“These are dense plain wolves, or more commonly known as royal hounds. They naturally live on plains whose grasses can reach up to seven feet in height. They’ve developed a mental affinity, which allows them to communicate on their hunts to adapt to the lack of visibility. Because of that, they’re very easy to train. On my command, they’ll rush forward and take you down as easily as they would a deer.”

The others exclaim and her smile grows wider.

“So, again, I want you to run till you collapse. Otherwise, you might get eaten.”

“She cannot be serious,” Alana mumbles beside me. I laugh, waving off the questioning look she shoots me.

“Everyone, get ready.” She snaps her fingers and the dogs look at her. “Speak!”

Loud barking fills the air and the initiates recoil. I’m already pushing through the crowd to get as close to the front as possible. A few more have the right idea, already taking off through the passage.

“Hunt!”

The barking morphs to snarls as the dogs rush forward. The students scream and the crowd begins to move. Alana and I led the pack before but we’re left behind as fear propels those who lagged behind past us. Even Alana speeds up beside me. I shake my head.

Now’s not the time to waste your energy.

I ignore the panicked screams behind me as the dogs set upon the slower students. No need to run with all my might right away. As long as I stay somewhere in the middle, I should be safe. A few quick glances over my shoulder keeps me in the right position but I’m forced to speed us as adrenaline fails and more fall to the dogs.

Kierra is picking them up before it gets worse than a couple cuts and probably healing them but this is going to be a traumatic memory, especially with her grinning manically as she runs along the walls shouting encouragements.

I catch up to Alana who is panting. She turns to me with wide eyes. “That elf is insane!”

“Oh, I…don’t know,” I huff. Someone ahead of me trips and I jump over them, leaving them in the dust. “We’re definitely motivated.”

“One wrong step and those things could kill someone!”

I shove someone blocking my way in the narrow passage aside. She bounces off the earth wall but I forget about her once she’s out of sight. “No one’s…going to die. Might…lose a few fingers though.”

I laugh, taking in the way she looks at me. Like I’m crazy.

The snarling is getting louder. I glance over my shoulder. Two students look like they’re about to cry as they stumble forward as fast as they can, panting harshly. I wince as one of them is knocked down by a dog. He screams as the animal bites into his shoulder.

“That’s gotta hurt,” I mumble as I turn around. Time to focus. I put more strength into my stride. “Good luck!” I shout as I overtake Alana and the others in front of me, putting myself at the head of the pack.

There are more screams. I think I can hear Alana among them but they’re jumbled together as the dogs claim more victims. I think I’m outpacing them but I can’t keep this up forever. My lungs already feel like they’re going to combust.

“As expected of you, dedia.”

I turn my head to side. Kierra is running atop the wall beside me, eyes narrowed. “You wouldn’t be using any tricks to make my training easier, would you?”

“Would I…be sweating so much…if I was?”

“Good answer. In that case, you should dodge.”

I curse as she pulls out a small knife. Her fingertips glow with the green light that says she’s using magic before she throws it at me. I duck and just manage to stay on my feet. From the corner of my eye, I see a shadow and twist away.

One of the wolves eats dirt as its lunge fails. Darn it, they’re too close.

“Dodge!”

That’s too vague! Do I weave or do I duck or—

I just manage to move out of the way of the next flying knife but it scrapes my side. The smell of blood excites the beasts because their snarling grows louder.

“Again. And another one.”

“Aw, come on!” This time, I see her pull two of the knives. Gritting my teeth, I jump forward as she pulls her arms back. The blades miss me but I yelp in pain as one of the wolves grabs my ankle before I can get back to my feet. My teeth are grit in pain as the other wolves surround me, opening their jaws wide.

“Heel!”

As one, they step back. I grit my teeth to hold in a scream as the one holding my leg lets go, its teeth doing more damage on the way out.

Kierra hops down from the wall and tsks over me. “Not bad but you’re going to have to do much better.”

Frickin’ elf.

“I’ll make it worth the pain if you can hold on.” She crouches down beside me and places a glowing hand on my leg. I shudder at the eerie feeling of my skin crawling as the wound stitches together, my body relaxing as the sharp pain eases to a dull throbbing.

She grabs me under my arm and hauls me to my feet before walking me through the passage. The wolves following behind us are unsettling. I was just running for my life and now the would-be killers are trotting along happily with their tongues lolling from their mouths, the opposite of threatening.

Kierra takes me down the opening and drops me in the middle of the field where the rest of the students are gathered. Yeah, they’re definitely traumatized. Many flinch when they see the wolves, taking several large steps backward. Alana finds me right away, checking me over for injuries.

She lets out a breath of relief when she sees I’m fine and guides me to sit down in the grass. “You did good to last so long.”

“Thanks. Everyone alright?”

“Physically, we’re fine. That elf is crazy but she’s incredibly powerful. The speed she heals…she might have a pure physical affinity.”

“What? No way.” Saints, that sounded fake. Should’ve added at least a gasp. Whatever. I was just hounded by four beasts. I can be drained. “At least that’s over.”

Kierra claps her hands and we all turn toward her. “That was a much better effort. Very good, very good. You’ve earned a long break. And once everyone’s caught their breath, we’ll go again.”

There are shouts of dismay, several exclaimed refusals, and too many murmured curses to pick apart. Kierra laughs over them all and I shake my head.

“I can’t believe the Hall allows this.”

“I was told once that if a trial doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger.” By the crazy elf over there. Despite her methods, I’ve undoubtedly grown stronger. The evidence is that I was the last one remaining. Even over Alana, who has been training to be a knight.

Hmm. Hold on. Isn’t that weird? There’s no way I should have been able to outlast her. As far as I can tell, my human form is strictly human. Cosmo’s gift doesn’t provide any benefits in that respect. Another mystery to solve about my own existence.

“Better rest while you can, Alana,” I say as I lay back in the grass and focus on calming my still racing heart. “We’ve got a lot more fun in store before the day is over.”