Kai sprinted into the cave.

  The wyvern slammed into the entrance. While it’s body was hung up on the hill, its legs shot through the cave entrance. Great big talons nearly caught Kai but kicked him forward instead.

  Kai went rolling all the way down the short tunnel. He came to a stop in the doorway to the dungeon. Sitting up with his head spinning, he fearfully looked up.

  The wyvern poked its head and long neck into the cave tunnel. Furiously, it clawed away at the entrance, doing heaps of damage to the opening and enlarging it. But it couldn’t go very far.

  Kai shakily backed away into the first-floor room, unable to take his eyes off the wyvern. When the beast shrieked, Kai clapped his hands over his ears in vain and fell to his knees. Terrified, he fled into the Admin Area. When the secret door slammed shut, sealing him away in safety, he collapsed against the wall, chest heaving and tears streaming down his cheeks.

  The wyvern angrily tried to worm its way down the tunnel, but the space was simply too narrow. Having lost sight of its prey and gaining no ground, the wyvern eventually backed off. With a flap of its leathery wings, it seemed to take off.

  Kai couldn’t move. He’d never felt like this in his life. No bullying, no near-crash on his bike or in a car, no experience he’d ever had had prepared him for what it was like to have a monster a hundred times his size come after him with raw fury, intent on killing and eating him. He could only sit there and tremble, half-ashamed of his tears and weakness. He could practically feel the PTSD settling in and making itself at home.

  For three days, he stayed in the Admin room, too scared to leave. He ate, he drank, he warily took a dump in the pit trap, his eyes on the cave entrance the whole time, before dashing back into the safety of the Admin Area. There was no way he was going out into the forest to do his business anymore. Screw that.

  By the morning of his fourth day since the attack, he’d calmed down enough to think rationally again. He sat on his grass bed with his arms crossed over his knees and muttered to himself, “Can’t stay here forever. Can’t let the fear win.” If he never left the dungeon, he wouldn’t be able to proactively help it grow. His fear of the outdoors would probably deepen until it became permanent. The only way to stop being scared was to challenge his fear. Easier said than done, but he had to try. That was his thing now. No more giving up.

  Gingerly, he moved down the back tunnel. Staying well hidden just inside the admin exit, he looked in all directions, searching the forest for signs of life.

  All was quiet. Wind rustled leaves in the trees. The sun blazed down. He heard a bird. He saw a couple of insects buzzing by.

  It was highly unlikely that a huge monster like the wyvern would still be around. Kai had probably been nothing more than a prey of opportunity. He would have been a bite-size snack at best, not a full meal. The wyvern had likely flown onwards to find something it could really sink its teeth into, like a cow or ten. Still, as Kai eased out of the tunnel, he did so while looking in all directions, just in case.

  He returned to exploring. This time, he made sure not to lose himself in thought. He was potential prey; he needed to think as prey. That meant a constant state of awareness. It also meant keeping an eye on the sky in case something came from that direction as well. He needed to become accustomed to thinking in three dimensions. He stuck close to trees and under branches, avoiding clearings and open ground as much as possible. After a few hours, he began to relax. Coming outdoors again had been a good thing, what someone tough would do.

  This time, Kai chose to go in a different direction and avoid the road. He had to be careful he didn’t spend all his time going in that direction, or he might miss something useful elsewhere. The forest changed, the trees becoming thinner and more varied in type. The underbrush thickened with a lot more bushes and grass. That made it harder to traverse.

  His big ears picked up a faint sound. Coming to a halt, he listened. Was that whispering? Trying not to make any more sounds than necessary, he made for the nearest tree, hoping to climb it and get a better look around. One couldn’t see much at his height. That’s when Kai made a pleasant discovery: all these claws on his hands and feet made climbing easy! He went up the trunk of a birch-type tree with almost as much ease as climbing a ladder. It was awesome! He grinned to himself.

  He rose to a height of about three meters. It felt a hell of a lot higher and scarier than it would have as a human, but his claws gave him a firm hold, and he fought through his fear of the height. Standing on a thick branch, he peered around at the nearby forest.

  His gremlin hearing helped him identify the direction of the whispers. He saw a pair of teenage human boys crouched behind a fallen tree and some bushes. The younger one held a very simple bow made of light wood. On his knees, he was taking aim while the older boy gently nudged him and whispered what was probably advice in the other’s ear.

  Their target was a deer not too far away, grazing on a bush. From the lack of horns, it might have been female or young. The animal’s fur was mottled brown and tan with white spots, the belly wine-red. It hadn’t noticed anything amiss.

  The younger boy drew back on the string, arrow knocked and ready to fly.

