He stood in front of the crystal wall, hand hovering over the circle. Perspiration coated his face. Every attempt hurt so bad and the net was barely helping.

He needed a better strategy. The net wasn’t heavy enough. If only he could tie rocks to it or something.

Dakota paused. Why couldn’t he tie rocks to it? The room appeared willing to let him bring items inside. Surely rocks would be allowed.

He hauled the net outside, stepping through the fully cleared doorway. He had also carved dirt steps into the side of the pit, making it an easy climb out.

He laid the net beside the garden and made a pile of stones. He had come across a bunch while clearing the grass.

The net was made up of heavy braided fibres. He undid a few and looped them around fist-sized rocks. It took a few minutes to find an effective method of securing them. They loved to slip from knots he was certain would hold.

He secured the rocks to the edges, doubling, then tripling its weight.

A couple of hours later, Dakota hefted the net. It was heavy. Hopefully, he could still throw it.

He crouched on top of a floating bridge. Two orbs patrolled below him. Just a little closer… He hurled the weighted net and caught both constructs. They strained against the strands but couldn’t get out.

“Yes!”

He pumped his arm. The net worked! He pulled his arm down, narrowly avoiding a beam. Still one orb out there but he could handle that. Probably.

Dakota tapped a ring. Number seventeen. He could almost taste the victory. He ran along the side of the room, barely outpacing the orb flying after him. The orbs…were getting crazy. He couldn’t say whether it was a factor of time or the number of rings he acquired but they were beginning to spaz. The orb following him was down to a three-second delay between beams and the orbs caught in the net were vibrating dangerously.

He barreled around a corner and rolled, ducking two beams from the trapped constructs. He had been avoiding them but the last few rings were located near them. Steeling himself, he rushed from cover. The trapped orbs started blasting and didn’t stop. A beam scorched his shoulder as another clipped his gut. No! He was too close. The third orb flew in front of him, and without thinking, he decked it…and felt his hand break.

The orb glared up at him.

Dakota blinked.

Shoot.

He was close. Sooo close. Ring seventeen was the new ring fourteen. If he could trap all three orbs in the net he might be able to finish the room. But getting all three constructs in one throw was nearly impossible, he only managed to catch two every third attempt.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

The real problem was that they could keep shooting even when held down. While it meant he could collect the rings in the rest of the room, the area around the trapped orbs became a death zone. He needed to pin them out of sight. If they couldn’t see him, they couldn’t hit him.

He leaned against a deck post, watching the sun dip past the trees. Jesus frolicked in the field, chasing bugs and rolling in the grass. As he watched the lamb, its head snapped forward. The wings of a dragonfly poked from the lamb’s mouth. Wow, Jesus was getting fast.

It was dangerous being up here, exposed, but he didn’t have the heart to stop lamb from playing. He also appreciated the time away from training and the “room”.

He scanned the edge of the forest, looking for movement. The goblins had been quiet. He was sure they would have attacked after the fiasco by the stream but they hadn’t appeared. He had injured the chief with the gut wound; however, he thought something else might be at play.

Stretching, he stood, moving towards the lamb. A shape moved in the trees.

Dakota froze peering into the twilight. Jesus trotted through the field, chasing a bug…straight toward the forest.

“jesus!”

He shout-whispered the lamb’s name but it continued chasing, oblivious to its surrounding. There was definitely something in the treeline. Two pairs of red eyes suddenly appeared near Jesus.

Fear clenched his heart. He saw the goblins raise spears over their heads. He was running now, dashing through the grass.

“Jesus, NO!”

The lamb finally turned its head back, giving him a quizzical look. The goblins threw their spears. Time slowed down as the shafts arced through the air. He wouldn’t make it, the spears would land, killing his only friend on this island.

Jesus raised his head, gazing at the falling javelins…and calmly sidestepped them. The spears thudded into the ground, one on each side. Both Dakota and the goblins stared at the lamb.

“Bahh.”

He scooped the lamb up and watched the two goblins flee into the darkness. So not attacked…but watched.

He set the lamb down in Room “1”. Jesus “bahh’ed” pitifully as he closed the door. He was in a timeout.

Dakota was angry with himself that he would be so careless to let the lamb roam so close to the tree line. This island was hostile and there was only one of him. The run-in did remind him of why he was trying to complete the room. It wasn’t for the satisfaction of beating the training, it was to prepare for the real fight.

It had been two days since he added stones to the net. The closest he had gotten was eighteen rings which sounded like a lot except that the last two rings inevitably were located beside the trapped orbs.

Grabbing the net, he placed his hand against the circle. Almost there.

Dakota slid into a pit as the whoosh of the statues firing filled the room. He looked up as the beams crossed above. While it was safe to hide in the pits, the orbs never looked in them.

Getting out always proved tricky. A rope hung from the ceiling near one side, providing a means of escape but if he burst into the open, he was likely to run into a construct. He had to carefully climb, peeking over the edge until an opportunity presented itself. It would be far easier if he had some way to see out ahead of time.

“Idiot!”

He had been trying to think of an area of the room to trap the orbs in. The pits were so obvious it was embarrassing he hadn’t thought of them earlier.

This session was a bust but he would try trapping the orbs in a pit on the next attempt.

He crawled out and rolled behind a wall as an orb zipped by. The only question now was how he wanted to die.