THE WORLD SEEMED to shake as the thundering on the forest floor drew nearer.

Andy and Elsie clung tightly to each other as their knees wobbled at the sudden tremor. Chip took cover behind the wall of limbs while Hex, who was just sleeping peacefully in the corner a while ago, guarded their front the same way a mother elephant would protect her children. The cat had his ears back, pupils constricted, and tail up with the slick black fur standing on end.

Tiny rubbles rained down on them from the cave's ceiling. Andy worried if they would be able to make it out alive. Something dangerous out there was waiting for them, and the entire cave could just collapse and bury them alive.

Just as the last flicker of Elsie's blue flame died out, ten or more so wolfish silhouettes clotted the entrance. Their towering figure blocked what was left of their light source from the moonlight. Soft paws padded on the cold hard ground as some entered to fill the cramped space. Their heads brushed the five-foot-high cave ceiling. The others were left outside to guard and possibly, prevent them from attempting an escape.

When the foremost wolf howled, they all stopped, drawn to join in like they had been invited to a family feast. The menu? Two wandering kids, a portly dog, and a distasteful cat.

The unwelcome guests oozed with the smell of damp earth mingled with a fetid scent of clay and dusty oil. A hint of fallen and rotting tree trunk got into the mix. The wolves' heads were large and heavy, with a broad forehead, strong jaws, and a long, blunt muzzle. Their taurine eyes glittered with hostility. They were as wild and fearsome as any bull. Some of them were hard on the eyes and stony on the face. Others were wild-eyed savages with a berserk nature.

"What are we gonna do?"

"What now, Elsie?"

They both asked at the same time. Elsie and Andy gave each other a sideways glance with only their eyes. Their heads remained stationary for fear that any unwanted movement would trigger these big wolves to attack.

One wolf, the one with the grizzled gray-brown coat, entered the cave. It bumped itself on one side of the wall, and as the moonlight hit its face, Andy could make out those empty eye sockets with two horrible gashes running through each of them vertically. He landed in a splash on the thick silver liquid on what Andy realized was Wolfie's blood with the impact.

The blind wolf sniffed the gooey puddle. It was frozen for a while until it let out a slow, rising howl that fell away towards the end. The others padded around him, and each took turns to sniff on the silver blood. As soon as they got the whiff of its scent, the wolves erupted in high-pitched whimpers. They scanned the area with their sharp visions until one of them spotted Wolfie lying limply on the ground like a discarded pile of cotton.

The entire pack growled at them angrily. The alpha male, the one with mottled grey fur and missing right ear, snapped his jaws at them.

"Eek! We angered their alpha male," Elsie whispered.

Andy gulped. "I don't think it's just their alpha male."

The wolves stalked towards them, snarling. Yellowish and fizzy saliva dripped past their chins, dissolving the cold hard ground beneath them.

As the predators loomed over, the light seemed to be at a massive distance from them. Everywhere Andy looked, furry limbs would block the sight of their guaranteed exit. And that was when he knew that they were doomed.

All at once, the wolves pounced on them from above. Andy yelped and crushed Elsie into a tight hug as if it would save his dear life.

"Elsie!" he screamed fearfully. "Do something."

"I know, I know. Get off!" Elsie disentangled Andy's limbs and pulled her wand from the inside of her dress sleeve. When her eyes met with Hex's, she flashed that familiar naughty grin and a wild glint in her eyes.

"Fire Bubble!" Elsie pointed her wand upward, and an ice-cold blue fire shot from its tip. It spread, burned the air, and molded into a shape of a sphere that protected anything within its bounds. It radiated an icy feeling but would surely burn to a crisp anyone who would touch it.

"I don't think this will solve our problem. How are we going to escape?"

"Shh." Elsie clamped her hand on Andy's mouth. "The Fire Bubble could only buy us enough time. It's up to Hex now to make way for us."

Andy nodded so hard that his glasses almost flew off his face. He secured his bag tight and carried Chip in his arms. As if on cue, Hex leaped forward, reared back, and breathed out his fire. It drilled a hole on the Fire Bubble, and Hex's fire warped into a narrow cylinder, stretching farther towards the vast forest—to safety. It smelled of burning wood but minty and cool to the lungs like menthol. The wolves got no choice but to pull back. They cowered to the grimy walls for fear of touching even a lick of its flames. They may not be able to sink their fangs on their neck, but chills crept on every fiber of Andy's body as each one of those vicious beasts regarded them like tasty raw meat.

