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It was still early in the morning when I awoke to the smell of cooking meat over the small campfire outside my tent. It was still cool and the hot desert sun had not yet risen over the dunes, this was my favorite part of the day. "Donkor, Breakfast is ready!" called Maskini, self-proclaimed leader of our caravan and close friend of mine. "I'll be right out!" I called back as I sat up and offered a small prayer to Hamadi, god of the desert, and my chosen deity. When I stepped out onto the sand I saw that Maskini had gotten the others up as well, Akiiki didn't seem to mind but Mdjai looked a little annoyed that he was woken up so early. Apparently Maskini had caught a rabbit and was, as usual, very proud of his simple accomplishment. I sat down and grabbed a small piece, it looked a little burnt... and the taste confirmed it. "EERAG! Next time you wake me up for breakfast, make sure the food is edible!" Mdjai yelled as he threw his breakfast onto the ground. "It's not that bad, Mdjai's just cranky after being woken up, that's all." said Akiiki who always tried to cheer people up. "Well Donkor, what do you think?" Asked Maskini who never really listened to Akiiki. I shrugged staring at my half-eaten meal. "It's alright... a little overcooked though..." "Ah come on, not you too! I worked really hard on that!" Mdjai grumbled and said "Not half as hard as you did running when we ran into those bandits the other day." "They had swords!" "So do we," Mdjai looked at me, "seriously Donkor, how do you put up with him?" Maskini stormed off to pout somewhere and Akiiki finished eating. "I suppose it's time to pack up," said Mdjai as he smothered the fire, "As usual just worry about your own stuff but remember if you don't have everything ready in fifteen minutes you'll have to leave without it." Packing wasn't much of a problem. All I had were some blankets and a statuette of Hamadi so it only took a minute. I wrapped everything up, loaded it onto my horse and walked up onto a highly elevated dune to look toward our destination. Only a couple miles away I could see a large mountain-range. According to a wise-man from a village we passed through a day ago, there was a pass through it that would cut our journey short by two weeks. Although to find this pass you had to choose the correct pathway when you came to a fork in the road. Apparently both paths actually led to the pass, but one was guarded by a beast. We ignored the fact that no one had ever made the correct choice. We were young, and the prospect of looting the untouched tombs on the other side of their valuables was more than enough motivation for us to abandon our sense of judgment. I looked back toward camp, everyone else was ready to go and Maskini was back in high spirits after he had cooled down. The sun was coming up so we needed to get a move on, might as well reach the mountains before we were cooked. After a couple hours of riding, we made it. As we were told there were two paths into the mountains. Both were wide and clear of obstacles, that should make it easy enough to get our animals through. Still, my mind kept creeping back to what the old man said about this place. "Hey, what do you make of this?" Akiiki was staring at a large stone tablet embedded in the ground. It was covered in strange hieroglyphics, but there were two symbols at the very top that were still used in modern language. On the top left was the sign for "Lion", on the right was the sign for "Hare". "What do you suppose this means?" asked Mdjai. "Well obviously it shows which way is safe. Think about it, which one can eat us and which one did we eat this morning?" said Maskini, eager to keep going. "I'm not so sure, shouldn't we at least try to figure out what these drawings mean?" "Mdjai, you were in the militia with us right?" "Yes, where are you going with this, Maskini?" "Well, I was thinking that you would use some of that scout training to find your damn manhood so we can keep going hmm?" Mdjai shot him a look and started to rear his arm back, I grabbed it and shook my head. "Watch your temper." Maskini smirked. Mdjai jerked his arm his arm back and looked back at Akiiki, "Stay here and watch the animals while we look ahead. Donkor, you had better come too, we'll need you there if this tizak opens his mouth again." "Ooo I'm so scared!"

