[Trial Stage has begun!]

  Sam stumbled, the soft ground squelching under him. He waded through large leaves, fleeing from the unknown. His body felt strange, the newness of it unlike anything he had ever experienced. He stopped, trying to catch his breath. There was no end to this forest. He’d been running for what felt like the better part of an hour since he woke up, and he was beginning to feel like he was running in circles. The first problem was that he couldn’t see much. Above the canopy of trees, he could see slices of a moon. He’d noted there was something different about this one. For one, it wasn’t the supermoon. And this forest wasn’t in Colorado.

  He tried to breathe evenly. He closed his eyes and tried to use his color game to calm his nerves, but a snap to his left startled him. He lowered himself, hoping he’d be hidden by the leaves. The air was humid, making his shirt stick to his back. His hair was longer than he remembered it being, but those were not problems he could dwell on at the moment.

  Another snap echoed in the forest night. He gasped and covered his mouth with a palm swiftly. He’d always hated forests. No, he hated being in one. He’d never enjoyed camping or hikes. Nature was beautiful, but he would rather view it from afar. He did his best to keep the planet safe, and he figured that was enough for the universe to be happy with him. Yet, here he was. In an unknown, wet, humid region. The longer he stared into the darkness, the harder it was to convince himself that the shapes he saw weren’t wild animals.

  Sam closed his eyes, shifting closer to the wide-trunked tree he’d been resting on. He didn’t want to imagine anything, but he didn’t want to see what was out there either. He knew the best thing to do in a situation like this was to keep walking, but there was also the fear that he could stumble on something that could kill him. He had the worst luck ever. Tara’s face came to mind, and he banished the thought. She wasn’t the doing of his luck. She made her choice. That was on her, not him.

  He hissed. There was a world of dangers around him and he was thinking about a woman who abandoned him. He peered out, trying to listen for anything out there. Nothing. The silence was just as unnerving as the sudden cracks. He could hear the whistle of insects, but there was nothing he could do about that. Sam stood up, deciding he’d have to face whatever danger was out there. He took stock of what he had.

  Nothing, he thought, until his hand brushed the holster clipped to his waist. He cursed himself. Somehow he’d forgotten that he had his Glock with him. He pulled it out, checked if it was loaded, and holstered it again, this time bringing the holster to his hip.

  His pants felt tighter around his thighs, but that was a problem for when he got out of the forest. With the gun on his hip, he felt a little reassured. He’d never needed the gun since he got it the year before, but he’d been practicing at the gun range every weekend. After two hours of pelting target sheets, he was sure he could protect himself.

  He ventured forward, keeping his eyes open and his ears keen for any sound that might be dangerous. He didn’t know if the edge of the forest was still far, but it didn’t matter. He’d walk it.

  A little light would have been better, but Sam had learned to work with whatever he had. He’d learned that the hard way. And now, as he trudged through the wet grass bed and wild flora, he thanked his past experiences for pushing him to the point where he could be self-sufficient.

  He bit down a curse every time he walked into a tree, hating the darkness. A small breeze rushed past him, rustling the leaves around him. He crouched, brows furrowing. He wasn’t sure, but he thought he could pick up something. Movements. He listened some more, disbelieving what he could hear. Then it clicked immediately. He turned to flee but froze at the sight in front of him. It was hunched over, half cloaked in the darkness. Only its molten golden eyes shone abnormally.

  Sam’s eyes bulged when it snarled. He couldn’t shake off the tremor rushing through him. He was locked in place. He thought about the gun at his hip, but he couldn’t move to pull it out. Fear, Sam cursed. The beast in front of him took a step forward, and from just that one movement, it seemed to enlarge. Sam stayed still, heart gunning rapidly in his chest. He had to leave, had to run. How had he thought he could survive this? There was no way he could kill something like this. What even was it? Then it stretched to full height, towering over him.

  Then something howled in the distance, and both Sam and the monster turned swiftly. Legs carrying him before he could think. Cold wind whipped against his face as he ran. Behind him, he could hear the monster coming after him.

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  There was nowhere for him to run to, though. The whole forest was just a wide space of trees and bushes. And he was sure the monster was familiar with the forest. It was in its playground. Sam stumbled, kicking something hard enough to throw him forward. He tumbled, rolled carelessly, and slammed into a thick trunk. The fall gave him a brief daze and very little pain. He pushed that fact to the back of his head. Something hissed near him and Sam bolted. He leaped over a half-fallen tree crossing his path. No, he flew over it, his leg flailing as he dropped.