  From another direction entirely, a twang sounded. An arrow sailed through the forest in a blink and buried itself in the deer’s side, right in the belly.

  The deer bleated in pain. It staggered sideways in surprise, badly hurt, but not in a way that would soon kill it. Kai knew enough about hunting to know that it was a really bad shot. You were supposed to kill the animal on the first shot if possible. Or at least wound it so badly that you could run up and put it out of its misery. A shot like this wouldn’t even cripple the deer. It could take days to die, maybe longer, and it would be in growing pain the whole time. That was cruel.

  The older boy urged the younger to fire as the deer tried to escape.

  The younger boy seemed uncertain for a moment, then breathed deep and aimed. His arrow flew true. It punctured the deer in the throat. The animal gasped and fell.

  The two teens ran for the deer, crashing through the woods. Another figure did the same from another direction: the other archer. The three met over the dying deer.

  The newcomer was a heavset man, older and grizzled. His hair was streaked with gray, his clothing dyed brown and green to blend into the forest. He carried a bow as well and had a hatchet and knife on his belt. He snarled at the teens, “That’s my kill! Get lost!”

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  The older boy ignored the man as he bent down and slid his own knife into the deer’s heart, ending its suffering.

  The younger boy defiantly spoke up with the kind of bravery that kids have when they have yet to understand just how dangerous other people can be, “No, it’s not! We were here before you.”

  “I shot first!”

  “Your shot was terrible! My shot would have killed it.”

  The hunter roared, “That don’t matter!”

  The older boy wiped his knife off and sheathed it. He held up a hand. “It’s just bad luck we were both hunting it at the same time. Let’s just split the bag. That’s fair.”

  The hunter twitched. “Share? It’s my kill! I ain’t sharin’ with you twits.”

  The younger boy protested, “But we need that meat! Our family is starving!” From how reedy thin the two boys were, that seemed true. The hunter was obviously very well fed.

  “I don’t give two shits about your family, brat. I shot this here deer. It’s my kill.” He dropped a hand to his hatchet. His voice dropped and became deliberately threatening, “You git gone. Now.”

  The younger boy was too innocent to realize an adult might hurt him. He stepped forward, his chest out. “No! This is our deer!” The hunter’s fist backhanded him in the face so hard that the boy’s head snapped around. His legs turned to jelly, and he fell to the ground.

  The older boy stepped forward with hands bunched into fists. At least he hadn’t been stupid enough to draw his knife. “Hey! Don’t you dare!”

  The hunter threw his bow in the boy’s face, then followed it up with a very solid punch. To his credit, the boy took the hit without falling, only stumbling back a step. But then a second punch landed, and a third. The boy’s legs turned to jelly; he fell.

  The hunter rained punches and kicks down on both teens. He beat them bloody. Neither was able to resist or escape, let alone fight back. Finally, with one last boot to the older boy’s rear, he pointed into the distance. “Get yourselves gone afore I do something you’ll both regret. Permanent like. Go!”

  The two boys weakly picked themselves up. The older one grabbed their bow; then the two leaned on each other as they hobbled away.

  The scowling hunter watched them go until they were well away before kneeling down next to the dead dear.

  Kai hadn’t moved during the beating. There was nothing he could have done to help. But now the conflict was resolved. Kai could get back to work: finding people to lead to his dungeon. He climbed down the tree to the forest floor and then quietly followed the boys.

  He caught up to them soon enough because they weren’t moving very fast, both hurt and morose. He waited until they were safely out of earshot of the hunter before circling in front of them and allowing them to see him. “Hey there.”

  Both boys froze in their tracks. Eyes wide, they stared at him in shock like they were seeing a monster. From their perspective, maybe they were.

  Kai hurt, seeing that reaction. This was his new reality; he was no longer human. He should have been thrilled to finally connect with others. But he couldn’t be one of his own people anymore. Everyone would always look at him like a freak or something to stab with a sword. It stung, and the sudden emotion made his eyes burn. He hastily waved a hand, like ‘get on with it’, pretending he was fine. “Yes, yes. A talking monster. I know. Gremlin. Look, I saw everything. With the hunter.”

  The older boy’s expression turned suspicious. “What do you want?”

  Kai looked back and forth between the two. “Are you guys strong enough to haul that deer home on your own? Like, fast, if you need to?”

  The boys looked at each other. The older one shrugged. “Yeah, maybe. I think so.”

  “Great. You two go that way. Circle around the hunter, but stay out of sight and make sure he doesn’t hear you. I’m going to draw him off in that direction.” Kai pointed in the direction of the dungeon. “When he’s well away, you two run in and get that deer. Haul it off quick as you can in case he comes back.”

