The group continued along their march for several long days. Luckily for Dawn, no one mentioned the matter again. It was as if, after an initial period of having to out their concerns, everyone came to an unspoken agreement: no one wanted to talk about that which was plaguing them.

“Ugh, how much longer is this going to keep up? We’ve been walking for four days already. We only walked for three days before reaching that place, and that was when we were travelling casually. We spent the entire first day just running, and now its been another three days and the cave is still nowhere in sight!” Dick complained.

The group had stopped for a short lunch break. They sat huddled between several large trees. They nibbled on the last of their rations. Their rations weren’t supposed to last this long. They had originally only packed enough to last them until they reached their hunting ground. The plan was for them to eat what they hunted from there and save up for the return journey. No one had any appetite, however, so rations lasted far longer than they would have otherwise. Mostly they only nibbled on the dried meat each time, no one actually consumed more than two bites at a time.

“We’ll be there by tonight. We should have lost any tails by now,” Dawn said, hopefully.

No one answered, however. Only the sound of crunching dried meat could be heard. Dawn’s ears suddenly perked. A moment later the rest of the group’s ears also perked. There was a soft rustle in the leaves in the direction they had come from. This was the first time they heard anything but their own heartbeats, breathing, and footsteps since they took of running three days ago. Everyone froze up once more. Their heads turned, and their shivering pupils stared in the direction the sound had come.

Two moments passed before another rustle could be heard, slightly louder and slightly closer than the last. Another two moments and another rustle, once again yet closer than the previous. With the third rustle everyone could see the leaves of the bush move. A black shadow parted the leaves and emerged from the darkness.

Everyone shuddered.

The shadow took form and became solid. In a moment it was no longer a shadow, but instead a statue. A mass of moving, black rock. Its surface was riddled with cracks out from which spilled dark grey fur. The black mass moved towards the group. Everyone gulped but no one dared to move. Their eyes followed the shadow as it passed them buy. It headed directly for Dawn.

At the top of the black mass, where what was presumably the head, two white haloes surrounding two pitch black irises stared out at Dawn. They were cold, almost taunting.

‘You ran from me with all your might, did everything you could to hide your tracks, and tried your best to lose me, but here I am. I’ve seen past your tricks, I’ve exposed your path, and I’ve followed you all the way,’ they seem to say.

The mass stopped in front of dawn. The darkness beneath the eyes parted and two rows of white teeth emerged. The same deathly smile appeared before Dawn as he had seen that night four days prior. It lifted one of its appendages and held out four spheres. It took Dawn several seconds to realise what they were. The sphere were covered by black blotches, most of them were unrecognisable, but beneath the layer of darkness lay rotting skin. It was undeniable, those were the heads of three of the naked devils they had seen four days earlier.

The blackness around the two rows of teeth began to move.

“So,” it said in a familiar voice, “did I pass the test?”

Dawn stared at the heads, completely oblivious to what had just been said for several seconds. His eyes were fixated on the peeling skin. It had started to dry and shrink. The faces were pulled taught, morphed into expressions he couldn’t make out. They seemed to be somewhere between a smile and a scream, yet despite their disfigured appearance the terror they were in at the moment of their death still couldn’t be hid. Their glassy, shrivelling eyeballs still held that terror captive.

Dawn didn’t want to see those heads, and yet he couldn’t tear his eyes away from them. They told a story of momentary hell. Of a fate that he wouldn’t wish, even on his enemies. The terror that struggled to escape from their eyes sent shivers down his spine, and the silent screams they were shouting in perpetuity made his ears hurt. He felt dizzy, like he was constantly falling.

Finally, after nearly a minute of staring at the balls of terror, he finally managed to move his eyes from the scene. As he did he finally snapped out of his days.

“Huh?” was all he could get out.

“The black mass in front of him didn’t stop smiling, and just repeated its inquiry.

“Did I pass the test?”

Once again Dawn’s head spun.

‘Pass the test? What fucking test?’

