Canyon walls of smooth timber towered over him. A faint rumbling echoed from the end of the cavernous corridor. Blackberry froze.

The titans were known for being loud. Their reverberating voices and steps would sometimes ‘shake the heavens above Sellar’. Pineberry often said so during his sermons, preaching that the Prime Strawberry would protect us when the time came.

His whiskers twitched. 

He’d made it past the Door Above. It might’ve been impressive to a pup. However, many other hamsters had. It was hardly a feat in itself, even if they spoke of it so in Sellar. But he had bigger goals. 

The Door Beyond. 

The gateway to mystical lands, where titans and monsters roamed freely. A dangerous and treacherous place. Some — those that were blessed with words —  believed that all hamsters of Sellar originated from such a mythical place. Others proclaimed great wellsprings and cisterns of power remained hidden there. If such legends were true, he’d witness it himself.

Blackberry gave a final glance at the Door Above, at the terraces below, at home. The Hamsterdom needed protectors. Alone, he wasn’t enough. But with the other six? If they could be found, and more importantly, convinced to return to their rightful place as Sellar’s guardians, perhaps the Hamsterdom would never be forced to bear another tragedy. 

His fur bristled as he clenched his fist. The thought of Raspberry’s paw, his strength wasting away. It had haunted him for his entire recovery. Another one for the road, he supposed.

Scampering close to the wall, he followed the clamorous voices. Reaching the end, he peeked around the wall. He held back a yelp.

Titans. More than he’d ever seen gathered. 

They stood together in groups, around strange megaliths held upright by thin columns. Their booming voices joined together in a strange tune. This discordant sound seemed to please the giants, many smiling and smashing ginormous cups together. Their laughter bellowed like a rumbling thunderstorm. Matching the roars, a fire — larger than he’d ever seen — burned bright. Its light washed over the room. Even the titans needed warmth from the night’s cold.

Through the mess of jolly mountains, Blackberry saw the Door Beyond. Larger than the Door Above, it was a monument to behold. Moon light slipped through walls of glass adoring the door’s top, as if he was given a trail to follow.

Then he spotted the beasts. Two colossal masses of gray fur wrestling between a large bone. Though not as tall as the giants themself, these creatures snarled fiercely and had teeth as big as a longsword. An inexplicable urge to flee, to scurry back home, came over him. For a moment, he gripped the hilt of his dagger, trying to squeeze some courage out of it. His mind raced for all possible angles to strike from, discerning which were advantageous, which were reckless.

The memory of a pillar staff meteoring toward him revisited him. With a shake of his furry head, he uncoiled his paw. It was time to be brave.

Charging into a grand hall of titans and monstrous beasts? All of those options were reckless. He hadn’t spent two weeks in bed recovering to throw his life away. Even scanning across the massive room was difficult. The legs of the giants, stomping around, were a maze of walking buildings. A labyrinth of getting squished.

Blackberry hugged the wall as he turned the corner into the boisterous great hall. He rolled to avoid the foot of a titan, who’d been pushed by another. A waterfall of liquid spilled from their cups, splashing his fur coat. Tucking his arms close, he licked himself clean. 

Fermented and sweet. Another proper lick. Tasty. One more. Dizzy?

A hiccup escaped his lips. Giving his pudgy cheeks a prompt slap, he hoped to break the stupor. He only ended up wobbling, accidentally striking himself a little harder than anticipated. He settled with giving his cleaned arms a pinch instead. 

He was Blackberry. The Hidey Hamster. Daggers in the dark. His steps were shadows and his shadows were… shadows? 

He bumped into the chamber wall, his forehead smacking into his silhouette. The abrupt crash knocked him onto his tushy. What idiot put that wall there?

Hiccuping again, he swayed back to his feet. There was work to be done, hamsters to be found. And nothing, absolutely nothing, was going to stop him. Much less some measly wall!

A punch to teach the wooden wall a lesson. “Take that, you bastard!” Shouting felt good. Punching felt better. He wound up his fist for a second blow.

A sharp bark — cutting through the noise of merrymaking — perked his ears. Another followed, freezing him mid-punch. The third was enough for him to unsteadily spin about. One of the savage beasts had stopped competing for the bone. Through the moving forest of giant legs, its amber eyes locked onto him. Drool dripped from its maw, a meaty tongue dangling out. 

