"..."

The cold was already bad before, but she swore the temperature dropped at least a dozen degrees, the bushes where it hid were slowly covered by a thin blanket of ice, in the darkness of the night, it would have been nearly impossible to see it if it hadn't been for its glowing yellow eyes.

She srpung to her feet, stumbling a bit as she was not used to her new body, her ears flattened against her head and she let out a startled gasp. The creature didn't react, its dark silhouette unmoving, the constant stare made even more unnerving by the unblinking eyes that aimed at her soul. Everything about that creature felt unnatural, twisted, it had an aura of melancholy and pain. It wore an old, broken animal skull as a mask, long horns that looked a bit too much like dried tree branches, and a hunched back covered by a thick coat of dark fur. The ground beneath it began to freeze solid, she winced, taking a few clumsy steps backwards. Just how long had that thing been standing there? It seemed to freeze everything it neared, perhaps that's why she had been so cold. She could have frozen to death if she had taken longer to wake up. Not that she expected things to be easy for her, but to be killed before even opening her eyes seemed a bit extreme. 

Slowly it started to crawl forward, cracking the ice that had formed around its lower body. From it came a faint garbled voice, she couldn't for the life of her tell if it had tried to speak or if it was just a meaningless gibberish at the time, either way, whatever courage was left in her faded away like smoke in the air. Her instincts took over and she ran in the maze of ice and trees, not caring where she went or ended up in.

If she had looked back, she would have seen that same creature attempting to follow her, right arm reaching out towards her. Despite its size, it wasn't very fast and quickly lost track of the small pup. It gave up, letting out a saddened moan as it lowered its head. 

She had no clue which direction she went or for how long she was running. The trees looked the same in her eyes and the dim lighting made it nearly impossible to find her way through them. She sat down under one of the few evergreens and tried to catch her breath, at least it seemed like nothing had been able to follow her.

"I already told you to fuck off!" 

She almost jumped in fear. The voice was deep, letting out a fierce growl as it spoke. Did she hear it right? Someone just spoke?

"This place's mine! Get lost you old rag!"

They don't seem too friendly... 

Slowly, she peeked behind the tree to find two monsters standing around thirty feet away, strange, she could swear they sounded like they were much closer, or maybe her senses were sharper than she thought. The first had reddish purple and white fur with stripes that much resembled ones of a tiger, a short tail and powerful antlers, the beast's bright yellow eyes glared at the other monster that could easily be confused for a large pile of snow at first sight. It was enormous and completely white with the exception of its six paws which had brown fur instead, it had long gray horns and dark eyes.

They had been so focused on the argument they failed at noticing her presence.

The tiger like monster snarled, tail wiping back and forth, some sort of electricity crackling around its body. "I won this ground fair and square, go back to your hole or something."

"You didn't win shit!" The other growled, showing its powerful fangs. "We were all scrambling to get away from the fog and you attacked us, asshole!" 

"fog? But we're surrounded by fog..." she thought as she watched the exchange curiously, hidden behind the tree she was resting under.

"It's called attacking when the opportunity rises!"

"Really? I'm pretty sure it's called "I'm too much of a wuss to fight you, so I'm going to wait 'till you're all running for your lives and then strike.""

The tiger roared, electricity sparking from its fur as it leaped towards the snow giant. It counter attacked by creating a block of crystal apparently out of thin air and throwing it, as soon as it got in contact with the tiger, the electricity around its body shattered it to a thousand shards, but made it lose its opportunity to strike. The smaller beast fell back on the snow, huffing and clearly angered, but otherwise unharmed.

"I have kids to feed, why don't you just leave?!" 

"Because so do I!"

Everything after that happened so fast she couldn't even process it, all she remembered was some sort of lighting coming from the sky directly into the clearing that had become a battlefield, it seemed like the snow and ice had gained life as giant ice spikes rose from the ground. She was thrown away just at the mere wind caused by their attacks colliding. When she stopped being quite literally blown away, she was left laying on the ground, her fur standing on its end, she could still feel the static on her skin.

