another crack appeared on a different wall, leading to the outside world.

No time to contemplate. I made a quick exit, dragging the boys with me.

We found ourselves in a different part of the forest altogether.

Where were we? Then I realized that we had simply reached the other side of the hill.

Apparently more than one access point formed leading to the cave at different intervals. Sam and I had thought we kept the cave sealed. We couldn’t have been more wrong.

Other players could have accessed the cave and the sage through alternate fissures. If I could count on anything it was the extremely short time frames of the access points.

I conjectured if someone had entered the cave and harmed the sage. It was not an impossible scenario. But at the same time the sage was powerful, as per his own claims. He could take care of himself against a few players, right?

In order to determine the location of the village, the boys and I scaled the hill. It lifted the boys’ spirits though at the same time exhausted them. Reaching the hilltop we let out shouts of victory.

“Everything is so tiny from up here,” Tulip said.

“I feel like a bird,” Kanim said. He spread his arms and flapped them like wings.

In the distance I saw a structure rising above the forest canopy. My palace.

I was saddened to see the place in ruins. Plants had occupied most of it. Branches and roots of nearby trees had wreaked havoc on the walls. The underlying frame of the building was barely visible. Ahead by a few kilometers I saw some farms and small houses. The zombie village.

The old pathway through the forest couldn’t be distinguished. Journeying through the uneven terrain, I calculated that we would take a number of hours to get to the village. I fed the boys some wild fruits and we set off.

A couple of hours later, when we had transversed half the distance we ran into some zombies scouting for us. They took us to the village.

When the queen came in front of my eyes, I tried to accept the fact that she was my wife now. She hugged the boys dearly. Dust was on their clothes and their legs were covered in a few too many scratches. Tulip almost fell as the queen was embracing him.

Dieana glared at me.

“What happened?” she interrogated.

“We lost our way,” I said.

“Lost your way?” she said, crinkling her nose in confusion. “But it’s such a simple route from the river.”

“Well, we have returned now, and that’s all that matters,” I said. I had no time for husband-wife quarrels. Especially after becoming a husband without consent.

“You are being careless lately,” the queen said with a tight-lipped smile.

“I am sorry for that,” I said, “but after all that’s happening to me, I can’t help it, all right?” I didn’t care to hide the irritation in my voice. I was tired, and the queen’s remarks were not helping.

My mind was wandering to Kiara. She was probably getting anxious. Even though I still had the gold dust, yet, I still couldn't bring myself to create the portal to her. How would I show her my face? I was married and had kids!

“Now, will I please be escorted to my room?”

Dieana didn’t say anything. But she smirked, picked up Tulip, grabbed Kanim’s hand and took the children inside her house, which was the biggest in the entire village.

I followed her inside. I checked the rooms, and found one particularly large chamber which I reckoned belonged to the queen and me. It had a big bed and I threw myself on the bouncy mattress, not caring to peel off my dirty garments.

“So you won’t even take a bath?” Dieana commented with a temper from the doorway a few seconds later. “And are you not going to eat?”

“No,” I responded.

I placed a pillow over my ears so that I didn’t have to listen to her voice. In a few moments I was fast asleep.

***