Dominic Diaz celebrated his twentieth birthday alone at his apartment. He had no family left. He had no friends. No lovers. Despite having the looks good enough to get him a hookup or two, his circumstances forced him to stay single. 

Dom believed that the days of his struggles were almost over. The debt left on him from his deceased foster parents was mostly paid off. His online business started to earn enough for him to entertain the idea of leaving his store clerk job. Perhaps his next birthday wouldn't be as lonely. Perhaps he would meet it with someone he could consider a friend or a lover. Perhaps his life was about to take a turn for the better. 

Dom drank a whole vine bottle all on his own while longing for the future that hopefully could bring him happiness. Before he knew it, the birthday boy passed out with his face buried in the half-eaten pizza. 

The next thing Dom knew was the feeling of lying on something cold. It was also uncomfortably windy, especially between his legs. For a moment, he considered if he had fallen asleep naked. 

Dom couldn't be sure. His head was heavy, and his memories fuzzy—a standard case of a heavy hangover, nothing surprising. 

Despite the apparent strangeness of his state, his mind and body were still barely awakened, his eyelids too heavy to open his eyes and ascertain the situation. In a way, it was kind of comfortable just to continue lying like this, enjoying the breeze and chilly ground. He would figure out what was going on later...

"Kyaaa!" a woman screamed nearby. The loud, sharp noise made Dom's headache intensify. He instinctively opened his eyes to examine his surroundings, and it worked better than a cold shower at waking him. 

As far as Dom could tell, he was lying on the ground in the middle of a street. Stark naked. This alone would be shocking enough, but there was more to it—way more than he could take seriously without dismissing it as a trip or lucid dream. Except, everything felt way too real to be a hallucination. 

The buildings surrounding the street were nothing like the skyscrapers of New York. They were nothing like cheap apartment complexes so familiar to Dom, either. Instead, as far as he could see it, the city was something out of a Victorian era...except all structures also had a large tree growing from their center. 

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

What truly took Dom aback, though, was the woman who was watching him with astonishment and a hint of disgust. Considering the situation, her reaction wasn't that unexpected, but the problem lay in her own appearance. She was tall and slim—perhaps unnaturally so—while still remaining rather curvy, but her most eye-catching features were her long pointy ears, silver hair, and golden eyes. No matter how Dom looked at her, she wasn't human. It wouldn't be too far-fetched to assume that she was a very talented cosplayer, but apparently, her scream attracted more people, most having the same distinguishing features.

In a matter of seconds, dozens of people, suspiciously reminding Dom of elves from fantasy stories, gathered around him. He was quite sure that most of the onlookers were female, which made things twice as awkward for him. It didn't help that even elf-people with a male build still had very effeminate faces.

Enduring his headache, Dom attempted to stand up while covering his crotch with one hand. This, coupled with the weakness and dizziness resulting from his hangover, made him stumble and fall headfirst into the abundant bosom of the woman who'd been the first to find him.

Dom fought back the desire to enjoy the softness of his new pillow and released the beautiful elf. It was proved to be the right call as he backed away just in time to barely dodge her slap. 

"T-this is a misunderstanding!" Dom screamed, completely forgetting about covering his pubic area. 

The little elven crowd glared at Dom with extremely dangerous eyes. He knew that things weren't developing in his favor at all. To make matters worse, the language in which the onlookers dissed him and whispered to each other wasn't something he could understand. 

The offended woman glared daggers at him and was close to bursting into tears. She was half a head taller than Dom, with his average height of 5'9'', which made her also look down on him quite literally. 

Just when the commotion reached a boiling point and two "probably male" elves approached Dom with obviously hostile intentions, a commanding shout made everyone shut up all at once. The crowd dispersed to reveal a person in golden full-plate armor. Their face couldn't be seen, but from their large, built, and deep voice Dom assumed them to be a man. 

"I-if there's anyone who can understand my language, I can explain everything..." Dom said with a sheepish smile, one hand covering his privates and another scratching the back of his head. 

"Wear this and follow me," the same deep voice sounded right inside Dom's head even though the armored man stayed silent. 

The armor-clad newcomer handed Dom what could only be described as a bath towel and then turned his back to the bewildered human. Knowing what was expected from him, Dom had no choice but to follow the intimidating man under the judging glares of the bystanders. Walking barefooted wasn't a pleasant experience, and he still looked like a perv, but at least his dong was no longer in everyone's view. 

Dom had a hunch that a very long and distressing day was ahead. At least the scenery was a sight to behold...