I'm so dead...

When she felt well again, she clumsily stood up and put her fur back into place. Despite having ran most of the time with all four paws, she found she could walk just fine with only her hind legs, it wasn't as fast but it felt more familiar that way and let her front paws free.

Eventually, she found a large lake, it extended way beyond her field of vision, some areas closer to the shore were frozen solid, but somehow, most of the water remained on liquid state despite the temperature.

Taking careful steps, she slowly made her way to a spot of the shore that wasn't so frozen, her reflection greeted her, a blur of golden and white. Her face was mostly white with her snout, forehead and ears having a golden color, so was her neck and most of her body, but part of her paws and belly were also white, there were also yellow and red markings along her body. Being able to see herself for the first time sparked conflicting emotions, it was fascinating, yet wrong, she didn't feel like herself at all, that lupine face reflected on the water wasn't hers. Her sclera was pitch black, a pair of glowing blue irises reflected in the water like starts in their own personal sky. Her eyes were probably the most monster like characteristic on her new body, however it was also the one that felt less unsettling for her. Perhaps no matter how they looked, they'll always hold the same essence, windows to the same soul.

Still...who am I?

She turned her body, seeing her full reflection. Beside her eyes, another thing that caught her attention was what appeared to be a patch of plumage on her back, unravelled dark golden feathers that resembled those of a young bird. Were those wings? Or what would eventually grow into wings. Those feathers were present all over her back. Her tail was short and had a slightly brighter yellow fur at the tip.

I don't remember anything...do I even have a name?

S-0143... 

She shook her head and growled. Whatever was the story behind those numbers, she would throw herself off a cliff before accepting that as a "name".

As much as it stung to admit, but that man wasn't completely wrong, that was the closest thing she had to an identity in this world, the experiment who turned her back to her "creators" and got banished to some demon realm. 

Who was she before? They mentioned something about "the rest of her kind", so she clearly had a life before all this mess. 

Trying to remember didn't help her much, perhaps she would never remember by herself, if she were to just stay put hoping that the memories will just come to her one day, she might die waiting.

"So, it's settled. I need to know what happened to me." Travelling across the land looking for answers sounded like a pretty neat adventure actually, she almost felt like a character in a fantasy novel. Almost.

But in the meantime, she'd need a name to go by. Something much more meaningful than just a bunch of numbers.

"Hum...what fits me?" The tiny monster mused, watching her reflection closely. Perhaps something regarding her appearance? Maybe personality? Choosing a name for oneself was definitely harder than it sounded, nothing felt right to her and some were downright uncreative. 

She felt... anxious for some reason. Her concentration broken by a feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something wasn't right.

Looking up from her reflection, the first thing she saw was a long serpentine body lurking in the water, it stopped in its tracks once it noticed it had been seen, trying once more to camouflage itself in the frigid lake, but it was too late for it, she already knew where it was.

You gotta be kidding me...

She barely had any time to dodge when the snake lunged out of the water, throwing herself to the side in a attempt to avoid the bite. She screamed as the monster's teeth sunk into her hind leg. It dragged its prey into the lake, not showing the slightest amount of effort despite the smaller monster's constant struggling. She clawed at the snow in a futile attempt to pull herself away from the water, kicking the beast' snout with her other leg. That wasn't going to work, she fought against the overwhelming panic to try and think clearly, that snake was much stronger than her, there was no use in trying to break free this way. 

Her eyes lit up when she saw the small rock sitting beside the shore. She reached out and grabbed it, it had a moderate size and was fairly smooth in shape, but it would have to do. 

She held it with both her paws and hit the snake's right eye with all her strength, it hissed and loosened its hold, but refused to let go. Then she hit again, and again. On the fourth time, it let go of her leg, screaming in agony. She could feel the warm blood trickling down her leg as she limped away. 

The snake was surrounded by a bright green glow, especially around the wounded eye, she was left with her mouth gaping as the eye went from a bloody crushed mess to as good as new in less than a few seconds. It glared at her with both healthy eyes, baring its bloody fangs. 