Every strand of his black fur stood straight, as if static-shocked. His belly lurched as the beast lunged forward, now a chorus of barks. He stumbled into a backroll, trained instincts allowing him to land on his feet.

One of the titans, laughing explosively loud, had playfully hugged the monster. More importantly, the colossus had stopped the creature from charging him. It provided a precious second for him to catch his breath. Though it became a momentary respite as the growls drew the giant’s attention to him. As if confirming its target, the bearded titan raised a finger at him. The carousing throughout the hall halted, the lashes of fire only heard. 

Every colossal head of each behemoth turned his way. Not good. 

One of the titans reached for a weapon that leaned against the wall. The weapon was a fearsome thing. It was similar to the pillar staff he’d seen, except smaller columns of poles were bundled at the bottom. The strange tendrils made the weapon even more terrifying. 

He took a step back. Panic surged as he looked around. He was stuck between a wall he’d been fighting and a flat-top hill that the giants took drinks off of. Neither were ideal climbs, even for one as agile as himself.

A closer titan, bald and red-faced, lumbered down. A silly smile was plastered on their face, and they reached down to grab him. Their lumbering approach seemed erratic and unsteady, but terrifying all the same. A truly sobering sight. 

Blackberry didn’t blink as he leapt forward, straight onto the arm of the giant. Scurrying up the outstretched limb, he launched himself off the shoulder. Cheeks rattling in the wind, the hard timber surface rose to meet him. With practiced timing, he tucked into a tumble weed roll to break his fall. It helped but still hurt.

Without a second thought, he shot into a full sprint across the countertop. Tall, half-empty tankards whipped past him as he darted on the smooth surface. A storm of hands, each one larger than him, slammed across the flat-top.

A slide to evade the first, narrowly avoided. The second missed him outright, but almost knocked over the beaker on him. A jump to get on the third and a front flip over the fourth. He was wind, never to be restrained by giants, never to be held against his will. 

He searched for an escape, any way out of this hellscape. The Door Beyond would be impossible to reach. It meant going into the direct path of several titans. Both barking beasts were being held back by the giants, but still remained too close to the door. Reaching the surface’s end, he hopped over another grab before he saw it. A door unknown. He peeked over the edge; it was an uncomfortably high drop. 

A shadow loomed over him. A glance above showed the bundled tendrils and attached pillar careened above, determined to fulfill his splattered end. So he did whatever any reasonable hamster would do when facing a smushed fate: jump off the cliff’s edge. Slamming into the countertop, the massive weapon’s shockwave blasted him further away. Arms spread-eagle, he soared.

Blackberry was flying. Sort of.  

The only issue was crashing straight into the opposite wall, at a height too high. So he tucked himself into a ball, spinning his body while drawing his daggers. Uncoiling, his blades dug into the wall. The sharp edges carved into the wood and slowed his long descent to the floor, where he rolled into a three-point stance.

He looked up to the bewildered eyes of several titans, some of them with their mouths open. Their surprised faces hung over the hillside, hollowed on his side, with bellybins placed within. If not for his black fur, they might’ve seen him blush, proud of his acrobatic feat.

Snap out of it. No time to waste. 

He turned to face the Door Unknown, looking to the gap between the door and the floor. It was a tiny space, enough to let a warm light and strange banging sounds pass, but not his pudgy body. Knew he shouldn’t have had those extra chickpeas. Thwarted by his appetite again.

Paw on hilt, he drew his other dagger, unable to stop a tremble from sneaking in. A resigned sigh was followed by a deep breath. In the end, he hadn’t gotten that far. 

He wondered if the others — his six former companions — had made it to the lands beyond. Had Huckleberry finally found one worthy of his blade? Had Lingonberry discovered a state of true nothingness? Had Lifeberry discovered the great True Tree?

Thimbleberry, Elderberry, Honeyberry. His thoughts wandered to each of them, all examples braver than he. Their happy memories were a reminder to stop his trembling. If his destiny was to go down fighting a mob of titans, so be it. He’d turn around and face his fate bravely. 

Then the Door Unknown opened. 

Hot winds swept out as the massive gate swung wide, enough to make him flinch. A cornucopia of delicious smells washed over him; his button nose twitched in delight. 

Nearly a head taller than all others, standing at the door was a gargantuan titan. A terrible scowl marked their wrinkled features and sharp tusks protruded from their lips.  Letting out a terrible and indiscernible series of shouts, he made every other giant suddenly seem more interested in their cups. 

