CHAPTER ELEVEN
After we were called back into the hub area and were sweating at the lava induced heat, we heard the game master's voice again. I hadn't missed it.
"Welcome back to the Torture Games. After having the players compete against each other, we will now see a collaborative game. There will be competition, but overall, the players are expected to work together. This game is called Elemental Run."
A fire died down and opened the view onto an iron gate. It opened as we hesitantly approached.
"The rules are simple. Our players must use keys to unlock gates to progress. Easy as can be. The first element is earth."
We entered a tunnel. It was cool again – not like when we approached the ice cave but just like back in the Old Maid room. Then I noticed a fairly pleasant smell. Fresh grass? In hell?
The four of us left through another iron gate and entered a huge cavern with a grass covered floor like an indoor golf course. Not exactly a garden but surprisingly pretty for this place. The others were equally astonished.
On the opposite side was a copper gate. In the middle of the cave I saw the only plant that wasn't low grass – a knee-high dark green stem. On the top was a copper key wrapped into the tip of the vine.
Nobody wanted to be the first to touch it, so we slowed down more and more as we got closer. I expected that either Igor would go first to appear alpha, or he would force Sven to touch the metal.
Neither happened. As soon as we were almost in arms reach, the vine shook. We all stepped back, afraid it might lash out.
It grew. No, it came out of the ground. The vine had only been the tip of the underground plant. Several new vines broke through the earth, tangling and combining on their way up. We ran the other way.
Once the plant had stopped growing it was a towering, building-sized mess of green and black vines, softly swaying. The key was far above us.
Igor pushed Sven into the nearest vine, which was thicker than the bodybuilder himself. When nothing happened the big guy put his hands on the stalk.
After a moment of silent conversation we came to the same conclusion. I began to walk further into the one-plant-forest. Igor began his ascent from the outside. Kang and I wanted to get further in before going up.
The earth had been turned upside down and revealed wet mud that stuck to our feet, then our legs and eventually we were sunken past the balls. The vines themselves were slippery with mud and I questioned my choice to climb the thing from within.
Eventually I found a spot that seemed to lead upwards in a predictable manner. Vine after vine formed a slippery ladder to the top and to the key.
I pulled myself out and onto a vine about as thick as my arms. Kang followed on the other side.
After I had ascended only two branches, I lost sight of the boy. It didn't matter. One of us had to get up there.
More branches later – I was about ten body lengths off the ground – I saw movement. At first I feared a snake was in the monstrous tree with me. But no, the vines were moving. I didn't notice their approach until one rubbed itself against my ass crack.
I hurried upward. The further I got, the more vines slithered along and tried to poke my ass or rubbed themselves on my face.
How far was I now? Looking down showed only dense green and black lines. The mud didn't stick out enough to see. Looking up I couldn't find the key. If I just kept going would I get there? It was at the very top, so there shouldn't be a way for me to get lost as long as I was going up and only up.
A vine penetrated my ass hole and shoved itself in before I could react. My reflexive clenching only served to cause me stronger ass burn.
I jumped and almost slipped off the branch. As I pulled myself along to get away, the vine left my ass, but I wasn't going to risk that again. I climbed faster. If I fell there'd be branches to catch me on the way down.
After a long time, the branches grew less dense and most of the light came through. I was near the top.
The sweat washed away most of the mud but I kept accumulating new one. Filthy like never before I emerged from the mass of vines and surveyed my surrounding. I could see the key, but it was fairly far away, still. Igor was struggling along the outside, fighting vines that did their best to grab his legs.
The rest was nowhere to be see.
I hopped along the outside, pulling myself higher whenever there was an opportunity. The vines that were grabbing at Igor found me as well, so I hurried up.
As I came closer to the key I could hear Igor's struggle with the grabbing vines. But there was something else. As I reached the key, I saw Sven just inches from the copper device. His hands and feet were tied by plant matter wrapped around him as if about to devour the boy. He was getting fucked in the face and ass. The crying boy's screams were silenced by the vines.
