After following the path the slimes took, I found something. The slimes were running through the tunnel to a forest! At first I just thought it was another room with a light, but I soon felt a gust of air. My giant rat eyes widened at the scent of plant life.

I forced my will to completely take over the rat, and ran into the light. As soon as I made it past the cave entrance I felt the breeze on my skin. The sunlight basically blinded me, but I didn’t need to see to be able to enjoy being outside of the dank dark cave.

The feel of the dirt beneath my feet brought emotions to me, ones that I didn’t even realize I was feeling. A sudden wave of helplessness crashed over me. Regret at not being close to anyone from my original universe, hope that I could do something in this one.

I looked around happily. Then my new nose picked something up. I didn’t know the smell, but Silver instantly sensed a sense of danger! I was confused, I mean what danger was there? Oh... I noticed I was surrounded by large black wolves. They had red streaks in their fur, like zebras. The largest one was in the lead. I turned my head, trying to find a way out.

Behind me was the cave, but all other directions were wolves. A slime would come every minute or so, that didn’t give me very long to actually think up a plan. Damnit! Why am I always so bad in stressful situations!?

I decided to chance it, and ran up to one of the weakest looking wolf. I attacked it with the Light Claw right away. It barely even scratched the surface. A bit of blood came out, but that was it. As best it only seemed to anger it.

One of the wolves behind me jumped to attack me. Somehow I instinctively dodged it. Then I felt my consciousness fading again. Just like when the Silver first attacked another rat. I thought it must have been because it sensed its impending doom.

I relinquished control over Silver. If I didn’t we would both be dead soon. Unlike the first time, I wasn’t kicked out of the body. Instead I was watching the seen from above rat’s head. Almost like I was a halo of light.

The wolf that I had dodged swiped at Silver, but Silver bit down on the arm. The wolf howled, and Silver was attacked from behind. The attack didn’t land though. Silver used another Light Claw attack with his back claws.

Using the front wolf as support, Silver lifted himself up, and clawed at the wolf jumping. The slash marks landed perfectly on the wolf’s nose. Blood splattered Silver’s fur. The Light Claw continued its attack, and left an even deeper gash on the nose. The nose looked useless now.

The wolf wined as it shied away. At least that’s one that looks to be out of the way for now. You go Silver!

Unfortunately, that was the extent of the good news. The wolves suddenly converged on Silver. Tearing, clawing, and ripping at him. He put up a valiant fight, but he was outnumbered, and outmatched. I tried helping him, but nothing I did seemed to make a positive impact.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I felt every bit of pain he did. Every time his blood touched the air, I felt the burn. After only a few seconds it got too much for me. I didn’t know what else to do. I was in pain, felt weak, and feared for my life! I just didn’t want to die!

As one wolf tore at Silver’s chest, I felt his life start to ebb. I didn’t want to! I really didn’t! But the fear made me irrational. I unstuck my body, pulling myself away from the rat. Just as I did, the rat sent me a sense of betrayal.

Its life ended, and I was surrounded by blackness, except for a few feet of illuminated area in a sphere around me. The wolves ignored me. It was as if they didn’t even recognize my existence. Of course I was sad that my only friend in this world had just died, but I was more focused on something else.

I had just left another being to die. I might have been able to do something about it, but I didn’t. I felt repulsed by myself. I just willingly watched the only thing I had a connection to die. The reason I felt so bad about it, was that I didn’t feel bad.

I knew I should have regretted letting the rat die, but I felt in my very soul that I’d do it again. I wouldn’t hesitate to let someone else die in my place. If it meant my survival, I might even kill another person. It made me question my morals and values.

Had I always been like this? I didn’t think so, but I had never been in a situation like this. I had usually been a pretty up-beat guy. Thinking about myself in that light, I started doubting who I was. What did it really mean to be me? I didn’t know.

I floated over to the rat’s corpse. Silver had put up a good fight, but now every scrap of meat on its body was consumed by the wolves.

…

Except for the wounded wolf. It tried to eat something, but the other wolves pushed it away. An idea sparked in my mind. I glided over to the weakened wolf. If I lost my conscience, I decided to take advantage of it.

I tried sticking my body to the wolf, and managed it on the first try. While I was trying, the wolf stopped its movements. Pain seeped through my body. My nose hurt! It felt like it was still being attacked. My stomach was caving in from hunger. I did not just get this new body to get killed again! I pushed one of the wolves aside to get the food.

That might have been a mistake. After gorging myself for a few bites, I was knocked over. The Alpha was staring daggers at me. I swallowed the food. The Alpha began to growl at me. I realized, through my link to the wolf, that I was supposed to die here. Eating the food was taboo, at least for me.

The Alpha barked an order. The other wolves backed away. They formed a circle, with the Alpha and me at the center. I knew what was going to happen. The Alpha was going to make an example of me. He was going to kill me.

I refused!