Within minutes, I realized I was an idiot.

Wolf howls started behind me. First one, then several more. Behind them and echoing above all the others came a deeper howl that set all the hairs down my spine standing on edge.

The howls weren’t words exactly, but I perfectly understood their meaning. The pack was on the hunt, and I was the target. The deeper howl came from the ultimate alpha, and I’d earned his personal ire by killing one of his lieutenants.

Worse, the pack of werewolves were already between me and the descent down to stage 1. If I had fled south immediately, I might have made it. Now, I was forced to run the other way.

Sure, let’s explore a stage with insanely powerful monsters instead of getting out of Dodge. Idiot!

Panic swelled from my wolf instincts and I barely bit back a low whine of fear at the sound of that alpha’s howl. Instead, I bolted the other way, barely cognizant of my actions as the wolf in me flooded my human thoughts. Like a ghost, I hurtled through the dark forest.

I was not the only ghost, and I didn’t need wolf insight to know the pack was on the hunt, chasing me. My red werewolf eyes pierced the darkness as easily as midday sun, while my ears picked up the tiniest rustle, and the river of scents told me the story of everything around me.

I’d never considered humans to be blind, but even with my enhanced perception stats, I never could have imagined I could learn so much through my other senses. Unfortunately, that meant the other werewolves prowling the forest could find me as easily as I found other prey. I fled through dense forest, flashing through small clearings and weaving through bramble thickets, with the howls of the other wolves never fading.

Then more howls took up the call to my right.

Not good. My fear spiked and I increased my pace. I sensed other denizens of the forest hunkering down from the wolf frenzy. Some might have attacked me on other nights. I sensed powerful auras and terrible danger. I avoided those as best I could, but I was moving too fast for true caution. That added another layer of fear onto my already panicked thoughts.

I did sense other monsters weak enough that if I had time, I could have hunted instead of fleeing. The missed opportunities for more experience added another layer, this one frustration.

All cowered from the wrath of the alpha. I couldn’t hide, so I ran. In wolf form, my powerful body bunched and flexed in effortless bounds, hurtling me through the night. I could run for hours, but so could my pursuers.

As I ran, I fought to pull my thoughts above the mindless instincts of my wolf form. If I didn’t think, I would die. I still let my instincts guide my flight, but gained enough sense of myself to pay attention and step in, if needed.

As we ran, the landscape became clear. The werewolves owned the central sections of the wide forest that filled the southern half of the plateau. I tried to skirt along the edges, but the howling of wolves closing in from 2 sides forced me to take chances, and I plunged through.

I might be strong, but I was only a single werewolf. Another small pack would rip me apart, and it sounded like I was getting hunted by more than one pack. The wolf in me bristled at the thought that I was now the prey, but I forced down the suicidal urge to let loose my own howl.

Idiot, that would get me killed all the faster. I had to find a way to escape, to slip around them, and return to the lower stage.

As I ran, I glimpsed enough of the area through breaks in the trees to get a better sense of it. The second stage was centered around a rectangular plateau that ran south to north, with tall mountains rising to the west in ranks of ever-taller peaks, just like they did to the east and south of stage 1. The slope back down to stage 1 was along the southeastern edge, and the huge forest ran northward from there for about 3 miles.

Of course, I had to flee north, away from the exit. In minutes, I crossed the entire forest before the trees thinned to grasslands that gave way in turn to lowlands covered in lakes, marshes, and streams. They all emptied into a huge final lake that consumed most of the northern third of the plateau. A spectacular waterfall plunged from a 2000 foot cliff just north of the lake, cascading down in a torrent that put Niagara Falls to shame.

That northern cliff formed the boundary for the stage on that side. On its northwest edge, I spotted a canyon cutting into the cliff. The air blowing from that direction smelled different. That had to be the ascent up to the third stage.

I didn’t like leaving the protection of the forest, but I had no choice. My hunters were growing closer. So I padded north, studying the lake in the bright light of the 2 moons and the many stars.

Somehow the moons did not block the dazzling starlight, and the cool lights illuminated a squat castle of dark stone that crouched on the shore of the lake. It looked rundown, with crumbling battlements and chunks of stone missing from towers. A dozen tall ships were moored along the shoreline near the castle.

After a moment, I realized the ships were actually sunk in shallow water. Their hulls looked mostly rotted, the canvas of their sails hanging limp and ragged. That was the domain of the undead sailors. A fetid miasma hung over the entire area, and I easily caught whiffs of it with my lupine nose.

I spotted many of the sailors moving about the castle and the ships, or returning in small bands from the forest. I counted more than 2 dozen, which meant there were probably even more.

