Everyone began to form a long queue. Liz didn’t waste her time and also joined the queue. When she came closer to the big man, she hoped he would recognize her. It’s been seven years, Liz was a little girl then, and so much has changed since then. All of that made sense to her, but she was still a little bit sad.

  Ogg was randomly giving each participant their coin. When it was Liz’s turn to receive a coin, he stuck his hand in the sack, then looked at her face, and froze.

  “Do I know you?” he asked.

  It put Liz off guard. Although it made her feel better, she didn’t want to blow off her anonymity, so she just shook her head side to side, saying ‘no.’

  “Oh, really?”

  Ogg had a sly smirk on his face. He was shuffling coins in the sack for way too long, not breaking his eye contact with Liz. He studied her face thoroughly. It didn’t take long before he took one coin out and gave it to her.

  Liz grabbed it from him, hoping to end this interaction as soon as possible. When she made her first step out of the queue, Ogg suddenly said:

  “I’ll say hi to Zywa from you.”

  Liz felt lightning strike through her body.

  So, he recognized me. She thought.

  Liz looked back to check if she was in trouble, but he already turned his attention to the next person in line. Liz took a deep breath and went somewhere where she could hide herself from the embarrassment.

  When her cheeks returned to normal color, Ogg already finished distributing coins. He gave them an hour to collect their stuff, find themselves a new group, and prepare to go to the forest.

  At that moment, Liz remembered that she never checked what was on her coin. If she wanted to find someone, they would need to be on the same side of the fence. Taking it out of her pocket was nerve-racking. When she looked at the coin, at first, it was hard to understand what it meant. It had a wolf in sheep’s clothing pictured on it.

  Was she a prey or a hunter? She blamed herself for not paying more attention when Ogg was showing both coins. She decided to go with the prey, thinking it might symbolize that the sheep can fight back.

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  By the end of an hour, Liz failed to find someone to group up with. A girl who looked even younger than she was, with big, sad eyes and a terrible attitude, wasn’t a good sale.

  Despite most of them being the same age as her. The truth was that most of the people had known each other for a long time before the exam, and letting the strange girl they never met into the group was a big risk.

  Liz had never socialized with other kids since she came to Zayah. She mostly received her education from Zywa and her foster father. She didn’t go to places where other kids hung out and spent her free time inside Ve, reading books or taking care of her plants.

  At the end of an hour, the crowd was separated into large and small groups. Some individuals either failed to find a group or refused to join one. Everyone was standing in front of the forest, ready to enter.

  Liz found where the two biggest groups were near each other. She was trying not to grab any attention, hoping that when the exam began, they would be too busy dealing with the people next to them, creating an opening for her to sneak past and run as far as she could.

  In the same way as before, the badge started vibrating. A few seconds later, everyone could hear the counting.

  Five, four, three, two, one.

  A sharp buzz filled the air. Lit thought that people might fight the moment the exam begins, but she couldn’t imagine the scale.

  As planned, she managed to sneak past those two large groups. As predicted, they were too occupied with each other to notice one girl coming through.

  When Liz was far enough to stop hiding, she ran deeper into the forest. She could still hear the clanking of their weapons, the devastating impact of magic, and the screams of the newly injured humans. Those people were leaving scars on the innocent trees, soil, and Liz’s conscience. It reminded her of the Frey in its last hours, but on a much smaller scale.

  Liz forgot one important rule: When you are in the forest, you should look where you are stepping, and when you are running, you should pay twice as much attention to what is in front of you.

  In the thick, white blanket of fog, Liz didn’t notice in time that there was a steep cliff ahead, she didn’t notice in time that a broken branch was under her foot when she tried not fall over, she didn’t notice in time that her leg was stuck in something when she tried to swim to the surface.

  She managed to release her stuck leg from the sticky, jelly-like substance. Liz was coughing out the water she swallowed in panic. When she reached the waterside, her eyes were red, her clothes were soaked, and her nose and throat were burning.

  Liz checked her bag in case she lost something. After she confirmed she didn’t lose anything, she looked around, trying to understand where she was.

  A beautiful waterfall was gurgling its melody, surrounded by the deep forest. She appreciated the view even though she was still mad that it almost killed her. The water was crystal clear, and she could finally see through it. There was a small patch of muddy bottom while everything else was covered in small stones. A large rock was right under the waterfall, and she was glad she didn’t fall on it.

  Liz needed to dry her wet clothes, which meant it was time to say goodbye to a beautiful sight and try to find flammable wood to make a campfire. She was looking for the old dwarf trees, because, unlike their giant brothers, you could set them on fire.