Cyrus’s voice boomed far louder than normal, echoing across the entire valley.

“Congratulations, my fine contestants! You have completed your orientations and are ready to take the muzzles off.”

“Blinders,” I muttered.

Cyrus’s voice sounded close beside me. “But muzzles sound so much better.”

His booming announcement continued without interruption.

“It is my great pleasure to introduce you to the game you now compete in. You have all awakened somewhere within these mountains, and have all received the quest to find your starting team. Don’t waste time because there is precious little available.”

“You will discover that you all are located somewhere near a large valley. It is but the first of 4 tiers of plateaus within these mountains. Each is a separate stage you must conquer. You will have exactly 7 days to defeat the boss monster controlling Stage 1 and climb to the second. Note, only players who have reached at least level 10 will be allowed into the second stage.”

He paused, as if for a breath before adding in a more serious tone. “You’re going to want to pay attention to that last bit. You do not want to be late getting to Stage 2. Trust me.”

His voice turned cheery again. “The process will repeat for the second and third stages. One week per stage. They will each come with additional minimum level requirements, which we’ll explain to those of you who survive to Stage 2. You’ll have 9 days total to clear the final stage. That gives you a total of 30 days. Only 30 days. If you fail to reach Stage 4 and defeat the ultimate boss, then it’s game over.”

Another brief pause for effect. “That’s right, if you fail, then every one of you will die, so accept the fact that you must succeed or die trying because the alternative is worse. If you all fail, your planet will be deemed unworthy of integration into the multiverse and will be aggressively mined for all physical materials. That will result in the total annihilation of your world and the death of all living matter.”

“Talk about motivation!” he exclaimed with his gushing enthusiasm.

I just stared up into the sky, cold shock settling over my mind. He had suggested before that our lives and the fate of the planet hung in the balance. Now that he’d laid it all out there, the reality seemed overwhelming. And infuriating.

Billions of lives depended on how well we navigated a magical death valley survivor game on an alien planet, using magical powers we just unlocked moments before.

“And who is the ultimate boss whose downfall is so vital for the survival of your planet?” Cyrus continued. “Allow me to introduce her.”

A video screen appeared in front of me, consuming my entire sight. It showed a strikingly beautiful young woman standing in a wide, paved courtyard, surrounded by ornately carved pillars of white marble.

Her face was like a perfect sculpture, framed by long, white-blonde hair. She wore a gorgeous silver gown with a fitted bodice and layered skirt, all worked in an intricate pattern like scales. It left her pale arms and shoulders bare.

A seven-layered choker of pearls encircled her throat, with a golden pendant set with diamonds hanging below it. A tall crown, like a pair of silver fins rose at least a foot above her head. She held a fancy trident that would have made Aquaman jealous. She was stunning.

Eva’s voice boomed just as loud as Cyrus’ had. “Queen Marisara the Radiant rules her domain from Frostveil Hall.”

In the video, Queen Marisara made a beckoning motion with one slender hand and the screen panned out to show more of her courtyard. It was just outside of a tall building made of white granite. A castle maybe? I couldn’t see enough of it to tell, but got the sense that it was pretty big.

Another creature stepped into view, prodded by burly men with angel wings that looked like they were made from flowing water. They carried simpler tridents and used the weapons to encourage the other creature to step onto the plaza opposite Queen Marisara.

It was a gecko. I couldn’t help thinking that maybe the Geico gecko must have been sucked into the game, then swallowed a potion of insane growth. The creature was as tall as the nymph queen, but all black. Not a matte black, but a deep, light-sucking blackness that made it hard to see some of the details of his body.

He faced Queen Marisara with a confident tilt to his head. He shouted something, but we didn’t get the sound, and a boiling black cloud erupted out of his hands. The two angelic guards lunged, thrusting with their tridents that started glowing with brilliant blue light.

The cloud of darkness rolled over them and ripples of movement within the darkness suggested an intense, brief struggle. Then the dark cloud evaporated and the gecko stood over the two fallen guards. The wings of one had been ripped off, while the other lay with a trident piercing his torso.

