**At dawn the next morning.**

"Gren. Wake up."

Mother gently shook my shoulder.

Outside, the sound of feet striking the ground echoed one after another.

*Thud. Thud.*

Boots kicking against dry earth.

It was still dark.

I lay there, only half awake.

But the footsteps never stopped.

The door opened.

Kruk stepped inside.

He didn't bother closing it.

His eyes swept across the tent.

Then they found mine.

The corner of his mouth lifted ever so slightly.

"Come."

At that moment...

it felt as though every other sound had disappeared.

Mother's hand reached for my arm first.

She tried to hold on.

But in the end...

her fingers loosened.

I stood.

And walked out.

Refusing...

wouldn't have changed anything.

—

The moment I stepped outside, Murkan beckoned with one hand.

The line began to move.

Shaka walked at the front.

His stride was fast and relentless.

"Carry the supplies."

Kruk watched the procession from several paces to the side.

The slave children walked first.

Behind them came the beastfolk children.

Then the adult slaves.

Murkan brought up the rear.

Then Shaka's eyes stopped on me.

"You."

"Walk beside Murkan."

Without a word, I stepped into place beside him.

The chatter around us faded.

"Halt."

The entire line stopped.

People swallowed nervously.

Someone muttered a curse under their breath.

"Forward."

The murmuring died.

When the order came, everyone stopped.

When a hand was raised, everyone moved again.

My legs had already stiffened.

My breathing grew heavier.

Then—

Murkan lowered his hand.

For the first time,

the ever-smirking Kruk lost the smile on his face.

The beastfolk children fixed their eyes straight ahead.

Shaka led several others farther into the forest.

A short while later—

Murkan lifted me onto his shoulder.

The world suddenly rose.

The forest spread out beneath me.

At the time...

I didn't know whether that place existed to save someone...

or to abandon them.

Murkan climbed a tree with practiced ease,

stepping onto a massive branch overlooking the forest below.

From there,

the entire woodland stretched before us.

"Watch carefully."

He pointed toward the slave children and the beastfolk standing with Kruk.

"Next time..."

"...you'll be standing there."

That was all he said.

It was never a place...

you could run from.


ㅡㅡㅡ

"Just watch for the signal."

Kruk's voice echoed through the forest.

"Stay focused. Throw the stone, then run straight back here."

He tapped the ground beneath his feet.

"Simple, isn't it?"

A grin split across his face.

The sound of nervous swallowing spread through the line of slaves and beastfolk children.

Kruk stepped forward with two slave children and three beastfolk youngsters.

Murkan climbed higher into the trees with me still perched on his shoulder.

Branch after branch, he moved effortlessly until he settled atop a towering tree.

From there, the entire forest lay beneath us.

He pointed into the distance.

That's when I saw them.

Creatures with five legs.

I'd never seen anything like them before.

They scraped slowly across the forest floor, searching.

Murkan covered my mouth with one hand.

My breath caught in my throat.

Below us, Kruk never took his eyes off Murkan.

He was waiting.

Murkan gave a slight nod.

Kruk walked over to the children.

His words were short.

"No one's coming to save you."

"Run until the end."

The slave children and the beastfolk split apart.

Then they sprinted toward the creatures.

Kruk immediately turned away.

His eyes were already on Shaka's position.

Moments later—

**Beeeep—**

"Aaaagh!"

A scream tore through the forest.

One of the slave children was ripped apart at the waist.

The other ran desperately toward Shaka.

Two monsters chased after him.

The three beastfolk children swarmed another monster, clinging to its body.

**Fweeet—**

A sharp whistle.

Murkan.

At the signal, the beastfolk children instantly pulled away.

The monster chasing the slave burst straight into Shaka's waiting position.

Shaka and the others moved at the same instant.

**Crack.**

One of the creature's legs snapped off beneath a heavy blow.

**Thrust.**

Shaka's hand pierced straight through its core.

The second monster died moments later.

Silence returned to the forest.

Murkan looked at me without saying a word.

I was still sitting on his shoulder.

"You've seen it."

I couldn't answer.

Murkan spoke quietly.

"Next time..."

"...it's your turn."

Only then did I understand.

Why slaves sometimes disappeared.

Why even beastfolk children occasionally never came back.

This wasn't a place that taught you how to survive.

It was a place that decided...

the order in which people died.

I didn't want to die.

Which meant...

one day,

I would have to become stronger than all of them.

For the first time,

I looked directly into Murkan's eyes.

And every thought in my head...

came to a stop.

ㅡㅡㅡ

A massive shadow fell over me.

My thoughts vanished.

Five legs filled my vision.

Two crimson eyes locked onto mine.

I tried to run.

My injured ankle gave out.

My body froze.

**Grrrrr—**

The creature lunged, jaws spread wide.

My hand moved before I could think.

**Thrust.**

The wooden spear I had prepared drove deep into its body.

Blue liquid splashed across my face.

It wasn't the smell of blood.

A bitter, stinging odor filled my lungs.

Monster blood.

My breath caught.

My body refused to move.

Even so...

I couldn't let go of the spear.

My trembling hands held on until the very end.

Something surged within my chest.

It wasn't fear.

No.

This...

was what I'd been waiting for.

The creature's enormous shadow swallowed my vision.

Then—

sunlight burst through from behind it,

splitting the darkness.

A heavy hand covered in white fur reached down.

"Get up."

Murkan was smiling.

Only then did my fingers finally release the spear.

I wasn't the one being hunted anymore.

At that moment...

the back of Gren's right heel glowed—

just for an instant.

So faintly...

it could almost have been imagined.

---

**Another Gravalk settlement.**

An old wagon rolled to a stop.

A merchant slowly climbed down from the driver's seat.

Dust-covered gloves.

A stooped back.

The brim of a weathered hat pulled low over his face.

Without a word,

he surveyed the settlement.

Then...

he smiled.

It was Hirk.