I followed the towering monkey out of the stone chamber, wondering what was so important that he had to literally shake me awake.

  The six-tailed monkey disappeared from the pyramid’s chamber, and I quickly followed it outside. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the morning sun. I then stood on the stone bridge and looked at my surroundings, remarking that the purple tinted sky looked beautiful under the rising sun.

  I looked down towards the vast pavilion below the pyramids, and I saw that the army of monkeys had disappeared somewhere into the forest. All that could now be seen in the sprawling field were stray leaves drifting across its length. It was quite disconcerting, for I now knew that this inauspicious forest surrounding me actually held a massive number of blood-thirsty monkeys.

  Putting the disturbing thought out of my mind, I turning to the stone bridge in front of me. As the six-tailed monkey reached the midway point of the bridge connecting the two pyramids, I noticed a gathering of white figures on the pyramid where I had first regained consciousness.

  Squinting for a better look, I could make out a group of monkeys, about six in total, waiting with a mix of patience and anticipation. Among them was a four-tailed monkey, distinct not only for its additional tails but also for the fact that it was the only one wielding a weapon—a seemingly ordinary spear.

  'These must be the six-tailed monkey's personal lackeys.' I surmised, observing their deferential behavior towards their leader.

  I trailed behind the imposing six-tailed monkey as he approached his subordinates, eager to observe their interactions. The four-tailed monkey stepped forward, head bowed in respect, and addressed his superior.

  "We go! Time for hunt!" the leader proclaimed, his excitement palpable.

  The four-tailed monkey's energy seemed to mirror his leader's, his eagerness barely contained as he responded, "Six-Tails the strong! We ready! What we hunt today?"

  Six-Tails grinned broadly, his gaze sweeping across the horizon as he basked in the shared anticipation. "Four-Tails! Today, we hunt night monkeys!"

  Four-Tails' agitation grew, his entire body quivering with excitement as he shouted, "Yes! Yes! We go hunt!"

  The other monkeys erupted into a chorus of hoots and screams, their enthusiasm infecting the entire group as they leaped into the air. It appeared they also addressed one another by their number of tails, leading me to wonder if they even had names. If not, it would certainly be a confusing system in larger gatherings.

  'These monkeys are quite the rowdy bunch.' I mused, a wry smile tugging at my lips as I watched the scene unfold before me. Their unbridled energy and zeal were equal parts amusing and fascinating, painting a vivid picture of a society driven by strength and passion.

  I watched as Six-Tails stepped forward and raised a hand, instantly silencing the heated frenzy from the smaller monkeys. “No loud, little tails! We go sneaky, kill night monkeys while sleeping.” he explained.

  Four-Tails suddenly spoke up to the side, “Six-Tails, we not have a hundred monkeys. Night monkeys have a hundred and a hundred monkeys. We not have numbers.” he said, there was a perplexed expression on his face, and he counted with his hands before running out of fingers.

  Six-Tails just snorted though, “We strong! We have strongest flying monkey now!” he said, looking up at me in pride.

  ‘Was this bastard going to be relying on me?’ I realized, not enjoying the prospect of fighting some unknown enemy monkeys. This Six-Tails guy was calling them ‘night monkeys’, but if they were anything like the monkeys in front of me, I wanted no part in this.

  I knew from the previous night that there were definitely hundreds of other white monkeys in the forest. Why didn’t he just call them up for this hunt of his?

  “Hey, big monkey! What the hell do you think this is? You also took my sword, and now you want me to fight your battles!” I yelled, my blood boiling.

  My frustration had reached a tipping point—this was the final straw after he had woken me up like that earlier. I had to take a deep breath as I almost lost myself. I was so close to blasting the monkey with my aether and sending him flying off of the pyramid!

  The six-tailed monkey clearly didn’t understand what I was going through, and he simply turned back to his subordinates. “We go now! We hunt!” he exclaimed, marching off down the steps of the pyramid.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  His retinue of monkeys followed him as they hollered the word “Hunt!” over and over again.

  Their chants faded as they climbed down the pyramid, leaving me to stare down at them in utter exasperation. These monkeys were becoming a massive pain in the ass, and I was starting to regret my decision to go along with their games.

  I eventually sighed, drifting down the pyramid as I followed behind them. At this point I had already committed to using these monkeys as my pawns, and I needed to keep them alive if they were going to help me. I had already made my bed now, I just had to lay in it.