I skirted the marshland, angling to the east, but came to a dead end when I topped a rise and reached the eastern edge of the plateau. A line of low, craggy hills marked the boundary. I crouched on one of those and my huge maw dropped open, my long tong lolling out as I drank in the sight.

Far below me lay the expanse of stage 1. From below, no one could see up here to stage 2. They saw only impassable cliffs. Another lake filled the northern quarter of stage 1, fed by a smaller waterfall that plunged over 2000 feet from the edge of stage 2. Now the layout of the first and second stages became clear.

The main valley of stage 1 ran north to south, with the main plateau of stage 2 running parallel to it, only a couple thousand feet higher, with sheer cliffs separating the stages. They were like two giant steps in the world. The gentler slope that formed the ramp up from stage 1 to 2 ran for a couple miles on the southern edge of the valley.

In werewolf form, my long-distance gaze was not as good as my human form, but my new Sight of the Explorer ability still worked. I spent a moment testing it out and zooming my gaze in on distant vistas. I tried to memorize as much of the scene as I could.

Many other canyons and ravines cut into the eastern mountains from that lower central valley of stage 1. I bet all of us had been scattered all through those eastern mountains. In order to gather all the survivors, we’d have to scour every one. That seemed like a daunting task to finish in the few short days remaining to us. Hopefully people found the grassland on their own.

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Looking farther out, I realized for the first time that mountains ringed everything. I’d already seen the mountains on the east and south sides of stage 1 rising in ever-higher peaks until they reached the impossibly high mountains that formed an unbroken wall around the stage. Now I could see that the west side of stage 2 rose in similar mountain tiers up to giant peaks that blocked the sky. So the lower two stages were blocked in on 3 sides.

“Cyrus, these stages are huge, but not compared to the entire planet. Why does it look like we’re hemmed in?”

“The stages are big enough for this challenge. Would you prefer needing to cross thousands of miles to reach the next stage in time?”

“No. It’s just, the layout seems weird.”

“It will become clear in time.”

Maybe. To the north, the sheer cliff up to stage 3 was all I could see. I couldn’t make out higher peaks beyond, but I bet they’d be visible once we ascended to stage 3. Did that mean the entire area, all four stages, were entirely surrounded by impassable mountains?

Should I go up to take a peak?

I huffed a wolf laugh. Idiot. I was already running for my life from werewolves and had sensed monsters strong enough to snuff out my life hidden in the forest. Stage 2 was so deadly, I needed to escape as fast as I could. Venturing up to stage 3 would get me obliterated for sure.

My thoughts were interrupted by a fresh wave of wolf howls ripping the night, far closer this time. The werewolves had reached the edge of the forest and were pushing into the marshy grassland. Dammit. I’d nearly let myself get trapped against the cliffs.

As a werewolf, I was strong and my regeneration ability was incredible. Still, I doubted even I’d survive jumping off a 2000 foot sheer cliff in an attempt to take the quick way back down to stage 1.

So I dropped back into the tall grasses and loped north toward the marshes, lake, and that castle until every step squelched in deep muck. My lips curled back from my long muzzle in disgust, but I pushed on, slipping ever closer to the domain of the zombies.

Behind me, the pack came on, spreading out, casting about for my scent. They’d pick it up in seconds, so I pushed north until the mucky marsh water reached my chest. Then I turned west and half swam, half churned through the muck and marsh.

Howls redoubled. The pack had found my trail. They raced north, straight toward me. They too would get bogged down in the marsh, but that wouldn’t give me any advantage.

An alarm bell began to toll from the rundown zombie castle. A great, blue light erupted into the sky, driving back the shadows, and I easily picked out the sounds of dozens of feet marching and voices shouting.

Did the zombies think the werewolves were coming for them? Despite the two apex groups occupying the same stage, they clearly did not get along. That fact might be my only chance at escape.

The wolf howls continued, but seemed to be slowing. I used the extra seconds to push west, trying to minimize my sounds while covering as much ground as possible. The marsh reeked like dead fish, but the tall rushes and grasses kept me concealed from view.

Then the alpha’s deeper voice howled over the rest and the pack came on faster. Almost at once, bolts of energy from the zombie rifles tore the night sky. The flickering red of their energy barrage lit the sky all around. At that range, I doubt they’d hit much, but angry wolf cries rose in response.

A deep, gravelly voice rang over the rest, shouting in a distinct Russian accent. “Begone from our lands, wolflings. We have no use for your bodies and lack the time to waste with another confrontation.”

That didn’t sound like a zombie. I wanted to go find out who that might have been, but that would mean heading back into danger. I couldn’t risk it.