Thankfully, she was already far enough from the water not to get caught when the snake lunged a second time. She continued to hop away from the lake, avoiding putting her wounded paw on the ground. She heard struggling from behind and looked back to quite an odd scene.

The mighty predator who almost took her life just moments prior was flopping on the ground, struggling to go back to the water. Apparently in its last attempt to catch her, it had accidentally fallen out of the water. It didn't seem to know exactly how to move on land as it tried to swim and looked actually confused why it wasn't working. It turns out it actually had some kind of fins very similar to those of fish, they flapped uselessly on the ground.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

It was both anticlimactic and hilarious.

She couldn't help but giggle to herself as she watched the struggling demon. It heard and sent her a glare that could have killed her by itself. 

"You look like a flailing fish!" She laughed, momentarily forgetting the situation she was in. In all honesty, laughing actually made her feel a bit better about this whole thing. 

All she heard was another hiss before a blast of blue light hit the ground just a few inches in front of her. It would have actually hit had she not been looking when it attacked. The ground was frozen solid beneath it, creating a enormous block of ice.

W... what the fuck...?

The snake's mouth was glowing that same light blue color, slit pupils aiming at her, ready to shoot again.

Instead of running away like a sane and sensible person, she yelled out in frustration.

"What the fuck is this bullshit?! A creepy thing that freezes everything it touches, a beast that can cast lighting bolts, another that can control snow and now this?!" She angrily gestured to the block of ice that was at least four times her size. "You can shoot ice! You have super fast healing! What do I get?! I'm a monster too, right?!" 

The serpentine creature flinched at her sudden outbrust, recoiling when she pointed at it in accusation.

"Be glad you're in your frozen little pound with your powers and stuff, 'cause I'm lost and cold in a place where I'm just the right size for a snack and my only defense tactic is running like crazy!"

She limped away, trying her best to look angry, but her expression was one of sadness and disappointment. 

"Keep flopping there... with your stupid powers... in your home..."

The snake didn't move for a while, watching as she walked through the bushes and eventually getting out of sight. It managed retreated back into the water. For the first time in so long, it paid attention to the feeling of the cold water against its scales, just at the right temperature, the rocks and the few aquatic plants who could survive the harsh cold, the soft moonlight added a homey feeling to it. It couldn't see itself being in any other place but its beloved lake, nor living without its trusty ice bean. Maybe it should start appreciating these small things in life.

-------

Sighing softly, she walked aimlessly through the forest while holding her stomach. Another problem beside predators and keeping warm, hunger. What would she even eat in a place where everything wanted to eat her.

Thankfully the wound in her leg wasn't bleeding so much anymore, she couldn't see anything she could stop the bleeding with in the first place and she wasn't experienced with first aid either. Her only option was to take it easy and hope it would eventually heal.

How useful that healing spell wound be in a moment like that. 

She walked in between some bushes and laid down, wincing at the still partially open wound, how does one take care of a bleeding without any supplies around? Honestly even with all the equipment in the world she doubted she could patch herself up, she had no idea with to do. By some miracle, there wasn't any sign of a fractured bone or something worse.

"Ugh..I didn't even got to figure out a name for me... "

One thing was sure: all the creatures she had found until then were miles ahead of her. The fact she managed to survive until that point could be considered an amazing feat by itself. She had no abilities whatsoever, wasn't fast or strong, nothing that could guarantee her survival. Her body shivered as a cold breeze blew, the more time passed the weaker she seemed to get. There wasn't a single being she came across that was even the slightest bothered by the frigid temperature, but she had her teeth chattering and her skin felt numb. 

She hated the cold.

She raised her blue eyes, gazing longingly at the still dark sky, wondering when the sun would finally rise. 

"I'd kill for a fire right now..." She muttered weakly.

sniff...sniff

Uh?

Her ears twitched and turned to her left. There was that anxiety again, warning of danger lurking nearby.

