Alex’s eyes fluttered open, and he was immediately enveloped in darkness, a suffocating, all-encompassing void. Panic surged through him as he tried to move, but an invisible force held him in place, his every muscle paralyzed. Even his ability to shapeshift, usually an effortless extension of his will, was utterly useless—until a powerful sensation coursed through his body, like a jolt of electricity. The force that had bound him vanished in an instant.
With a surge of renewed strength, Alex slammed his fist into the organic lid of the pod he was trapped in, cracking it open with a sickening squelch. He pushed against the yielding, fleshy material, crawling out of the capsule with effort. As he emerged, his body trembled with weakness. Whatever had held him captive had also numbed his connection to his own physical form, leaving him disoriented and drained.
"Am I in a hive?" Alex muttered to himself, his voice echoing faintly in the grotesque, fleshy chamber. The walls pulsed with a strange and sickly rhythm. The atmosphere was heavy with a damp, musky scent, and the dim light barely illuminated his surroundings. The unsettling, alien environment was like nothing he had ever seen.
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his head, and Alex clutched at his temples as a sensation of something squirming inside his skull sent shivers down his spine. The intruder in his mind revealed itself—a worm, wriggling and burrowing deeper. But this was no ordinary worm; it was larger, with a leech-like body and a circular mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth. Alex’s cells, reacting instinctively, launched a counterattack against the parasite. The creature screeched in a high-pitched, inhuman tone as Alex’s cells overwhelmed it, tearing it apart until nothing but remnants were left, absorbed into his system.
"Am I on an alien ship or something?" Alex wondered aloud, still reeling from the bizarre encounter. The worm was unlike anything he had encountered before, its biological structure entirely foreign to him. He was far from anything familiar.
Before he could gather his thoughts, a violent tremor shook the room, sending pieces of the fleshy walls tumbling down. He turned just in time to see the wall on his right side get obliterated, revealing a horrifying sight: a massive red dragon, its scales glistening like molten metal, with a strange, green humanoid creature on its back. The creature wore a silvery armor with red gems and wielded a sword of the same silvery metal as the armor .
The dragon's head turned, its piercing eyes locking onto the room where Alex was. It opened its massive jaws, and a torrent of searing flames erupted forth, engulfing the chamber in an inferno. Acting on pure instinct, Alex dove behind the pod he had just escaped from, curling into a tight ball as the flames washed over him. The intense heat was unbearable; he could feel the capsules around him bursting open, their contents hissing and popping like kernels of corn in a fire. The pod that shielded him blackened and charred, but Alex, using every ounce of his strength, hardened his body into a calcified shell to protect himself from the scorching flames.
Time seemed to slow as he waited, the roar of the fire deafening, the heat seeping through his defenses. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the dragon’s wings flapped powerfully, and the sound of it taking flight filled the air. The flames began to die down, and Alex, breathing heavily, carefully broke free from his now charred and blackened shell. He stood amidst the wreckage, the room a smoldering ruin around him .
Alex's mind was racing with questions, but his immediate concern was survival. His body was dangerously low on biomass, and every movement felt strained. He scanned the charred remains of the room, hoping to find something—anything—that he could consume to regain some strength. Unfortunately, the once-living pods and their contents had been reduced to blackened husks, the flesh walls around him scorched and brittle. The overwhelming destruction left him with nothing to salvage.
He approached the massive hole blown into the side of the wall, peering outside. His eyes widened in shock. The scene before him was like something out of a nightmare. Flames licked at the organic walls of the structure he was in, which he now realized was some sort of massive, flying vessel. The exterior was made of a shell similar to one of a snail . He could spot at the end of the ship massive tentacle , that writhed and twitched in the chaos. Far below, the terrain was hellish—a rocky wasteland with rivers of lava snaking through it, massive columns of jagged stone reaching up toward a sky that bled red. Black rivers branched out like the veins of some monstrous creature, and overhead, dragons with armored riders soared menacingly, circling the vessel like vultures.
"Where the fuck am I?" Alex muttered, a chill running down his spine. The infernal landscape, the twisted vessel, the dragons—it all defied explanation. He shook his head. He needed to move, to find something he could consume to regain his strength.
He made his way to the next room, a sphincter-like door opening with a wet squelch to reveal what lay beyond. This room was thankfully intact, though the sight that greeted him was grim. Four human figures dressed in robes lay sprawled on chairs surrounding a pulsating, red pustule at the center of the room. Blood oozed from their eyes and ears, their lifeless bodies slumped like broken dolls. To the right, Alex noticed another empty capsule, similar to the one he had emerged from.
