The Lycan King’s Tribute

Nested

All my life, I’ve been a runt, a virgin with no wings to fly. I’ve always wondered what it’s like, giving myself to someone.” - Enoma Pearl

…

“That b***h,” Madeline growled. “She ruined our plan. How are we supposed to find her now?”

“How’s she this fast without shifting?” Samantha cried out.

“I have no idea. Speaking of shifting, we should shift to our wolf form to find her on time,” Madeline uttered making me reach for my bottle of water trying not to make a sound.

I poured it on the sand forming a mould and rubbing it all over me. I wasn’t on the surface. No fair fight chance at all. I had to be careful so they wouldn’t smell me.

There was a greater chance smelled me after shifting. This is why the clay was my best bet.

“Smell anything?” Madeline asked.

“No, just soil, wet grounds, and trees, how did she disappear so fast?” Samantha cried once more, howling this time. They must have shifted.

“Me too. Urgh… I’m so gonna kill that b***h for putting us through so much stress,” Madeline growled in anger.

“Why are we even doing this?” Samantha asked.

“Because no one ruins our chances with the high ranks and stays alive. We can’t have low ranks as Masters and she has the King, that’s unfair,”

“I understand but I’m so scared, we haven’t even found the Egg yet. Shouldn’t we postpone it for now?” Samantha said.

“Don’t you get it, if Enoma wins, she’ll be noticed by other high ranks. This is going to ruin our remaining chances. This is why she’s better off dead,” Madeline hissed.

“Okay, I understand now,” Samantha said.

“Exactly, we need to be discerning so she doesn’t leave us high and dry,” Madeline responded and ruffles tore through.

“We should check ahead,” Samantha said.

“Brilliant idea, let’s go,” Madeline uttered. I heard their paws brush through the grounds. “Hold on… There is a pit trap!”

“s**t!” Samantha hissed.

“Let’s take the other side,” Madeline ordered.

Their steps faded after a while. This made me realize they already left. I had to throw them off scent. But the first thing I had to do was to figure out a way to get out.

Putting the pistol in place, I reached for the hint recalling the time frame we were given. 30 hours would easily slip by if I wasted them.

I opened my hint by reading the words. The Cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek. Wait, what if this wasn’t as complicated as I thought?

The Gamers didn’t know us. In fact, the games were the first time we met. If I thought of it, there was no way you knew the fears of someone you just met.

“Unless it’s a well known fear. A stereotypical fear!” I gasped.

The cave’s physical. And wherever it was, it should be a place that would be really fearful. Someone not anyone could enter. A place a normal citizen would dread to tread.

“Think, Enoma, think,” I whispered.

If a Golden Egg was hidden by you, for centuries in a way no one finds it, where would you put it? Surely, it would be a place no one suspects.

“Speak to me, Elder Tao,” I said to myself. “C’mon,”

If I were him, I would keep it somewhere no one could think of. Somewhere void of creatures.

I’d make it off the map. This way, no one could access it. Damn, this old man. “What if it’s a water body?” I said in sarcasm. “I mean, he’s the Elder of the Seven Seas, it might be around a water body, perhaps,”

Somewhere with lots of water. I widened my eyes in realization.

Eureka. That was it. I had to find somewhere close to water. And hope, there was a physical cave somewhere!

The minute I thought of this, I heard crunching grass. Someone or something was making their way to me. Holding my pistol immediately, I pointed it to the sky, ready to shoot whatever thing that showed up in this pit.

“Enoma?” Oh my goodness… Was it Destiny? A rope extended, through the pit. “Enoma, I know you’re there, you can climb up now,” she whispered.

“D… Destiny?” I let out, with my eyes searching. “H… How did you find me?” I asked, wondering why she knew I was here. I didn’t even make a sound, while she approached. So, how did she know I was in the pit?

“I’ll explain later, Enoma but you need to listen. If I wanted to hurt you, I would have done so last night!” Destiny exclaimed, making me fist my palms.

“It’s not about that,” I told her. “You sounded like a serial killer back there! Who acts that way after that sort of announcement?” I asked her.

“Really? This is about the announcement?” she asked.

“Yes, you made it clear that you didn’t come all this way to quit, meaning if you were in a situation where you had to eliminate me to take the Egg, you’d do just that!” I exclaimed.

“s**t,” she swore. “Where is this even coming from?”

“I thought…” I gave no reply, not knowing what to say. I wasn’t accustomed to girl friendships, apart from my sister.

I expected her to reply, but I heard her steps pacing back and forth like she was in deep thought.

“Okay, I admit. I said… stuff. But trust me, I don’t want this either. I just want to survive!” Destiny exclaimed and it made me wonder. What did one say in this moment? This was still new for me, the friendship, fights, everything.

“Are you there?” Destiny added. “Enoma…?”

What was I doing? I had to get out of here. I shouldn’t let my emotions get the best of me. With these thoughts, I said,

“Survival is necessary. Everyone has their weakness, Destiny. But taking lives? That’s inhumane,”

“You’re right, and I get it. But what if someone comes to attack you and the only option you have left is to fight back?” Destiny asked.

“This is not hunting,” I dismissed. “This is real world, real people,”

“Tell that to Samantha and Madeline,” she answered indifferently.

“What are you even insinuating?” I asked wondering how much she knew.

“When you ran, I followed your scent to meet up. I saw you fall, and was about helping when I saw something, a creature so dark. I’ve never seen it any of its kind so I hid,” she explained. “When it left, I saw Madeline and Samantha engrossed in their plans to eliminate you, and luckily, they didn’t notice me,”

“Thus, I waited for them to leave checking if the creature was around before attempting to save you.”

“And, how can I trust you?” I furrowed my brows, asking. She has been suspicious from the onset. There was something she wasn’t telling me.

“You don’t,” she replied. “And I may be wrong in my choice of words now or back at the arena but I won’t sugarcoat the truth. You can’t afford to be weak. We’ll make many enemies in this place, and since we have people to protect, we have to be ready when they come looking. I won’t lose another person.”