[Notice: A Quest has issued a reward for your defeat! Survive the countdown or defeat the hunters!

Remaining Time: 3 Hours

Survival Reward: 150 Souls, 10 Stat Vouchers

“We need to prepare,” Dan paced in front of the den. “They’re sending their guards after us.” The wolf pack could smell his anxiety.

“Cooper and Sally, take the pups west.” Dan pointed into the distance, “Return here in a day.” Two of the Elders bowed and began leading the three smaller pups out of the meadow. “Silva, Robin, and Sparrow, you stay with us. Scout the forest and retreat if you encounter anything. Dan grabbed a jagged flint piece out of the den and strapped it to a stick with a piece of cloth.

“I’m sorry, I should have-.” Dan held up a hand midway through my sentence.

“This isn’t your fault. We are just playing the game ho-” Dan’s eyes sharpened and he recoiled for a moment. “...W-with the… cards… we are dealt.” He turned away. “Anyways, this was inevitable.”

“I’ll help” I felt a need to repay the pack. They provided me with hospitality and guidance.

“You’re a good man Nathan.” Dan glanced toward the first rays of the sun.

“You too” It was almost funny to compliment each other’s morality so shortly after our crimes. Nevertheless, I meant it.

We planned the defense of the den. Had I a heart, it would be pumping furiously. I hadn’t done anything remotely similar since my dungeons and dragons days with my friends and my little brother. And that had only been make-believe.

“I can play dead just outside the den. I can distract them, then someone can attack from behind. then we have them surrounded.” As I spoke I applied the healing salve twice, healing myself to full as my bones regrew.

Dan nodded. “I’ll call in the wolves to surround the attackers fully.” I jiggled my skull in an affirmative nod, while Silva crashed through the trees toward Dan.

Silva sniffed at the air and jerked her head toward the treeline to the meadow. Dan interpreted immediately.

“They are coming.” his voice had become an angry rumble. The pack scattered. I nodded and took my position, collapsing into a pile of bones by the den. My skull landed face down, my vision buried in the forest floor.

I waited until I heard movement. Through the trees, a group moved, metallic jingling hinting at some kind of armor.

“One of them was wicked thin, starved-like. And the other was massive. Hunched over like some kinda’ beast.” The voice was crude and young, woven equally with dread and intrigue.

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“Are you sure they went this way? They could’ve been trying to throw us off.” An older man spoke with a firm voice. I saw nothing from my face-down position.

“Quite sure. Look at this over here.” The older man called loudly as he picked up my skull, and turned it around to face him. I found myself staring straight into a middle-aged man’s beard. “Poor little bud. Some traveler making his way through.”

I ordered my body to rise. With a short clatter, my body was pulled into the correct standing position, connecting to my skull. The lights in my eye sockets ignited red.

The man’s face drained, and he stumbled backward. He grabbed for his hip, where a sword was sheathed. I lunged, thrusting my wooden spear directly forward. Something resisted the piercing blow, deep in the man’s gut. The stranger’s scream was cut off before it could begin, as silver jaws clamped down on the side of his throat.

Silva made sure the quarry was dead by tearing out the rest of his throat. Just in time for his friends to find us. Four figures stepped out of the trees in the dim light below the canopy. They were each equipped with weapons and light mail armor.

“There they are!” From one of the human figures, an arrow twanged off a bowstring. It barely missed my ribcage as it sang in flight.

I ran to the side, angling to approach the group of four. Two prominent warriors stepped forward, one wielding a sword, the other wielding a spear. The steel flashed as they swung, barely in range. I kept moving, barely scraping past the attacks. I jumped forward to dodge a low swipe as the closest man grunted. My target was chosen, the smaller figure in the back with a staff. If this were a standard battle formation, this was either going to be a healer or a magic caster.

I lunged behind a tree, crouched low, and clattered toward the back of their formation. A light was forming at the end of the hooded figure’s twisted staff, but I arrived before it grew to its full size. I stabbed wood toward the fluttering robes, and as I connected, The whole world shifted as I fell to the ground like a hammer, tackled from behind by another enemy.

“Got one!” My attacker shouted from behind me. “Help me with the wolf!” Another called. I turned in time to see the pommel of a sword raised high above my head. This hadn’t gone to plan. As the pommel descended, I wondered if death would feel the same a second time.

“Aw, Shit,” A Brooklyn accent said from within my skull.

A flash of darkness from the background of my vision gave me some more hope. Fast enough that I could barely perceive it, Dan made his ever-impressive entrance. A dark liquid stained his black fur, which covered his entire muscled torso. Two more wolves were by his side. He wasted no time digging his claws into his quarry. flesh separated from bone with startling efficiency. His red eyes turned to the man who had been circling Silva but was now staring in slack-jawed horror at the beast’s entrance.

I pulled myself off the ground. A basketball of light and energy rippled as the mage’s staff aimed toward Dan’s bestial head. I stabbed my spear into the closest enemy, the bow-wielding archer. They tried to escape, gasping in pain as I twisted the spear point into their ribcage.

“Lookout!” I called toward Dan, as the magic was released. Like an asteroid destined for impact, the energy rocketed toward its mark. Dan turned to see the danger and twisted. The ball scratched his shoulder as it passed, carving a crescent out of his flesh. He howled low and angry. The last attacker didn't have a breath’s time to prepare another spell before their throat was ripped out. He fell, and the glade was reduced to silence amidst the light of a half-moon.

Dan turned wordlessly, still in his large beast form. He strode back the way he’d come.

Info flashed through my vision as I followed after him.

[+10 souls]

[Skill: ‘Play Dead’ has reached Level 2!]

[+25 Antagonist Points]