Dominoes

The world was at war.

Not just on battlefields.
Not just between kingdoms.
Everywhere.

The Republic and the Kingdom of Stone clashed with brutal, endless force.

Towns burned.
Villages vanished overnight.

Players who once dreamed of escape were buried under rubble.
Some by monsters.
Some by other players.

The Totems had promised salvation —
instead, they had brought ruin.

In the West, a different world bloomed.

Tribal clans rose in the endless jungles and open plains.
Hundreds of tiny nations.
Hundreds of dreams.

Here, players weren't soldiers —
They were adventurers again.
Hunters. Explorers. Traders.
Carving out their own myths in an untamed land.

At first, the tribes kept to themselves.
But gold changes everything.

The Republic began hiring them as mercenaries.
Clans fought not for survival —
but for profit and for entertainment. Most of the clans still perceived this world as a game. You should have fun in games after all.

The Kingdom of Stone, despite its military might, faltered.

Gamers made terrible farmers.
Terrible bakers.
Terrible civilians.

The economy crumbled.
The army remained strong —
but hungry. Besides the soldiers mad of stone.

Desperate.
The war that should have ended quickly dragged on.
Both sides bleeding each other dry.

And somewhere, lost among the smoke and banners,
three brothers wandered the ruins of their family.

The Goliath Bear crashed to the ground with a tremor that shook the trees.

Marsden wiped blood from his face, grinning, catching his breath.
Trey planted his massive sword into the dirt, breathing hard.

Ray stood back, watching, forgotten.
For a long moment, there was just silence.
Only the wind whispering through the tall grass.

Trey broke it. With a groan of frustration so raw it almost cracked the sky.
"This is fucking pointless," he spat, ripping off his helmet and tossing it into the dirt.

"We aren't gonna get any stronger picking fights with fucking bears.
We're wasting time. We need real training."

He looked at his brothers, face twisted in anger —in fear.

"We need war."

Ray opened his mouth to speak.
But nothing came out.
He lowered his gaze, the words withering before they even formed.

Marsden stepped forward, fists crackling faintly with static.

"No, Trey," he said, voice steady.
But under it — begging.
"We can't."

Trey stared at him, eyes narrowing.

"All of these people..." Marsden continued, chest heaving,
"They need to leave the game, Trey.
They need hope.
We can't just pick sides.
We can't just kill for the sake of getting stronger."

Marsden's hands balled into fists.

"We're all trapped here.
Every player.
Every wanderer.
Every farmer.
If we start slaughtering each other, there won't be anyone left to save."

Trey laughed.
But there was no humor in it.

"Save them?" he said bitterly.
"Save who, Marsden?
You think Dean's sitting around worrying about the farmers?
You think anyone's coming to save us? We are fucking trapped in here too, did you forget that?"

He pointed East, where the sun hung low over distant battlefields.

"Dean is flying through real wars.
Training against real armies.
Becoming a monster.
While we pick berries and punch bears."

Trey’s voice cracked.
He didn't even try to hide it.

"If we want to get the Totem back...
If we want to make him pay..."

He looked at them —
looked right through Ray like he wasn't even standing there.

"We need to fight.
We need to become monsters too."

Marsden shook his head violently, tears sparking in his furious eyes.

"No," he whispered.
"Trey, please... please don't leave us too."

Trey stared at him.
And for a moment — just a moment —
something flickered across his face.

Guilt.
Maybe even sorrow.

"Come with me," Trey said, voice low.
Broken.
"Come with me, Mars. Let's grow stronger together."

Marsden closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, lightning crowned his body —
his fists, his boots, his heart.
He shook his head.

"I won't compromise my morals."

Trey turned.

For a second — just a second —
he looked like he might break apart.

Then he took a breath.
Straightened his shoulders.
And began walking away.

"I’m not gonna fight you," he said over his shoulder.
"I’m not gonna be like Dean."

Marsden screamed.
Lightning ripped up the earth around him.

"COME BACK AND FIGHT ME, YOU BASTARD!" he roared.
"If you win — if you really win —then I'll follow you!
But if I win you stay. We can get stronger together….. Can’t you see that.”

Tears blinded him.
He punched the dirt, cracking the stone beneath.

"Just — just fight me! Let me show you!
Please!"

Trey didn’t even slow down.
He stepped into the shadow of a broken tree —
and vanished.

Marsden fell to his knees,
punching the ground over and over again,
his sobs swallowed by the endless, indifferent sky.

Ray stood there.
Silent.
Invisible.
Forgotten.

For the first time in his life,
Ray realized something:

He wasn't just being left behind.
He was already gone.