God's Game

PROLOGUE ** "Run" My brother yelled as he pulled back the string of his bow. I ran as fast as my short legs could. The bow let out a familiar thwip as it launched the soft-tipped arrow toward my direction. "Dang it! I missed!" He cursed. Holding another arrow on his hand, he once again loaded his bow. "He'll miss again" I thought to myself. I love winning, but for this time, I'm secretly praying that he will not miss as my legs were already growing tired from running and occasional jumping over large rocks this terrain has. Why did I even agree to play here? An arrow whispered by my ear as it went past me, nearly hitting me. "Oh come on!" Alexander yelled. He is a 'third time's a charm' kind of guy, never misses on his third shot. Since I am completely sure that he will not miss this time, I must outsmart him and hide. My brother may be a great hunter and a fast runner but I am certain that I am the best at hiding. My pocket-sized body fits almost anywhere. Behind a boulder, I stopped to catch my breath. Sweat were waterfalls down my face and my lungs were burning coal mines. As I was catching my breath, I looked around the deserted area outside the walls to find a better hiding spot than this boulder, only to find unfamiliar towering trees. The huge trees are probably my best shot right now since behind me is a rocky desert. I looked at my rear to check on my opponent. My eyes widen when I saw Alexander already sprinting towards me. "You won't get to hide this time, Nicolous!" Surprised, I galloped into the forest. The exhaustion I was feeling earlier seemed to disappear as I ran a few more miles into the forest without thinking nor looking back. I feel as though I was not even breathing anymore just to get away from my brother. Realizing that I was lost, I stopped for a moment to catch my breath behind a large, old willow tree. With heavy breaths, I tried to calm myself down because I was starting to panic. "Surely he'll find me before supper" I thought to myself. I'm sure he knows I ran in a straight line... With deep breaths, I looked around the forest and noticed the towering green trees surround me. The trees were evenly spaced, as if they were pillars of the temple holding the ceiling in place. A few sun rays managed to shine through as leaves roofed the green grass and brown dried leaves that covers the floor of the forest. Huge mossy rocks were crawling with bugs, hiding from the frogs that were croaking beside the vine-covered log. The songs of the birds echoed through-out the forest harmonizing with the sound of water calmly crashing in the river at the distance. Various crickets and cicadas are their melody. It was a grand forest orchestra. I took a long deep breath of the fresh air and smiled. "This must be the forest I read about in story books" I thought out loud, in awe with the sight that was in front of me. A welcoming feeling washed away the fatigue I felt earlier. It was beautiful— a complete opposite from what I was used to see in the walls. Choosing to play outside the walls wasn't so bad after all. The welcoming feeling was soon replaced with mortification when I felt as if I was being watched. My body went cold and I started to look around, not to appreciate the view but to relieve my paranoia. I crouched down and leaned my back toward the trunk of the willow tree, hoping that it will offer me protection. A loud crackling of dried leaves resonated to my far right which made my heart pound in shock. That's when I noticed a pair of dead yellow eyes watching me by the oak tree. The eyes appear to be glowing in the shade of the tree and I couldn't make out its owner. I locked eyes with the towering figure looming in the shade of the tree. Whosever eyes those were must be a very cold person, if it is even human, for his eyes were staring blankly at me. "I'm sorry for coming here... my brother and I were playing and I.. I'm.. I'm quite lost and I... don't know how to go back." I stuttered. My little brain whispered to say something hoping that by apologizing, his tribe won't come here to kill me or offer me to their god. My jaw dropped in shock as the owner of the eyes stepped forward into the light and revealed that it is not a person, but a human with the lower body of a horse. I blinked my widened eyes twice to make sure I was not imagining things, but the figure was still there. My body refused to move. I could only watch as the man— the horse— whatever it was slowly walked towards me, cracking dried leaves with every step. He has long green hair and light yellow eyes. His muscles flexed as he carried a thin bow. A yellow arrow pointed northeast is carved onto his forehead. His human figure stopped just by his hips and the rest were that of a black horse. His black tail waved as he walked towards me. His hooves crushed every dried leaf and insect it stepped on. He stopped right in front of me, and with mortified face, I had to look up to look at him in the eyes. "You should not be here, human." His dark and deep voice had so much authority. "Leave now and I'll spare your life." I was speechless. Cold sweat was starting to drip all over my body. I know if I run, he'll chase me and probably shoot off my head using his bow and arrow. I was cornered, with my back almost touching the trunk behind me. Although I love winning against my brother in arrow tag, right now I am praying that he finds me and tags me so he can save me from this creature. It's all I could think about; I know I can't fight back. My body was shaking in fear and my mind couldn't comprehend the creature in front of me. My last resort would probably to risk it, run, and outsmart him, the way I always do when up against Alexander. The yellow arrow engraved in his forehead glowed. He started to look around very distraught as if he was worried about something. In haste, he turned the opposite direction and started to gallop away. I watched as the creature disappear into the woods. My tensed body started to relax and I finally let go of the breath I was holding in. Curiosity and fear ran around my mind. Curious as to what that creature was and fearful of what it was running away from. My hands clenched and my knees became weak when I heard cracking of dried leaves behind me coming in closer and closer. I wanted to run but my feet remain glued to the ground. The footsteps stopped behind me. "Caught! You're it." My body unclenched at the voice of Alexander. Without hesitation and ignoring the game completely, I turned around and hugged him. "I don't want to go." I managed to say between my deep breaths. Fear was gone. Curiosity lingered in my mind.