"Now t-that's bullshit..." She followed her ears, but there were only the same dry trees with branches that resembled nightmarish claws reaching for the sky, there was no movement, no glimpse of glowing eyes like with that first monster, but she was positive she heard something and that ominous feeling never left her gut. 

Without a warning a large dark mouth with yellow fangs blurred into view, it was like it had simply materialized out of nowhere. There was no time to dodge it. She swore her heart had stopped beating as the hungry mouth neared, there was no rational thoughts going through her mind, anything else just faded away from reality, nothing mattered except herself and the beast.

She didn't know what happened. All she remembered was her body being engulfed in an intense heat and a bright flash of light between her and the monster, which looked like some sort of giant lizard, it roared to the sky, hacking and coughing as smoke came out of its clearly burnt mouth. Her legs felt like jelly beneath her, her chest and head hurt, but she managed to keep standing. Through breathless, she saw weak flames coming out of her mouth whenever she exhaled.

Fire.

Did I just breath out fire?!

While the lizard was preoccupied with its new burns, she took off running through the woods once more. While it had injured the thing's mouth quite badly she doubted it would distract it for much longer, unless the water snake was the only creature in the forest to know a healing spell, but that was very unlikely.

She couldn't believe it, she had magic! She could breath fire!

Was that why she had been so cold all that time? If she was a fire monster then everything made sense, why she glowed, her colors, her sensitivity to the ice. Of course she was a fire monster, how could she have been so stupid?

Doesn't fire melt ice? What if she was the one with a advantage all that time? Her wild thoughts were put on a halt as an angry roar echoed through the frozen forest.

"Come back here you little shit!"

Nope, she definitely didn't have an advantage. What was a small amber against a blizzard?

Was that why she was sent there? 

Her body was growing weaker by the second, her energy was running out and that monster was still chasing her. The sudden movements irritated the wound on her leg, making it leak a trail of blood wherever she went, giving any pursuer a clear indication of her tracks.

The lizard appeared to have some sort of camouflage on, making it nearly impossible to see it while it hunted, that would explain why she didn't see it until it was almost too late, strange, one would think a chameleon would be the one to have camouflaging, not a glorified salamander. The small pup looked at her blood covered leg, the bleeding only got worse as she ran and by the throbbing pain and numbness she felt, it was in no condition to keep running like that for much longer. The monster had gotten nearer and her instincts warned of the impending danger. She could risk it all and continue running until she either found a hideout or collapsed for good or... 

She limped to a fallen branch and picked it up, it was nearly her size, but surprisingly light. That idea was crazy but maybe she could make it work, maybe. She then took a deep breath, trying to conjure that feeling of fire inside her, trying her best to ignore the beast coming for her. Blowing at the tip of the branch, a small flame came out of her mouth and into the cold wood, lingering for a moment before going out. 

Come on... 

A second attempt resulted in a slightly larger flame, which burned for an equally brief time before being blown out by a passing wind.

The lizard was getting closer, the increasingly louder snapping of fallen twigs and leaves served as a constant reminder that her time was running out, it was now or never. She held the now warm branch close to her body and closed her eyes as she pictured the torch she wanted to make, the hot flames bringing warmth and light into the cold night. She had enough guts to sass a demon ghost man before, she could take on an oversized reptile. She closed her eyes and blew on the branch again. Golden flames enveloped the wood, cackling as they danced and burned despite the low temperature, the reassuring warmth brought immense relief to her heart. "Yes!" The pup cheered as she held up the improvised torch like it was the greatest of treasures.

"Found you."

Her stomach went cold when she heard the monster's voice. She yelped and instinctively pointed the fire towards were she guessed the lizard was, it took pretty much all of her will not to give in to the instincts to drop everything and run away, the beast towered over her, hissing angrily as it glared at her, or rather at the "torch" in her paws. Wherever the light touched, the camouflage worn off, revealing its location. The lizard watched the fire wearily, circling around her while looking for a opening to attack.

Keep calm, you can do this.

Wherever the lizard went, she pointed the flame at it, growling back each time it hissed. Her only hope was the fire would be enough to discourage it from attacking again, she would be an easy kill otherwise.

