At last, the sun began to set. Ebony quickly released my hands, as if they were poisonous, and he cleared his throat.

"Soo...what now?" I asked casually, averting my eyes as Ebony ripped off his shirt in anger. He threw his shirt past the border of trees and turned to me.

"Now, we run," he said quietly, desperately trying to reign in his anger.

"Why?"

"You heard what the prophecy said! You heard it say that once Zerriki was--was dead, one of us would have to compete to survive! One of us! And I don't think they count me, a shade, as one!" Ebony snarled at me. He took a deep breath, slowed down, and mumbled quietly, "Listen, I don't want you to be in danger. I don't want you to be harmed."

My head was working in overdrive now. Harmed? Does he really care about me that much? My stomach fluttered. I shook my head and whispered feebly, "They will find us. They will track us down. What's the point of prolonging this?"

Ebony soothingly replied, "Harley, I know that they will find us. But putting in some training will give you an edge."

I was getting angry now. Did he not see the point? I hissed, "Yeah, we'll train while we're on the run! How in the world do you think training is going to happen if we're running from the very thing we are training against?!"

Ebony paused, lost in thought. He muttered to himself and finally looked up at the receding sun. He sighed and said, "We will have to stay here for the night. I don't like traveling when the sun no longer is there to grant us safe passage."

I quickly retorted innocently, "But you are a shade. If anything, you should want to travel in the dark."

He smiled and whispered in a tired tone while gesturing to his body, "Not when I'm in this ridiculous body."

I barely resisted the urge to gasp. I had forgotten that Ebony had inhabited another's body. I hastily nodded, and we began to set up camp. At last, the fire was blazing and our sleeping bags were warm and toasty. We split a packet of beef jerky and settled in for the night.

"Do we need to set up a watch?" I yawned.

"Nah, the fire scares off most predators and there's a low chance any humans would be wandering about the woods at this time."

I curled up in my warm bed, satisfied at long last. My eyelids were droopy and heavy. The last thing I heard before drifting off was the sound of the crackling fire.

I woke up to the sound of circus music. All around me, crowds of people cheered and roared. I was lying on a wooden barrel the size of a wagon. I glanced around me, and with a jolt of surprise, realized that down below me was a wide stadium, bigger than several football fields combined. It was circular in shape and dirt lined the stadium's floor. High upon a dais stood a man sporting what looked like leather armor. He was quite robust and his leather armor looked as if it might pop any second. His hair was a vibrant shade of green and his face was rather pale. He stood above the crowd saying random things like, "Things are heating up, so don't forget to place your bets!"

I slowly got to my feet and began to walk toward a sign  behind the man that read:

Bones Only

I had some sort of pulling feeling that could only be quenched by walking through this door. And so, I pushed open the door only to witness the most jovial scene in my life.

A group of about thirty men was sitting huddled around a dying fire. All wore thick cuffs around their necks that were attached to a heavy iron square and all wore grim expressions. When they heard the creak of the door, they all turned and began to stare at me through sullen expressions. One man with tousled dust colored hair growled, "You here to tell us to stop? Well, we ain't gonna stop. Roughhousin's in our nature. You go an' tell your master that." He spat once on the ground.

I took a deep breath and stated calmly, "I have no idea what you are talking about. Actually, I came here to find someone named Ebony." At this, all the men broke out into laughter.

"Hey, Ebony. You finally got a visitor. Are you against that as well?" the same man howled.

A man seated on the far side of the fire growled and said, "I just said that I don't approve of these games."

"Sure," the man said gravely. Ebony turned toward me with pleading eyes and I understood.

"Ebony, I am here to escort you...to weapon handling classes." A few of the men turned to gaze at Ebony with awed looks.

He sighed and got up. We trudged out the door, and Ebony at once started his rant.

"I should have known. Luckily, they didn't take you, but still, I should have known. I can't believe--"

"Ebony, where are we exactly?" I interrupted.

He stopped in his tracks and whispered fearfully, "We, my dear, are now participating in the Skull Games."

"The what?"

"The Skull Games. Games so treacherous that if you survive and win, your trophy is getting to tattoo your skull. These games test the Bones' skill, courage, and cunning--" Ebony glanced at my curious expression and added, "Oh, by the way, Bones are what the participants are called. We are called this because once each round is over, we look so bad, it is like we are skin and bones. And at the very end, if you make it, you will have to challenge one of your own to a death battle. The men were teasing me because I said that I do not approve of these Games. They were playing around, betting on who would die in the first round. Obviously, the victor gets to keep the other's skulls as a remembrance. Fortunately, you can only compete in the Games once," now Ebony was just reciting random things in random orders, "This year is the 500 year mark, so past victors will compete this year. We are tied up because past Bones have tried to escape, and they don't want that," Ebony clutched his left arm absentmindedly, "I just don't get how I could have been entered. Shades, wraiths, and ghosts are forbidden to enter. Someone must have done something to allow me--but no, that wouldn't make sense. I would most undoubtedly win because I cannot be killed."

After this, Ebony just mumbled random things to himself, and I was left alone with my idle thoughts. I thought back to Ebony's not-so-grateful speech, and my heart skipped a beat. What had he said? The 500 year mark was this year, so...past victors can compete this year, right? Does that mean Ebony has--? No, no. He wouldn't have.

"Ebony," I quietly asked, "have you ever competed in the Games?"

At this, he stopped and swallowed hard. "Y-Yes. Why do you ask?" He was purposely averting his eyes.

"No, the proper question is, why would you enter?" I demanded.

Ebony finally broke down. "OK, I needed the money. The reason I hate the Games is that they are so unfair. Just hand the dealer a little money, and you're in. Even if you are a shade. My mother was ill during that dreadful time, and Zerriki was too deeply immersed in Vengeful healing to be able to heal her. The prize money was my only hope to cure her. Of course, I won...and Zerriki earned a little betting money in addition. Unfortunately, my dear mother died shortly after. It appeared that she had been stabbed in the night. That's when Zerriki and I grew apart. Zerriki believed that I had killed our mother to gain company, and I believed that Zerriki killed our mother to gain some peace. Our mother became a wraith, and we never saw her again. Anyway, none of the victors know that I am a shade, though a few are suspicious. As I am so skinny, they believe that I cheated somehow. Alas, this is true. But seeing as I cannot die, I believe that I will survive and win."

"But, if you do win, we need to find out the next part of the riddle," I interjected.

"Not now, later, I promise," Ebony whispered as he strained his ears, "I have to go back inside. My 'weapon handling classes' were supposed to have been done by now." He turned back to the door and pushed it gingerly open. We both marched through and took seats next to each other.

All the men stared at us, waiting for us to do or say something. Nevertheless, we sat as still as rocks, until they finally began to lose interest in us. Far away, we heard an announcer declare, "Welcome, Welcome. As you all know, this is the 500 year mark, and this time, our past victors are going to compete. It's a matter of life and death. Now, enough of my chitchat. Let's meet our Bones!"

At this last sentence, a small, thin woman opened the door from the outside. All the Bones obediently stood up, including Ebony. I also proceeded to stand and walk with Ebony to the door. Outside was a massive curtain that hid us from the crowd's view. As each of the Bones' names were called, the crowd erupted in cheers. Finally, Ebony and I were the last left standing behind the curtain. As the cheers faded away, Ebony's name was called.

Grim-faced, he marched to the curtain and almost wrenched it open. I quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him back. Ebony turned toward me, puzzled. I didn't even think; I leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. He turned to me and gave me a faint smile, but his cheeks were tomato red. I whispered hoarsely, "Good luck."

He nodded and walked out of the curtain to hear a thousand roars spark up for a final time.