I stared at the hulking green figure, jaw agape.

  They know about arm wrestling in this world? Or is this some kind of Ogre thing I don’t know about…

  [I think he knows.] Joshua said, prompting me to face the Ogre.

  His massive, meaty elbow was resting on the stump in front of us, his arm raised into the air. He had a challenging smile, staring expectantly at Zorrack. The demon stepped forward, copying the gesture. The Ogre’s hand enveloped Zorrack’s in a sea of green, like a kitten lost in a pile of money.

  [What kind of analogy is that?]

  Shut up.

  “Are you ready, demon?” The Ogre said, flexing his muscled arm.

  “Of course,” Zorrack replied, voice full of confidence.

  Ossara stepped forward, kneeling her massive front legs to the forest floor. She clasped her hand over theirs, then began to chant. “Ready… go!”

  The demon and the Ogre pushed against each other with fury; muscles that I didn’t even know existed tensing in both of their arms. Neither moved an inch for a few moments, then Zorrack's arm slowly began to give way. His wrist inched closer and closer to the surface of the massive stump.

  [Lesser Strength]

  Zorrack’s skill activated, and suddenly the tides turned. The Ogre clenched his teeth, pushing with all his might, but to no avail. The demon slammed the green monster’s wrist down, jumping up with a celebratory shout.

  “Good work, Zorrack!” Cedric said, clapping happily for his friend.

  “At least you found some use for all that extra weight,” Viressa added. Fang didn’t speak, but it looked as if he were about to cry tears of joy, and he leapt into Zorrack’s arms, licking at his face.

  So, if he didn’t win, would he have just become a tree on the spot?

  [Let’s not think about it too much.] Joshua said quickly. It seemed like even the demonic parasite feared becoming a permanent fixture in Ossara’s forest.

  “That was great! Now, who’s next?” The huge centaur woman asked.

  “The female.” One of the Dryads said, almost a giggle, and led us to a new part of the forest clearing. This time, a field of small mushrooms lay before us. Each one glowed a different, vibrant color. I noticed one particular mushroom glowing a sickly green, while another shimmered with fire-like reds.

  “This is a trial of decision.” One of the Dryads said, picking two mushrooms and holding them out in front of Viressa. “The one on your left will share your deepest secret, the one on your right will share your greatest insecurity.”

  “So, how do you pass?” I asked, confused.

  “You eat one. If you resist its call, you turn into a mushroom. If you do not, you pass.” The Dryad said simply.

  Do you turn into a mushroom, and then into a tree, or is it just one or the other?

  Viressa looked fearfully at the two mushrooms, glowing intensely in the darkly lit forest. She pondered for a moment, then ultimately decided to consume the mushroom of secrecy. She popped it into her mouth, chewing slowly, then her eyes bulged. She looked as if she had swallowed poison, and gagged like she would throw up at any moment.

  “Are you okay, Viressa?” Cedric said fearfully. She didn’t respond, holding both hands up to her mouth, eyes widening like a wild animal.

  “Oh, spit it out already, how bad could it be?” Zorrack complained, crossing his arms.

  Viressa shook her head violently, but already I could see her slowly morphing into a mushroom, her legs melding together to create the stalk, and her head slowly widening into the top of a fungus.

  “Hurry, Viressa! You don’t have much time! I promise, whatever it is, we won’t judge you!” I yelled desperately.

  The demon hung her head in defeat, and her body slowly turned back to normal. Then, she spoke.

  “I’m hopelessly in love with Zorrack!” She screamed, then clamped her hands back over her mouth again.

  We all sat in absolute silence, stunned by the sudden confession.

  [I wasn’t expecting that one.] Joshua said humorously.

  All at once, everyone in attendance erupted into cacophonous laughter, echoing throughout the forest. Viressa’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment, or perhaps anger. I stopped first, not wanting to go back on the promise I had made earlier.

  “It’s alright, Viressa, I’ll set you guys up on a date later, OK?” I said, attempting to comfort the demon.

  She buried her head even deeper before speaking. “Can we just move on, please?”

  The Dryads led us to a new area, right next to the massive lake at the center of the clearing. This time, it was Fang’s turn to face his trial.

  The tiny Warg leapt from Zorrack’s arms, landing on the ground.

  Then, the Dryads announced what his trial would be. “Look into the lake, and allow the spirits to show you your past. You must make peace with it, or you can fight it, but only by facing it will you pass this trial.”

  Fang hesitantly strode up to the surface of the water, and suddenly, a familiar scene began to play out before us. The Alpha Warg and its pack engaged in a deadly battle with me and my demon companions. The tiny wolf-like creature watched as his family was brutally murdered, and tears formed in his eyes.

  He said that he didn’t care about them. Was he lying?

  The scene abruptly ended, and Fang sat back on his hind legs, staring into the distance.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Are you alright, bud?” Zorrack asked softly.

  “I’m fine,” Fang sniffled. A second scene played out on the lake's surface. This time, the Alpha was walking alongside a newborn Fang and another adult Warg when a group of human adventurers unexpectedly appeared. One of them lashed out at the pup, but the other Warg heroically shielded Fang from the blow, bleeding out into the grass. The Alpha pounced, ripping the adventurers to shreds, but it was too late. The Warg, presumably Fang’s mom, fell to the ground and breathed her last breath.

  The scene changed again, and then again, showing the Alpha neglecting a young Fang. He was hardly given meals, eating only scraps of whichever animals the Wargs managed to hunt. They didn’t allow him to leave the den, keeping him at a low level, never able to grow stronger. They never named him, and never even bothered to acknowledge the poor pup.