The forest was relatively quiet if you didn't count the increasingly common fights between monsters, moments of peace were always accompanied by an eerie silence that would make anyone feel on edge. However, at that moment, the once quiet forest came to life, desperate screams echoed through the woods, hundreds of monsters of all sizes and shapes were running, flying, digging or anything else they could. Both lizard and wolf looked up, watching in confusion as dozens of creatures flew over them. The reptilian monster's expression quickly went from confusion to fear, it gasped as if it had suddenly realized what was taking place, before the young pup could even process what happened, it took off running without looking back. 

"H-Hey! What-" She held the fire close to herself as she frantically started looking around, ears flattened and tail tucked between her legs. From the stampede of fleeing monsters, she could hear them shouting.

"They are here!"

There were many other things being said, like run and it's coming, but their voices were overlapping one another, making it hard to understand everything with precision.

"Oi, kid! What are you doing there?!" A small creature that looked like it was made of ice yelled from above, it appeared to be some sort of bat, with long pointed ears and transparent wings. "Run if you know what's best for you! The fog is here!" It flew back to its group, where a hundred or so bats exactly like that one flew together.

That was enough to snap her out of her panicked state, adrenaline kicked in and she started running again, hesitantly dropping the torch in favor of having her front paws free, her body shivered as the bitter cold chastised her skin, but she needed to run, one injured leg already slowed her down enough.

"Is this the fog that big monster was talking about?!"

Her heart was pounding painfully against her chest and her entire body felt like it was about to collapse, but despite her efforts she was clearly being left behind. She could only take a few more steps before her legs gave out beneath her. What was she thinking? She never had a chance if surviving by herself in a place like that. She felt dizzy, if it was from exhaustion, blood loss, hunger or all three she wasn't completely sure. The glow around her body faded away as well, she no longer felt so cold, in fact everything felt numb.

I failed.

She closed her eyes.

-------

The day was perfect, clear and sunny, it wasn't too hot neither, just pleasantly warm. She felt the grass tickling her skin as she laid down on a hill, watching the clouds take hundreds of different shapes. For what felt like the longest time, she felt peace.

There was an unfamiliar voice, the exact words were lost to her, but somehow she knew it was calling out to her. She sat up and stretched for a moment before turning back to see a group of people, they all seemed to be on their late teens to young adults, their images were blurred and their faces were unrecognizable, but she felt herself smile at the sight of them. She said something back, she had no idea what, but she stood up and dusted off her clothes, then walked towards the group with her hands in her pockets, smiling softly the whole way through. With each step the world around her faded away until it was all a dark void.

"It's not over yet, wake up."

Her eyes opened just a crack, blinking a few times before her blurred vision started to focus. She was no longer in the woods, instead she found herself in some sort of cave, its walls were adorned with ice crystals that glowed softly against the morning sunlight. The next thing she realized: she was no longer in pain. Still a bit sore, especially her hind leg, but otherwise she felt fine, great even. 

"Where...am I?" 

Slowly as in not to injure herself again, she stood up and began to walk towards the cave entrance, realizing she was laying on a bed made of leaves and branches. Stepping outside, her eyes widened in astonishment, the cave was at the top of a large rock mountain which gave her a clear view of the entire forest. She couldn't help but sigh in relief as she felt the warm sunlight against her fur. Her body had recovered its glow as well, the longer she spent under the sun, the better she felt.

"So that's why I was feeling so weak, I need the sun." She sat down and closed her eyes, enjoying the morning warmth.

Oh, right! She still needed a name. It was about time she sorted that out.

"How about... Sol?"

She hummed in approval, tail wagging. It sounded nice, her powers came from the sun so it made sense, and much better than "Wolfy" or something.

Finally after so long she finally had something to call herself, her first step to figuring herself out in this crazy world.

For the first time in her very short life she allowed herself to feel at ease. Sol closed her eyes and rested her head on the ground, unaware of a creature with two pairs of wings and dark plumage flying towards her.