GET OUT! The voice roared so loudly as if its owner was standing beside her. Carina cringed and flattened her ears. Her long fox-like snout curled into a snarl and her hackles raised. A chilled breeze fluttered through the dark forest clearing, urging her forward. “Yeah, yeah, I’m going.” She barked to the void.
Carina was tired of the bickering. It was obvious by now that her only option was to play this thing’s game. She rolled her eyes. How difficult could it be? With great reluctance she stretched a paw in front of her, then the next until she was at the clearing’s edge. Ahead of her remained as dark as a moonless night. She glanced upwards to see if it truly was night. Much to her dismay, there was nothing but an inky sky - not a single star.
“First task,” the voice taunted as she pushed her way through the underbrush, “Avoid the thorns!”
As if on queue a bramble caught one of her many tails, scraping skin and stealing a tuft of fur.
“Damn it!” She yelped.
She grimaced and lowered herself, trying to stay as close to the ground and as tucked into her body as feasible. The thorny branches tugged and scraped by her shoulders as she delicately moved forward. It wasn’t easy. Carina could feel her fur tugging with each passing thorn, and she was certain her nine tails were littered with spurs. Her eyes scanned the brambles for an opening. There, to the right! Just as she turned towards that glimmer of light, her headpiece caught on a low hanging branch. She shook her head trying to free herself. No luck! Panic started to bubble its way to the surface. Carina thrashed her head while her claws dug into the earth. She reared herself backwards, then forwards. The voice cackled at her plight.
She focused only on getting free and the new sting on her snout. The pain was sharp and fresh. The kitsune was certain she was bleeding but it wasn’t a priority. Getting out of this twisted world was the priority. One final tug and she was free! Free from the thorns at least. Her head felt a bit lighter too. Carina turned to see her headpiece raveled up with the briar. It’s fine, she told herself, it doesn’t matter because this world doesn’t exist, and she’d wake up at any moment uninjured and whole.
“Oh but it does…” The voice taunted.
The kitsune had never experienced terror before now, it was as if that earlier panic had turned into a roiling boil. Her eyes widened. Her breath quickened and her heart pounded in her chest. How? She thought.
Her captor ignored her question. “Tick tock, little fox.”
She rushed towards the sliver of light, ignoring the scratching vines. It was a squeeze but she managed to pop out onto the other side. Unfortunately, the other side wasn’t very wide. Her paws slipped in the gravelly shore almost plunging her head first into the raging river.
“Second task, cross the river…”
Carina looked to the water, there were several groupings of large rocks above the rapids. “Easy enough,” she said. She leapt to a large dry rock with little trouble. “See.”
“Looks can be deceiving…” The voice sneered.
The rock under her trembled and shook. She bumbled about trying to stay aloft as the rock rose out of the water. “How is this possible?!” Before the stone rose any further, she bounded for a nearby mossy stone. Her paws slipped and her back leg dipped into the churning frigid water. It was as cold as ice! “Oh no, minus one point…” the voice tutted.
She scrambled onto the rock and raised her head upwards with a snarl. “Why don’t you try this and see how easy it is?!”
“This is your task, your trial. You don’t want to lose.”
Carina growled. “Tick tock. You wouldn’t want to lose any more points.”
Carefully she hopped from rock to rock. She did her best to avoid the moving large stones but sometimes it was the only path forward. “Minus one point.” The voice echoed each time a limb or tail touched the water. By the time she managed across the river, her fur was damp and chilled from the mists the rapids created and a 'few loss of points'.
“Alright, second task done. Give me the next one!” She huffed, her breath a bit ragged.
“Well?”
Nothing. Had she finished her test? Why had the voice stolen her away from her homeland? What had she done to deserve this?
She paused, her ears swiveled trying to pick up any of the usual forest noises one would expect. There was nothing but silence. No voice, no birds, no insects trilling, and nothing scurrying in the underbrush. But she was still surrounded with that strange inky black. On this side of the river was just a row of trees and a small light. Her eyes focused on the light, it was just like the brambles. Maybe this was the end? Hesitantly she moved towards the trees. Before she stepped through, she glanced back but nothing had changed - no voice telling her to stop. Was she finally free?
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