  The scene before me made my heart ache, and I could see Zorrack clenching a fist in anger.

  “Those bastards! How dare they treat you like that!”

  “I deserved it,” Fang said sadly, tears falling into the lake, causing ripples to form on the smooth surface.

  “That’s not true,” Viressa added, petting the Warg softly on the head.

  Cedric chimed in, “Yeah, you were just a kid.”

  “Fang,” I said, drawing closer, “guilt is a completely normal emotion to have, but that doesn’t mean it’s ok for someone to treat you badly. A parent should love their child through anything, and no one should ever suffer like you have.” I began to feel emotional, thinking of my own parents as I spoke.

  Fang nodded, then climbed slowly back into Zorrack’s arms. “I’m alright, everyone. It’s just hard… knowing that the people who were supposed to love me the most…” he trailed off, then finished, “loved me less than the people who killed them.”

  No one else spoke, but Zorrack hugged the small pup even tighter.

  Next was Cedric, and his trial was a little bit more… confusing?

  We were led to a miniature arena, almost like the coliseum in Rome, if it were made of wood. At its center lay a creature that could only be described as…

  It was a duck. There was a duck.

  What the fuck is happening?

  Surprisingly, or, perhaps, not so surprisingly, the duck could speak.

  “Hello, little demon.” It quacked, bowing with one wing stretched in front of it. Despite the tiny form of the creature, however, Cedric seemed paralyzed with fear at the sight of the duck.

  “Hey, what's wrong, man? That thing is not gonna hurt you.” I whispered into his ear.

  “Wh-What are you talking about! It’s terrifying!” He yelped.

  [Your second strongest subordinate is afraid of a duck.]

  Leave him alone! We all have our fears.

  “Cedric, your task is to simply touch the creature you see before you.” One Dryad said.

  “How?! It’s gonna rip me to pieces!”

  I stared at the demon, confused, but it seemed like the others in attendance also had some sort of odd phobia of the duck. Viressa looked ghastly, inching closer to her secret lover. Fang curled up in Zorrack’s arms, digging his snout as deep as he could. Only Azazel, perched casually on my shoulder, seemed to be behaving normally.

  “What’s gotten into them?” I whispered.

  “I don’t know, but there's no way that little thing is scary,” Azazel replied.

  Cedric slowly inched closer to the feathered creature, sweat dripping from his forehead. His hand slowly got closer, now only an inch from the duck's head…

  He shrieked like a schoolgirl and lightly tapped the creature, recoiling backwards as if it were made of lava. His eyes were squeezed shut, but after a moment, they opened.

  “I’m alive…?” He gasped.

  Suddenly, the blue panel telling me about the duck shimmered, then changed.

  The least threatening thing I can imagine is a duck?

  I took a second to reassess my memory, concluding that the changeling was correct. There was nothing I could have imagined that would be less threatening than a duck.

  You learn something new every day.

  Azazel not fearing death makes sense, considering he can’t really die, but why don’t I?

  I didn’t have time to think it through, as the Dryads whisked us off to our final destination.

  “Finally, it is time for your trial, demon,” Ossara said, gesturing at me with one of her wood-like arms. “You may find that this trial is similar to the previous one, in some ways.”

  A single, lonely tree lay in a clearing, but I could quickly tell it was no normal tree. It was a treant, much like the ones who had escorted us with Ossara. He leaned forward, hands against his face, and I could hear sad sobs emanating from the tree.

  “Trees can cry?” I wondered aloud.

  “Oh yes, and lots,” a Dryad said, “your task is simple, cheer him up!”

  I looked cautiously at the back of the treant and slowly made my way towards him. He noticed me and turned, his roots ripping the ground apart and sending dirt flying in every direction.

  “Go away!” He screamed in between sobs.

  “Now, now, I just want to talk,” I said softly.

  “The last person to talk to me ruined my entire life!” He complained, plopping himself down on the ground.

  I tilted my head curiously, “What did they say to you?”

  “They told me I was going to die!” He wailed, pounding the ground in agony.

  “Like, soon?”

  “Yeah.” He sniffled.

  “How soon?”

  He looked at me, then wailed even louder than before, “A thousand years!”

  [Just one, one intelligent person...] Joshua said with contempt.

  I looked knowingly into the tree's eyes, then began to speak, “y’know, someone told me I was going to die once too.”

  The tree abruptly halted his tantrum, matching my gaze, “they-they did?”

  We sat in silence, and the treant chose to fill it. “How long did they say?”

  “Two months,” I answered truthfully. The treant stared downwards, not knowing what to say.

  “But you know what,” I said, my tone changing from somber to cheerful, “I died, and now I’m here, and let me tell you, I’m happier than I’ve ever been!” I looked around at my companions. Zorrack, the lovable brute. Viressa, always calm and collected. Cedric, the tiny runt who faced his fears. I remembered Kril, my fallen brother, who gave his own life to save mine. I had only known them all for a few days, yet somehow, they felt…

  Like family.

  “Are you saying death is good?” The treant whispered, tears still welling up in his eyes.

  “Not quite,” I paused, collecting my thoughts. “Death is inevitable, frankly, trust me, I would know.” Another pause, “So what’s the point of worrying about it now, when you still have time left? Whether it’s two months, three days, or a thousand years…” I smiled kindly at the sad tree.

  “You may as well make the best of what you have now,” I finished.

  The treant sniffled one last time, rubbing his bark-clad arm against his eyes, then sat up straight.

  “Thank you, demon. What is your name?”

  I stood, staring at the tree for a second before answering.

  “Carter,” I whispered gently.