After I was done binge-sulking about Papa Wolf leaving me and the whole heartbreak of being kicked out of my pack, I finally came back to reality.
Right. My dad told me to meet our so-called ancestor—some mystical, ancient White Wolf spirit hiding in this frozen nightmare of a cave.
But now that I was actually standing here, alone, cold, and bleeding emotions, one question hit me square in the brain:
How the hell am I supposed to meet him?
I looked around the cave hall. There were three visible paths when I first arrived—one where Papa Wolf and I had come from, and two others that went deeper into the mountain. But now... I blinked.
What?
The path we came from was gone.
Not blocked.
Gone.
Just smooth, crystal-clear ice walls where the exit used to be.
I took a step back, eyes wide. "Are you serious right now?"
I spun in circles, trying to find any trace of an opening. Nothing. Just ice. Clean, reflective, mocking ice. It looked like a funhouse mirror from a horror movie. And it was seriously starting to mess with my head.
I needed to hit something. Hard.
Not because I was brave. Hell no. I was angry. Frustrated. Sad. And now, on top of it all—scared.
Where was the way out? How do I even find this so-called ancestor? Was there even an ancestor? Or had I just been dumped in a frozen tomb to die slowly?
I growled to myself, pacing in tight circles.
"This is bullshit," I muttered. "This is beyond bullshit."
I looked up at the icy ceiling, squinting like it owed me an explanation.
"Hey! Ancestor! God! Developer of this weird life game! Can ANYONE tell me what the actual hell is going on?!"
No answer.
Just silence.
I looked around again. The walls shimmered faintly in the light from some unknown source. The air was deathly still, and the cold was starting to bite into my paws.
"Maybe... maybe Dad lied," I muttered. "What if that whole speech about ancient power and ancestor training was just an excuse to ditch me? Maybe he brought me here just to die alone."
The thought made my spine shiver harder than the cold did.
But then I remembered that statue.
That massive wolf statue outside the cave—it wasn't something normal wolves could build. They didn't have hands. Hell, they didn't even have thumbs. How could they carve something so detailed out of solid snow and ice? This place... it wasn't natural. And it definitely wasn't made by regular wolves.
"This can't be real," I whispered. "There's no way wolves made all this."
Even humans with all their machines and fancy tech would struggle to make something like this. And this whole cave system? These tunnels? This eerily perfect symmetry? It was too complex, too... crafted.
None of this made sense.
I spun again. "Where the hell is the entrance? Or the exit? Or anything that makes sense?!"
And then I snapped.
"FUCK THIS!" I yelled at the icy ceiling. "What kind of glitchy-ass game server is this?! What, you gave me four paws and a tail just to screw with me? Just so I can wag it while I starve to death?! If you're going to kill me, just do it in one clean bite, damn it! Stop playing games!"
I kept screaming obscenities into the void, ranting like a lunatic at whatever gods might be watching. I didn't even care anymore.
But then… something changed.
I heard it.
A sound.
It was faint—almost like the scraping of claws on ice—but in a cave that had been dead silent for hours, it might as well have been a gunshot.
I froze.
My ears twitched. My heartbeat quickened.
That sound hadn't come from me. It came from… behind me.
Slowly, I turned around.
Nothing.
Just the same icy walls, smooth and reflective. I couldn't see anything.
Then I heard it again.
Behind me.
Again.
Whipping around, I growled low, ready to bite, but again—nothing.
I wasn't imagining it. I knew I wasn't. I have wolf senses. I've walked on snow since the day I was born—or reborn, whatever. I know what footsteps sound like. And this sound… it wasn't natural.
And it kept happening.
Every time I turned, it moved. Always staying behind me. I spun faster and faster, trying to catch it in the act, but it was always a step ahead. I couldn't see it. I couldn't smell it. But I could hear it.
And it was driving me insane.
"WHERE ARE YOU?!" I roared into the darkness. "SHOW YOURSELF!"
Silence.
Then, a snick.
A sharp pain flared across my cheek.
I staggered backward, growling in shock. Blood dripped down my face—just a small cut, but enough to make it real.
This wasn't paranoia anymore.
Something was in here with me.
I scanned every surface, crouching low, hackles raised. My instincts were screaming now. Whatever this thing was, it was fast. Too fast. It attacked from the front—while I was looking behind.
The sound returned.
Then another cut—this time on my back leg.
"DAMN IT!"
I tried to fight. I jumped, twisted, slashed at empty air—but nothing connected. The thing was invisible or just way too fast. Each time the sound came, it was followed by another slash. My shoulders, my side, my tail—cut after cut after cut.
Blood started dripping onto the ice.
This was a game to it.
It wasn't trying to kill me—not yet.
It was toying with me.
I stood still for a moment, panting hard, eyes scanning every angle. My heart pounded so loud I could barely hear the cave anymore.
And then, for the first time, I heard something else:
A laugh.
A whisper of a laugh. Cold and hollow.
It echoed around the chamber like wind, but I knew—I knew—it was directed at me.
This wasn't a random monster.
This was the beginning of the trial.
My ancestor wasn't going to come to me in some glowing halo of light with a warm smile and a "Hello, young pup."
No.
He—or it—was going to break me.
Mentally. Physically. Spiritually.
And I wasn't sure if I'd survive long enough to even see what was hunting me.
But one thing was clear.
This has to be some kind of trial............