With his short sword in hand, Kopius started walking. It was slow moving at first. Not that he was in fear of falling or slipping on the uneven terrain, instead, he marveled at the small slice of world he found himself in. Everything from the sound of his foot falls, the texture of the shrubbery, to the way the clean air filled his lungs with each breath.

He could feel the friction ridges of his fingers when rubbed together gently and his knuckles would pop with that familiar sound. When Kopius reached up to run his hands through his hair he stopped walking and focused on his skin. The deep bronze was similar to that of ancient Greeks and he briefly wondered if he had made up the blueish tint he had seen in the caves.

I saw what I saw, Kopuis mumbled internally.

"Whatever." He said aloud and continued up the ravine.

Roughly ten minutes of walking and the canyon began to narrow, casting a longer shadow on the floor and surrounding area. There were considerably more large rocks and boulders mixed in with the plants and grass. They weren't poking out of the ground like in the cave but looked to have fallen from a great height. The boulders were embedded in the ground rather than having looked pushed up.

While circumventing a particularly large boulder he saw a bush tucked between the cliff and rock. The vibrant red flowers were hard to miss given the dull earthy tone of the valley. The beige and green of the gorge, drowned out by the gray cliffs and rocks, had made for little aesthetics. He stopped moving around the boulder and approached the bush. As he did his stomach saw what his brain had yet to register: food.

With a tight grumbling knot awaking in his belly, his eyes grew large and he smiled. Sitting inside each red star shaped flower were golf ball sized looking berries. Only a handful of flowers could be seen on the bush but their red pedals made them stand out. Hunger and curiosity pushed Kopius closer until he could see the inviting fruit in detail; much like deep red raspberries on steroids.

"Yesss," Kopius half hissed as he moved forward.

With only a few feet to his prize, his free hand outstretched, was bush rustled as if a stiff breeze had swept through.

Kopius froze.

An onlooker might think that he was in the process of introducing himself to the fruit bush, his arm outstretched as though to shake hands. Yet Kopius, in the nanosecond following the sound, was connecting the dots on an old adage about something looking too good to be true. The next two nanoseconds shifted his stomach from aching hunger to 'ya done fucked up'.

The next few moments were a blur as Kopius's instincts took over and he attacked the bush. With a wild bellow his sword came arcing down to cut the bush in two but all he got was a thunk when his sword hit the ground. The bush had quickly shrank away, retreating back into a large borrowing hole as though it had been yanked back by a rope.

Kopius quickly retreated, not allowing confusion or surprise to take hold. He back peddled to the opposite side, getting as much distance between him and the hole as he could. Heart pounding he focused on the hole, sword in hand, ready to swing. He didn't have to wait long, as whatever was coming out of the hole made a screeching bellow of its own. A moment later, the bush and the rest of its body shot out of the hole.

Quick as can be, the bush monster closed the distance to Kopius in two blinks of an eye. Its long body, scaled with four legs, skipped across the terrain like a smooth rock on water. The colorful bush, attached like hair on its head, swooshed in the air and Kopius realized that it was bait. He was the prey.

The monster leaped with its dagger like claws protruding from its feet, fangs beared.

Much like getting a high and tight fastball, Kopius bailed to the side, avoiding the creature strike and its gnashing maw. He hit the ground with his shoulder and rolled to his feet, glancing back angry animal he barely dodged.

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The beast had rammed head first into the cliff wall, stumbling a few steps before shaking its head violently. The bush bait swished like a turbulent wind through the tree as the monster attempted to get its bearings.

The monster looked to Kopius to be some kind of small alligator/bobcat crossover experiment. It was at least four feet long with stubby legs, scaled all over except for with a mohawk running across its back. Not knowing how long this thing would be dazed, Kopius did what Cory could do best: he ran.

"I hate… " Kopius huffed as he turned to run.

"...this fucking… " he puffed, his momentum building.

" ...game!!!" he finished, now in a full sprint.

A screeching roar ripped through the ravine as Kopius had started his flight. Like a panther huffing on helium, the sounds echoed off the walls, piercing his ears. The mixture of noises came dangerously close to throwing Kopius off balance. He used a few large stones to propel him over boulders and had only to look back once to see he needed to be moving faster.

The monster weaved through rocks and over the terrain as though it was on rails. Kopius pushed harder and found that his Earthly speed, though formidable, was no match to what he could do now. Each step propelled his faster and further, creating the needed space to stay safe.

The ravine narrowed as he sped through the valley, flowing over the terrain as if he were water. Ahead, the path looked to fork again and his instincts took him to the left. The world was a blur as Kopius moved as though one with the wind. His breath was even and steady at first but quickly started to come in faster and shorter bursts. His thighs reminded him of his recent climb while his stomach began to feel that early burn of exhaustion.

"Ok, ok, ok, ok" Kopius said in quick succession, realizing that the running would come at the same price as his climb in the cave.

Though the strength and speed were noticeably increased, so was the proportional stamina drain. He had the nagging impression that he would soon not be able to run or fight. Streams of sweat ran freely down his scalp as he navigated the terrain and formulated a plan. A plan, that if not enacted quickly, would result in his death and the answer to his respawn question.

Another helium laced screech ripped through the ravine and this time Kopius did falter. He stumbled, slipped, and tripped; his sword flew from his grasp as Kopius hit the ground hard.

He rolled, skid and tumbled into the base of a large boulder, crashing to a stop. He quickly got to his feet. Just as Kopius was getting his bearings the bush monster had already leapt and was flying like a spear straight at his head.

With the grace of a petulant child refusing no for an answer, he buckled his legs and crumbled back to the ground. For a second time Kopius had dodged a devastating blow while the bush had hit another hard surface. This time, however, Kopius was beneath the falling monster and was inexorably crushed to the ground, his face forced to taste dirt.

With half the air knocked out of him and a mouth full of soil, Kopius coughed and strained to catch a breath. He wiggled and wormed, trying to free himself but he was pinned.

For all of the struggling on Kopius's part he had not felt the creature move. He paused as best he could and gauged that, dead or not, he wanted no part of anything to do with this creature.

Pulling his legs in as much as he could, he leveraged himself to do a push-up. With his hands placed down, Kopius used whatever strength was left in his body and pushed.

He pushed, digging knee and toe into the ground until, like tipping a wheelbarrow, the monster slid off. Kopius sprung to his feet and moved back, not taking his eyes off the creature.

With some distance he chanced and looked quickly about, searching for the lost short sword. He found it close by, up the path in the direction he had been running. Snapping it off the ground, he backed up the path until he saw the beast move.

It shuddered at first, the red flowers swishing back and forth like some anglerfish tempting prey. Before it could try to stand, Kopius had begun to run. Several seconds into his sprint and Kopius heard a distant bellowing screech from the beast.

Assuming the worst, Kopius pushed himself faster, trying to create enough space to give himself a chance of escape. His body had other plans as his legs grew heavy and his breathing felt as though it were coming through a straw.

Making a right when the ravine forked again, he could spotted a dense tree line and over grown bushes. He lumbered into the open space only to find more tall cliffs at dead end.

His frantic, desperate mind work overdrive looking for a quick, viable solution. With little to no options, he pushed past some brush and into the trees. It was dense enough to provide cover and cast dark shadows all around.

His eyes adjusted to the darker space and once they did he couldn't believe his eyes. There, embedded in the cliff wall, was a flimsy, weather ridden wooden door.

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