  Something was different, but he couldn’t tell what it was yet. He heard the deep growl behind him, closer than he’d expected. He looked up just in time to see a shadow dive over him. Sam came to a sudden halt, and in front of him, the beast sat in a crouch. This time he could see its furry head and a half view of its snout illuminated by a slice of moonlight.

  A werewolf? Sam thought, alarms blaring in his head. Why in hell is there a werewolf here? He took a step back, trying to backtrack away from the beast. It crouched, eyes set on Sam. Sam fumbled for the gun, scrambling like an amateur. Fear made everything harder, and even more difficult to breathe properly.

  The monster leaped for him the very minute he pulled the gun out. The moment stretched endlessly and then snapped to the end as Sam squeezed the trigger once, twice, and then he was knocked out on the third squeeze.

  Sam yelled, scrambling to get away from it, but the weight had settled on him now. The beast wasn’t moving either.

  [You have defeated a D’Arak!]

  Sam blinked away the odd alert and took a breath to muster the strength to slide it off him. Once the weight was off him, he rolled on his back, breathing hard. His right arm hurt, but that was a distant worry.

  More were coming.

  He heard a howl to his right, but he could feel the vibration. He pulled himself up on his knees and listened some more. They were coming from everywhere, which meant there was nowhere to hide. He’d probably die. He had about twelve more shots, but that wasn’t going to save him. He needed to find somewhere to hide away until…

  He stopped. There was something wrong with thinking like that. He couldn’t shake off the horror of staying and trying to fight against the coming horde of the… D’Arak monsters, but something held him in place as if subconsciously he knew that was what he was supposed to do.

  Fear. The word echoed in his mind. He was not just fighting against the wolf-creatures, he was battling his fear. He checked and found he had eleven shots left. Which meant if the coming threat were more than five, he was definitely dead. But his new decision pulled a blanket of calm over him. It didn’t erase his fear, but it soothed him into acute concentration.

  Dawn would come soon, and he wanted to be alive when it came.

  There was no plan. He had to defeat this trial somehow or die trying. The rustling got closer, and just before the first came into view, the tension settled over him. He took a step back, sliding left as the beast leaped for him. A shot echoed in the night and the werewolf whined as the shot slammed into it. Then he followed it with a kick that launched it back a few paces.

  [You have defeated a D’Arak!]

  There it was again, that message. He didn’t have the time to focus on it. Two more lunged for him. He crouched and rolled forward, letting them sail over him. They snarled, but he wasn’t listening; he couldn’t take a moment to breathe or think, or he’d freeze from the fear of facing a snarling, snout-snapping monster with fangs.

  He twirled sharply, Glock up just before the werewolf dove for him. He shot it in the head and missed. It slammed into him, its shoulder snuffing the air out of him.

  Sam staggered back, gritting his teeth through the pain. He fell back, arm screaming with pain. He wasn’t very good at fighting, but he didn’t need skill. He just had to pummel these damn beasts. And that was what he wanted to do. He stood up unsteadily, his breath ragged. He whispered a small prayer of thanks that he was still holding his gun. Nine more shots, and now he knew he could cause more damage than he could before.

  There were two more now. They spread into a crescent. Great luck, Sam thought. A pack of werewolves!

  Instead, he grinned. He was going to get out of this. He would tear and gnaw through them if he had to.

  “Come,” Sam said as he pulled the Glock up, poised at the largest werewolf.

  They watched him cautiously. That surprised him. He had thought they were dull beasts. He shot the largest beast, and that spurred the others into motion. Sam moved left swiftly, going for the one he sensed was the fastest. It swung its claw at him, but Sam made a quick shot. The werewolf staggered back, and before he could crack another shot at it, a second wolf tried to crush him. Sam leaped back, giving him enough space to take a shot. He used his left hand to steady his shot, blasting the beast’s head at close range.

  [You have defeated a D’Arak!]

  He used his back foot to push himself forward. The third beast along with the largest growled, this one with distinct red eyes bright with rage. Sam’s breathing continued ragged, but now his thoughts were in order. He had enough bullets to take them both down, and one of them was almost dead.

  It turned its head to the other, and then it did something that shocked Sam to the core of his existence.

  “You killed Eiger!” It growled, the words coming out as a growl. “You killed them all!”

  Sam’s arm fell to his side, his mouth hanging open in shock as the beast raged.

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