Chapter 8

Zeph's POV

It was obvious from what that voice said that this challenge was all about avoiding Werewolves, they were the creatures of the moon. With a heightened sense of smell and hearing plus immense physical strength and agility. No doubt they were the ultimate creatures and it was almost close to impossible to avoid them.

But, I had come prepared. I took out the bottle of 'Rien' from my pouch and drank it. Rien is a special mixture made from herbs which mask your smell and slow down your heart rate making it difficult to be tracked by werewolves and even vampires. Now, all I needed to do was move slowly through the forest to avoid detection.

I scanned the area around me, it was dense with gigantic trees all around me. The jungle floor was covered with foliage of various kinds. The hooting of a distant bird sounded from afar and I had a feeling someone was watching me. I had to move from the tree I was hiding behind. I swiftly climbed it to take a deeper broader look at my surroundings.

Everything seemed quiet. I climbed down and began to move forward, I had to find that flag and get out of there as soon as possible. I tiptoed forward, I could hear the howling of wolves from a distance. They were here and if I wasn't careful they will find me.

As I was moving forward behind the shadows of the trees. I heard a rustling up front. An enormous werewolf with demonic red eyes was standing there. He was looking straight ahead, meaning he hadn't spotted me and my potion was working.

Suddenly, he leapt forward and started running at full speed. He passed me and kept running, I hid behind a tree and kept watching. He jumped in the air and brought someone down with him. Air was suddenly filled with a huge shriek as his prey tried to release himself from under his paw. But, it was useless, once you get captured by a werewolf either you have to be a trained fighter to stand a chance or you are doomed.

It was one of the candidates, he tried to fight back using his spear but Werewolf was too strong for him. I knew this was my time to escape because in all this chaos he hadn't noticed me at all. My heart was thumping, if I hadn't used Rein he would have easily heard the beating. I slowly moved forward and once I was a bit further away I ran at full speed. There was less foliage and trees were spreading out so it would be difficult to hide.

Up ahead about at a distance of 100 meters I saw a huge tree standing all alone in the middle of the forest. And, on that tree, I saw several green flags hanging. I felt relieved to see it and now all I had to do was get one. But, I knew I had to be cautious. To get to the tree I had to leave the shadows and go in the open I knew the tree will be guarded and it won't be that easy to get a flag. I stealthily moved towards the tree looking all around me.

At about 50 meters I heard rustling above me and saw a huge grey werewolf with black eyes plunging toward me. I drew my sword and making sure not to kill him, grazed his leg in mid-air. He howled painfully, I rolled on my left side while he landed where I was seconds ago.

His eyes had a menacing look about them. From the corner of my eye, I saw Ralph opposite me. He was wearing his special armour which protects against any kind of physical attack and masks the scent of the wearer. He winked at me and ran for the tree. I tried to move but the Werewolf blocked my way. I knew I had to fight him to get the flag but I didn't want to kill him.

So, I scooped some soil from the floor and blew it towards him. He tried to dodge it and moved to his right side but since it was windy he got some in his eyes and was blinded for a second. That was all the time I needed. I took out the sleeping powder and splattered it on his nozzle. He frantically pawed towards me and one of his paws hit my shoulder. I winced but evaded any further attack by somersaulting forward.

It took only a few seconds for the powder to take effect and his big body fell to the floor with a thud.

Clap, Clap, Clap. I turned around to see who was clapping and it was Ralph with a big grin on his face walking towards me with two flags in his mouth.

"Well, well I would not expect anything less from my best friend. Finally, all our training is becoming handy," he hugged me.

"Yes, but we still have to get out of this jungle and face the final phase," I told him.

"Oh, come on now. Don't be such a glum. We will," he assured me while handing me a green flag.

"Let's go, before more wolves gather," I was serious. We decided to head back to the lake as our work here was done.