Without hesitation, Alex approached one of the corpses . His hand extended, and flesh tendrils snaked out, enveloping the body in a cocoon. The process was swift, the body dissolving into biomass that Alex eagerly absorbed. The replenishment was immediate —no memories came with the consumption, the brain too damaged to retain anything useful. He repeated the process with the remaining three bodies .
Two figures burst into the room from a nearby corridor, catching him off guard. They were humanoid, but clearly not human—their skin was a pink and hairless, with bat-like wings folded against their backs and menacing horns jutting from their heads. Each one wielded a flaming greatsword, their expressions twisted into cruel, sadistic grins.
For a brief moment, Alex wondered if the nuclear blast had somehow sent him straight to Hell. The thought was quickly pushed aside as one of the "devils" lunged at him with alarming speed, the flaming sword raised to strike. Alex barely dodged the swing, his body reacting instinctively as his arms shifted, turning dark red and morphing into long, razor-sharp metallic claws.
He counterattacked, aiming to sever the devil's arm, but his claws only left deep gashes. "This guy is much tougher than he looks," Alex thought, retreating a few steps to reassess the situation.
The devil he had injured snarled something in a language Alex couldn't understand, its eyes flaring with an inner fire. It raised its other hand, conjuring a searing orb of flame in its palm. But before it could unleash the attack, the entire ship shook violently, knocking Alex to his knees. In the same instant, a deafening explosion tore through the room, the force of it hurling Alex through the air.
He opened his eyes to find himself falling through the sky, the ship—a massive, shell-like structure resembling a gigantic nautilus—plummeting towards the ground in the distance. The fiery inferno and the hellish landscape had vanished, replaced by a serene, clear blue sky and fluffy white clouds. Alex spread his arms and legs, a pair of black , raven like wings formed from his back, allowing him to glide gracefully towards the earth.
The memory of the dragon and its rider was fresh in his mind, and he had no intention of crossing paths with them again, at least not until he regains his full strength . He angled his descent towards a small island he spotted nearby, aiming to land as far away from the falling ship as possible. Alex landed softly on the ground, his wings retracting into his back, leaving a red, wing-shaped symbol imprinted on his leather jacket.
He took a moment to catch his breath, appreciating the stark contrast between this tranquil place and the chaos he had just escaped. The air was fresh, filled with the sounds of birds chirping and insects buzzing. But despite the serene surroundings, Alex's instincts told him that danger was never far away.
His attention was drawn to a massive tree stump in the middle of the island, surrounded by a broken stone circle. Curious, he walked over to it and placed his hand on the ancient wood, feeling the rough texture beneath his fingers. The ground shook beneath him, and Alex instinctively dashed away just as something heavy slammed into the spot where he had stood.
A massive creature made entirely of wood emerged from the shadows, wielding a twisted branch like a club and a shield made from a thick, gnarled root. The creature towered over Alex, its body an intricate blend of twisted wood, gnarled branches, and creeping vines. Its head was particularly fearsome, resembling a helm with fierce, horn-like protrusions. Its limbs were powerful, with thick, branch-like arms and legs that seemed to grow directly from the earth.
Another wood creature appeared, swinging its club at Alex. He dodged the attack but almost slipped on the muddy ground, unaccustomed to fighting in such conditions. The creatures moved with surprising speed for beings made of wood, their strikes heavy and relentless. Alex knew he had to think fast as the terrain was not in his favor.
"There wasn’t so much mud before," Alex muttered, his voice tinged with suspicion as he noticed the ground shifting unnaturally beneath his feet. His gaze sharpened, catching sight of something small crawling from the muck. The creature that emerged was a grotesque parody of life—a tiny demon composed entirely of mud. Its gaunt, emaciated form seemed barely held together, as the sludge that covered it slithered and writhed over its skeletal frame. A long, hooked nose jutted from its face, dominating its grotesque features, while its sunken eyes glowed with an eerie, malevolent red light. Its limbs were thin and spindly, ending in sharp, clawed fingers that twitched with a disturbing energy.
Before Alex could react, the mud demon took flight, its leathery wings flapping with an unnatural grace. It spat out a glob of mud, and before his eyes, the blob twisted and morphed into another flying demon, identical to the first. The new creature wasted no time, repeating the process, and within moments, the air was thick with a dozen of the monstrous creatures, their numbers rapidly multiplying.
Alex arm shifted and twisted, his fingers elongating into sharp hooks that gleamed in the dim light. With a swift motion, he swung his arm, which extended unnaturally far, slicing through the horde of demons with a precision that left nothing behind but a splatter of mud. As the last of the creatures fell, he retracted his arm, transforming it once more—this time into a sleek, silvery blade that glinted menacingly.
