It was night. It was dark. Bugs buzzed around the wildlife, animals ran about in the shadows. The only source of light was a flickering streetlamp.

I was walking down a long sidewalk, walking beside one of the forests that were scattered around my community. I enjoyed peaceful walks like they were brief lapses from everyday life, moments of calm, calm and peace that allowed me to enjoy the nature left for the public’s recreation.

I wouldn’t think about anything on nights like these. Not a single thought, but today… something was different. This was my time to walk on clouds, to fantasize fantasies, to escape the boring, stagnant world that we live in.

My mind kept buzzing and my brain was all over the place. I would twitch at the slightest movement, and stare out into the darkness as if I expected it to leap out at me. I rubbed my hands as if it were cold. I would sweat from every pore on my skin. My breathing was intense, my heart beating fast, my eyes were darting around the place.

Every inch of my body was screaming

 “Something is coming”

I was worried. I should have been too. Fear was crawling all over me and forcing itself into my mind. My mom always said not to go walking by yourself late at night. I didn’t believe that anything could happen. I lived in one of the safest countries in the world, I could not believe something could happen. Now I paid the consequences.

 I felt something touch my back. I whipped around with a fist and hit air. Then again, my shirt was tugged. I looked around wildly. There was nothing.

I backed up to a wooden fence behind me. If they came again, I would see what who it was.

I waited, a minute, two, three, five. Adrenaline was coursing through my veins, instincts kicked in long ago and my head was filled with countless emotions. Fear, anxiety, impatience, survival, curiosity… excitement.

I watched the darkness, not noticing that the streetlamp had stopped flickering.

Then I felt… a hand… on my back. My eyes grew wide as I turned around and saw a smiling face dragging me into a deep dark abyss, the void. A smiling face with eyes that glowed green.

I was pulled, into the endless darkness, an endless sea of black.

I was floating, just floating, unable to move, unable to think, I was on the brink of existence and non-existence.

My emotions crumbled at the realization of my situation, only one remained. Ecstasy.

‘An easy way out, a way that requires no risks…’ I smiled. The emotions from before, a cover, a lie, a mask made by me.

“Interesting.”

I looked over at the source of the voice. 3 pairs of gigantic ominous neon-green eyes stared right back at me.

I felt a pull downward, I landed on my feet upright. I was able to move again. For the few seconds that I was unable to move felt like an eternity. Well, being unable to move and think would make everything seem like an eternity.

“You… are not afraid? I see, this must be the human courage that I’ve seen before. I thought I felt something different, I guess I was mistaken. Kill him.”

Two pairs of smaller green eyes appeared in the darkness. They walked towards me slowly and I was able to see their forms, even in this absolute darkness.

Huge, tiger-like bodies with scales instead of fur and skin. Three razor-sharp talons at the end of each leg. Long draconic tails that ended at a sharp point. Demonic, curly horns adorning their head and dorsal fins that went right across their spines.

Monsters would be the only word to describe them.

I smiled once again. Now this was interesting. I looked around quickly as they walked to me slowly, looking for anything that could be sued as a weapon. Nothing, it really was just an endless abyss.

I looked back again. They were gone. I couldn’t see them. I turned around, nothing. Some sort of camouflage? Things had just become interesting and I felt excitement for the first time in a long time. I couldn’t let these things just take that away.

Then I felt it. Like a calling, something told me to jump to the right. Quickly I did so, in my place was one of those beasts, its green eyes staring directly into mine.

I charged at it.

For a moment, I thought I saw confusion, but it was quickly replaced with the placid look it had before, as if it had done this before multiple times.

It opened its maw, I swear I saw hell inside but I had no time to think there. I leaped as high as I could, and jumped right on its head.

It just sat there for a few moments, trying to process what had just happened. I used its delay the best I could.

I grabbed its horns and held on as tight as I could, crushing the dorsal fin on its back.

It roared in pain and kept bouncing up and down trying to get me off. It was almost like bull riding, this would be great if my hands didn’t sweat so much.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

I laughed maniacally at its roars. It seems that its fin hurt quite a bit. I let go of one of the horns and grabbed onto the fin and started viciously ripping at the bones.

It roared in agony, trying to bite me with its long snout, but I was on the head. It had no way of attacking me.

Then I felt it again. Someone trying to tell me something. I jumped forward, over the beast’s head but still grabbing onto the horn, it seemed like a stupid idea especially because now I was hanging in front of its mouth.

I thought that to myself as the other beast leaped over its friend, snapping at air. I was amazed both at its speed and stealth and my own foresight.

I heaved myself up, onto the beast once again, it snapping at my heels as I climbed back up.

I continued to dig at the long bones that extended from the spine before some of the skin started to rip. I looked around for the other one. It sat there looking confused as it was watching its friend being almost tortured.

I felt bad for the creature, I dislike causing pain…

No that’s a lie. Doing this got me really excited, I think I may be an extreme sadist.

*Snap*

It broke. In my hand, I held the bone that supported part of the beast’s fin. Broken, crumbling and covered neon-green blood. Part of the structure collapsed after losing one of its supports. Blood was gushing out of the wound, seems like this really was their weak spot.

