~Aurora~

　　[FEW MOMENTS BEFORE AURORA'S DEPARTURE]

　　I was in my room, freshened up and excited for the selection trial. I didn't know what loomed over me, but I was feeling incredulously warm today. I couldn't tell what was causing this reaction, but I had a gut feeling that I would survive the Icy Glaciers without a jacket too!

　　But, I need to prepare myself for a recoil, too.

　　Just in case, I had put myself in high rise boots and comfortable clothing for the one day survival challenge. I needed to be as comfortable as possible, didn't it?

　　Throwing over a jacket on top of my body, I wiped the droplets of sweat forming over my forehead. It was starting to irritate me. We were in the middle of January! The coldest month of the year!

　　I walked down to the entrance of the palace. It seemed busier than ever, preparing itself for just one candidate to go through a tough survival trial. The transportation for me was getting ready. I was delighted to know that Captain Kingston would be accompanying me.

　　"There she is. I'll tell her the rules." Leif said, as soon as I walked down the big flight of stairs. "I'll come with you," proposing after Leif, Prince Emeric spoke up. I could hear him as well.

　　We walked into each other, and Leif began explaining me the rules,

　　"First things first, Fangborn; this is a survival trial. Meaning, you aren't allowed to carry anything on yourself except for the clothes, of course."

　　Prince Emeric and I looked at each other. Leif was being so unprofessional while explaining the rules to me! Suddenly, Beta Roman interfered and neatly took the papers from Leif's hand, "I have been elected the speaker for the selection trial, Alpha Lupus. Allow me."

　　Beta Roman cleared his throat, while all three of us were trying not to laugh at Leif.

　　"Well, Aurora Fangborn is required to report at a starting point where there will be a marking. Post that, you will have to travel all the way to an end point which will be briefed later. It will be a little far away, and you can choose any path to reach the point. Mind you, if you don't reach the end point by tomorrow at the same time you've dropped at the terrain, you will have to extend your survival by a day." My eyes widened at the rule made for me. That is simply cruel! Extending my survival by a day!?

　　"The rules are all from the fourth trial, Aurora. You can do this. You don't have to worry about CCTV this time, because we are monitoring you for the entire time with the help of witches. You'll do good, Fangborn." Beta Roman gave me a gentle side hug. Leif saw that and chuckled,

　　"Isn't it a little unprofessional to hug a contestant?"

　　"I'm a naturally affectionate person, Alpha Lupus."

　　Oh lord. I never knew Roman had the capacity to talk back to an alpha like that!

　　Just as I was about to leave, a man's voice called for me by name. Recognising his voice right away, I whipped my head around.

　　"Wait. I…Aurora, I was told that I am allowed to accompany you. Would you please—" My eyebrows crushed into each other.

　　"Odin, have you forgotten that this is my own challenge? I need to prove my worth. You've won the runner up, a title. But please, this is my battle against…people. I'll be fine. You need to prepare yourself to go back home as well. Your dad must be…" I stopped myself from speaking further. I looked at Emeric. He didn't have the best expression on his face, and I knew I had to stop myself there.

　　"I'm sorry, Odin. But I have to do this alone. Goodbye."

　　…why did that 'Goodbye' sound so bitter in my mouth?

　　"There you go. The end point is on top of that mountain, over there. Even if you reach there by dawn, you know what resides there." Captain Kingston and I looked at the mountain peaking up high, several miles away from where we were standing.

　　This was still a forest stretch, which was smoothly transitioning into snow land. The view from my angle was spectacular. But, behold the dangers of the ice…

　　Snow leopards, predators, feral stags and mooses, and the worst of them all…werebears are hibernating in these snowy lands. If I disturb their habitat, they might attack me. Might as well learn to escape. Climbing tall trees and pines isn't going to help me in any way. The animals here are more than equipped to climb trees. Probably faster than me too, instinctively.

　　"Alright. I can do this. It's just one day, isn't it?"

　　However, the moment I crossed the green line which was meant for me, I could hear the gentle fall of an avalanche from a distance. It was from one of the mountains, but I couldn't see it.

　　"Well, a bumpy beginning I think." I spoke to myself. Bumpy, because the avalanche would trigger all animals staying there to come out of their hibernation. The disturbance must have caused problems to a few animals and predators, while the others would just roam around pissantly.

　　I checked my boots, they were high rise and not a provision from the kingdom. They were my own! At that moment, when they announced I had to have nothing on me except for my own belongings, I knew Leif and the elders made this decision.

　　But what they didn't know was that I was feeling as comfortable as possible, without any gear on! This survival challenge might be easier than I thought it would be~