Cal crept along the treetop. Shadows danced at the edges of his vision, and the whispers were dense in his ears. He could feel the malevolent gazes of predators tracking his every movement.

At his side, Elena was a silent wraith, her violet eyes scanning the gloomy grove. "This chaos has irked them," she murmured. "Watch out for ambushes."

Cal shuddered. In the distance, a bloodcurdling howl split the air.

Elena grabbed his arm, her grip like iron. "Listen close," she whispered harshly. "Engage nothing at stage-two. Avoid and evade. That is our only hope of survival."

Cal's brows furrowed in confusion. "Stage-two? You mentioned that before - what does that even mean?"

"You'll know it when you see it," Elena said, her eyes hard chips of amethyst. "Pray that you don't."

She melted back into the shadows, leaving Cal alone with his disquiet. He crept forward, wary of the malevolent eyes tracking him from the dark.

Cal's breath caught in his throat as the underground cavern opened up before them. Sunlight streamed through a massive rent in the cavern wall, illuminating an area untouched by the crystalline blue. He blinked against the sudden brightness, shading his eyes.

As if on cue, the ebb of beasts turned into a tide. They came pouring through the sunlight breach, their roars and screeches deafening in the enclosed space. Cal staggered back, shocked by the sudden onslaught. Twisted creatures with too many legs, glowing red eyes and gaping maws charged into the cavern, their numbers endless.

"We can push through from the trees!" Elena yelled, turning on her heel.

Cal didn't need to be told twice. He sprinted after Elena, the thunder of claws and shrieks of the beasts below them. It was chaos unleashed. They wove between flying beasts and leapt between branches, struggling to outpace a full deluge.

One beast broke from its trajectory, barreling toward Cal with chilling focus. He juked right, narrowly avoiding its snapping jaws as he dived onto another branch. It slammed into the tree where he'd stood mere seconds before, snapping under the impact.

Cal's heart hammered against his ribs. They were vastly outnumbered, but luckily, most of the beasts weren’t out for blood. If they didn't find a way out soon, that would change. This cavern would become their tomb.

Cal caught a glimpse of Elena across the way, pinned against a tree trunk by a hulking beast. Before he could react, she slid under its legs in a blur, slicing its hamstring as she slipped by. It howled in fury and pain but she was already gone, disappearing ahead.

He skirted along the cavern walls, ducking behind cover whenever he heard oncoming shrieks. The exit couldn't be far now. Sunlight still streamed through the breach up ahead, cutting through the darkness.

As he approached, Cal froze. Silhouetted against the light were figures - but not beasts. These moved on two legs and had antlers sprouting from their heads. Cal dropped down to the forest floor.

Deermen. Here?

They hadn’t spotted him yet, conversing among themselves in low rumbles. He couldn’t be worried about their recklessness and hoped to slip by unnoticed.

Just then, Elena dropped down beside him, making him jump.

"We need to go around," she whispered urgently. "I saw more running towards us ahead."

Cal clenched his jaw. The last thing they needed was to tangle with these unknowns. But the longer they lingered, the greater the risk of being caught between them and beasts.

They had to move. Now. Keeping low, they began skirting the cavern edges, making for a side tunnel. They were so close to escape. Just a little farther...

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A guttural shout made them freeze. Three antler men had broken from the main group, stalking toward them with menacing purpose.

Cal's hands tightened on his dagger. "Get ready," he murmured. "We may have to fight our way out."

Elena nodded, her violet eyes narrowing as she drew an arrow from her quiver. The antler men were nearly upon them, muscles rippling under coarse fur.

"Ey, broskis, easy" growled the one in front, unique black antlers branching impressively from his head. The deerman quickly glanced at Cal’s vambraces. "You don’ wanna to be goin’ that way."

Cal shifted into a fighting stance. " We're just trying to get away from the chaos."

"Wrong direction, bro," warned a second one, his voice husky.

"Yeah, wrong direction," warned the third one, his voice a pitch higher.

Those words sent a confused chill down Cal's spine. "Why?" he asked.

