The Labyrinth Forest. That’s what they called it. It was complicated and maze-like, stuck in a permanent winter. Blizzards were common, and life seemed impossible. Wendigos, direwolves and other monstrous creatures roamed around, hungry for raw meat, especially human flesh. Jackson loved the place. He was one of the few humans who lived there. Everybody knew everybody, and rightly so; It was impossible to survive unless everybody knew what was going on around the forest. If somebody saw something suspicious, they told someone else, who proceeded to tell other people. Kind of like rumors, except for the fact childlike gossip was frowned upon in most cases. Jackson was sitting in he and his father’s living room by the fire. Electricity wasn’t necessarily a thing in the forest. He and his father, Mark, lived alone with their two wolves, Mellow and Anubis. He was warming his hands by the fire after a long day of hunting when he heard a knock at the door. Jackson hesitantly got up and went to

-the door, peeking through the crack at who it was to be sure it was human, then opened the door. On the other side of the door, there was a scrawny, grey-haired kid, a boy not much older than he was. “Hello, Lloyd.” He stated coolly. The other boy, Lloyd, didn’t smile back at him this time, instead clutched his fur cape harder around him. It was blizzarding again. “Did they tell you yet? “ Lloyd asked. “Tell me what?” Jackson replied, closing the door behind Lloyd when he entered. “Melanie saw the wendigos dragging off some kid our age.” “.. Is it a kid we know?” Jackson suddenly found himself concerned. “No. But Asher says he thinks it was a werefish. “ Lloyd stated flatly. “The wolf-taur Asher?” “ Mhm. “ “.. Weird. “ Jackson mumbled. “Let me guess, you wanna break him out?” Lloyd nodded mischievously. “Fine, I’ll go, “ Jackson huffed. “Meet me by the frozen pond where that lake demon lives tomorrow at sundown. We’ll go then.” “De

-“Deal,” Lloyd smirked, leaving the house to find his own home through the blizzard, closing the door behind him. e