"Andy, let's go!" He snapped out of his thoughts, hearing Elsie's voice. The three had already mounted her broom, so he took his spot behind the young witch and gripped the wooden beam tight.

The broom hovered inches above the ground as Elsie gave it a light kick. She tilted its nose up before taking off, darting across the tunnel of flame. As they passed, vicious snarls were all around them. A charcoal black wolf took the risk and leaped, resulting in the fire eating him whole. The once silent cave was filled with his yowls. The other wolves went silent, quivering with fear, as they watched their packmate squirm around and soon lose his life like an extinguished flame.

Andy felt his heart clench at what he saw. His grip on the broom tightened.

"I'm sorry, Andy," Elsie said in front of him with a low voice. "We have to keep this fire on until we're already safe."

"Hmm," he hummed a response. Andy could blame no one. Elsie and Hex had done what they could so no one of them would end up hurt.

The whistling wind was almost within their reach. Assurance of safety came as a sweet victory, replacing the cool menthol whiff of the fire.

They hurtled past the fire tunnel's mouth, and the flame soon burst into glitter sparkles.

Elsie pulled back the nose of her broom so they could travel safely in the air. But a brown wolf had the broom's tail in his mouth.

"Uh-oh," Andy said.

Elsie's eyes bulged in horror. "Hex," she said in a fear-filled voice.

Hex rolled his eyes and glared at the wolf. He breathed fire into the beast's face. As the wolf finally let go, they finally shot up into the air, leaving their dreadful stay in the cave behind, and with that, Wolfie, too.

They flew higher than the trees, squinting around whether those wolves had followed them.

"Are they following us?" Elsie looked over her shoulder, asking Andy.

Andy, who had been consistently checking their trail, shook his head. "No, I can't see anyone from them." Then his tight face slackened to that of relief. "Finally, we're safe."

Elsie had no time to reply. At that very moment, a basketball-sized rock came pelting towards them; they avoided it so narrowly that they felt it ruffle their hair as it passed.

"W-What was that?" Andy asked, trembling. His heart raced inside his ribcage as if wanting to come out. That was so close. If Elsie hadn't been so quick, his head would be bleeding so bad. But Andy saw the rock change direction in mid-air and shot straight for them again.

Elsie dropped quickly to avoid it, and Hex hit it with his tail hard towards the other direction.

"Oh, no, Hex! Are you okay?" Elsie said worriedly, to which Hex responded with a loud, drawn-out meow.

Once again, the rock swerved like a boomerang and shot at Andy's head, this time, faster, and an orange-red fire now covered it.

Elsie put on a burst of speed and zoomed down towards the cluster of trees. They could hear the rock whistling along behind them. What was going on? No matter how many times they avoided it, the rock would come back, hell-bent on hurting them.

Hex perched on Andy's head, waiting for the rock to come at them again. Andy ducked as Hex swung his tail at the fiery rock with all his might; the fiery rock was knocked off course.

"That's done it!" Andy yelled happily, but he was wrong. As though magnetically attracted the four of them, the fiery rock pelted after them once more, and Elsie was forced to fly off at full speed.

It had started to rain; Andy felt heavy drops fall onto his face, splattering onto his glasses. They looped and swooped, spiralled, zigzagged and rolled. Slightly dizzy, Elsie nevertheless kept her eyes wide open. Chip and Hex's fur were drenched with rainwater. Hex's tail twitched and trembled for hitting the rock many times. Rain was speckling Andy's vision and ran up his nostrils as they hung upside down, avoiding another fierce dive from the possessed rock.

WHAM!

He didn't know what was happening until he heard Elsie's scream and a loud crunch as if a piece of wood was breaking. All he ever knew was that he was no longer on the broom. Not far away, though he couldn't see them, he could hear Elsie's screams and the pet's frantic cries of bark and meow.

Andy nose-dived to the ground. He hit the mud with a spluttering thud, and for the second time in their journey, he blacked out.