Fear the old blood

As I step through the portal, I immediately hear the chirping of birds, and the skittering of woodland creatures. Well, this isn’t good. A forest, while beautiful, is not as good of a starting spot as, let’s say a town. I have to hope that there is a town nearby at least, otherwise I might be doomed to wander until my second chance is over. Before I get going, however, I want to take a look over myself to see what my new body looks like. I luckily seem to have landed by a lake, so I try to meander over, but fall over in the process. Great, I can’t walk on 2 legs.

On my next attempt, I use all of my limbs to walk over to the water, which is not only easier, but much more comfortable. As I gaze into the crystal waters, I look into the water to see exactly what I look like, face and all. Keeping in line with my earlier observations in the void, I bear a striking resemblance to how I looked when I first transformed into that strange beast. My back legs end in hooves, and my front legs, thankfully end in clawed hands. That will make life much easier, as I know how to use them and can grab and use items.

My face, however, is where my biggest surprise is. My head, while still incredibly deer- like, has actual flesh on it, instead of the bony plates my beastly self did. I even had 2, working sanguine red eyes. My teeth, however are relatively carnivorous, unlike a deer’s teeth should be. Guess the powerful formless god isn’t as creative as I thought he would be. After all, he practically copied my beast form, shrunk it, and made it look more alive. Well, before I start bad talking the formless entity that gave me a second chance, I better start trying to find something that can lead me to civilization.

I begin to walk through the dense trees, stepping over twigs and rocks to try and find a road, or maybe even a shack. Anything that could point me in the direction of sentient life. While I don’t mind taking a beautiful little stroll through the forest, I would much rather be able to find out where I am and what kind of species populate this world. However, the farther I walk, the more confusing it gets. The trees begin to grow thin, and then suddenly grow thick again. Rain randomly begins, and just as abruptly ends. And the noises of the forest slowly become quieter. Do they fear me? Or is there a bigger predator lurking within the shadows, waiting to pounce? As I ponder this, a trio of screams interrupts my thoughts.

As I hear the screams, I whip around into that direction, and begin to sprint. I don’t know what is happening, or where it’s happening, but I know I have to help. I leap over logs, weave in between trees, and break through vines, all to hopefully reach the screaming in time. And thankfully I did. I manage to enter a clearing, in which a massive creature, which appears to be a lion with dragon wings and a scorpion tail has something cornered. In order to buy the cornered creature a chance, I screech at the creature, hoping to get its attention. This works almost instantly, as it whips its head around to face me, its face showing its confusion. It turns around and begins to come towards me, accepting my challenge and allowing me to see the creature for the first time. Or more accurately, creatures.

It appears to be 3… miniature… horses? One has a white coat, light purple mane, and a small little horn in its head, another has a pale yellow coat, a red mane, and a big pink bow (for some reason) and the final one had a purple mane, orange coat, and 2 very small wings. I nod my head, trying to signal for them to run, which they thankfully notice and begin to do. Just in time too, as the creature decided to finally lunge.

The creature lunges for me, aiming to tear out my throat, which I easily dodge. I then claw at its face, trying to blind it. It doesn’t work, and it bites down upon my wrist, and throws me into a tree. I recover just in time to dodge another lunge, and this time, try to use my horns to hurt it. This thankfully works much better, as my horns pierce its flesh easily, which makes it roar.

I quickly dislodge them, and dodge a swipe from its paws, but jump straight into the path of the creatures stinger. It’s grazes me slightly, stinging as it leaves a slight gash in my skin. I decide that the tail is a big threat, and grab it keeping it still. Using both of my hands, I keep it steady and begin to bite into its, hoping to disable the limb. The carapace around the tail cracks and breaks, and the creature roars, trying to get me off. It doesn’t work, and I bite through the bone in the center of the tail, and rip the limb clean off.

With its major advantage mute, it’s time to end this. I quickly jump on top of the creature, and try to bite into the back of its neck. However, it knocks me off, and proceeds to try and maim me. I block with my arm, feeling the flesh being torn and the bones cracking. Using my hind legs, I kick the creatures stomach, flinging it onto its back. It continues to claw and bite at me, messing me up pretty badly, but it is I who get the last laugh.

As it lies on its back, I take my good arm and tear into its soft underbelly, ripping open the skin and exposing his vital organs. I then begin to rip them out, one by one, as it screeches in pain, trying desperately to get me off. As I rip out its hearts, it attacks me one final time, hitting me straight in the chest. I can feel my ribs crack, and bone fragments puncture my lungs, but I continue, until there is nothing left. Finding myself victorious, I look into the sky, and screech. Now, I need to go the way those small horses went.

I begin to limp my way in the direction they went, as it is likely that they came from a nearby town, and that was the fastest route. I just hope they have a medical center. As I travel I begin to wonder. What was that beast I fought? Why were those horses so colorful? And where did the scream come from. Hopefully, when I get into town, I could find out. As I make my way along, I begin to feel more sluggish, as the adrenaline of the fight wears off. I can feel my lungs slowly begin to fill with blood, and my arm screams at me. The pain is too much, and I begin to see black spots swimming in my vision.

But I can’t give up, I can’t die yet. I was just given my second chance, I’m not going to waste it by dying a day after I get reborn. Another few minutes go by, and I can feel myself failing. I take one more step before I collapse to the ground. I try to keep crawling, but it’s no use. I only have one working arm. I realize I’m likely going to die, and that this was all for nothing.

I silently thank Odeon for giving me a second chance, and apologize for wasting it. As my vision fades, I can see 9 shadows begin to come into view, with what sounds to be voices filled with worry and fear. But before I could see who these people were, or ask them for help, my mind shuts off, and I fall into unconsciousness.