Valley of Josaphat

I watched the girl trying to come up to the surface, I watched it all, without batting an eye, and at last after struggling like a fly in the cup of coffee, the girl died. My eyes were stuck to the spot in the river below where she scuffled before fighting for her life, the only thing I could feel was how empty I was inside.

"CONGRATULATIONS ON PASSING THE VERY FIRST LEVEL OF FORSAKEN GAMES" retainer said startling me.

"I WILL EXPLAIN NOW THE PROCESS TO WIN THE GAMES" he continued "THERE WILL BE TEN LEVELS IN TOTAL. EVERY LEVEL HAS IT'S OWN RULES. YOUR GOAL IS VERY SIMPLE AND THAT IS TO CLEAR THE LEVELS."

"What will I get if I cleared all the levels?" I asked in a matter of fact tone.

"YOU WILL GET TO HAVE EVERYTHING YOU WANT" he replied.

And for a second I felt a bit dizzy but when I looked up, the place I was standing at wasn't a bridge anymore. The place where I was standing was now completely new. I was now sure, I teleported.

"What are you-" I asked the retainer.

"I WILL NOW TELL YOU THE RULES FOR THE SECOND LEVEL. YOU WILL NOW LIVE HERE UNTIL THE TAG APPEARS. ONCE THE TAG APPEARS YOU HAVE TO KILL THR PERSON WITH THE TAG. THE ONLY THING DIFFERENT HERE IS THAT YOU HAVE ANOTHER COMPETITOR, THE ONLY WAY TO CLEAR THIS LEVEL IS TO KILL THE PERSON WITH THE TAG BEFORE YOUR COMPETITOR DOES, IF NOT YOU WILL PERISH."

And after saying that the retainer disappeared.

I looked around and asked a few people where I was and they told me I was in a place called Valley of Josaphat.

So I'm in the same country afterall. That was actually a relief but unlike before I don't have anyone to depend on this time. The place itself turned out to be friendly enough the only thing I found out of place was that there were a lot of king's soldier all over the place. I heard the local people talking and it turned out that the King lived there. So I was in the capital. That explained the hustle-bustle around me. It was a brimming market that I had travelled to. It was evening and so I had to find a place to spend the night.

I could not get in an inn because I didn't have money with me. So I walked and walked until it was night then I saw a beautiful park and decided to spend the night there. I sat on the bench which was so beautifully carved out of wood.This city must be rich, I thought, seeing the central park is so large.

I heard the crickets chirp in the distance. It had been a while since I heard this noise. It reminded me how much I loved small insects.

I laid down on the grass, it was nighttime but there was a lamp in the distance so it wasn't that dark. The soft grass under me felt so soothing and at some point during the calmness of the place I fell asleep.