The Pillar

Withering Forest - 2

Chris was horrified. 

What happened next would've been on his bucket list if it didn't look so weird. Ronald held up something that looked like an action figure of himself which spewed something that looked like poop, on the bandana guy. And he literally just disappeared into red ashes.

Chris bent forward to touch them. Ronald stopped him screaming "Careful! Those are searing hot! If you touch one of them you instantly vapourize."

"Phew, thanks for warning me. Definitely don't wanna die," Chris said. 

"Good, cause you might wanna look back,"

Chris looked behind him, finding himself leaning over a tree that blocked the edge of a cliff. He quickly jumped back before it disappeared. 

"How did you know that whenever I touch something, it dies?" Chris asked him.

He looked kind of familiar. Tall, big blue eyes, blonde ruffled hair. Ronald Downing looked like a regular American man but he clearly wasn't. 

"That happens to new kids..." he replied.

"What was that anyway?"

"That was a gurgular. They're shape-shifting monsters. They appear human most of the time, but when angered, they change back to their true form. They always have a thirst for more. Like when he saw your bag, filled with things you need."

"And what was that thing you squirted at that gurgular thingy?"

He held up his action figure.

"This is the only thing that kills them. It squirts out a chemical called di-clox."

"You look sooo familiar, yet I don't recall your name," Chris said.

"Everyone thinks of me as familiar, kid. Now just please continue your journey."

"Why can't you come with me?"

"Because..."

"Why?"

"Because I have a job to do, kid. Many people just like you try to climb The Pillar but all they do is fail. I was once one of them. Now I help them. Now I can't even move on to the next section. I have no idea where it is. Most of them die or get lost here. I've never seen anyone get to the next part except one kid. Her name was-"

"Wait what do you mean 'next section'? I thought I already reached the top!" Chris cut him off.

"This is only one part of the adventure, kid. You're gonna go through a lot. Well, if you make it to the next part."

He looked at Chris with his big blue caring eyes. He could've sworn he saw Ronald somewhere.

"Fine, let me go die alone," Chris said, faking tears.

"Kid, shut up," Ronald grumbled. "I'm not coming with you." 

 "Why?" Chris whined. 

It was probably a bad idea to provoke this dangerous stranger, but, then again, Ronald didn't feel like a stranger. Besides, Chris was loathing to explore the Pillar by himself. If Ronald hadn't protected him... he'd already been dead. 

"Come on, please? I need your help, or I'm gonna die up here." 

 Ronald turned away and stared off into the distance. His icy eyes clouded over, and something like regret flashed over the man's face. Chris held his breath. Finally, Ronald shot him a tired glance. "Fine. You have me until you find the next section. After that, you're on your own, kid." 

 Chris beamed. "Okay."

"Besides, I don't even know where the next section is."

"Then why don't we find it?"

"Sure, why not? It's not as easy as you think, kid." Ronald answered.

"There are preparations too. First, you gotta have one of these," he said while holding up his di-clox squirter thing.

"Okay...where do I get one of those?"

"We have to go to The Factory. It's this cool place that makes cool weapons."

"Okay, that sounds cool!"

And off they went.