The ape who’d fallen into the lake climbed over the side of the bridge, set its eyes upon its fallen comrade, and bellowed an agonized cry. It bounded toward me, a hulking figure with a single intention: my death.

I knew I couldn’t outsprint the creature, so I shuffled over to another stone tile that hid a cleaver trap and waited for it.

I had to time this perfectly.

The ape used its arms like vaulting poles and sprung toward me. I slammed my left foot onto the trigger and dove forward. I felt a rush of wind at my back as something wrapped around my right leg. I could feel bones breaking beneath an incredibly strong grip. A cry escaped my lips as an excruciating jolt of pain knifed up my leg. The limb was mangled, and soon the rest of my body would be crushed.

The cleaver had cut the strap that kept my rifle attached, and the firearm was nowhere to be seen. It must have fallen from the bridge and into the lava. Either way, it was no good to me now.

I kicked with my other leg as I twisted to see what had caught me, expecting to find some kind of trap, but instead, I saw the Magma Ape. It no longer had any legs from the waist down, the cleaver having cut it in half. But its life-threatening injury hadn’t stopped it from snatching my leg and crushing it within its massive hand.

The gorilla’s other arm reached up for me, and I kicked with all my might. My boot struck the ape’s face, but the monster just squeezed all the more.

My time was running out. I had seconds before this monster would reach my torso and crush me to death. I forced the terror of my impending death to the back of my mind and wracked my brain for some way out of this.

I didn’t have any offensive spells, but maybe that didn’t matter.

As the ape dragged itself toward me, its mighty hands crushed my bones to pulp. The pain was incredible, and it threatened to make me pass out, but I gritted my teeth, twisted my hands in the Force Barrier mudra, and pointed my spell down at my attacker. I enveloped the gorilla’s head in the magical barrier, cutting off its air supply. But I wasn’t done yet. I squeezed my fists, commanding the Force Barrier to contract. I’d never attempted to use the spell in this way before, but desperation had given me the idea.

The Force Barrier shrank but kept its strength, squeezing the ape’s skull as it contracted. The beast’s skull couldn’t withstand the pressure, and it suddenly burst like an overripe melon. I kept my Force Barrier active, and it saved me from being covered in the gory explosion.