"Ugh, so bright," Dean drowsily voiced his opinion after feeling the sun beaming down in his eyes.

'I knew I should have paid a little extra for some better window shades. These cheap ones I have now never quite manage to keep the morning sun out of my face.

Sigh, sometimes you really do have to pay for what you get.'

*Smack*

Suddenly he was beset by a stinging pain in his left cheek that completely knocked the last bit of drowsiness from his system.

"Tor ac. Dhuul tuuch'd dach," Amidst the mild ringing in his left ear, Dean shook his head to clear away the pain and zeroed in on the voice that was spewing spittle on his face.

He was just about to scramble up and see who would be crazy enough to break into his apartment and attack him early in the morning when he encountered three problems.

1.) His assaulter wasn't human.

2.) He was bound by what appeared to be rope.

3.) His body that was bound by this rope was vastly different from what it should be.

Suddenly everything came surging back to him. He'd died and through a strange and terrifying series of events he'd been reincarnated as a doppelganger.

Mouth agape. Dean stared dumbly ahead trying to process all of this information when the small goblinoid creature that was excitedly bouncing around in front of him suddenly pounced forward with frightening vigor.

Dean wasn't some warrior or anything, but the bloodlust in its eyes was as clear as day.

*Smack*

As if to prove Dean right, the creature unleashed another backhand slap on his face. This time on his right cheek.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The goblin still didn't appear satisfied, but before it could go any further another goblin heckled him while pointing in a direction that led further ahead into the forest.`

Dean was closely observing the assaulting goblin the entire time.

When it looked in the direction the other goblin pointed in, all of its earlier bloodlust immediately evaporated as the creature glanced in the same direction before quickly shuddering as if it was cold.

Its long, green ears flopped about even more as it shook itself free of its chill before grunting its acquiescence to the other goblin. It took one last look at Dean before walking back towards a length of rope that was lying on the ground and resumed dragging him along to some unknown destination. All thoughts of violence seemingly quelled in its mind... for now.

With his immediate crisis averted Dean ignored the growing pain that came from being dragged along the ground which was easier said than done considering every few feet or so some rock or surprisingly sharp stick marred his legs, back, arms, or neck.

'Okay, calm down and go over what you know," Dean took a deep breath and tried to quickly assess his situation.

'Goblins are real, you seem to be in another world, you've been captured, and from the looks of things you're about to either be sacrificed or fed to some creature strong enough to instill fear and obedience into a large group of goblins.'

That's right. Dean wasn't alone in his precarious situation.

All around him, he saw other creatures of all shapes and sizes in the exact situation he was in. Each being dragged along by 1 to 3 goblins depending on their size.

Craning his neck to the left he saw a large antelope-like creature with a nose like an elephant futilely struggle against its restraints. The poor creature seemed to be having a rough time of it because it'd occasionally raise its nose and trumpet a wet gurgling sound accompanied by small splotches of blood.

To his right, he saw a large bear-like creature with strangely long limbs that pitifully wailed at the top of its lungs. It would surely be an apex predator on Earth, but here it was wailing in fear like its like depended on it.

Finally, one of the two goblins responsible for dragging it along seemed to have become fed up, and with a quick bludgeon with the wooden cudgel at its waist, the creature was knocked into the sweet embrace of unconsciousness.

Of course, the lack of consciousness did little to deny the cold reality of the wet squelching sound that occurred when the goblin raised its cudgel.

The gaping eye socket and white substance that dripped from the cudgel was all Dean needed to see to know that it'd just lost its eye.

Satisfied that the beast was unconscious, the goblin gave it a few more spiteful kicks before walking back to its end of the rope. With a nod to its goblin companion, they continued trudging forward all while leaving a thin trail of blood that still flowed freely from the now vacant eye socket.

'I'd best keep quiet,' Dean thanked his lucky stars that he only received a couple of smacks.

Craning his neck forward from his prone position on his back, Dean could see a trail of other imprisoned creatures that extended as far as the eye could see.

The cacophony of pain-filled wails and bleats was almost maddening and the distinct sound of flesh being struck was another pain-filled reminder that silence was golden right now.

Wherever they were being taken was in dire need of different creature's blood and meat. Dean just wished he wasn't on the giving end of this transaction.

'