Demon Wolf

As if fearing the eerie gate was not enough, Eleanor’s words shook even the last remaining few who maintained a nonchalant appearance.

Wolf heard at least twenty people gasp. To his annoyance, the vast majority of those gaspers were men. He glanced down at Jakob, and noticed the young man tremble, gaping at the tacky red door behind the elder who promised death.

“Due to its nature, this trial is optional.” Eleanor ignored the crowd’s reaction. “By declaring yourself an outer disciple, you will save yourself from danger. You needn’t say a word. Simply climb the left stairway, and you will join our glorious pavilion’s outer disciple section.”

Wolf observed Stella skulk off, climbing the right path and disappearing from sight. Eleanor pretended not to notice the inner disciple sneaking away and continued giving instructions.

“Historically, this trial has a ten to thirty percent success rate, depending on the generation. To make myself clear, that means as few as one in ten of you will become inner disciples. The rest will either become outer disciples, or return home in pieces. Just like any danger our disciples face, elders can intervene and save your lives. However, the Earth Pavilion’s rules forbid our involvement. Otherwise, you will never grow. Trust me, it’s more difficult for us to watch you foolishly kill yourself than it is to act and rescue you. Understand that we do not have a choice. Where possible, we will help. Now, we cannot.”

Eleanor stopped talking and an oppressing quiet suffocated the crowd. Wolf watched the dramatic display and wanted to applaud. These Demon World dwellers have a knack for theatrics.

His heart remained calm. Twenty heartbeats of silence passed, and for once time stretched for others, rather than Wolf. Those whose hearts galloped counted fifty or even sixty before Eleanor sighed.

“I guess you have to see blood before you know death. You.” She pointed at a chubby human girl. “Will you be an outer disciple or take the trial?”

The girl paled, sweat streaming from her forehead. “I—”

She looked around, inwardly cursing the evil elder for calling her first.

“I will take the trial,” she stuttered as embarrassment won against fear.

Eleanor rolled her eyes at the foolish decision, then glared at the girl whose feet appeared glued to the carved stone.

“Well? Off to the coffin with you.” She raised her arm, pointing at the red maw.

The terrified, pale girl nodded, then dragged her feet. She shuddered and a dark stain spread across her back as sweat soaked her robe.

“Hurry up. We haven’t got all day,” Eleanor shouted and the girl jumped. She scurried, tripping on her way over to the door. Once she reached her goal, she foolishly stood there, staring at the world of crimson.

“Open the bloody thing and go in.” The girl winced at Eleanor’s shout. She turned around and looked at the outer disciples’ stairway.

Even from afar, Wolf saw the terror in that gaze. Then the girl clenched her jaw and yanked the door open.

Creaking, the door opened a crack, revealing pitch blackness. Faced with the devouring umbra, tears slid down the girl’s chubby cheeks. She slammed the door closed and ran to the outer disciples’ stairs, sobbing as she sprinted up.

Suddenly, the crowd exploded in jeers, laughs and insults. Over half those gathered projected their own fears onto the fleeing fatty.

“Clever girl.” Eleanor nodded in approval before pointing at one of those cursing the weakling. “You.”

The girl choked. “Me?”

Eleanor shot her a ‘yes you, you dumb bitch’ look, and the dumb bitch moved.

She walked with her back straight and strutted, a forced smile covering her nervousness. While she did not sweat as much as the fatty, translucent beads rolled down her forehead as she made her way through the crowd.

By the time she reached the portal, her posture drooped, her fake stride turned timid, but she still grabbed the massive ring and pulled.

With yet another ominous creak, the pitch shadow presented itself. Not letting herself reconsider her alternatives, the brunette jumped into the darkness.

The door slammed shut all on its own. A second passed before a muffled shriek of pain and terror echoed beyond the red screen. The sound died mid-scream, and blood flowed out under the scarlet door.

Several disciples fainted. Even Wolf was shocked by the sight of steaming blood trickling down the single stone step which led into the dark death.

Eleanor remained silent. Then, a sound of invisible teeth crunching bones and squishing flesh echoed beyond the portal.

