I was surrounded by darkness. A black mist, swirling around me and limiting my view. I tried to move, but my body didn't listen. Panic started to rise, threatening to drown me if I didn't get it under control. The darkness of the abyss, a world of no light or life. A world from where all life came and all life would return. How was I such a fool to think I had escaped its grasp? Why- I stopped. This was too similar to my memories of not being alive. But it wasn’t the same. There was no pain and the darkness didn’t seem all-consuming. This was just a figment of my imagination and would disappear soon. It would disappear.

My calmness seemed to help and the mist in front of me parted. I wish it hadn’t. Before me, stood a gigantic four-legged monster, towering over me and my surroundings. The mist obscured most of its body but the rest that was shown was more than enough for me.

Its head was dominated by a snout and a mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth. Two hateful eyes were staring back at me. Its black fur seemed to have a mind of its own and was constantly creating disturbing patterns. A severed head, a bestial jaw, a beating heart. No, that wasn’t fur. I tried to take a step back but my body wouldn’t move and forced me to stare at the abomination. Claws. The monster didn’t have fur but thousands of claws that were connected to its body by short arms and grasping for something to catch. A horror of the mortal world stood before me.

This thing was wrong. A spit in the face to everything that life stood for. It twitched uncontrollably, like it was eager to leap forward and take a bite out of me. The burning eyes were drilling into my soul, making me unable to move. I watched in horror as it took a step forward and leaned its head forward. Only a hand’s breadth separated me from its jaw. They opened. Suddenly screams filled my head and my body was yanked away from the creature. The last thing I heard before I awoke was an ear-piercing roar that shattered the world around me.

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I shot up and looked panicked around me. I slowly relaxed once I realised that I was back. It was still dark, so I probably hadn't been out for long. I sighed in relief and sat back down. Had that all been my imagination? Wow, I really needed to relieve some stress. Lightly chuckling I lifted my arm and froze.

Before me was my scale-covered claw. Claws. I remembered the claws that had covered the monster's body. Black and covered in scales. I chuckled, this time a lot more forced. “So, that was where I took my inspiration from.” My claw shuddered as if to signal no. A shake that I didn’t cause. Now was the time to panic.

No, that couldn’t be my reaction to everything, no matter how disturbing it was. I needed to stay calm and think. What was that monster? What did it want? I shuddered. That was a question I could answer: It wanted to eat me. Luckily, I woke up before it could do that. Wait, why did I wake up? Suddenly I remembered. The screams. Had that just been my imagination? Suddenly, I realised that it was completely quiet. No footsteps, no talking, nothing. I slowly stood up and turned to the hill separating me from the two-legs.

Something was very wrong. Slowly, I snuck up the hill, trying my best to not make a sound. When I reached the top, I was greeted by a disturbing sight.

The camp of the two-legs had been completely destroyed. All of the constructions had either been torn or cut apart, with a few even showing black marks. A dark smoke filled the air. The bodies of the two-legs littered the place, with blood leaking out of stab wounds and tainting the ground scarlet red. Their faces were distorted into masks of agony and fear.

Suddenly, a wave of nausea hit me and I leaned over to heave. But there was nothing in my body to expel, so only spit came out. I took another look at the bodies and heaved again. Why? I knew of the concept of death but seeing others who had just moments ago been full of life, now cold and empty made me sick to my core. The living world was more merciless than I had thought.

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I slowly made my way through the carnage, making sure that I didn't step into anything. What had happened? When I had last seen the camp, everything had been alright. I bent over and grabbed a spiked staff that one of the guardians had used. The top had turned red from the blood that it had spilled. It looked deadly. I inspected the staff and made a few practise swings and jabs with it. Whatever created this slaughter, I definitely didn't want to meet it defenceless.

I continued walking, with the staff at the ready and inspected the rest of the camp. Some of the corpses had thin wooden bolts, with a feathered top, sticking out of them. I tried to pull one of them out of a body, trying my best not to look at the corpse. It took considerable strength, physically and mentally, to pull the bolt out and after doing it I realised why. On the other end of the bolt was a grey spike, similar to the one on my staff. I threw it to the side. Whatever had done this must have had incredible strength to lodge it so deep into a body.

Suddenly, I heard a sound behind me. I spun around, staff at the ready, and went into a crouch. The sound had been a mix between a groan and a whimper. It sounded like someone was on their deathbed. Forgetting all caution, I quickly made my way back into the camp. Whoever had made the sound was in pain but still alive. Maybe I could help, while also getting some answers to my questions.

"Hello? Where are you?" I called out, abandoning the idea of stealth. Another groan answered me, this time a bit closer. I stepped between the broken constructions in the direction of the sound. Rounding a corner, I finally saw the source of the groans. It was one of the guardian two-legs, leaning against a wooden pole. A gaping wound covered their stomach, most likely caused by a sharp blood-covered blade laying next to them. Blood was pouring through the wound and despite my lack of knowledge about the inner structure of creatures, I knew that the two-leg would soon bleed out. A vision came and went, bringing with it grisly images of wounds but also possible solutions to fix them. Firstly, I needed to cover it.

I quickly examined the area around me to find something that would do the job. My eyes landed on one of the constructions where the two-legs had slept. I practically sprinted across the camp and ripped off a decently sized piece of fabric.

After returning, I knelt beside the two-leg and started warping up the wound. “This is going to hurt,” I muttered, not knowing if they were conscious or not. To get the best results, the bandage needed to be tight. I tried my best but the blood wouldn’t stop coming. Dam it, I would not let another one die! I was so close to finally being able to talk with someone and the world was trying to take them away from me.

But no matter what I did, blood still streamed out of the wound soaking the fabric in red. The two-leg had stopped moving entirely and was now laying still on the ground. I pushed the bandage tightly around the wound and stared intently at it. “Stop bleeding, stop bleeding, Stop BLEEDING DAM IT!" I muttered, becoming louder and louder, fuelled by my desperation. I didn't know what caused me to be so emotional, but I wasn't about to let this living being die.

Suddenly, the claw that was pushed against the wound started to glow in a strange light and an overwhelming dizziness threatened to overwhelm me. Nonetheless, I continued my efforts. After a while, the dizziness was too much to bear and I fell backward. I had done everything I could. Now it was up to whatever made the decisions on life and death in this world.

I just lay there for a while, hoping that my effort was enough, yet dreading to take a look. After a couple of moments, I overcame my apprehension and leaned forward to look at my work. The two-leg still lay there, motionless. The bandage was blood-soaked, but it didn't look like there was any blood leaking from the wound. I blinked. Was that a trick of my imagination or was that same light that had covered my claw now on the wound? No, that was just my imagination. But now I needed to test if my efforts had succeeded. I slowly lifted my hand to their face to check for breathing. One moment passed. Another one.

There! I could feel it! The two-leg was breathing, admittedly shallowly, but still, they were breathing! I wasn't sure if they would survive but the fact that they weren’t dead was a wonder. My mouth formed into a smile.

I had saved someone. The feeling of accomplishment. The feeling of having changed something for the better. It felt great.