Wait, were those two vines or... It looked as if one of the vines was growing out of the boy's mouth. Something was wrong about this. Then I realized, it seemed there was a single vine going all the way through Sven, sliding back and forth across his insides. That couldn't be fun.
As I put my hand on the key, the plant gave it up without resistance. I held the tool that would grant us freedom. Or whatever else the next room held.
So began the descent. I left Sven behind and slid along the outside. Then I slipped and fell. A vine snatched my foot as I dropped and held me upside down. I wasn't falling anymore but I also couldn't escape the grip without dropping.
There was someone else.
I shouted in Kang's direction. Finally the muscle teen found a hole in the mass of greenery to see me. I waved the key. He nodded and vanished from sight.
More vines joined in and soon I was upside down and spread eagle. Kang's upper body pressed through the vines right below me. He held out his hands. I aimed to the best of my limited ability and dropped the key towards him.
Kang caught it. I cried out with joy. Now I could only hope he got to the gate quickly.
Seconds after the boy was gone, more vines showed up. No amount of clenching could keep the finger-sized thing out of my ass. Once it was inside it pulled out again and was replaced by a thicker one – about wrist sized. It had a harder time getting into my insides.
I was glad that at least none of them tried to fuck my mouth. That would have been much easier since it hung wide open. Wait! Maybe they were prepping me for penetrating all the way through me like they did with Sven. The vine in my ass would come out the other end.
As soon as I had finished the thought, the wrist sized vine broke my sphincter and pulled out again. It was replaced by an arm-sized one. It was the same size as the one tormenting Sven. It would go all the way through me. I panicked.
The whole tree shook. The vines retreated.
Kang must have made it. I slipped from the grasp of the grappling branches and fell onto the ones below. They were also retracting and I fell further. So I made my way down fall by fall, slamming into branch after branch as they went back underground.
Igor and Sven were laying on their own spots in the mud. The small boy was yelling at the ground. Well, I felt angry, too, but that seemed a bit silly. Though, I wondered what he would have said if using words had been possible.
The door was open.
"The next element is water. Players will now receive their gear."
On our wrists and ankles appeared demonic, red cuffs with just enough weight to be a nuisance.
We trudged along the corridor and came out of a silver gate. There was a little platform which we stood on. The rest of the room was a pit, too deep to jump into without killing us.
On the bottom was a series of key holes. Four of them. The corresponding four silver keys hovered above us. Out of reach. The silver gate exit was on the other side, but in the same height as the entrance, putting it way above the pit's bottom.
What to do?
Water came out of the walls even thought there were no openings. A flood poured in and within half a minute the pit was filled. Now we would have been able to swim across to the other gate easily. But we had to unlock it first.
Kang, perhaps cocky after his win, jumped in without further hesitation. He sank a bit and struggled back up. He was screaming, but not as if he was dying.
I held my toe into the water. It was as close to freezing as it could be without turning to ice. Igor realized that as well. He threw Sven in, then pushed me, then jumped himself.
Everything went numb. Everywhere was pain. It was hard to breath. The keys dropped from the ceiling.
Even though they looked like they were made of silver, they swam.
Each one of us struggled towards one key. I was slow as I was more concerned with not drowning. At least I got rid of the mud. Not that I thought the bath was worthwhile, but I had to try to see the positive side.
I got my key and dove. With the weights that was fairly simple. I just had to stop swimming.
Of course I didn't sink fast enough and had to help the process along. Igor swam past me, the first one at the bottom.
I made it there just at the same time as Sven. They keys fit easily and I made my way back up. That was much harder with the weights. I feared I'd run out of air, but I suspect the cold water helped keep my metabolism on the down low.
I broke through the surface with no air left in my lungs and greedily sucked in the cold air above me. Swimming toward the exit, I tried to spot the others. If one had failed, another one of us would have to go down a second time.
The silver gate clicked and opened up. Well, if they drowned now there was nothing I could do. I made my way towards the dry tunnel ahead.
All of us made it out alive, with Kang coming last. We shivered. I was almost tempted to call a group hug to share warmth, but our erections hadn't gone down at all, so there was no way I'd rub myself against any of them.
"We move on to the element air. The players will receive gear once they're there."