Johann woke up with terrible pain splitting his head into two while lying on the cold, rough and a little bit wet stones. He opened his eyes and moved the head to the sides trying to figure out where he is, and why wasn’t he dead, yet as soon as he did that a wound on his neck reminded him in a nasty way that not that long ago it was pierced with a dagger. He hissed and squinted his eyes before he started massaging the area of the wound, trying to bring even just a little bit of comfort to his pained body.

Now, as the pain was finally gone, he looked around.

He was in a cave – an awfully dark one, he couldn’t see anything – nothing at all, even with his enhanced vision… or, maybe, his vision was enhanced no longer?

“The touched one!”

A loud voice came from the tunnels, resonating across the whole underground – coming from all possible directions. One simply couldn’t state where it was coming from.

“Wake up! Awake yourself!”

Johann jumped on his feet … and right away his forehead hit low ceiling of the cave. Great, he almost knocked himself unconscious on the spot.

He raised his hands trying to figure out how tall is the tunnel he was dumped into. Not very tall – a bit over 1 meter tall. Meter and 20-30 centimeters? For a giant like himself, it was a nightmare. He had to walk on all fours or crouch all the time.

“AWAKE! AWAKE! BECOME AWAKE!” it was like a chant, sang at rhythmical pace by other, strange to him voices “I am already up!” he yelled in frustration. “Not your body! Awake your mind!” the same voice yelled “WAKE UP! And crawl! WAKE UP! And run! WAKE UP! And hunt!”

As if someone was dancing on his head – his pain hurt as if he was being kicked.

“WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!?” the pain, the darkness, and confusion caused the hunter to panic. The chant was resonating through his body, forcing it into vibration. “Not what we want from you, but what you want from us. You came here. You have started your pilgrimage. Fell asleep – so you can wake up! Close your eyes – so you can see! Cross the Styx, so you can live!” “WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE-WAKE-UP!”

Fuck! It’s almost cliché! Why does every fanatic must speak in riddles!? Is he trying to be cool and act as smarter than he is, or not even himself knows what the hell is going on!?

“Summoned by the mark - you have been touched!

So arise at the night to answer that call,

In restrains of thy weakness – so lost and clutched!

So break your chains and hail into the dark,

Close your eyes and open your heart,

And allow monster within you to do its part!” “The last part was unpoetic, cringe and lame!” Johann howled into one of the tunnels, hoping that his voice would reach annoying creatures, wherever they were.

And suddenly, everything went quiet. So, they heard that, did they? Hope they weren’t thinking highly about their so-called rhymes, for damn, they sucked, but if they were not aware of that face, they could indeed act bit violently to that honest act of criticism.

“You will now complete the trails. Follow the paths ahead and you will be able to find what you were looking for!”

The voice said calmly, almost sympathetically.

“Will I… Will I be able to break free from this… curse?” Johann asked and for a long time, only his own echo was his response. “If that’s what you truly seek.” After half of a minute, the voice answered. “IT IS!” Johann really did believe in what he said “Then – you will.” “What do I have to do!?” hunter felt as the blood started boiling in his veins in excitement. “Leave the cave. The journey will change you, one way or another. The decisions you make will dictate how your story will end. Now, show us who you really are! Now. Move. Onward. The hunt begins!”

Hunt? What hunt?

Then he heard that. Something was let into the tunnels. Something, which was scratching furiously the stones of the cave’s floor. Something running pretty fast and snarling or growling every now and then. Johann’s first idea? Wolf. Or actually – wolves. Many of them.

Adrenaline rushed through his veins giving him a motivational kick – “flee, you fool!” his brain screamed to the body, and the body in convulsing panic bolted onward, yet it did it so clumsily, that Johann felt with his face back right on the stone floor.

Yet, thanks to this he managed to spot a little gift left to him by the attackers. A small bag. He decided to quickly check what was inside using his hands to check the content or small leather vessel. Some food ration, a goatskin partly filled with some liquid, most likely water and…

OUCH!

Johann cut himself deeply with a razor sharp knife.

Lead by instinct he put his finger to his mouth sucking the blood off the wound. Then – he noticed it.

He didn’t heal.

He was clumsy so he was cutting or bruising himself every few hours, yet, since he became a werewolf, everything healed almost instantly. Not this time.

He was stripped of the powers of the beast. At first, he was overjoyed! – they really cured him! He was beast no longer!...

… in every other time and place, he would be jumping from happiness, but one – the height of the tunnel didn’t let him do so, two – he was crouching in the underground full of hungry wolves. And all he had was a single, short blade.

Yet – once again – it was not time nor place to contemplate about the matter or life and death, for as he was wasting the precious time, the death was slowly becoming more dominant aspect of that contemplation.

He resumed his crawling onward.

His back started hurting, skin on his hands quickly got rough, then got covered in blisters, then burst with cuts of blood and purulence. He was walking for god only know how long, maybe hour, maybe two, maybe three. Or maybe just a few minutes. In the darkness, there was no way to measure the time flow. And then – he stumbled again. And he could swear that he stumbled on that particular rock already. Maybe even twice…

He lowered his face to the ground and started sniffing the floor. Delicate smell of iron hit his nostrils. Deprived of sight, he decided to lick the ground. Taste of blood attacked his tongue. Taste of his blood – few drops he left when he hit the ground the last time.

