Henry gazed at the sky in a daze.

The gnarled, twisted tree branches looked as if they were grasping at the sky with outreached hands. This view concerned Henry because the last thing he remembered was falling asleep in the comfort of his bed. Henry slowly stood, attempting to pinch himself awake on the way up. His face contorted into a frown since he did not wake up snuggled under his favorite navy blue duvet.

Feeling the gentle cool breeze, Henry sneezed. He looked down at his well-defined abs and only piece of clothing to keep him warm, his charcoal colored boxer briefs. Hugging himself with his muscular arms, he tried to retain the escaping body heat. Any observer would know immediately that his efforts was in vain and he just looked silly. Teeth chattering, Henry chose a random direction and started to walk. He would need to get his bearings of this unfamiliar place, but he would need to do something about clothing. He surmised that he should find shelter first and worry about the rest later.

The rosy light of the early morning began to fade as the sky became brighter. Rays of sunlight peered in between the gaps of the tree branches and leaves. Henry was grateful for the warmth every time he stepped into the light. As the Sun climbed higher, the birds awakened to sing their trill-filled songs. A critter rustled out from a bush, surprising Henry and sent a chill crawling down his spine. The rabbit, if you could call it that, stared at him for a brief moment before darting off into the safety of a nearby undergrowth.

Ah shit where the hell am I? Do horned rabbits even exist? Henry thought.

Henry quickened his pace. He kept his head on a swivel, looking behind his shoulder more than once. He was almost at a dead sprint when he burst into an open clearing. He slowed to a halt as he faced a jet-black sabretooth tiger. The hair on his skin stood on its ends as he broke into a cold sweat. Before dread could completely swallow him up, Henry noticed the bright reflection of the sunlight glinting off of a piece of silver atop the tiger. In his tunnel visioned state, he had not noticed the rider clad in silver armor riding the tiger itself. As normal as one would go horseback riding, this individual was riding a sabretooth tiger. He tried to discern the features of the rider but was violently pushed down from behind. He was in a similar position to how his morning began, except, he ate dirt to go along with his troubles.

He felt the weight of someone kneeling down on him. Pain blossoming in his right arm as it cranked hard behind his back. The single thought of survival overtook Henry as he squirmed trying to break free. A sharp blade leveled against his throat calming him down. The dagger made skin contact, but the assailant held off of enough pressure to not draw blood. In front of him, a feminine and husky voice bellowed out the familiar sound of what seemed to be commands. Heavy footfalls rumbled all around Henry following the given order. The tiger he had come face to face with slowly approached and stopped at about 5 paces from him. The rider dismounted and advanced on Henry’s prone position.

He looked up to a stone faced woman with piercing jade-green eyes staring down at him. She was wearing an open-faced round metal helm, but he marveled at the long pointed ears that jutted out past the top of her head.

Henry let out a shaky chuckle.

“I’m no longer in Kansas, am I?” he whispered. Vibrations of magic waved through the air.

Everything stopped. All around Henry the gathering of people halted what they were doing and looked at him. The person on top of him tensed up. The dagger hugging his neck drew a thin line of blood. The woman’s stony exterior was completely broken with her mouth agape from astonishment. Henry felt the weight on top of him shift as his assailant yelled something. The dagger loosened its hold against his throat, giving him a moment’s respite. The woman blinked twice and focused back on Henry. Her eyes narrowed and her brow furrowed in concentration. Breaking the silence that clouded over the group, the woman barked another set of unintelligible orders. The dagger against his throat was released and the weight on top of him went away. He was forced into a kneeling position and was gagged, collared, and chained. Henry let out a tired sigh. Or tried to, but only managed a prolonged exhale through his nose. He was no stranger to hostage situations. He looked up to see the woman staring back at him with amusement, opposite from her earlier emotionless face.

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I’m glad one of us is enjoying this. Henry thought.

The woman had taken her silver helmet off and was holding it between her arm and hip. Her curling silver hair was cut short running down her high cheekbones and stopping just before her neck. A long and jagged vertical scar had permanently shut her right eye. The hilt of a great sword peaked above her left shoulder. She wore a combination of hardened leather and silver. The armor itself looked as if it was custom made to fit her. There was no excess surface area to impede her mobility in combat.

Henry looked around and saw most of the warriors gathered. He counted about 25 in total. Several wore green hoods and their faces were hidden. Every warrior he saw that wore a silver helm was female, Henry made the safe assumption that the hooded ones were female as well. He couldn’t help but notice the long pointed ears of every single warrior he saw. The woman barked an order that Henry failed to understand. A hooded warrior walked up as ordered. The woman continued speaking while glancing at Henry. Once she was done, the warrior walked towards Henry and picked up the chain that connected to his collar. Henry looked at his captor and felt his heart skip a beat.

She was also of slender build wearing hardened leather but chain-mail armor instead. Her long silver hair flowed freely from her hood down to her chest. A long bow and quiver of arrows were slung across her back. She had sheathed daggers on each side of her hip. She stood in front of Henry staring at him with her sharp bronze eyes and yelled a terse order. Henry stood up at the pull of the chain and followed his captor. She was walking towards a large pearl-white sabretooth tiger. Henry stopped in amazement looking at the large feline forgetting his primal fear from earlier. Another tug of the chain broke Henry out of his wonder and followed after his captor.

Looking around, he noticed that not all the warriors were on foot. The hooded warriors were riding on variously colored sabretooth tigers as well. His captor mounted up her tiger affectionately patting its head. Henry walked right next to the tiger grinning with fascination twinkling in his brown eyes. He had only seen these creatures in books and movies, so seeing one right in front of him was a sight to behold. The tiger looked at Henry without showing any signs of attacking. Like anyone would do if they were standing before a fluffy big cat, he pet the tiger. Immediately, the tiger purred under Henry’s soft touch. He continued to grin, giggling like a small child.

Henry looked up at his captor. Her bronze colored eyes, normally distinctly angular and sharp, had widened to the size of large gold coins. He chuckled and stopped petting the tiger. As soon as he stopped, the tiger nudged its head into Henry’s bare chest, begging for more head pats. Henry obviously supplied the tiger’s demand. Henry’s captor shook her head breaking out of her stupor and tugged on the chain. Henry got the idea and stopped the head pats, leaving the tiger pouting like a cute little kitten.

Sorry big guy. Maybe next time. Henry thought.

He looked around and felt a sense of déjà vu. Everyone was staring at him wide-eyed. The leader had the all too familiar amused look plastered across her face once again. Her face transformed back into a stony exterior and she barked out a single command. Henry saw everyone start to leave the clearing.

He sneezed from another gust of wind. While quietly sniffling and rubbing his nose, Henry came to a sudden realization. He was almost butt naked in front of large group of women. The level of beauty these women had could not be compared to the female celebrities of Hollywood. It would be like comparing apples to oranges. All of Hollywood’s male celebrities, and in fact, all the males of Earth, would swoon over the women that surrounded him.

A green cloak was thrown at Henry’s face, breaking his degenerative train of thought before it could get any worse. Removing the garb, he looked up to see his captor without her green cloak, her silver hair freely flowing down to the small of her back. She marched on with the rest of the warriors. His eyebrows rose in surprise at the kind gesture. The cloak was surprisingly warm to the touch for how thin the material was. He donned the cloak and the faint smell of lilac permeated Henry’s nose. The pleasant aroma disoriented him for a brief moment. He shook his head to rid himself of the light-headedness and hurried his step to not be pulled along by the chain.