'Trial of the feast? I got a bad feeling about this.' My expression hardened.
"Food! There's food in the baskets!" A cry went up.
All around me, children stared with the hungry eyes of wolves.
"Fuck it, I can't take it anymore. Let's go!"
Two kids broke from the pack, sprinting toward the nearest basket.
At the halfway point, two shadows lunged from the darkness.
Howl! Howl!
They were massive wolves, thick black fur striped with white, eyes glowing a poisonous green.
"Wait! Stop! Go away!" The kids screamed, struggling uselessly.
The wolves didn't back down.
They started feasting, tearing into live flesh.
Crunch! Crunch! The sound of bone and muscle being shredded echoed through the hall.
'Where did they come from?' We were all still clustered at the entrance.
I scanned the left and right flanks of the hall.
No torches there, only pure darkness.
And in that darkness, dozens of pairs of the same hungry, green eyes shone back.
I looked away quickly.
Don't make eye contact.
The chilling sounds of the feast made my scalp crawl.
Korus and the others shivered beside me.
'The torches only light the center—the tables, the chairs, the food.
The sides are a blind spot.
A killing zone.
'How many are there? Is the trial to fight them or just to survive?'
"You are quite hasty!" The mysterious voice held an amused, cold tone.
"For the second trial, you must survive the wolves attacks and reach a table to eat."
Howl! Howl! The two wolves, finished with their meal, loped back into the shadows.
"So begins the second trial! A small piece of advice: if you don't run, you're just waiting to be butchered!"
Howl! Howl! Howl!
The wolves began to emerge from the dark.
Panic erupted.
There was no time to think, only the primal instinct to run.
A wave of children surged forward, a desperate stampede toward the tables.
'One, two, ten... Fuck! There must be fifty of them. I'm stuck in the middle of the pack. No way we can outrun them. Think!'
"Ashan, I'm scared! I don't want to die!" Korus cried, his breathing already becoming ragged as we ran.
'Korus... hmmm... There's no point hesitating. Survival first. Morals later.'
I steeled myself. "Hold my hand! We aim for the nearest table. Just hold on!"
He grabbed my right hand, and we pushed through the chaos.
Crunch! Crunch! Howl!
The symphony of horror played around us—the sounds of eating, the cries of despair, and the agonized pleas that were cut short.
Children fell, were trampled, or simply froze in shock.
"I did it! I'm safe!" a boy shouted, collapsing into a chair and stuffing food into his mouth.
Others followed, a frantic scramble for seats.
"Hey, give me the fucking chair!" A burly, muscular boy threw a smaller child from a seat.
The frail boy hit the ground, and before he could rise, a wolf was on him.
The rule was clear: there were no rules. Only the chairs offered safety.
'Shit! My stamina's gone. Korus is fading.' My whole body throbbed with pain.
"Ashan... how much longer?"
Korus's voice was a faint whisper.
Howl! Howl!
Two wolves broke from the pack, heading straight for us.
My heart hammered. Their eyes were pure, crazy hunger.
I closed my eyes for a split second. 'I just have to do it. If I can't outshine them, I'll outlive them.'
One wolf leaped.
Time seemed to slow.
The beast was in the air, claws outstretched.
The other was right behind.
"Korus, thanks for sacrificing yourself for me!"
I wrenched my hand from his and shoved him forward, directly into the wolf's path.
Confusion flashed in his eyes an instant before impact.
Crunch! Slurp! The wolf's jaws closed on Korus's right arm, tearing it clean off.
"Ashan... why—" His question became a scream as the wolf dragged him down.
"NO! NO!" His cries were swallowed by the sound of tearing flesh.
'I only have seconds. The other wolf is coming.'
Feeling nothing but a cold, focused emptiness, I snatched the severed arm from the ground.
Howl!
The second wolf was on me.
I dove and rolled right, its claws scraping past me.
Pain flared in my side.
'Ouch! That hurt!'
I scrambled up and hurled Korus's arm at the wolf's face.
"Here! Catch!" I then spun and sprinted for the nearest table at a dead run.
Howl! Crunch!
The wolf bit down on the arm, then let out a furious howl.
The prey had dared to escape.
'Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!' The table was twenty meters away.
The wolf would catch me. I needed a distraction. Now.
A girl was running a few feet away, heading for the same table. Most seats were full.
Howl! The wolf's cry was right behind me.
I didn't hesitate. I grabbed the girl by her long hair and yanked her backward.
Eep! Her cry of surprise was cut short as the wolf pounced on her instead.
I didn't look back. I ran.
I poured every last bit of strength into reaching that chair, that safe haven.
I slammed into it, my chest heaving. The adrenaline was a fire in my veins.
I didn't look at the other six children at the table.
My eyes locked on the basket of food. Plenty left.
The spread was immense: golden mangoes, date plums, figs, and sun apples. But my gaze was fixed on what I knew. Flatbread. 'Roti.'
I didn't delay. I wolfed it down.
I grabbed five flatbreads, dunking them into a saffron-colored stew of vegetables and meat.
The moment I took a bite, a heavenly taste exploded in my mouth.
'This shit is so good! The best thing I've eaten in both my lives!'
I didn't stop.
I ate the fruits, and I devoured a mango custard sweet.
I gave no fuck for manners or anyone else. I filled my starving stomach like a man who had just crawled out of a desert.
The horror was behind me. For now, there was only the feast.