He was walking in a circle.

He cursed loudly in desperation, his curse was followed by a scream of desperation. And that scream was answered by snarling of wolves. Louder than before. Beasts were slowly getting closer.

Hunter stopped for a moment. Just forcing his way onward would lead him nowhere. He would only get more exhausted and wounded in the process. He sat resting his backs on the cold wall of the cave, hid his face in his palms and started breathing rhythmically to slow down his heart beating rate.

It can’t be a dead end. It can’t be just a random-circle-like tunnel deep underground. One – they somehow carried him in, two, he still had air to breathe. If air and these monsters could come in, then damn – he surely could leave this place too.

Up until now, he only crawled onward with his hands touching the ground in front of him – trying to secure the path ahead. Now, every step, he started touching the cave around him. The walls, the ceiling.

And he started counting the steps – it was the only way he could somehow measure the time flow and distance at the same time.

Hounded and twelve steps later – his right hand was inspecting the wall on his side, he was slowly raising his palm checking every stone ahead when his hand fell into a pit. By the very ceiling, there was a narrow slit – barely enough for him to crawl through.

Johann hated narrow places, especially because of his huge body. It wasn’t quite claustrophobia, but damn if it wasn’t close to it! Yet, an idea of spending rest of his life in the trap tunnel (which guessing by the food and water supplies could last for five days – five days of starving himself and prolongation of his agony) quickly helped him to get rid of his picky attitude.

The tunnel kept getting more and more narrow, almost suffocating. The body of Johann was slowly getting stuck inside…. And eventually, he couldn’t continue his march onward. Just couldn’t. One step more onward was a death sentence to him. Johann whimpered in distress. He was about to give up, when a light breeze of wind touched his cheek.

Airflow. Air could come only from outside. Outside meant freedom. HE WAS SO CLOSE!

Then, the idea shined in his head, like the brightest sun of hope. He retreated back to the more spacious place he came from, and there he undressed. Up till now, he was dressed in travelers coat, thick woolen pants, and shirt.

The layers of clothing definitely didn’t help in his struggles. After he stood naked, he picked the bag with food and his clothing and he shoved it into the tight slit. Then, he crawled in there. He resumed his journey pushing food and clothes in front of him while squeezing through the gaps, soon he found himself in his previous spot through which he passed with almost no efforts. Then, he met another bottleneck.

CURSES!

How is he supposed to get past it!...

… Was he even meant to escape this place!? Maybe his attackers decided to just mock him? Maybe he was nothing more than some sick twisted entertainment? Letting someone wound himself fighting for his life, tempting him with a promise of freedom… just to laugh at him when he would realize that all this his efforts were made in vain?

Another breeze of air, stronger than before.

No, it can’t this way. Not like this!

Once again he pushed onward, thought his body already got stuck inside, he kept moving, jerking his body to force it into tiniest movements.

Rocks cut his skin on legs, shoulders, stomach and back. The crushing presence of stone walls almost ripped his muscles.

With screams of pain, agony but also determination he finally felt down. On the other side.

He decided to just lay on the cold stones panting exhausted and covered in blood. He did it. He was almost there. So close to escape. He felt air gently tickling his body.

No, he can’t just rest here. He has to go and find Marie. His little Marie. She is somewhere in the forest waiting for him. For the first time, he felt that it was Marie depending on him, not the other way around.

With a groan of pain, he raised his body, dressed again and started walking in the direction from which air was blowing. The tunnel finally got much more spacious, so he could walk freely. Then, something sinned at the end of the tunnel.

And again.

LIGHT! Exit!

Johann heart was filled with excitement as he started running toward it. He was this close. THIS CLOSE! His peaceful jog turned into a run, his run turned into mad charge… which almost cost him life.

For, the weird light was not cause by the sun, but thousands of glowing mushrooms illuminating the colossal cave. Truly, colossal. He barely managed to stop be the edge of the howling abyss below.

He looked down. Even illuminated, he couldn’t see the bottom, looking up, he couldn’t see the cellar. Only hundreds of stone bridges leading from one tunnel entrance to another. Hundreds of passages… and hundreds of wolves patrolling caves looking for the preys not yet aware of his presence.

“Congratulation. You have finished the trails of pain. The hunter always kills his prey. No matter how tiresome it is, no matter how hard it is. Even lamb can hit painfully trying to free itself from the bloody grip of the attackers. Yet, not matter how painful it would be, the attacker has to keep biting, he has to keep fighting, for his prey is his existence. Life devours life –this is how the world of frenzy-full Aira works. Congratulation. When you finish the rest of the trials, your mind will become clear. Simple. You will find the way of living in your heart, and by setting your mind free of the shackles of your own fear and fragility, we will grant the freedom to your body. Now, awake yourself and rise!” the same voice hissed greatly pleased. “Awake yourself! Awake yourself! Awake yourself!”

The chant of dozen voiced echoed through the caves.

“Awake yourself! Awake yourself! Awake yourself!”

The voice just kept getting louder and louder.

“AWAKE YOURSELF! AWAKE YOURSELF! AWAKE YOURSELF!”

Their shouts became unbearable, Johann which up to now kept covering his ears from resonating through the tunnels voices couldn’t rest idly no longer.

He raised up and roared. With anger. With hatred. With the desire to challenge everyone who mocked him from above.

He roared like a beast he was.