The scent of damp earth clung to me as I drifted in and out of consciousness. My body ached, but the warmth of the fire and the rhythmic pressure of my mother tending my wounds kept me tethered to reality. I tried to speak, to ask her what had happened, but my throat felt dry, my strength drained. Still, even in my exhaustion, I could sense something in her—an emotion she rarely let slip. Relief? Perhaps even pride?


    Summoning what little strength I had, I finally forced the question past my lips.


    "Mother... what happened to me? Why did I see everything so clearly?"


    She didn''t answer immediately. Instead, she continued wrapping the bandages, her hands steady and practiced. When she finally spoke, her voice was firm but calm.


    "You survived. That is what matters."


    I clenched my jaw. That wasn’t what I was asking.


    "True Sight... it activated on its own," I pressed. "I''ve used it before, but never like that. Never without control."


    She stilled for a moment, then resumed her work. "You are not yet ready to understand that, Zayne. In time, the answers will come. For now, rest."


    Her words left me with more questions than answers, but my body was too weak to argue. As she handed me a simple meal and I ate in silence, I could feel her watching me. And just before I succumbed to sleep, I heard her murmur something under her breath. Words not meant for me, yet words I would never forget.


    "Now you know what it takes to survive. You will learn all you need to fight this world. I am sure of it."


    The next morning, I woke to the sound of rain drumming against the roof of our shelter. My mother was already gone, as always. But something was different.


    Pain lanced through my skull the moment I opened my eyes. A splitting, unbearable pain, like my head was being torn apart. I gritted my teeth and forced myself up, but the moment I looked around, my breath hitched.


    The shelter was filled with words.


    Not just written words—no, they were everywhere. Carved into the walls, woven into the very fabric of the air. I blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of them, but the moment I focused, the pain doubled. I clutched my head, gasping, but my eyes locked onto a particular symbol. Something about it was familiar.


    Through the haze of agony, I forced myself to activate True Sight.


    A fresh wave of pain shot through me, like a blunt knife hacking into my skull. I groaned, my vision blurring. Then, just as suddenly as it had come, the pain dulled, and the chaos before me shifted. The words began to rearrange themselves, flowing together, forming something recognizable—a map.


    Shock coursed through me. My mother had never done anything like this before. For seventeen years, she had trained me relentlessly, but this? This was something else.


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    Why now?


    I ran my fingers over the map, committing it to memory. Whatever the reason, my mother had a purpose. She always did.


    Without hesitation, I grabbed my gear, sketched the map onto a scrap of parchment, and left the shelter.


    The rain had not ceased. It turned the forest into a treacherous expanse of slick mud and tangled roots, the scent of wet earth thick in the air. The sky was a dull gray, casting everything in a melancholic gloom. Every step I took sank into the soaked ground, my boots caked with grime. But I pushed on. I had to.


    Then came the first challenge.


    I stepped forward, only to feel the faintest shift beneath my foot. Instinct screamed at me, and I threw myself backward just as a crude trap of sharpened stakes shot up from the earth. I exhaled sharply.


    Booby traps. My mother’s work.


    She was testing me. Again.


    Navigating through the traps was an exhausting ordeal. They were everywhere—hidden tripwires, concealed pits, snares that would have left me hanging helplessly had I been careless. She had prepared for every mistake I might make.


    By the time I reached safer ground, the afternoon sun had become little more than a pale glow behind the storm clouds. Hunger gnawed at my stomach, but I had no time for a fire. I managed to catch a rabbit, its warmth a fleeting comfort against the cold rain as I ate. But just as I was finishing, a low growl sent ice through my veins.


    I turned slowly.


    Wolves.


    Their dark fur was slick with rain, their eyes glinting like shards of amber in the dim light. Five of them. No, six. They prowled around me, their steps cautious but filled with intent. I had fallen straight into their den.


    A mistake.


    One I would have to survive.


    The first lunged without warning. I barely had time to raise my knife before it was upon me. The impact sent me sprawling, my knife slicing through fur but barely drawing blood. Pain exploded in my side as another wolf raked its claws across my ribs.


    I rolled, ignoring the sting, and lashed out. My blade found its mark, sinking into the throat of the nearest beast. It yelped, staggering back, but the others did not hesitate.


    They came at me together.


    Teeth snapped inches from my face. I drove my knife into another, but a heavy weight slammed into my back, forcing me down into the mud. I gasped, feeling hot breath against my neck.


    No.


    I refused to die here.


    A surge of raw instinct took over. My vision sharpened, the world slowing just enough for me to see the next move before it happened. I twisted, slamming my elbow into the wolf pinning me down. It yelped, giving me just enough room to flip over and ram my blade beneath its ribs.


    The rain poured harder, mixing with the blood staining my hands. My breaths were ragged, but I was still standing. Three wolves lay dead. The others hesitated now, uncertain.


    Then, with a final snarl, they turned and vanished into the storm.


    I dropped to my knees, my entire body trembling. Pain throbbed in every limb, but I was alive. Barely.


    As I forced myself back to my feet, gripping my wounds, I let out a shuddering breath.


    Mother’s test wasn’t over. And I had no choice but to keep going.