He barely had a moment to catch his breath before another threat loomed. One of the massive trunk monsters , its bark-covered form moving with a surprising agility, swung a heavy branch towards him. Alex leaped into the air and landed hard, his blade-arm flashing as he cleaved one of the creatures in two. Something wrapped tightly around his legs. He looked down to see thick, gnarled roots binding him to the spot.
The remaining trunk monster raised its branch high, ready to crush him. Alex’s arm shifted into a solid, black shield just in time to block the crushing blow. The impact was strong but the organic shield held . Focusing his strength in to his legs , he tore free from the roots and launched himself into the air. His shield melted away, morphing back into a sword as he brought it down with deadly precision, splitting the creature in two.
Alex landed in a crouch, his eyes darting around for any remaining threats. Finding none, he cautiously approached one of the fallen wood monsters, curiosity piqued. He squatted beside the dead creature and examined it closely. To his surprise, its insides looked like ordinary wood—nothing that should have been capable of such aggressive animation. Flesh-like tendrils slithered from his hand, wrapping around the wood and pulling it into his body, consuming it with an almost ravenous hunger.
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“It’s just normal wood,” Alex said aloud, though the words felt hollow. Something didn’t add up. His senses tingled with the faint trace of energy, but as quickly as he noticed it, the sensation vanished, leaving him with a nagging sense of unease.
With nothing left to do Alex left the island. With a small jump Alex landed on the soft sand of the main land. As he straightened, his nostrils flared, catching a scent that made his heart skip a beat. Blood. Fresh and nearby.
A loud, inhuman scream shattered the silence. “Baaah!”
Alex spun around, his fist already coiling back to strike. But what he found wasn’t some fearsome beast—it was a sheep. The animal stood there, its eyes wide and staring, bleating at him in a voice that was far too deep, far too unnatural. The sound wasn’t right. It was as if someone was trying—and failing—to mimic a sheep.
Something was horribly wrong.
His instincts screamed at him to back away, and he did so slowly, his senses on high alert. “I didn’t smell it or see it until it was right next to me,” Alex thought . His retreat was halted by a poke in his back. He whirled around, only to find another sheep, identical to the first, standing impossibly close to him.
“From where?” Alex whispered to himself, every muscle tensed for action. With his enhanced senses, he should have detected them long before they could get this close, yet they had appeared out of nowhere, as if conjured by some malevolent force.
“Oh dearie, are you lost?” A voice, old and sweet, cut through the tension.
Alex’s head snapped to the left, where an elderly woman stood, her hand gently petting one of the sheep. She wore a green dress that looked as if it had seen better days, and her eyes sparkled with an unsettling kindness.
“Indeed, I am a bit lost,” Alex responded, his voice measured as he studied her closely.
“So unfortunate. You must not be from here,” the old woman said, her smile never faltering. “I’ve never seen clothes like yours before. Come with me to my house, and after a hot meal, I’ll guide you to the closest settlement.”
As if on command, the sheep turned and trotted off, disappearing into the fog that clung to the ground. The old woman began to walk, her pace slow and steady, her hand beckoning for Alex to follow. Against his better judgment, Alex found himself moving after her, his mind a whirl of suspicion and curiosity.
They walked through a wetland, its landscape an eerie blend of beauty and decay. Tall grasses, reeds, and cattails rose high above the water’s edge, their green stalks bending gracefully in the breeze. The surface of the water was dotted with lilies and lotuses, their colors vibrant against the murky depths below. Trees stood with their roots submerged, their twisted forms creating an ominous silhouette . Despite the picturesque scene, a sense of wrongness permeated the air, making every step feel like a descent into a trap.
Alex followed her to a large wooden shack, its appearance straight out of a twisted fairytale. A plaque with a teapot emblem hung to the right of the door, half-covered by creeping vines that seemed almost alive. The sight of it sent a shiver down Alex’s spine, but he forced himself to enter, his nerves taut as bowstrings.
Inside, the air was thick with the smell of herbs . A massive tree grow from the middle of shack piercing the roof . A brick fireplace burned to the right of the room, its flames casting flickering shadows as a cauldron filled with a bubbling green liquid hung above them. Shelves lined the walls, crammed with jars of dried herbs and phials filled with liquids in colors Alex had never seen before.
But what truly caught his attention was the young woman sitting at a small wooden table. She had curly ginger hair and a pale, tear-streaked face. She sat hunched over, her shoulders trembling as she ate a tart, each bite accompanied by a soft, heartbreaking sob.
“Don’t mind her,” the old woman said cheerfully. “Her husband left her, but she’s got Auntie here to make her happy. Am I right, dear Mayrina?”
