The moment they stepped through the entrance, Sloane understood why it was called Evernight.
The huge canopy of trees, and the densely intertwined vines formed an entrance archway and a tunnel-like path that blocked out the sunlight.
Only the barest streaks of daylight penetrated in.
Dried leaves crunched underneath their boots as they ventured deeper through the passageway,
They weren't the only ones. At least a dozen other girls had also chosen this entrance. They filed in, in neat rows, ahead of and behind Sloane.
"We have to stick together," Elise emphasised for the dozenth time, her eyes darting around wildly. "We can help each other with our gifts. Whatever the Evernight holds, we're stronger together than apart."
The wall of intertwined vines seemed to be closing in on them from every side.
She clutched her satchel to her chest, like it could shield her from whatever danger lay ahead.
"Just because we arrived in the same carriage, it doesn't make us friends." Alexis replied pointedly, "Stay out of my way, that's the only help I need."
The tunnel passage soon gave way for the woods, and as they crossed into Evernight itself, Sloane's heart sank to the pit of her stomach.
The darkness was one thing...
The trees ahead were all crooked and blackened. Branches curved in odd directions. An eerie black mist hung low in the atmosphere, obscuring the path ahead.
Distant shrieks echoed beyond the mist. Whatever was out there, it was loud and furious.
Goosebumps dotted Sloane's arms. Her heart shriveled.
This wasn't like any woods she had seen. It wasn't a passage to an Academy. It was a nightmarish hell come to life!
"What in the world..." Denna muttered in silent horror, glancing around as all the girls did. "Are we supposed...to go into...that?!!"
A new round of sobbing had begun as the unspoken realization dawned. Girls huddled and clutched each other for dear life.
"You ugly bitch!" Someone hissed, "Give me that!"
A commotion to her left caught Sloane's attention. A mean-looking girl had just snatched the satchel away from a pale faced, whimpering girl.
"But it's mine..." The whimpering girl sobbed,
"There's only a day's worth of food in here." The mean-looking girl scoffed, her fist solidified to rock and she lifted it threateningly,
She smirked as the girls around her shirked away in terror, "Who knows how long it'll take to get to the other side? It'll be wasted on a wimp like you."
The commotion slowly grew as even more girls summoned their moon gifts and snatched the satchels off of others.
A few succumbed easily, others resisted violently resulting in tussles.
Sloane watched with wide eyes, clutching hers tighter as she inched closer to Alexis and Denna.
"Where is that damned map?" Alexis fumbled with her satchel anxiously, eyeing the bullies stealing food. "The sooner I'm out of this place, the better."
"It's mine! Let go!" Girls shrieked all around them,
Denna frowned worriedly, her bracelet of vines slithered around her wrist, down to her fingers, swirling around them eagerly, "I don't think they'll let us go..."
True to her words, the bullies were quickly going down the line.
The girls, too terrified to flee into the woods had no choice but to defend themselves, or be robbed.
Sloane watched the chaos unfold, backing away unconsciously. A twig snapped to the side, drawing her attention to the swirling mist.
"They can come at me." Alexis hissed, studying the map impatiently, "I'll rip them a new one."
"Guys..." Sloane stuttered uncertainly, her eyes fixed on the black mist.
She could have sworn, it had just moved.
"I think... I think there's something..." She stuttered,
She didn't get to say another word.
A terrifying shriek echoed beyond the mist, cutting sharply through the pandemonium. The earth trembled underneath their feet, and Sloane stumbled, struggling to hold her footing.
"Mo... monster!!!!" A girl cried, a finger pointed at the mist,
A glinting sharp stinger, the size of a boulder shot out of the mist with blinding speed.
The bully with the stone fist shrieked, pulling an unsuspecting girl just in time to shield herself.
But it didn't do her much good...
The stinger pierced sharply, tearing through flesh, bone and muscle with a nauseating squelching and grinding sound.
Sloane gagged, watching as the two girls were pinned and lifted high in the sky, bodies twitching before finally going limp.
Their dying shrieks echoed through the woods, and every fibre of her being.
Chaos ensued all around.
Girls screamed, fleeing into the woods, or scaling up the vines as the entrances all closed up, like they had never existed.
"Runnnn!!!!" Denna shrieked, "Runnn Sloane!!!!"
But the words sounded too distant...
Her vision swayed, the world spinning around her. Her ears rang and her lungs closed up, like she was suddenly pulled underwater.
Someone bumped harshly into her. Sloane fell over, her face smashed into the dirt.
A scream tore out of her throat as someone stepped over her arm. She heard the sickening snap of her bone.
Pain...it was worse than anything she'd ever felt.
But even the pain was distant...
Another earth shaking shriek echoed from above, and even more of that squelching sound.
A thud beside Sloane drew her attention, and she found herself staring straight at a girl, gasping for breath.
The girl couldn't have been more than sixteen.
Blood trickled out the side of her lips, and pooled around her, the damp earth eagerly lapping up the thick red liquid.
"Hel...Help..." She croaked weakly,
She twitched a few times, and then her eyes glazed over and she went completely still.
Sloane shrieked. Her mind went completely blank as she scrambled up to her feet.
Horrified screams echoed this way and that. She couldn't tell where the shrieks were coming from. She couldn't tell what direction to run to.
She spun around wildly, horror creeping down her spine.
Alexis...Denna...Elise...
They were all gone.
Dead? Escaped?
She didn't know.
So this was what it was... the Luna Hunt. The enrollment test to the most prestigious Academy in the realm...
It was a death sentence. Sancia's death sentence...
Now, it was hers.
As the realization dawned, her legs finally caught up with her mind and she frantically scrambled for the woods.