I did not like Alex’s idea.

After we had accepted the quest, Alex opened his map, which appeared to us as well, unlike his stat page. It was large, but everywhere was dark, symbolizing the fact we hadn’t done anything. The only place that appeared on the map was Eldertree Haven, sitting exactly in the middle of the Hollow Vale region.

A blinking light flashed to the left of the city, illuminating the darkness it was placed behind. Asides that, three circular icons were on the map as well, representing the three of us. With this noted, we began making our way to Whispering Hollow.

We got there faster than I had anticipated. The area greeted us similarly to how Eldertree had, a large message flashing in front of us. The only difference was that instead of it being ‘pvp-free’, Hollow Vale was a pvp area.

Alex had immediately taken initiative, forcing us to do short recon to make sure there was no one else in the area, as well as find the monsters. The first task had been pretty easy, as we could hear no signs of activity in our immediate vicinity. We went a bit deeper and still heard nothing, so we got a little comfortable.

Finding the monsters proved to be more difficult.

I was able to make out a group of three Spriggans. They were small, doll-like creatures, with large amber eyes that glowed faintly in the dim forest light. Their skin looked like tree bark - thin, cracks woven in-between, with a soft green light pulsing slowly inside. Moss clung to their shoulders like worn-out capes, and their wooden fingers split at the tips into sharp, claw-like branches. They twitched and bobbed their heads in short, jerky motions, as if listening to something we couldn’t hear.

Alex and Jack were further away, so I had to slowly creep away to get to them. If I had gear at all, I might have taken the small creatures on myself.

Alex muttered a quiet “perfect,” which was the last thing I wanted to hear. He turned around and looked at me with a mischievous glint in his eyes. I instinctively stepped back, knowing that look meant he wanted me to do something extreme.

I was right.

The plan was simple. Since I had the Shadow Step skill, I would draw the attention of both the Spriggans and Hounds. Seeing as there were no hounds, I imagined I was going to have to keep at it for a while. My endurance wasn’t the best, but I trusted Alex and Jack enough to get the job done fast enough.

I first approached the Spriggans slowly, crouching to try and get a kill in myself. If they noticed me, they didn’t show any sign of it. They stood there, facing one another, twitching and making inaudible sounds like they were deep in a conversation. As I approached, the one facing me suddenly jerked its head in my direction, its chattering getting even louder. The other two followed its range of vision, turning to face me immediately. Mumbling a curse, I rose to my full height, holding my two arms out as a taunt.
“Are you just going to stand there?” I said, forcing a laugh. “Come and get me you dumb dolls.”

One stepped forward, as if about to burst into a sprint, making me tense up instantly. But the attack never came. Instead, a deep, low growl resonated behind me. And I understood why the spriggans were standing here in the open, seemingly helpless.

They were bait.

Acting on reflex, I used my shadow step, teleporting out of their range of attack. I was a few meters away, but that was enough to finally see what I was up against. The shadow hounds resembled your normal wolf. Same beady black eyes. Same perked up rounded ears. Same broad muzzle. Same ugly snarl.

The only difference?

They were two times as large with fur that seemed to melt into the shadows.

I turned around and ran.

It wasn’t my proudest moment, but it was part of whatever plan Alex had in mind. He had refused to tell me because he wanted me to feel fear. Apparently, the shadow hounds can smell that sort of thing. Go figure.

I could hear the soft thuds of the hounds’ paws trailing behind me as I dashed through the forest. My body felt heavier than I remembered. I was way slower than I was used to. A massive disadvantage, but I had my skill to fall back on.

Hearing the thuds get closer, I used shadow step again, projecting myself further forward. Without breaking stride, I kept running, turning my head back briefly to see how far the hound was from me.

That proved to be a mistake.

As I turned my head back forward, I saw a huge shadow looming over me, coming down on my head. I felt a sharp hot pain on my scalp right before I used shadow step again, falling to the ground as I materialized.

Looking to where I had just teleported from, I saw yet another hound prancing around, staring me down with those murderous eyes. I touched my head as I looked down at its bloodied front paw. It had swiped down at me just before I could get away, drawing a good amount of blood. I should have been dead from that attack.

{Warning, you have taken damage from a non-critical strike. VIT: 60}

My luck had saved me. A frontal attack like that should have been critical.

“Alex, you’d better hurry up,” I muttered to myself, getting to my feet.

But as I did so, my vision blurred. I stumbled slightly, reaching out to a tree for support. Adrenaline had taken over before. Now that it was fading off, I could feel the pain creeping in. My head felt like it was clawed in half, blood trailing down my face endlessly. I looked at my hand, wincing as I saw the amount of blood.