"You stick with us, and you’ll be aight" said the first, gesturing for them to follow pointing in the direction of the volcano

Cal whispered to Elena, “do you believe these deermen?”

“Brah. We aint no venison, why you spittin’ shade like that,” the first one overheard.

“Temp, these are cervidians, they prefer not to be called, er… deermen,” Elena whispered back.

“I don’t go off calling you pink monkeys, fuck! No respect, man.”

The third cervidian chimed in, “no respect.” He followed up with a disappointed head nod.

“Uhhh… sorr – ”

Just then, an ear-splitting roar shattered the conversation. A massive and surprisingly long fox burst from the opening, sending a cervidian flying past Cal, gaping wounds and a missing arm. Its jaws snapped as it looked straight at Cal, Elena, and the three cervidians.

“Jobe!” The cervidians yelled out!

Cal's blood turned to ice.

"Run!" Elena shouted

He and Elena took off, the fox pounding after the group.

Cal's lungs burned as he sprinted through the forest, the thunderous footfalls of the fox booming behind him. He dared a glance back, and his blood froze a step further as he saw the creature's eyes locked on him, jaws wide, intent on its prey.

"Damn beast won't let up," Cal cursed under his breath. He swore, “why the fuck is it chasing me?”

He poured every ounce of energy into running, desperately trying to outpace the relentless fox. But the creature was too fast, too determined. Cal could hear it as it closed in.

He zig-zagged around trees and jumped over rocks and fallen logs, struggling to break the fox's line of sight. But it anticipated his every move, matching his pace and keeping him squarely in its sights.

Unless he thought of something, and soon, those jaws would tear into him. Cal racked his brain for options as the fox snapped at his heels, its predatory focus locked solely on him.

With a desperate burst of speed, Cal gained a bit of distance. But the fox released a bone-chilling howl and charged after him with renewed vigor. Cal cursed again, knowing he couldn't outrun the beast much longer. He was completely outmatched.

The sound distorted the very air around them. Cal cried out as another immense pressure bore down on him, making every movement feel like he was underwater. It was as if the fox's claws were swiping at him from across a great distance, with the intent to submerge him into the depths of a river. The force of the blows knocked him straight into the trees nearby a dead cervidian. Cal was breathless, with air cleared from his lungs, and a deep wound across his back.

Cal couldn’t move quick enough, he felt helpless as time slowed and the fox approached.

The fox's bizarre attack had knocked him away, but the creature closed the gap between them. He could sense its jaws opening wide ahead of him, ready to snap down.

Just as the beast’s breath came within reach, a whistling sound split the air. An arrow sunk into the fox’s leg. The arrow was unlike anything he’d seen Elena fire before, it was as if lightning itself struck the fox. The arrow was electricity itself, with current dancing along its surface. The fox's fur stood on end as it was struck by the powerful force, sending it tumbling backwards in a flurry of sparks and smoke. The air around them seemed to vibrate with energy from the incredible shot.

Cal didn’t understand it, but he couldn’t focus on the strange ability.

The fox skidded to a halt, whipping around with a snarl to find the source of the attack.

Cal hazarded a glance to the source. Atop a nearby hill, Elena had already nocked and drawn another arrow, electricity channeled into being towards the tip. Her violet eyes were hard with determination as she took aim at the fox once more.

Cal felt his heart pounding in his chest as he pulled himself upright, as pain flared through his body. He glanced at Elena, their eyes meeting for a moment before he gritted his teeth and moved towards the cervidian, one dead and the three others converging.

"Brah," a cervidian whimpered, nudging its fallen companion with a hoofed foot.

“Jobe, dude," another one of the cervidians knelt next to him, fingers trembling as he reached out to touch his fallen friend.

"Keep it together, bro."The black antlered cervidian consoled his crew.

"We need to move," Cal said tersely. His blue eyes flickered towards Elena, who had fired another arrow and was already drawing back another.

"No," the black antlered cervidian said grimly. "We need to fuck that fox up. For Jobe!"

The other two pulled out comically large maces and comically small shields, “for Jobe!!”