The gecko leaped across the entire plaza. It crossed over 100 yards in a blink, trailing streamers of black smoke. My pulse quickened. If it killed the queen, would Cyrus declare us all winners and send us home?

Barely had the thought formed when the queen swung her trident with a lazy-looking movement that sent the weapon whipping forward so fast I couldn’t follow the strike. It intercepted the onrushing gecko.

The video playback slowed to super-slow-mo and I watched in open-mouthed horror as the trident ripped through the gecko’s entire torso, carving him in half like a red-hot knife through whipped cream. No blood erupted from the gecko. Instead, clouds of black smoke boiled out, but they were stained with streamers of silver. Those streamers spread until they consumed the entire cloud. It condensed and fell to the ground like a rain of tiny icicles.

The view followed one of those icicles to the ground, zooming in as it shattered into mist. Then the view rotated upward to show the queen standing with a rather bored expression on her face.

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That’s when I noticed the sky above her, complete with fluffy white clouds. The cloud directly above her had been split in half as cleanly as the gecko and the two halves were slowly drifting apart.

My breath caught and I whispered, “We have a lot of work to do.”

Cyrus spoke softly, sounding right next to me. “Motivating, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, motivating,” I breathed sarcastically.

“That’s the spirit,” Cyrus exclaimed, either not picking up on the sarcasm or ignoring it.

The video screen switched to a frontal view of Queen Marisara. She looked directly into it, as if seeing me across the distance. She spoke, and I expected her voice would sound as smooth as ice. Instead, it sounded harsh, like a valkyrie who had smoked three packs a day for decades.

“Come. Dare to enter my domain and meet the same fate!”

“She’s always been so enthusiastic about meeting new people,” Cyrus commented.

“How can we possibly defeat her?”

“The perfect question, Lucas. You love to dive right to the heart of the matter. You’ve got nearly a month to figure that out.”

For a moment, all I could do was stare, mind whirling. The excitement I’d felt at getting spells and magic had suppressed some of my initial panic, but now pure dread colored every thought.

This was really happening. I was stuck on an alien death battle planet with my brother and friends, and not only were our lives on the line, but the fate of the entire planet rested on us. We had to not only survive, but somehow grow strong enough to defeat that terrifying nymph queen.

With an effort, I forced my fears aside. Cyrus had shown us the challenge and was giving us the tools to succeed. It wouldn’t be called a game if there was no way to win. I planned to win. And it was obvious, I needed to kill a lot of monsters.

The video screen disappeared and Cyrus said, “Speaking of advancement, there’s your next opponent. Talk about great timing.”

Across the glade, another small monster was shooting out of the trees toward me.

“Aww,” I breathed, relaxing and lowering my fighting stick.

It looked like a cute ball of fluff, like all the adorableness of 100 kittens had been crammed into one cuddly little package. I felt an overwhelming urge to rush to meet the creature and hug it.

Then my Identify utility spell activated. Thankfully Eva read the text since I couldn’t focus on the scrolling words.

“Nightmare Gorger. Level 3. Uncommon. The Nightmare Gorger uses illusions to lure in its prey and rip out their throats. Think of it like the cuddly mogwai creature that turns into gremlins, but they’re all ax murdering serial killers.”

The words startled me out of my hazy stupor and I blinked a few times. Horror and anger in equal measures coursed through me and I scowled at the little monster. Tricking people with illusions was such a cheat.

“Congratulations. Your mental resistance has increased to 5%.”

I waved away the message to focus on the fast-approaching Nightmare Gorger, but the world seemed to freeze as a new male voice spoke. It sounded almost robotic compared to Cyrus and Eva as it filled the valley.

“Admin message. The initial calibration period is complete and recommended adjustments accepted. As of the end of this message, all monster levels will be adjusted upward. Good luck.”

The world resumed normal speed and the Nightmare Gorger suddenly swelled to the size of a really fluffy boulder as tall as my waist. The mental pressure increased, giving me a sudden headache, but I focused on the Identify text hanging over the monster’s head.

It had changed from level 3 to level 15.

“Oh, look at that!” Cyrus chortled. “You got the monster with the highest level upgrade. How exciting.”

