Chp 22
1150 Words
Zyra POV
The darkness doesn’t frighten me anymore. That realization hits me harder than any trap. Fear has turned into something colder, sharper calculation.
Survival. I stand still in the pitch-black chamber, chest rising and falling unevenly, blood drying against my skin. My body aches from Level One, but pain has become background noise.
Dael is beside me.
Not hidden, Not imagined,Not distant.
I know exactly where he stands, slightly ahead, his crimson wolf mask tilted toward the corridor on the left, shoulders squared like he’s bracing for war. He doesn’t look at me, not fully, but every shift of his body tells me what to do.
Left is death. Right is worse.
Straight ahead is… possible.
“You’re doing a terrible job at pretending you’re not helping me,” I mutter under my breath.
He doesn’t respond.
Of course he doesn’t.
The distorted voice from before doesn’t return immediately. No countdown. No instructions. Just silence, thick, intentional silence meant to break us before the traps do.
I take a step forward.
Dael lifts a hand.
I stop instantly.
A second later, the stone in front of my boot collapses inward, revealing a pit lined with rotating blades, their hum low and patient, like they’re waiting for flesh. My stomach twists.
“You could at least explain why,” I whisper.
“If this is some twisted way of hunting me, you’re really dragging it out.”
His head turns slightly.
Even behind the mask, I can feel his eyes on me.
“Move when I move,” he says finally, voice low and controlled. “Ask questions later.”
“Later might not exist.”
“It will,” he snaps, then reins himself in. “As long as you listen.”
That tone, commanding, absolute should make me angry.
Instead, it steadies me.
I nod once.
We move.
The corridor ahead isn’t straight. It bends unnaturally, like the architecture itself is alive, reshaping to confuse us. The walls are damp, slick with something that smells metallic. Blood, probably from previous players.
I swallow and follow Dael’s lead exactly.
He steps only on certain stones. Avoids others entirely. When arrows shoot from the walls, he yanks me back by my sleeve just before they tear through the space my head occupied a second ago.
“Dael,” I hiss, heart racing, “you know these games.”
“I know how alphas think,” he replies.
That’s worse.
The first attack of Level Two comes without warning.
The floor shifts beneath us, dropping sharply. I barely have time to scream before gravity pulls me down a slanted chute, my body slamming against stone, skin tearing, breath knocked from my lungs. I roll hard, disoriented, pain exploding through my ribs.
I skid to a stop in a wide chamber.
Dael lands on his feet beside me.
Of course he does.
Masked wolves emerge from the shadows, four this time. Their masks are different colors: iron-gray, bone-white, midnight blue, and pitch black. Alphas. Organizers. Predators pretending this is entertainment.
My heart stutters.
“They’re watching you,” I whisper. “If they notice..”
“They won’t,” Dael cuts in. “Stay behind me.”
“I’m not helpless.”
“I know,” he says, then adds quietly, “That’s why this is dangerous.”
The wolves don’t attack immediately.
They circle. The chamber lights flicker, revealing the floor, a massive grid of pressure plates, some cracked, some pristine. A single wrong step could mean impalement, fire, collapse.
The iron-gray wolf tilts its head.
“Run,” the distorted voice booms again. “Or prove you deserve to breathe.”
The wolves lunge.
Dael moves first.
Not fast—precise.
He doesn’t attack openly. Instead, he positions himself so the wolves’ paths intersect with unstable plates. One missteps, and the floor explodes upward, spikes ripping through its leg. The howl echoes, raw and furious.
I don’t wait.
I run.
Dael shouts directions in short bursts....“Left. Stop. Now.” I obey instantly.
My foot lands wrong once, and pain slices through my calf as a blade grazes me. I stumble, teeth sinking into my lip to keep from screaming.
Blood seeps into my boot.
“Zyra,” Dael growls, sharp. “Focus.”
“I am,” I snap back, even as my vision blurs. “I’m bleeding, not dying.”
Not yet.
Another wolf lunges for me.
Dael intercepts, too fast, too close. The clash is brutal, silent. He doesn’t kill. He is disabled. Breaks rhythm. Breaks confidence.
But then.. I miscalculated.
I jump when I should have rolled.
The plate beneath me sinks.
Pain erupts as something slices deep into my side. I scream this time, collapsing hard, breath ripped from my lungs.
Warmth spreads rapidly beneath my fingers.
Blood. Too much.
Dael is at my side instantly.
“Stay with me,” he orders, hands hovering, not touching. “You hear me?”
“I hear you,” I gasp. “I’m not dead. Unfortunately.”
His jaw tightens.
“This is why,” he mutters, more to himself than me.
“Why what?” I hiss. “Why are you helping me?”
He doesn’t answer.
Instead, he shifts his body to shield mine just as a projectile crashes where my head was seconds ago. Stone shatters. Dust fills the air.
“Move,” he says. “Lean on me if you have to.”
“I don’t need…”
“Don’t argue,” he snaps, eyes blazing behind the crimson mask. “Not now.”
I grit my teeth and stagger upright, pain screaming with every step. He guides me forward, half-blocking the wolves’ line of sight, subtly sabotaging traps before I reach them.
And then….
The floor trembles.
Not a trigger.
Not a plate.
Something massive shifts beneath us.
The masked wolves freeze.
Cracks spiderweb across the stone.
“What—” I begin. The ground opens.
Not drops—opens, like a mouth.
The wolves don’t even have time to scream. The floor beneath them collapses inward, a violent suction dragging them down into darkness. One grabs at the edge. Another claws at the air.
Dael turns sharply…Too sharply. His mask flashes red. Sensors.
“No—” I gasp.
The system reacts instantly.
The floor beneath him gives way.
Dael reaches for me—
Misses.
His hand scrapes mine, fingers slipping, and then—
He’s gone.
Swallowed by the dark.
“DAEL!” I scream, collapsing forward, my
wound tearing open as I hit the stone.
Silence.
No wolves.
No crimson mask.
Just me.
Bleeding.
Alone.
The voice returns, smooth and satisfied.
“Level Two… incomplete.”
Torches reignite dimly.
And I realize something far worse than being hunted.
The only reason I survived… The only reason I’m still breathing… Is gone and the game isn’t finished with me yet.
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