The young woman nodded weakly. “Yes, Auntie Ethel,” she replied, her voice barely above a whisper, her eyes never leaving the table.
“You must be hungry,” Auntie Ethel said, turning her attention back to Alex. She gestured to the empty chair beside Mayrina. “Please, take a seat.”
Reluctantly, Alex moved to the table and sat down, his eyes never straying far from the old woman. Auntie Ethel hummed a soft tune as she grabbed a wooden bowl and a ladle, dipping it into the cauldron and pouring a generous portion of the green, bubbling gruel into the bowl. She placed it in front of Alex with a smile that seemed just a bit too wide.
“Let me get you a spoon for my very special soup,” she said, her voice dripping with false sweetness. “It’ll make you feel full of vigor, like a horse.” She handed him a wooden spoon, her gaze never leaving his.
Alex took the spoon, feeling the weight of her gaze on him like a physical force. Auntie Ethel’s smile was unwavering, her eyes fixed on him with an almost predatory intensity.
Finally, he dipped the spoon into the strange soup and brought it to his lips. The moment the liquid touched his tongue, a chill ran down his spine, freezing him in place. The taste was indescribable—a mixture of bitter herbs, metallic tang, and something else ... human flesh
"How is it, dear?" Auntie Ethel asked, her voice dripping with faux sweetness as she watched Alex with expectant eyes.
Alex let the spoon hover near his lips for a moment longer, his gaze locked onto hers. A smirk slowly curled the corners of his mouth. "This is my first time eating soup made with human meat," he said, his voice laced with a dark humor, "but it tastes like shit."
Mayrina’s eyes widened in shock, her hand freezing mid-bite as she stared at Alex, the reality of his words slowly sinking in. Auntie Ethel's smile faltered, her mask of grandmotherly warmth slipping for just a second. Then, she began to laugh—an unsettling, grating sound that seemed to reverberate through the very walls of the shack. The world around them began to shift and warp, the warm and cozy interior dissolving into something far more sinister.
The once-clean shack was now filthy, the wooden walls and floors stained with the dark, dried remnants of blood. The sweet, comforting aroma of herbs was replaced by the rancid stench of rotting flesh, which assaulted Alex’s senses with every breath. He glanced down at the bowl in front of him; the green liquid had turned a dark, sickly red, and a human finger floated at the surface, its pale, lifeless nail scraping against the edge of the bowl as it bobbed in the thick, congealed soup.
Mayrina’s half-eaten tart was now writhing with life, maggots crawling in and out of the once-innocuous pastry, devouring it from within. She continued to eat, as if in a trance, her tears mingling with the horror on her plate. But Alex wasn’t surprised. From the moment he had taken that first spoonful, his suspicions were confirmed. His cells had analyzed the strange concoction, identifying traces of human DNA and potent herbs designed to induce a deep, dreamless sleep. The illusion Ethel had cast over the room could only go so far—it had failed to deceive his body on a cellular level.
Ethel’s laughter trailed off, replaced by a low, menacing chuckle. “Hehehe, and here I thought I’d found myself a new toy,” she said, her voice dripping with malicious delight. "Never mind. I can still use your vitality for some rituals."
As she spoke, Ethel’s form began to change. She grew taller, her once-kindly face twisting into something grotesque and nightmarish. Her skin turned a sickly shade of green, and her nose elongated into a sharp, crooked point. Her hair, now matted and wild, was interwoven with tiny bones, and her back hunched grotesquely as if the weight of her evil was too much for her body to bear. Her arms and fingers stretched into long, thin appendages, each ending in wickedly sharp, blackened nails.
"My vitality?" Alex echoed, his voice laced with genuine curiosity. The word "ritual" had piqued his interest, even as he remained cautious.
"Whatever you are," Ethel sneered, her newly transformed face twisted into a cruel grin, "you have a lot of vitality—far more than any normal human. It seems to keep growing the more you’re fed. I plan to use you as a catalyst for some of my most powerful rituals."
Alex couldn’t help but laugh, the sound dark and full of mockery. He had been holding back, curious to see if Ethel had any inkling of the danger she was toying with. It was clear now that she had no idea. Not even the potent sleep-inducing herbs in the soup had any real effect on him.
He hunched over, making a show of weakness, and Ethel’s grin widened, believing the drugs were finally taking hold. She was so, so wrong.
In a flash, Alex’s body snapped into action. His arm morphed into a massive, gleaming blade, the metal singing through the air as it pierced Ethel’s chest with a sickening squelch. Her eyes widened in shock and horror as she looked down at the sword impaled through her body, then back up at Alex.
