Excerpt: A Rock, a Skip, a Clock, and a Pirate

Fun fact: this book is structured like a video game plot, and this chapter is the shortest chapter
in the novel, probably because it doesn't have any midbosses.
The two partners trudged through the snow, Skip looking at the map, and Sauren looking at his shoes.
"Now, according to my research," declared Skip, "the Koffas live at the top of Mount Frigorific."
"Ugh, isn't that 30 kilometres away?"
"30 kilometres is a small distance in the context of adventures!"
"Well, how do you even know the Koffas will lead us to someone else, or something else?"
"Because, tribes like them usually have a leader, who usually takes orders from a higher leader.
And who knows, maybe that higher leader has a leader above him."
"Whatever you say, Skip." However, the pair, at the time, did not realize how right Skip's words
were. After about an hour of stomping through the snow, Mount Frigorific came in sight.
"We're almost there!" exclaimed Skip. It seemed that within only two steps, they had reached the
peak. "Well," groaned Sauren. "I don't see any Koffas." Precisely at that moment, both Skip and
Sauren noticed caves in the ground, and heard chanting coming from them. As the chanting got louder
and closer, they realized that the chanting was not actually voices, but coughing. They also saw
within the caverns a fiery red every time the Koffas coughed. Then, the coughing stopped, and
the Koffas simply marched out of the caverns.
"We've been looking for you." said the tribe leader.
"I am aware of that" parroted Skip. The leader of the Koffas then coughed, and as he did, fire
came out of his mouth. Skip knew he was in danger, so he had to think fast. Skip quickly picked up
a snowball and threw it at the tribe leader, and Sauren did likewise. The frigid balls of ice landed
straight in the Koffas' mouth, and the pair were too quick for the Koffas to react. The Koffas
started wheezing and coughing really badly, except instead of coughing fire, they were coughing
water. "Tell us your leader." demanded Skip.
"The... cough cough.... dragons.. wheeze cough cough" coughed/wheezed the tribe leader, as a
map fell out of his pocket. Skip picked up the map, and declared, "To the vampire dragons!".