Blackberry recognized this one. The Keeper. One of the few titans that walked in the land of Sellar, offering food to hamsterfolk in those sealed bellybins — easily gnawed through and gratefully accepted.

It was a silent understanding between those of Sellar and the Keeper. Food freely given to the hamsterdom as long as no paw crossed the Door Above. Those that did? Their punishment would be their demise.

In one hand, the tusked titan held a massive crude iron ball that seemed to steam with tasty odours. In the other, an oaken mace that curved like a snake’s head. A sight fearsome enough to make any hamster’s fur stand on its end. 

In any other situation, his gaze would have been locked on the Keeper, awed by his presence. However, his stare only lingered. He looked past the arch of the giant’s legs, past the Door Unknown, past the chamber of smells, to another gateway.

The Door Beyond the Door Unknown, or so he decided to call it. The door laid open, steam and smoke from the room spilling out to the strange dark — to the verdant tall grass and the vivid bloomed flowers. The land where his companions had ventured to, where the former protectors of Sellar could be found.

The Great Beyond.

In terms of pure acceleration, only Lingonberry was his real competition. If it came to a foot race, he had faith in his legs. Dropping into a sprinter’s stance, his chubby bottom legs flexed like a pressed spring. 

As if fired from a slingshot, he burst forward, daggers drawn. But speed alone wouldn’t be enough. The Keeper would have to be startled or disarmed from their goal — keeping. 

He twirled in the air, raising one of his daggers past his ear. Landing right on top of the Keeper’s boots, dust clouds of flour poofed around. With a mighty sneeze, he slammed the dagger into the boot’s toe. 

The Keeper’s cry sounded like the crack of a thunder. The colossus hopped, lifting his foot. Sheathing the dagger, Blackberry leapt to the floor. Scalding oils rained from his steaming iron ball, and spicy splashes threatened to sear him. Each one-legged stomp by the titan shook the earth around him. Blackberry jumped side to side, avoiding the crushing steps. His beady eyes searched for an opening, any safe path through.

More hot oil splashed on him as he darted about, the peppery oil stinging his eyes. Vision blurred, more bellowing and barking behind him. Staying here meant death, the only way was forward.

Slipping on some more hot goop, he bit his lips to stop letting out a cry. He rolled as another hop near squished him, only for the titan to skid on the same spilled puddle. Like an awful dancer, the tusked giant’s knees buckled and his feet slid trying to regain his balance. 

A chance. Pineberry would’ve called it a divine blessing from the Prime Strawberry. 

He bolted ahead, a streak of black lightning. A shadow began to chase after him. There was no need to look up. The pots and pans that crashed next to him, its clanks as loud as a shockwave. The chaos told him all he needed to know; the titan was falling fast, right on top of him.  

It was all the motivation he needed to spur himself faster, dropping to all fours. Heaving for air, paw after paw, he desperately dashed for the growing door. The shadow stretched longer and longer, a darkening doom. 

With a roar that belonged to a lion, he threw himself forward in a last-ditch leap. As he rolled, the world tumbled and crashed. Dust and debris, spicy oil and tasty smells, all of it swirled around him. 

Too shaken to tell if he was hurt, all Blackberry knew was that he was alive. Not squished and alive, that was enough. Even with what his nose was tempting him with, he ran. He ran like hamsterhell. 

A black bolt, he cannoned out of the Door Beyond the Door Unknown. The cool, night air —  fresh and wild — was unlike anything he’d experienced. The dirt under his feet felt strange but familiar; the same with the lush tall grass, whipping past his whiskers as he ran. 

Though the smells in that grand chamber were enticing, the smells out here were comforting. An earthy smell mixed with a clean floral scent. The crispness of the air. It made him reminisce of some imagined home that he’d long forgotten of. 

Each delicious breath of air stirred a slumbering, happy savageness. It made all previous panic and trouble disappear. The raucous laughter of the titans dimmed behind him, fading into the sky above. 

The sky. What a breath-taking sight. Despite the blanket of dark, little dots of light peppered its celestial expanse. It almost made him pause to gaze up in amazement, scanning the distant horizon. 

Illuminated by both moon and ‘dot’ light, a great white tree stood upon a grassy hillock. It towered alone, as if declaring its supremacy, while its branches appeared to reach for the heavens.

It was as Lifeberry had said. The True Tree.