The boat rocked gently as it neared the shore. My eyes frequently checked the choppy waters that reflected the bright morning sun. Still full of dangerous fish. Dense, verdant foliage crowded the island’s edge, surrounded by the sandy beach. The air was heavy and humid, carrying a sharp, acrid scent of sulfur. Above the treetops, a thin wisp of white smoke spiraled into the sky from the island’s center, a towering mountain with a fat top.

It’s a volcano.

I sat at the front of our little rowboat. The lush greenery seemed almost too perfect. The thick vegetation swayed with the steady breeze. When we landed on the sandy beach, I helped pull the boat further inland. As we did, I felt the faint tremors beneath my feet.

I looked to the other two. “Uh, is that a bad sign?”

Shadara shrugged. “I don’t know. For an earthquake, it was pretty weak. But it’s so muggy. It feels like a dragon’s breathing on me right now.” She waved her hand in front of her nose. “Smells like it too.”

Killa and I turned to look at her, not bothering to hide our shock.

She shrugged again. “It was a bad day. I don’t want to talk about it.”

Killa nodded slowly. “Okay. On that note, that wasn’t an earthquake. It was just a tremor from the volcano. If it were an earthquake, it would be shaking nonstop and would knock us over. We shouldn’t have much reason to worry. Based on how long between tremors, we could have several days or a few hours. The less time between tremors, the sooner the volcano will erupt.”

My shoulders slumped. “What are the odds that we’re going to be here when this thing blows?”

She held up her hands. “Well, if you want to leave, we can. I don’t think this place has anything we can’t get from another island.”

Behind us, Shadara adjusted her satchel. "If it isn’t going to blow for a few days, then we’ve got nothing to worry about. Let’s look around to see if there’s anything close by while we wait for the next tremor.”

Orange?

Volcanoes typically only erupt every ten thousand years or so, depending on the amount of magma being built up. Since this floor seems to be designed around combat, survival, and resources, we don’t expect this one to be any different. That doesn’t mean that it won’t, but you’ll be safe regardless.

Killa walked ahead. “Shadara’s right. We should check it out. There are other warning signs that the mountain’s about to blow its top. First, you would see minor, frequent eruptions. Then lava starts flowing down the side. After that, things will heat up and become more unstable. At that point, we will need to evacuate immediately.”

I took a deep breath. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

Our group moved cautiously towards the trees. Overhead, I heard birds with unusual plumage chirping from the trees. Killa swatted her arms at insects buzzing in a strange, synchronized harmony. Since we didn’t feel any tremors, we kept venturing deeper into the foliage. The air grew thicker, the smell of sulfur mingling with the earthy scent of the jungle.

Our movements rustled the leaves and caused the birds to take flight. Every sound seemed amplified, echoing in the dense, oppressive atmosphere.

We moved cautiously through the dense underbrush, our eyes scanning the surroundings for any signs of danger. The island felt alive in a way that was both enchanting and unsettling. Enormous ferns and vividly colored flowers lined our path; some flowers doubled our height.

This place is wild.

As we ventured further from the beach, the sounds of the island grew louder. Strange calls and rustling echoed around us, making it hard to tell if they were from birds or something else entirely. The deeper we went, the thicker the canopy became, filtering the sunlight into a greenish glow.

“Check this out,” Shadara said, pointing to a cluster of giant mushrooms. Each cap was a vibrant shade of blue, spotted with glowing yellow dots. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Killa leaned in to examine them. “These are definitely not natural. Or if they are, I’ve never seen anything like them before either. What world did the Soul Nexus replicate this flora from?”

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

I held my arms up and waved to everything around us. “This whole place is like nothing I’ve ever seen. It’s oddly beautiful.”

Shadara started poking the mushroom with her clawed finger. Killa slapped her hand while straightening up. “Don’t touch it. We don’t know anything about it. It could release some deadly spores or something. Just because something’s beautiful, that doesn’t make it any less dangerous.”

Suddenly, a rustling in the bushes caught our attention. We froze, our hands instinctively reaching for our weapons. A creature emerged, and for a moment, I didn’t believe what I saw.

It was a deer, but not like any deer we had ever seen. Its antlers were grotesquely oversized, branching out in unnatural directions, and its eyes glowed with an eerie blue light. Patches of its fur were missing, revealing scales. Its legs were also far too large and ended in massive hooves.

“What in the world…” I whispered, taking a step back.