  The younger boy found his courage. “Why? You want some of our kill?”

  Kai grinned. “Nah. I want that hunter.” It was probably the really wide smile full of sharp teeth that caused both boys to pale slightly. He waved them in the direction he wanted them to go, then took off back toward the hunter. A couple of moments later, he heard the boys following his instructions. He was pleased but also a tad anxious. He hoped he’d be successful in leading that hunter away. If he wasn’t, and the rough man returned to find the boys dragging that deer off, he’d likely kill both.

  Kai gave the boys some time to get into position. Then he snuck as close as he dared to the hunter. Along the way, he picked up a couple of small stones. Hiding behind a patch of grass, he could just see the hunter in the distance, working over the deer. Kai pulled his arm back and then threw as hard as he could.

  Being a gremlin hadn’t improved his general lack of athletic ability. The stone missed and hit the ground at least a meter away.

  The hunter’s attention snapped in that direction. He looked around. Seeing nothing, he returned to his task.

  Kai tossed another stone. This one hit the hunter in the lower back. Kai nearly cheered himself for it.

  The hunter abruptly stood. He looked around the ground but seemed to find nothing. His gaze roamed the surrounding forest. He frowned. Seeing nothing, he turned back to his work, but now with his movements sharper.

  Kai threw another stone.

  It hit the grass, and the hunter practically jumped to his feet. He angrily scanned the nearby trees. “If that’s you brats comin’ back thinkin’ yer tough, yer makin’ a big mistake.”

  Kai hollered, “It’s not the kids, you big dumbass.”

  The hunter whirled in the direction of Kai’s voice. “Who’s there?” He bent down and picked up his bow. Pulling an arrow from the quiver on his back, he nocked it and slowly turned in a three-sixty-degree scan of his surroundings.

  Kai had his attention. He felt his adrenalin rise. Staying low, he shouted, “What’s wrong? Mighty dumb-dumb hunter gonna shoot me? Ha! I saw you shoot. You could only hit the broad side of that deer. The little kid shot better than you!” Ironically, Kai was pretty sure that if he ever unwisely attempted to fire a bow, he’d probably just shoot himself in the foot.

  The hunter called out, “Yeah? C’mon out! Maybe I’ll show you how good I shoot.”

  Kai eased himself backward through the vegetation. Now that he had the man’s attention, there was no need to be this close. Time to start drawing him in the direction of the dungeon. “Are you sure? Maybe I should get closer so you can actually hit me. Actually, give me a month or two. I’ll gorge myself until I have a fat belly like yours, so I’ll be a better target.”

  “Show yerself!”

  “Say, is that your name, by the way? Fatty fat dumb-dumb? Worst hunter in the land? Guy who gets beat by little boys?”

  The hunter swiftly pulled and fired his arrow. It shot into the ground only a few meters from Kai.

  Kai freaked out at how close the shot had been. He moved away faster. “Ha! Looks like you enjoy the thought of little boys beating you. You pedophile.”

  The hunter drew another arrow. Hunching over, he swiftly moved in Kai's direction, actively hunting his target. From the glower on his ugly mug, the man was very ticked off.

  Kai turned and jogged, trying to keep as hidden as possible. Thinking like prey, he tried to stay hidden and kept as many trees as he could between him and the hunter. Luckily, the hunter started going off course, getting further away in the wrong direction and giving Kai some space. Pausing behind a tree, Kai called out to get the man back on track, “Look at you. Can even track your quarry properly. Some hunter you are. Lame!”

  The hunter whirled and fired off a snap shot.

  The arrow slammed into the tree Kai was hiding behind.

  Kai jumped with a yelp. Then he took off at a run, no longer attempting to hide, just making himself hard to hit. He glanced over his shoulder.

  The hunter had seen him and was running after him, his face red.

  Kai sprinted. It occurred to him that he really needed to find a better way of doing this. Constantly acting as bait in order to lure people to the dungeon was gonna get old fast. He was gonna get himself killed. He heard the man stop chasing and looked back.

  The hunter was drawing his bow.

  Kai dove to the side. An arrow ripped through the grass behind him. He hissed, “Freak me, that was close.” Then he was up and running again. He had to get to the dungeon. Weaving through the forest, the hill came into view. He darted for the entrance. Passing through it and into the tunnel, an arrow thudded into the earth outside, just missing him.

  Kai skidded to a halt. He turned back, stuck his head outside, and yelled, “You shoot like a pedophile!” He jumped out of the cave and gave the guy a cocky grin and two middle fingers.

  The hunter roared and gave chase once more.

  Kai raced into the dungeon.