"What abomination are you?" she hissed, her voice weak, her last breath rasping through her lips.
Alex yanked the blade out, watching with a cold detachment as Ethel’s lifeless body crumpled to the floor. Dark, foul-smelling green blood oozed from the wound, pooling beneath her form. An eerie, malevolent laughter echoed around the room, followed by a shriek that seemed to vibrate through the very air itself.
Alex turned his attention to Mayrina, who had collapsed to her knees, her hands clutching her head as she wept. He approached her cautiously, unsure if she was still under the hag’s influence, but before he could speak, she suddenly hurled the maggot-filled tart at him. He dodged easily, watching the rancid pastry splatter against the wall.
"YOU MONSTER! YOU KILLED THE HAG! NOW I WILL NEVER SEE CONNOR AGAIN!" Mayrina’s voice was hysterical, her grief and fury directed entirely at him.
Alex was taken aback. He had initially assumed she was a victim, held against her will, but her reaction suggested otherwise. Before he could process what she had said, the sound of heavy footsteps—many of them—filled the air, growing louder and closer.
He turned towards the door he had entered through. Charging towards him were twenty small, humanoid creatures, each wielding a bloody cleaver. They looked like twisted caricatures of elderly men, their bodies hunched and wiry, their skin leathery and rough. Evil smiles split their faces, revealing rows of sharp, jagged teeth. They wore heavy iron boots and leather pants, with bright-red leather caps perched atop their heads, adding a disturbing pop of color to their otherwise dark appearance.
Their eyes gleamed with malevolent intent as they closed in on him, their cleavers raised high. Despite the danger, Alex found himself almost amused by the sight. But as they drew nearer, he realized their ferocity was nothing to underestimate.
The time for games was over. With a cold, calculating gaze, Alex prepared himself for the oncoming battle, his body once again beginning to shift and change.
"Blooooood!" one of them screamed as he lunged at Alex. Alex's arms shifted into a pair of claws. With a horizontal sweep, the creature was cut into pieces that were immediately absorbed by Alex. Suffice to say, the redcaps just got angrier. Some of them were lucky enough to cut Alex, but the damage they inflicted was regenerated within seconds.
He moved with unnatural speed, his claws a blur as he sliced through the air. Redcaps were dismembered with each swing, their limbs and heads flying off in a spray of dark, almost black, blood. The floor became slick with the gore of their fallen comrades, making it difficult for the remaining redcaps to maintain their footing. One redcap managed to leap onto Alex's back, sinking its cleaver deep into his shoulder. Alex barely flinched. With a guttural growl, he reached over his shoulder, grabbed the creature by the head, and crushed it with a sickening crunch. The headless body slumped to the ground, twitching spasmodically.
Two more redcaps attacked simultaneously, aiming for his legs in a bid to topple him. He kicked one so hard it splattered against the wall, leaving a red smear where it hit. The other he impaled on his claws, lifting it high into the air before slamming it down, splitting it in half.
The remaining redcaps hesitated, their rage momentarily overshadowed by fear. Alex's body shimmered, his wounds closing almost instantly. He raised one clawed hand, beckoning them forward. "Come on, then. Don't keep me waiting."
With a collective roar, the redcaps surged forward in a desperate final assault. Alex met them head-on, his claws tearing through their ranks like a scythe through wheat.
One redcap managed to slice across Alex's abdomen, leaving a deep gas that was spewing blood. . For a moment, it seemed like a significant blow. But then Alex's body rippled, and the wound closed as if it had never been. Grabbing two redcaps by the legs, he swung them like flails, using their bodies to batter the others into submission. Limbs were torn from torsos, heads were crushed, and the once-angry mob was reduced to a pile of broken, bloody bodies.
When the last redcap lay twitching on the floor, Alex stood amidst the carnage , a calm expression on his face. His body absorbed the remains, adding it to his biomass . The hallway, , was now a charnel house, the walls painted with the lifeblood of the foolish creatures who had dared to challenge him.
After the little fight, Alex looked around and confirmed his suspicion: this place was not what it seemed. The water was now murky and brown. Piles of bones and rotting carcasses lay around the wooden shack, and the smell was nauseating.
Alex turned around to see if Mayrina was still there, but she had left at some point. The most alarming thing was that the hag's body was gone—not even a drop of blood remained. Deciding it was better to leave, he started to walk out of the swamp, making sure not to step into the traps laid by the redcaps. After consuming the redcaps, as they are called, he found out that there is a human settlement north of here. He couldn't get more information about the settlement as the redcaps spent all their time in this swamp, disguised as sheep and killing everything unlucky enough to step foot in their territory. Their brains were smaller than a normal human's, so their memories were simpler.