Shadara drew her bow and nocked an arrow. She aimed at the creature. As soon as she released the shot, the deer leapt away. Her arrow disappeared into the thick undergrowth.

Killa raised her hand to stop us from moving. “Hold on. It didn’t seem aggressive.”

I turned to her. “What was that? That…it…”

Shadara turned and raised an eyebrow and finished my question, “Looked wrong?” I nodded. “That was no ordinary animal. That thing was a chimeric creature. There’s something very wrong with this place. Someone has been experimenting on the wildlife here.”

Killa held up her hand. “How do you know? That could’ve been a natural creature.”

Shadara shook her head while lowering her bow. “There’s no such thing as a natural chimera. If the scales had covered its body, then maybe. But if you looked at its legs closely, you would’ve seen how the muscles didn’t fit right, like they were for a creature much larger than it.”

Killa crossed her arms and took a deep breath. A look of resignation washed over her. “Okay, let’s assume there is a mad scientist or something similar here—What then?”

I could hear Shadara tighten her grip on her bow as she said, “We kill them.”

I made an ‘x’ with my stinger arms. “No. We aren’t killers. I’ve already made my stance on that very clear.”

Shadara patted my shoulder. “And I respect your decision. You don’t have to kill them. I’ll do it.”

I brushed her hand off with a stinger arm. “But why?”

Shadara sighed and rubbed her forehead. She looked me in the eye, her expression resolute. “Rina, this is a perversion of life. Look around. This is not normal. They’ve done something unnatural to these creatures, and we don’t know what that is. It’s not safe to just let it go on. If they’re experimenting on animals, they’ll do worse things to people.”

“Won’t the volcano destroy them and everything on the island when it erupts?” I asked. “There wasn’t another boat. They shouldn’t be able to get off the island.”

Killa shook her head. “No, Rina. They are feeling the tremors of the volcano. They are either leaving the island soon, or have already left. That is, unless they’ve already got someplace that’ll withstand the lava and pyroclastic cloud. We have to at least try to look for them.”

Shadara grabbed my shoulders and gave me a slight shake. “Plants are one thing. But if someone is purposefully creating chimeras, they never stop at just one. And they never stop at just animals either. I’ve seen demons in hell do the most unimaginably horrifying things, very similar to this. I can’t just do nothing.”

I gave her a hug with all four arms. She was shaking. “Okay, okay. We’ll look.”

The panther woman relaxed. “Thank you.”

We continued on again. We encountered more bizarre creatures. A rabbit with the teeth of a predator and a singular horn that it tried to impale Killa with. The poor thing was just gobbled up by the slime woman. A bird with scales instead of feathers, four unique wings, and a snake tail for legs tried to attack me from above. My stinger arms impaled it instantly. I only received a hundred shards and no stat points.

Killa consumed that creature too. I wasn’t about to eat the mutated meat. Each creature we encountered was more disturbing than the last. It was becoming impossible to ignore that these were not natural mutations. Someone had been playing god on this island.

The trail we were following led us to a clearing. At its center stood a building that looked like a white metal dome. It didn’t seem to be very large, and appeared to be mostly underground. It reminded me of an oversized, upside-down bowl. There was a ramp leading down into the side of the structure.

Killa and I exchanged glances before we turned to Shadara and I said, “So, what’s the plan?”

Shadara pointed at the ramp. “We go in and find whoever’s doing this.”

We approached the ramp slowly. Shadara and I had our weapons drawn, and I knew Killa was ready to use her magic. There was a door at the end of the ramp. The door creaked open with a gentle push from Shadara, revealing a dark interior. As we stepped inside, the smell of antiseptics and decay hit me, making me gag.

Shadara wrapped her arm with a small, glowing tentacle, casting light around the room. The interior was a chaotic mix of scientific equipment and animal cages. Strange instruments lay scattered on a table, some stained with what looked like blood.

My stomach churned at the sight. This is a horror house.

One cage held a strange creature that looked like a cross between a lizard and a bear. It woke up and growled at us, baring its sharp teeth.

Just then, we heard a noise from deeper within the room. Footsteps—slow and deliberate. We turned towards the sound, weapons ready, as a shadowy figure emerged from another door.

The man was tall and thin with gray hair, and he wore a white coat that hung loosely over his hunched frame. His eyes were wide and wild, and his face was gaunt.

“Well, well,” a voice said, dripping with a mix of curiosity and madness. “It looks like I have visitors.”