Muttering a string of curses, I dove aside, barely avoiding the boulder-sized monster. It hurtled past, but instantly started banking around. Luckily it didn’t seem to be able to turn too fast, or I’d already be dead.

I sprinted away into the trees. As I ran, I shouted, “Why would you upgrade monster levels?”

“We need to fine-tune the difficulty of the game to make it exciting. Most monsters only upgraded a couple levels, but you won the lottery for the biggest change. What a chance to prove yourself.”

“Not helping.”

Drawing deep from my endurance, I ran flat out. I tried to focus on my recent resolve to kill a lot of monsters instead of the terror chilling my spine. This was just the first of many challenges. I could do this.

That didn’t mean I had to be dumb about it. Huge trees flashed past on either side. Looking for an advantage, I tried to find one I could quickly climb, but saw nothing. They were either way too small to support my weight, or so huge the lowest branches were too high overhead. Maybe I should have picked the Bio Morph utility spell after all.

Behind me, the buffed up Nightmare Gorger gave chase. It moved fast but made very little noise as its soft fur flowed over twigs and leaves without breaking them.

I glanced back every couple seconds, judging its speed and watching the trees around me. It rolled like a fluffy death ball of doom, and it was faster than me. If I stared too long, another wave of temptation to slow and hug it started tugging at my mind.

I did slow, but only to time my dodge when it barreled in to hit me. I jumped aside, swerving between a tree and a thick, spiny bush. In the process, I stepped on a spiky leaf and pain lanced up my left foot. That really hurt, but I refused to slow.

As I hoped, the Nightmare Gorger couldn’t turn fast enough. I hoped it would swerve around the bush, but it blasted right through it with a ripping sound like a buzz saw. Just a split second, and the spiny bush disintegrated in a spray of wood chips.

I gulped as the air filled with the pleasant scent of fresh-cut lumber. Level 15 was a far cry from the basic monsters I’d been facing before. This thing could rip me to bloody chunks in half a second.

Fear gave me extra speed, and I poured it all on, dodging between trees and changing direction often. The forest was blessedly flat in that area so I didn’t risk tripping. I kept a bit of my attention on the ground to avoid stepping on anything else sharp. If I stumbled, I was dead.

The trees were spaced pretty far out, and I didn’t spot anything I could use to turn the tide against it. The monster couldn’t match my agility, but it seemed willing to chase me all day until my stamina ran out.

If I slowed, it would eat me for dinner. I had no idea where I was going, or even where my little starting glade was. All my twists and turns had left me totally lost. Not that it mattered. I needed a way to escape.

Abruptly, I burst into a new clearing. The ground turned rockier, and a low hill rose right in front of me. It was over 50 feet high and twice that thick. The sides were sheer and too high for me to quickly climb, but a cave mouth yawed open in the middle of the hill.

Identify activated. “Forest Glade dungeon.”

Nothing else.

The Nightmare Gorger exploded out of the forest behind me, closing fast. I dodged to the side, and it shot past, skidding on the loose rocks as it tried to turn for another pass. Its body glowed suddenly and my headache returned.

I groaned, grabbing at my skull as I fought the renewed illusion magic. I glanced around again and went with the only idea I could come up with.

I sprinted toward the dungeon. Stopping just a couple feet in front of it, I turned to face the Nightmare Gorger. It had completed its turn and was speeding straight at me.

I’d wait till the last possible second and dive aside. With any luck, the monster would plunge into the dungeon and get stuck in there. If I had a luck stat and it was even higher than I hoped, it would crash into a monster in the dungeon and get into a fight while I escaped.

Heck, I’d even settle for it trying to swerve after me and smashing itself flat against the cliff face.

“Come on!” I shouted, tensed to spring.

20 yards. My entire focus narrowed until all I could see was the charging monster as my every muscle tensed to leap.

So I was totally unprepared when a slender, orange tentacle shot out of the dungeon opening and wrapped around my waist.

I barely registered what was happening before it yanked so hard, it felt like I was getting teleported again. It hauled me off my feet, and I soared backward right into the dungeon, screaming all the way.

The Nightmare Gorger plunged in right behind me.