I opened my eyes to the impossible.

  Green. Everywhere.

  I pushed myself upright, my hands sinking into soft, damp soil. I wasn't in the white room anymore. Towering oaks stretched overhead, their leaves forming a canopy that blocked out the artificial sun. The air smelled of pine and wet earth—a scent so rich and forgotten it made my head spin. It was beautiful.

  It was definitely a trap.

  I scrambled to my feet, brushing dirt from my uniform. My eyes darted around the clearing. Twenty feet away, resting on a flat slab of granite, lay my twin blades. They gleamed in the dappled sunlight, mocking me.

  Come and get us.

  I took a step. A twig snapped beneath my boot—a sound like a gunshot in the quiet forest.

  The birds stopped singing.

  I didn't turn around. My body moved before my brain could catch up. I dove forward, tucking my chin to my chest.

  A shadow blotted out the sun. Something massive slammed into the earth where I had been standing a millisecond ago. The impact was like a bomb going off, shaking the ground hard enough to rattle my teeth and sending a shockwave of dirt into my face.

  I rolled to my feet, spitting out grit, and spun around.

  "You have got to be kidding me," I whispered.

  It was a wolf, but wrong. It was the size of a transport truck, with grey fur that rippled over muscles that didn't look biologically possible. Its eyes were glowing red, and saliva—thick and acidic—dripped from jaws that could easily fit my entire head inside.

  It snarled—a sound like grinding metal gears.

  I was unarmed. I was exposed. And I was twenty feet from my only chance at survival.

  It lunged.

  I threw myself to the left, a claw the size of a butcher knife missing my face by an inch. The wind of the swing whipped my hair across my eyes. I scrambled up, gasping, but the beast was relentless.

  It swiped again. I ducked. It snapped its jaws. I rolled.

  For minutes that felt like hours, I did nothing but dodge. I was a rat in a cage, dancing around a predator that only needed to get lucky once. My lungs burned. My legs felt like lead.

  The beast grew frustrated. It turned to a nearby oak tree. With horrifying ease, it bit into the trunk and ripped it free, roots and all. Soil rained down as it whipped its head around, hurling the timber at me like a javelin.

  I didn't think. I threw myself into a slide.

  The tree shattered against the ground inches from my boots, showering me in splinters. I scrambled on hands and knees toward a narrow fissure in the rock face—a small cave I’d spotted in my peripheral vision.

  I dove inside just as a massive paw slammed against the entrance.

  The rock shuddered. Dust rained down on my head.

  I pressed my back against the cold stone wall, clutching my chest, trying to quiet my breathing. Outside, I could hear the beast pacing. Sniffing.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  A blast of hot, fetid air washed over me as the wolf shoved its snout into the cave entrance. Its red eyes scanned the darkness, glowing like embers. I held my breath, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird.

  It huffed, pulling back. It couldn't reach me.

  But I couldn't stay here. The timer was ticking.

  I peeked out. The wolf had turned its attention to the granite slab. It was circling my swords, pacing back and forth. It knew what I wanted.

  I looked around the cave floor. Loose stones.

  I grabbed a jagged rock, weighing it in my hand. I needed it to look away for three seconds. Just three.

  I wound up and hurled the stone hard to the far left of the clearing, aiming for a thicket of bushes.

  CRACK.

  The wolf’s ears swiveled. Its head snapped toward the noise. It crouched, a low growl vibrating in its throat, expecting an attack from the flank.

  Now.

  I burst from the cave like a shot from a cannon. I didn't look back. I sprinted toward the boulder, my fingers itching for steel.

  The beast heard me. It pivoted, realized the trick, and roared.

  I could hear the thudding of its paws behind me. Closing the distance. Fast. Too fast.

  I didn't slow down. I threw myself into a baseball slide across the dirt, slipping under the reach of its claws just as they swiped the air above my head.

  My hands closed around the leather hilts.

  The relief was instant. I drew the blades in one fluid motion, the metal singing as it cleared the scabbards. I rolled to my feet, bringing the swords up in a defensive X.

  "Okay," I panted, flipping the hair out of my eyes. "Round two."

  The wolf charged. This time, I didn't run.

  I sidestepped its snapping jaws, spinning inside its guard. I slashed upward. Steel met flesh. The blade dug deep into its front leg, and the beast howled—a glitchy, distorted sound that echoed through the trees.

  It stumbled back, enraged. Suddenly, the strange markings on its fur began to glow. A high-pitched whine filled the air, like a capacitor charging up.

  "What are you doing?" I muttered, tightening my grip.

  The wolf opened its mouth, and a beam of concentrated red energy blasted out.

  I threw myself flat. The beam scorched the air above me, hitting a pine tree behind me. The tree instantly exploded into flames.

  I scrambled up, staring at the smoking crater.

  "Laser beams?" I shouted, backing away as the fire began to crackle. "Really? It’s a wolf, not an alien spaceship! That feels like cheating!"

  The wolf didn't care about my critique. It roared and seized the granite slab I had taken my swords from. It reared up and hurled the massive boulder at me.

  I couldn't dodge in time. I threw myself sideways, but the edge of the boulder clipped my shoulder.

  The impact spun me around like a ragdoll. I hit the ground hard, my head cracking against a stone. A white hot flash of pain blinded me. Warm blood trickled into my eye.

  I groaned, trying to push myself up. My left arm hung uselessly at my side, throbbing. The forest was spinning.

  The beast was charging up another beam. The fire from the burning tree was spreading, filling the clearing with acrid grey smoke.

  Two choices: Stay down and die. Or finish it.

  They were timing us. I knew it.

  I grit my teeth, forcing myself to stand. I sprinted.

  Not away from it. Toward it.

  The wolf hesitated, confused by the suicide run. It tried to track me through the smoke. I waited until the last second, then jumped.

  I grabbed a low-hanging branch of a burning oak tree, ignoring the heat, and swung myself up. I used the momentum to launch myself into the air, flipping over the beast’s head.

  I landed squarely on its back.

  The wolf went berserk. It bucked and thrashed, trying to throw me off like a wild stallion. I clamped my legs around its massive neck, burying one sword into its shoulder for leverage.

  "Hold... still!" I gritted out.

  I raised my other blade high.

  I drove it down, burying it deep into the base of the creature's skull.

  The wolf stiffened. It let out one final, haunting howl that rattled my bones—and then collapsed.

  The impact jarred every tooth in my head, but I held on, riding the carcass to the ground as it crashed into the dirt.

  I rolled off, panting, wiping blood and sweat from my eyes. My white streak of hair was plastered to my forehead with grime.

  "Target... eliminated," I wheezed, clutching my bad shoulder.

  Then, the world flickered.

  The fire vanished. The blue sky dissolved into a white grid. The trees turned into grey pillars. The wolf’s body fizzled out, revealing a pile of smoking, sparked mechanical scrap metal.

  The pain in my shoulder was real. The blood on my face was real. But the monster was gone.

  BANG.

  The simulation doors slid open. A group of officers marched in, clipboards in hand, looking bored.

  I scrambled to my feet, swaying slightly. I sheathed my blades with a shaking hand.

  I stood at attention. I had survived. Now came the judgment.