  Flying forwards, I dove towards the rowdy group before I slowed my pace to steadily float above them. We travelled through the pavilion below the pyramids, and I noticed that there were actually slabs of stones hidden beneath the dirt here. Stalks of weeds and patches of grass sprouted from the stone, and I figured that this area had likely not been maintained properly for many years.

  Soon, the small band of white monkeys had crossed the vast clearing and reached the tree line. They crossed into the forest while still chanting their battle-cry, moving forwards with a surprising determination. Their fevered shouts seemed to rouse the nearby monkeys in the forest, and I watched as scores of white figures swung from tree branches to peer down at our march.

  Soon, handfuls of monkeys began to want in on the commotion, swinging down to join the march!

  In only a few minutes the small band of monkeys had turned into a legion of white fur, shouting out their chants to the rest of the forest.

  “Hunt!”

  “HUNT!”

  “HUNT! HUNT!” they screamed, their movement shaking the very trees as they marched onwards.

  At this point there must have been at least a hundred monkeys gathered together, and they were starting to look like a force of nature. I didn’t know if this was the best hunting strategy though, for their enemies would certainly hear them from miles away. Six-Tails seemed to be thinking the same thing, for his voice abruptly boomed over the cacophony of screams.

  “No sound! We hunt now!” he shouted, and the sea of noise almost instantly came to a stop.

  I was inwardly impressed by the six-tailed monkey’s control of his subjects. He didn’t do anything special, but just his simple yell was enough to command all of their attention. As the mass of monkeys became eerily quiet, their march could only be heard by the rumble of their footsteps on the forest floor. They continued onwards for what must have been half an hour, before Six-Tails suddenly raised his hand into the air.

  The legion of monkeys came to a stop as Six-Tails took a cursory glance at his surroundings. I looked up to see that the ‘Great Tree’ still stood just a short mile away, and its ethereal blue leaves were shimmering above the tree line.

  I floated down towards the six-tailed monkey, “Where are we?” I asked, not able to tell this stretch of the forest apart from the area we had just left.

  Six-tails looked up at me and grinned, “We here now. Night monkeys walk during night and sleep during day.” he said.

  This explained his caution, for it seems these rival monkeys were nocturnal. If they were only active during the night, it would explain why I had not previously seen them. The white monkeys had kidnapped me during the night as well, but I did stumble directly into their territory. Even if the white monkeys were mostly active during the day, my appearance had definitely roused them from their sleep.

  I watched as Six-Tails pushed himself towards the front of the small army, coming to a stop ahead of the group. My eyes widened as I saw him reach in the air and once again pull something out of it!

  ‘How is he doing that?’ I wondered, this was now the second time I had seen this strange power.

  I squinted my eyes as I saw what looked to be a brief flash of sapphire energy coming from the monkey’s wrist. Looking closer, I noticed that the monkey was actually wearing some type of silver bracelet that was partially hidden by his white fur.

  My attention was then drawn back to the monkey’s hand as it revealed a long, wooden object. Six-Tails continued to pull the air as this long stick fully emerged itself. Soon, the monkey was holding the entire wooden stick in his hand, revealing its true length. This pole had to have been at least six-feet long, but it looked strangely ordinary.

  However, my eyes widened as I watched Six-Tails suddenly smash the pole into the ground. This action caused a streak of flames to flow to life on the tip of the wooden stick. The flames burned with a quiet intensity, and my shock grew as I watched the stick begin to stretch upwards!

  As the pole expanded, the flame grew with it, and soon there was a long line of fire stretching ten meters into the air. Six-Tails gripped the now massive flaming stick in his hands as he grunted, heaving it up into the air. The monkey’s bulging muscles expanded, and he flexed his arms as he winded them up behind him.

  Seeing what was about to happen, the monkeys closest to him abruptly shouted in fear and scrambled to get away. Six-Tails paid them no heed though, and he swung the monumental stick towards the forest. The mere force of his swing caused streaks of flames to fly through the air, singing nearby trees and unfortunate monkeys who had yet to escape.

  The flaming stick impacted with the trees, knocking their roots loose as half a dozen trees were sent flying. These trees caught fire from the intense flames in the air, and in turn set fire to the trees they crashed into. Each time Six-Tails swung his stick, several new flaming trees were sent into the forest.

  I looked up to see that scores of black figures were now dropping from the tree-tops, falling to the ground below!

  Many of these black figures were howling in pain as their entire bodies were coated in fire, burning them alive. Soon, my surroundings had become a furnace, and huge swathes of trees in every direction were bathed in flames.