Another slow minute ticked by as I crept west. Wolves howled, but did not seem to be advancing. Some zombies fired laser blasts, but the two groups seemed to have reached some kind of standoff.

Then a cacophony of howls and shouts and energy blasts erupted from back near the edge of the forest. It sounded like another zombie raiding party returning to their home had marched right into the middle of the pack and were getting ripped apart.

The rest of the zombies, back by the fort, sortied out, ripping the night apart with laser blasts. A deeper roar that had to come from something vast, shook the darkness. That sound made my hackles raise, and I increased my pace.

I had no idea what that monster might be, but I wanted no part of it. With the tumult raging, I risked angling south to dryer land, then racing west at full speed. As I neared the foothills that ringed the western side of the stage 2 plateau, the grasses thinned and I broke from cover.

The forest covering the southern half of the plateau didn’t actually extend all the way to the western foothills, but faded out to open, rolling grasslands and low hills. That might offer my one avenue of potential escape. I had feared I’d need to flee up into the mountains and work south from there, but I’d prefer a straight sprint to safety.

So I ran as fast as my wolf body could go, straight south through the rolling hills of soft, low grass between the forest and the peaks to the west. Just like those eastern mountains of stage 1, the western mountains were cut with canyons and ravines, and I smelled tantalizing scents of monsters and animals of all sorts. Those could prove effective hunting grounds when I returned.

If I escaped. The toll of the constant running was starting to tax even my powerful wolf form, but I’d easily make it back to the slope down to stage 1 at the southern edge of the plateau before dawn. I had at least half an hour to go before my spell wore out.

Then wolf howls tore the night apart again. I didn’t know if it was the same pack or another one, but they’d found me. At least 8 werewolves bounded from the forest behind me, streaking out into the short grasslands in hot pursuit.

I shot away like a dark flash, but I was winded and they were fresh on the trail. Despite my best efforts, the pack closed steadily.

No. I only need a little more time. I can’t get run down and torn apart now.

The wolf part of my brain rose in panic, swamping my thoughts as I raced away from pursuit. I covered 2 quick miles, but my pursuers closed the distance steadily. Soon they were barely 50 yards behind, their glowing red eyes bright with bloodlust. We all sensed the chase would end soon, at least half a mile before I made it to the exit slope at the southeastern corner of the plateau.

In desperation, I swerved back toward the forest. The change in direction gave my pursuers a chance to close the gap to within 30 yards. Their panting breaths and heavy growls were easy to hear, along with the ripping of soft earth by their sharp claws.

I had to think, but it was hard to form coherent thoughts. The wolf part of my brain was running in blind panic, tearing through the trees with a surge of fear-driven speed that left the other wolves behind for a moment.

Just a moment, though. I was just tiring myself out. They’d catch me and rip me to pieces. I had to cast a spell, had to think of something, had to wake up. My thoughts spun uselessly, my attempts to plan shredding under the overwhelming fear of my wolf instincts.

I found a path through the forest and increased speed, flashing through the darkness, with my pursuers hot on my heels. The lead werewolf was barely 3 leaping strides behind. At any second, he would close the distance and hamstring me with tearing fangs.

Panic overwhelmed my rational mind and I howled with fear. The other werewolves responded with howls of anticipation.

Shouts responded, just ahead. Voices raised in alarm.

Zombies.

I smelled them then, the rancid, living-death stench of the undead sailors. With a burst of hope, I lunged around a final tree and tore into a small clearing where a dozen zombies were gathered, energy rifles already raised.

They opened fire immediately, and I dove sideways, rolling across the ground and barely dodging the laser barrage.

The lead werewolf who had expected to run me down within seconds was not so lucky. He took the full barrage in the face and chest. With a howl of pain and rage, the werewolf went down, flesh seared, fur scorched. His wounds started to heal instantly and the rest of the pack hurtled out of the darkness.

For a second, they forgot about me. Either the rivalry between the groups was so fierce it trumped chasing down a rogue werewolf, or they were simply reacting to the pain their leader had suffered.

Zombies shouted in alarm and kept firing, bolts of energy tearing into the werewolves, but the nimble hunters dodged and jumped, avoiding many as they closed with unerring determination and bloodlust.

I raced along the edge of the clearing. Ha! Finally, some good luck.

I’d led the pack into a trap. Now they and the zombies could kill each other while I escaped. Just as I reached the southern edge of the clearing, a single bound away from disappearing into the trees and the tantalizing promise of safety, I glanced back a final time.

The fight was a wild melee of chaos as wolves and zombies tore each other apart. Lying in the center of it all were two planks, each with a single human captive chained in place.