As we made our way into the mountains, Maskini was surprisingly silent which was good because at this point I wouldn't put it past Mdjai to slit his throat. Those two were polar opposites, and Maskini had better learn to keep his mouth shut because if I wasn't around Mdjai would've killed him already, and had no problem doing it. After walking only a few minutes more we reached a tunnel, it was lit with strange looking torches and was Peculiarly long. "I don't like this..." said Mdjai gipping his sword, "looks like someone went through a lot of trouble to build this thing." "So what? The torches will make the trip easier, and if it makes you feel better, I'll bring up the rear so nobody can sneak up on you." "Fine I'll go in first. Donkor, make sure he doesn't try anything." I let out a little snicker but quickly regained my composure and we continued on into the darkness. The trip through the tunnel went by quickly. It was eerie though, other than our footsteps and the occasional cracking noise there was no sound at all. Suddenly the cracking noise got louder and a small rock fell from the ceiling. "Run!" yelled Mdjai and we all took off in a dead sprint for the faint light at the end. About fifteen seconds after we had dived out of the exit the entire cave collapsed. "Damn it!" exclaimed Maskini who was bent over panting, "How the hell... are we going... to get back?" "I don't know!" Mdjar yelled back as the two got into another unnecessary argument. Meanwhile, I was more focused on the strange objects to our sides. They looked like long moss-covered rock formations but something was really off. They were about eighty feet away from each other but in nearly identical positions, it was if they were symmetrical. And the moss didn't look like moss at all, it was long and looked like it was in strands almost like... hair. That's when I noticed, we were in an enclosed canyon. The walls that were about two-thousand feet high were completely smooth, almost like they were making sure nothing could get out... Then I did the scariest thing I had ever done in my life... I looked up. There, sitting in what seemed to be a large throne cut into the stone of the mountain, was a rabbit. But it was the largest thing I had ever seen. It was a rabbit, but it stood five-hundred feet tall and had the body of a man... and a wicked grin on its face. It was wearing a loincloth that looked like it was made of fine silk and a large, golden ankh around its neck. "Is it a... god..?" muttered Maskini who had apparently saw it too. Suddenly the giant lifted his foot and slammed it down on him, then proceeded to grind it as a sadistic chuckle came in a god-like baritone from deep within him. My heart started racing as I watched one of my best friends crushed like a bug and more-so when I saw his eyes lock onto me. I let my instincts take control and made a mad dash for the opposite end of the canyon knowing that there was nowhere to go. I thought he would be following me but it looked like he was a little preoccupied with Mdjai. Mdjai was trying to run away only to be stopped by the titan's hand every time, all the while the hare was laughing as though he was having innocent fun. After the rabbit was done playing he flicked Mdjai into the wall and picked his bruised and broken body off the ground. The giant didn't hold him for long, he after a few seconds he repositioned Mdjai onto the center of his palm and clasped his hand tightly on him making a sickening crunch. He finished by wiggling his fingers as blood and a few organs slipped between them. Apparently he had saved me for last. When I saw him start walking toward me I increased my speed but it wasn't enough. The giant simply reached down and plucked me off the ground like it was nothing. He brought me up to his face and eyed my hungrily. I was so terrified I nearly soiled myself. As the rabbit-god licked his lips I started to thrash around violently and slipped from his grip. As I plummeted toward the ground he attempted to catch me but he was unable and his attempts only helped cushion my fall. Ironic that he actually ended up saving my life... As soon as I landed I took off toward the collapsed entrance in a vain attempt to escape. To my surprise, I actually made it and began digging at the rock. And then I saw it, my salvation, a small path in the rubble that led back to the outside world. I went headlong into it but the giant had caught my leg and was pulling hard. I had a good hold on the rocks but the pain was becoming unbearable as I felt my leg literally start coming apart. I reached back and pulled my sword from it's sheath, cut the limb off, and quickly pulled myself into the small tunnel. I was bleeding profusely, but I was strong and manged to claw my way to the other side. The last thing I remember was lying there on the path, the small statuette of Hamadi I always carried had spilled out of my satchel and was lying in front of me. And I prayed to the Lion God of the Desert for what I thought was the last time, before succumbing to blood-loss and passing out. I awoke in that small village near the mountains. I was told that Akiiki had become worried and went to look for us, when he found me lying in a pool of my own blood.

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"Very interesting story old man, but there's no way it's true!" "Believe what you want." "Hey are you gonna eat that?" "No... I don't really like rabbit. Besides, it's a little over cooked"