“Damn thing, back to your cage.”

“Did they forget to feed it?”

As two voices argued, the stunned crowd caught the monster’s whines. A moment later the whimpers ended, and the only sound disturbing the silence was the burbling of a narrow stream of blood hitting the growing crimson pool.

“She failed.” Eleanor’s icy gaze pierced the gathering. “There’s no shame in surviving. There’s no shame in fear. Obstinately persisting, oblivious of your abilities is suicide. Worse. It’s endangering your comrades and wasting the resources invested in you.”

She let the gurgle of blood and the looming scarlet door press down on the crowd, forcing them to use their brains.

“At least seven in ten fail this trial. It needn’t be fatal.” Eleanor’s whisper stabbed into the minds of the gathered. “The left path is always open. You have thirty seconds to decide.”

Two dozen boys and girls moved without hesitation. Nobody laughed. After five reluctant seconds, their number grew to over three hundred.

“You can’t waste our time. If you turn back once you reach the door, I will expel you. But that too is preferable to dying. Consider carefully.” Eleanor’s words scared another twenty-five hundred into taking the left path.

The original group of six thousand dwindled to less than three thousand.

“You are free to withdraw until I call you out. I hope you make a wise decision.” Eleanor warned and pointed at a young man. “You.”

The man paled, but tried to appear brave as he advanced. Wolf glanced at Jakob, he was biting his lip, the hair at the back of his neck standing straight, making him look like a startled kitten.

“You can give up,” Wolf whispered, and Jakob jumped in fright.

He licked his lips, then opened his mouth. “I can’t. Outer disciples get nothing. They work themselves to the bone and rarely advance to the Earth Monastery.”

He winced as the giant, bloody door squeaked.

“The—” Jakob gulped, wetting his dry throat. “Everything I’ve done is for naught, if I don’t become an inner disciple.”

The portal slammed shut, followed by a scream and an even larger gush of blood.

Staring at the scene, Wolf frowned. There’s too much blood. Did he wound the Monster Beast? No, blood would have mixed shades of red. Even human blood ranges from brown-red to orange-red.

This is another scam. Wolf glanced at the indifferent elder Dreadingham, choosing the next victim as another dozen youths scurried away towards the safe haven of outer disciples.

Feeling his look, Eleanor looked towards him. Wolf held her gaze without fear, and the slowly dawning realization creeping into her eyes revealed her act. It was a split second, but in that moment, Wolf called the woman’s bluff and she faltered, revealing her hand.

He turned his gaze towards Jakob and scratched his nose.

“Keep your head cool. Just use what I taught you along the way and you’ll do fine.” Wolf covered his whisper with his hand, but those words invigorated his young cohort.

By the time Eleanor sent thirty disciples to their “deaths”, three thousand dwindled to twenty-one hundred before only those willing to risk it remained.

People grew numb to unwilling screams and blood oozing out the trial grounds when a change happened. The forty-first disciple entered, and there was no immediate scream.

Twenty seconds later, Eleanor shook her head. “Failed, you next.”

The non-fatal failure bolstered everyone’s confidence. Then the next person failed, and the next. Finally, the fourth one in line passed.

There’s no way the trial is that tough. Wolf chewed on breaded chicken with a scrunched brow, trying to find a method to elder Eleanor’s choices. Is she intentionally picking the weakest?

Minutes whizzed by, and out of one hundred people entering the door three passed.

“You.” Eleanor pointed at Jakob, and Wolf noted she considered him in the bottom five percent of this group.

“Good luck,” Wolf patted the boy on the shoulder, gracing him a friendly smile.

His action stunned the crowd. Others sending off their companions into the bloody maw had stern faces, with a hint of relief mixed into their expressions. Wolf’s simple encouragement shook them and shamed them into supporting each other.

While Jakob grinned in thanks, Wolf noted several downcast youths staring at their feet. They had sent their friends to death without a word, feeling glad they had dodged a calamity.

Jakob ventured forth with more genuine courage than most before him. His big brother had shared his burden and told him he could pass.