“What the hell,” I whispered, my voice cracking.

This was real. Too real even. I could feel the blood trickling down my face, my body growing weaker as I lost more blood. It felt like I was actually dying. And that scared me. I didn’t want to die.

Clenching my teeth, I forced myself to breathe, my eyes staying on the hounds. They were still standing at the spot the second one had mauled me. I imagined they thought I was too wounded to run again.

Eager to prove them wrong, I pushed myself away from the tree and started running yet again. I used shadow step after a few steps, ensuring I was a good distance away from them this time.

How wrong I was. From the corner of my eye, I could see a hound leaping out from the shadow of a tree, its claws fully extended. This time, I was able to evade with my skill, stumbling as I crashed into a tree. But as I faced the new hound to assess my situation, my heart tightened up.

Ten more had appeared.

{Warning, severe laceration detected. Bleeding status applied for 1 minute. You will lose 3 VIT every 5 seconds till effect is over}

Doing the math in my head, my chest tightened even more. One more hit and it would be over. If an injury like this felt this bad, I didn’t want to know what dying would feel like. I had to hold out till Alex and Jack intervened.

“Is that all you got?” I flashed a grin, doing my best to conceal my fear. If I died, I didn’t want to do it with fear in my eyes. They’d never let me live it down.

The hounds crept closer, confident they had gotten me this time. I flickered further away, flashing up my middle finger as I reappeared. As if they understood the taunt, I heard a few of them growl simultaneously. Luckily for me, they seemed to be more confident I couldn’t escape due to my injury. Even the duo that had been chasing me before had slowed down and were enjoying their slow hunt with the others.

I used shadow step a couple more times, taunting the hounds even more. Surprisingly no more came out of the shadows to jump me. This was probably all of them in the vicinity. I hadn’t seen any more spriggans, which was disappointing, but I hoped Alex and Jack had managed to pick them off while I was keeping the hounds entertained.

{Warning, mana almost depleted. WIS: 5}

One more jump.

One more use of my skill and that was it.

The bleeding effect had stopped, but the pain was still there. I couldn’t run. I could barely even walk. I crumpled to the ground, defeated, as the hounds surrounded me. The one with the bloodied paw approached me, his paw resting on my shoulders as its large tongue lapped the blood at the top of my head.

I shivered violently. The hound snarled above me, as if warning me to stay put or else it would bite my head off. I wanted to push it off. I wanted to stab it repeatedly till I was bathed in its blood. I wanted it dead. The hounds didn’t seem game-like anymore. Nothing did. I could only lay still, nausea washing over me. This was wrong. This was very wrong.

I used my skill for the last time, teleporting out of the circle and behind a tree. I only bought myself a few seconds, but I couldn’t bear to go through that any longer. This was more than I had bargained for.

Behind me, I could hear the hounds creeping up on my location, their large paws crunching leaves in their path. I closed my eyes, clawing at my throat to stop myself from retching. I was sure they could hear me, but I didn’t care anymore. I just wanted to vomit all over. Undisturbed.

That and the fact they were finally here.

“I’ve casted my skill,” Alex barked from behind the tree. “Finish them off! I’ll go to Daniel.”

A few wolves howled in pain as sounds of fist smashing into bone resonated behind me. Jack said nothing, but the whimpering sounds that followed after each hit flooded my mind with relief.

Alex appeared from the corner, dropping to his knees immediately he saw me. I gave him a weak smile, bending my head to show him the wound.

“Took you long enough,” I said. “Thought I was a goner.”

“Daniel-” Alex choked, his voice breaking. He brought his hands up to his mouth, distraught written on his face.

I chuckled, grabbing his arm. “It’s way too realistic, Alex. We’re going to have to get used to seeing each other like this.”

“It’s too much,” Alex grumbled, lifting me to my feet. “I knew it would be bad... but this?” He shook his head. “Jack also struggled with killing the spriggans. That’s what took us so long. I had to remind her it was just a game.”

“I can imagine.” I stumbled a bit, but Alex steadied me. I could see the worry glossing over his eyes. “We definitely have to get weapons after this.”

 “Yeah,” Alex said, his voice sounding far away.

Knowing him, he was already trying to figure out our next steps. Seeing me like this had rattled him. And I couldn’t blame him. The near-death experience was more than enough to change my perspective of the entire game.

It had raised the stakes way higher than they previously were.

As we rounded to tree to meet up with a bloodied Jack, I put on a brave smile to put her at ease.

But deep down, the disgust remained.

And the feeling of dread I had felt before we entered the game seemed to build up once more.