Morning light streamed through the cracks in the shelter's worn-out walls as Ariel tightened the straps of her backpack. The breakfast had been meager, but she had no complaints—she had bigger things to worry about. As she prepared to leave, a voice, sharp and dripping with disdain, stopped her in her tracks.
"Gotta take care of yourself better, Ariel," Rosaline sneered, leaning against the doorframe with crossed arms. "I've heard the leader of the group isn't a fan of you. Who knows if today is the last day I see your face in this shelter?"
"She's not going to survive," another chimed in, their tone almost gleeful.
"This day was bound to come. She has ties to the supernatural, I've heard. The elders must have discovered this, and that's why they assigned her to such a dangerous task."
Ariel didn't give a single damn what they said. She simply turned away, her expression unreadable. She bid farewell to her fellow hybrids, thanked Frank for his help, and went searching for her hamster. But it was nowhere to be found. With a sigh, she gave up and rejoined the team.
Little did she know that through the slightly unzipped pocket of her backpack, two tiny, glittering eyes peeked out, filled with silent mischief.
The journey to the cave was long and grueling, their footsteps crunching against dried leaves and broken twigs. The air grew cooler the closer they got, the scent of damp earth thickening around them. When they finally reached the mouth of the cave—a dark, yawning abyss of stone—Luiss took the lead.
"This cave has already been scouted," he explained, his voice echoing slightly. "It's a level-three site. Most of the wolves inside will be level one or two—easy enough for any one of us. But the Boss… that one's a different story. It could be level three or four. If we want to bring it down, we need to work together."
With that, they stepped inside.
The entrance allowed a faint, ghostly glow to stretch inwards, but beyond that, darkness swallowed them whole. They lit their torches, the flickering flames casting jagged shadows along the rough, uneven walls. The deeper they went, the heavier the silence became.
"No cobwebs," someone muttered. "This cave is in use."
The tension coiled tighter in their muscles as they advanced. It wasn't long before they encountered their first challenge—a pack of level-one wolves.
The fight began in a burst of movement.
Ariel unsheathed her sword, its steel glinting briefly before she lunged into battle. The moment she struck her first target, she felt it—a difference in the way the blade moved. It was lighter, sharper, almost as if it anticipated her actions. She had wielded this sword before, but never like this. It felt… alive.
"What the hell are you doing with that?" Luiss scoffed as he cut down a wolf nearby.
Ariel ignored him. She was too focused on the fight. With swift, precise movements, she carved through the beasts, pausing only to collect their eyes—valuable in trade and alchemy.
After the battle, they reached a junction where multiple pathways diverged.
"That way," a girl pointed. "I can sense more activity there."
As the group prepared to move, something small and fast darted out of Ariel's backpack.
Ariel barely caught a glimpse of brown fur before she gasped. "Little hamster, wait!"
The tiny creature bolted toward a separate tunnel, its tiny paws skittering against the stone floor.
"Leave the damn rodent!" one of the team members snapped. "It's going to be wolf food in minutes."
But Ariel shook her head. "You guys go on. I'll catch up."
"But—"
"Let her go," Luiss interrupted, a sly smirk curling on his lips. "She made her choice."
He didn't care about the hamster. What mattered was that Ariel had just given him the perfect excuse to abandon her.
Ariel chased after the hamster, her torchlight flickering against the cave walls. The deeper she went, the more the sounds of her teammates faded until there was only silence and the soft pattering of tiny feet.
At another junction, the hamster paused, sitting between two pathways.
"What are you doing?" Ariel huffed, reaching out to grab it. But before her fingers could touch its fur, it bolted down one of the tunnels.
She hesitated. Was it… leading her somewhere?
With no other choice, she followed.
The pathway soon opened into a massive cavern. Ariel's breath hitched as she took in the sight before her—an untouched patch of greenery, glowing faintly under the torchlight. Hundreds of precious herbs and flowers bloomed in the hidden chamber, more valuable than any wolf's eye.
Her hamster sat proudly beside the greenery as if expecting praise.
Ariel let out a soft laugh, scooping it up. "Was it really you? I thought you were just aimlessly running away."
She wasted no time harvesting the plants. This was a goldmine.
But as she moved her torch to illuminate the other half of the cavern, her blood ran cold.
A massive wolf lay ahead, its hulking body still and unmoving. The Boss.
She stumbled back in alarm—until she noticed something strange. It wasn't breathing.
It was already dead.
Slowly, cautiously, she approached. Its eyes remained intact, gleaming like dark gemstones. She didn't hesitate. A free prize is still a prize.
As she harvested its remains, her fingers brushed against something near its neck.
Fangs.
Her stomach twisted. Vampires.
She didn't stick around to ask questions. Clutching her hamster and her new loot, she turned and ran.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the cave, Luiss and his team were struggling.
"There are too many!" someone shouted, panting heavily.
"We need to fall back!"
"If Ariel was here, we could have pushed forward!"
Luiss's jaw tightened. He hated to admit it, but they were right. And his team was starting to lose morale. He had no choice. "Fall back!"
As they reached the cave entrance, one of the team members hesitated.
"Shouldn't we wait for Ariel? Maybe someone should go after her—"
"No need," Luiss cut in, his voice firm. "She disobeyed my orders and endangered the team. Whatever happens to her, she brought it upon herself."
He forced himself to believe it.
They might not have gotten the main prize, but at least one nuisance had been taken care of.
Ariel.