Then it hit him.

“Fuck you Migal! What the fuck?!” he yelled.

Unable to control himself he hurled himself at Migal, but the latter dodged easily, leaving Dawn to make acquaintances with the ground. He lay there incredulously for several moments before getting to his feet stumblingly.

“What the hell was that?!” he yelled once again.

“What the hell was what?” Migal asked, puzzled.

“What the hell did you do? Where did you get those heads?”

“Why, I took them from the corpses of the naked devils of course.”

The statement rudely shoved the others out of their daze.

“What about the damn monster?” Kor asked.

“What monster? I killed the naked devils and took their heads. I had originally planned to simply show you guys my handy-work, but when I showed up you all disappeared into the bushes. I had to spend four whole days catching up to you. I didn’t even have time to bath and clean the blood off me!” Migal said.

He scratched himself vigorously. As he did so the blood flaked off him like dead skin.

“Ugh… I’m itching all over.”

“What, YOU killed the naked devils?” Dawn asked.

“Of course, who else? They were all dead by the time you got there, weren’t they? I even brought three of their heads as proof.”

Dawn collapsed to the ground.

“What on earth is going on…”

Migal spent the next couple of hours calming everyone down and explaining the whole sequence of events to everyone. All throughout everyone kept their distance. Even by the end of it their eyes were still filled with deep fear towards Migal, though a tinge of admiration was mixed in.

“Alright, that’s enough,” Dawn finally stopped Migal, “I’ve heard enough, for now at least. Now that the mystery of the killer beast has been solved we should home as soon as possible. Our rations are pretty much finished and you haven’t eaten in three days.”

No one objected and everyone immediately set off for home. They were eager to return to their resting chambers and sleep a nightsun-cycle away. The previous four days no one had rested. Even during the last three nights when they had stopped for rest, no one could sleep so everyone just ended up staring into the darkness for the whole night.

“Why is everyone still catching glimpses of me over their shoulders all the time?” Migal asked Dawn.

Dawn tensed up ever-so-imperceptibly when he heard Migal’s voice. He had yet to get over his trauma.

“What do you expect? You scared everyone to such an extent that I wouldn’t be surprised if they formed internal demons! There’s no way they can look at you the same after what happened.”

“But I didn’t do anything special. I just killed some naked devils,” Migal protested.

“You might see it that way, but the way you appeared scared the living shit out of everyone.”

Migal merely shrugged, “I can’t help it if they have blare fate for hearts.”

‘Blare fat for hearts my tail. Even I was scared shitless,’ Dawn thought, but he daren’t say it out loud. He still had his dignity, after all. Or, rather, what was left of it after his shameful displays the last couple of days.

The journey continued uneventful, and by sundown the group could see the cave come into view halfway up the mountain ahead.

“Yes! Home, finally!” everyone chanted in unison.

Migal merely sighed and shook his head.

“We didn’t even get to do our hunt. How am I going to become an adult now?”

‘Become an adult my arse, how could Mallarn refuse to make you an adult with your performance? If you present him with the three naked devil heads he might even make you his successor right there and then!’ Dawn thought, ‘I’m more worried for the others, how could they ever face the forest again.’

The group slowly climbed up the mountainside. When they were about half way to the cave entrance they heard several howls. The others were alerted to their return. By the time they made it to the cave entrance, the adult males were already waiting for them.

“Dawn! You’ve brought the youngsters back rather quickly, haven’t you? You were supposed to be away for at least a whole nightsun-cycle,” a tailless howler greeted them.

Dawn walked up to him and gave him a strong hug.

“It’s good to see you, brother.”

“So, was the hunt a success?” his brother asked.

At the question Dawn’s expression turned serious.

“I need to speak with the alpha male. Where’s Mallarn?” he immediately asked.

“He’s about to head out on patrol, why? Did something happen?”

“Come with me.”

Dawn didn’t explain anymore and just entered the cave. His brother looked at his disappearing figure puzzled for a moment before following.