The boys turned continuously. "Show yourself," Collins groaned, notching his arrow. Yet the voice continues to torment them. laughing, the tree branch cracks, and an unsual breeze tore through the forest. "They sacrificed you to the forest once again just as they always do."
The words slid between the trees, soft and cruel. They didn't land in one place. They brushed ears, crept down spines, pressed into the hollow behind the ribs. Every boy turned at once, then again, boots scraping over leaves, eyes darting, bows half-raised, swords wavering.
"They sacrificed us?" Max asked. His voice came out thin, almost swallowed by the forest.
"Do not take him seriously," Harry said. "He is trying to mess with our minds."
Even as he spoke, his gaze kept moving. Left. Right. Behind. Above. His fingers tightened around his weapon, then loosened, then tightened again. The trees stood too still. The birds had gone quiet. Even the wind seemed to be holding its breath.
The voice echoed another round of laughter. "Hahaha, young and gullible just like every others who had come and died. Do you think it was a mistake they sent you here, knowing you are most likely to die?"
A shiver passed through the group. Someone swallowed loudly. Another boy shifted closer to Harry without realizing it. Collins lifted his bow higher, the string trembling beneath his fingers. "Why don't you show yourself?" he asked.
For a heartbeat, nothing happened. Then the ground seemed to sink. Branches bent outward as something massive pushed through them. Leaves tore free. Trunks creaked. A shadow rolled forward, swallowing what little light remained.
Then a figure appeared. It was a massive beast. Bigger than an elephant. Yet the type the boys has never seen.
Its back scraped branches high above their heads. Its limbs were thick and uneven, joints bending at angles that made the eyes hurt to follow. Its skin looked like bark and stone and flesh fused together. Breath thundered from it in heavy bursts, each one sending dust and leaves spiraling.
The boys drifted back as one. "Who are you?" Aaron asked with a trembling voice.
The beast's mouth opened, wide and slow. Teeth like broken pillars caught the light. It laughed. The forest shocked.
Trees shuddered. Birds exploded from hiding. The sound didn't come from its mouth alone. It rolled through the roots, the trunks, the canopy. It pressed against their ears until some of the boys winced and clamped their hands over their heads.
Then it paused. Its gaze now fixed on Harry. His eyes furrowed with confusion. Everything narrowed. The boys felt it, even before they understood it. The pressure shifted. The air tightened around Harry's chest. His breath stalled halfway in. The beast's eyes burned, not wild, but confused, sharp, and knowing.
Harry did not step back. He couldn't. His feet felt rooted to the soil. Then slowly it drifted back.
The massive shape shrank. Bones folded inward. The towering back sank lower. Limbs thinned. Skin smoothed. Hair vanished. In the space of a few breaths, the monstrous presence collapsed into something small and wrong.
The boys exchanged glances, unsure whether to run or strike. Then slowly the mighty beast phased into a tiny man.
Naked.
He stood there on the forest floor, bare skin pale against the dark earth, ribs visible, shoulders narrow. He should have looked weak. He didn't. His eyes were the same. Ancient. Heavy.
"Whoa!" the boys echoed. "Did it just turned into a man."
"How was he able to do that?" They whispered.
No one asked it aloud. Their mouths were dry. Their tongues felt thick. The tiny man straightened, his movements calm, deliberate, as if he had all the time in the world.
The man's face remained fixed on Harry. "Benjamin Salim!" he whispered. The name slid out softly, almost tenderly.
Harry flinched once again. His shoulders jerked. His heart kicked hard against his ribs. "Benjamin Salim," the boys whispered, the name passing through them like a cold draft.
"There is no Benjamin Salim among us," Collins said, looking at the boys' faces one after the other. His voice tried to sound firm. It cracked anyway.
The man shook his head slowly. "He didn't tell you who he is?" he asked.
"Who the hell are you talking about?" Cole roared. His shout felt small against the trees, swallowed before it could gather strength.
The man raised his hand and pointed at Harry. "Him," he said. "That is Benjamin Salim."
Every head turned. Harry stood there, suddenly exposed. The space around him felt wider, emptier. He could feel their eyes, questions pressing in from all sides.
"What is he talking about?" Cole asked. Harry shook his head. "I do not know either." The words felt thin as they left his mouth. He wished they sounded stronger. He wished they convinced even him.
The beast took a step closer. The ground crunched softly beneath his bare foot. The boys flinched back as one, weapons lifting again, breaths quickening.
"You do not know?" Harry shook his head again. His throat tightened. "Tell me about Benjamin Salim."
The man stopped moving. He studied Harry. His eyes traveled over Harry's face, lingering on the brow, the eyes, the jaw. Then his gaze dropped, taking in the way Harry stood, the tension in his shoulders, the hesitation in his hands.
Yes. The face was there. The voice too. The echo of something old and dangerous. But the boy lacked the boldness. He lacked the defiance. Benjamin Salim had burned when he stood. This one flickered.
"He doesn't know who he is yet," the man said to himself. The forest seemed to lean closer. "This is the best opportunity to kill him."
He raised his head towards Harry. "Forget it, I am going to kill you anyway." Then he bent, placing both hands on the ground.
Bones cracked like dry wood snapping in fire. Flesh folded inward. Hair burst through skin in dark waves. The air thickened with heat and rot. What stood before them was no longer a man but a dark wolf, towering, malformed, one shoulder higher than the other, its limp dragging a deep line across the soil. Its breath came out in slow clouds, each one stinking of blood.