The beast cried out. The other sprang up and started running towards us.

I prepared to dodge again, I waited for the moment it would bite at me…

*WHACK* I was sent flying.

Instead of biting at me, the beast simply whipped its tail at me, knocking me back and dragged the other one away.

Now it was my time to look confused. Did it just… try to protect the other one? Not something you would expect from monster-like creatures, plus the thing it was defending it from was a measly human with no natural weapons of their own.

The other one started to pulsate and I could feel lots of pressure coming off of it.

It was planning something. I picked up the bone shard and ran closer but stopped after I heard a roar from the other one.

It bared its teeth at me from a distance, like a warning to back off.

Damn. I can’t get to the first one without getting past the second, whatever the first one is planning, I can’t stop it…

But I can do something else.

I cautiously walked closer, my eyes locked with the second beast. After looking at them for a while, I noticed something. The second one was a lot slender than the first one, and the first one was a lot larger.

It made sense on how the second one was so fast.

I shook those thoughts out of my head and focused on the battle in front of me.

The slimmer one didn’t move but I could see its muscles getting more tense, it was preparing to strike.

Perfect. I started to dash towards it. The second one leaped at me, with the same speed as before.

This attack would have surely killed me… if it wasn’t for the fact that it leapt to where I was.

I slid underneath the beast and pointed the bone at the first monster’s head. The second beast already running back towards us.

“Don’t move.”

This was probably the riskiest move I could make. There were three major things that threatened my life right now. The first problem was that if this beast that I’m point my makeshift dagger at, decided to jump back up and attack, I would die. The second problem is if the second beast did not care about the first beast and attacked me. The third problem was if the second beast could not understand me, killing both me and his friend.

But none of these things happened. The beast wouldn’t spring up, I knew this because the second beast dragged it away to protect it. The same thing for the second problem, if the second beast did not care about the first, then it would not have protected it. The only real gamble was if the second beast could understand me.

But that was fine too, after all, it received the command to kill me, did it not?

All my predictions and risks paid off, the beast stopped in its tracks and just stared at me.

The first beast was still pulsating. I tried to look around for something that could stop this. I tried tugging at the spinal fin again but that just made it pulsate faster, it also made the second beast very uncomfortable and jumpy.

I stared at the second one.

“What’s happening?” Like a command, I asked it. It just stared at me in response. Maybe these things can only understand, not reply.

The pulsating started to quicken and the pressure around this beast started to increase.

Time’s up. I dashed backward and started to run to a safe distance.

I could feel the presence of the second beast immediately join the first.

*BOOM*

Like and explosion, a huge surge of energy flew outward from the first beast. I was knocked away again.

When I got back up I saw the first beast gone, in its place I saw… a girl?

What?

“Very interesting.”

That arrogant sounding voice returned and I saw those same six eyes open in the sky once again.

“I was not wrong, you are special. To be able to force Diama to go into a weakened state… is truly remarkable.”

‘What? Was this… thing… testing me?’ I could not hold back voicing my thoughts… in my head.

“That’s correct.”

Oh great. Now it’s the mindreading eyes of Las Vegas. Seriously. Its eyes make so much light that I can actually see… well… my own clothes! Look, there isn’t really anything to see in here.

“You’re the most interesting human I’ve met. Truly. Before, when my servant pulled you in, your body was truly scared. But that wasn’t you. It was like you created an alternate version of yourself… So very interesting.”

‘Well thank you very much.’ I was getting annoyed, I just fought a rather difficult battle and now some floating eyes tell me that I’m interesting. I’m pretty damn sure anyone would could fight those… monsters without dying would be spectacular. Not just interesting…

“I have a proposition young one. I see you find your home world stale. I see you wish for a fresh start. I see you wish for power. I see you wish for more. I can give that to you.”

“What…?” There was only one thought running through my mind at that time. How did he know? When I look back on it, I shouldn’t have been surprised that some giant godlike eyes knew my history but really, at the time, it was insane to think about.

“You simply just have to answer yes or no. I don’t need anything else, you don’t need anything else. Just know that it will make your fantasies come true. I know of countless others on your planet that would kill for this offer. What do you say…”

I just stare at those eyes. I look back at the monster and the girl. They looked just as confused as I did. Probably. I don’t know how confused I looked.

“First, comparing others to me won’t work. Second, please stop looking into my past. If you can do that for me, I can do this for you.”

When I think about that, I really just want to smack myself in the face. Why?! Why am I bargaining with some god at a time like this?

“Very well mortal, I accept your conditions but I will add in a few of my own. Now…”

A huge pulse of energy came from the eyes and a swirling vortex of green appeared in front of me.

“Walk through the portal. Once inside the other world, find these two once again. They will aid you on your quest. In the meantime, get used to this world.”

‘Wait, what?’ The swirling energies sprouted tendrils that slowly dragged me inside, without my consent.

“WAIT, I’M NOT DO-“

“Goodbye mortal and welcome, to your new home!”

After that I was sucked into the vortex, never to be seen again.

In that world.

Chapter 1 - End