The sensation of weightlessness woke me. Opening my eyes, darkness greeted me. I was confused and disoriented. All I had was a strange sensation, like a cold void, depriving me of all my senses. It made me want to squirm in discomfort, like a viscous oily liquid that stood still without a single ripple. Was this hell? I wondered before a wave of relief washed over me. My worst fear never came true. I was so glad I didn’t meet the whore in this strange afterlife.

Something bumped into me. It was oily but had a human shape. I tried to gulp but couldn’t even do that. That was when I realized I wasn’t even breathing, like a corpse flowing downstream in a river.

I couldn’t see, but could feel a chilling presence in front of me.

Third Person POV

A pitch black river filled with floating souls streamed slowly in the direction of a seemingly endless darkness. A shadow appeared above it, drawn in by a shredded soul. Its ghost like shape lowered down until it was nose to nose with the damaged one. It said nothing as it inspected closely and reached into its chest. The intangible hand made a vile sound entering the soul’s core. It was uncertain what it was or what it was doing until it withdrew and lifted the soul out like a helpless kitten. Its white eyes glowed brightly as an equally bright, unnatural grin spread across its head, a menacing giggle broke the silence. The white light poured out if its featureless face.

“Finally. A perfect vessel for my commandments…” the voice was haunting and beautiful, almost feminine yet more neutral than anything else, indistinguishable. It had a powerful presence to it as it spoke.

"Little human, you are dead, you know this. I will give you a life, a new one, one that will fit this” it gestured at the soul’s shredded appearance, “lovely soul of yours perfectly.” The soul remained as still as ever, unable to do anything.

“We, as the Damned, need vessels to carry our commandments and you already bear mine. A true embodiment of suffering, anger and envy. Never forget who you are, the bane of humanity, for we are everywhere.”

The grin on the creature’s face seemed to become more distinct, revealing a feminine face marred by disturbing features. The pure white eyes and mouth filled with needle-like sharp teeth gleamed as the monstrosity glared at the soul with glee. A long, black tongue slithered over the souls face, “Lovely…” it hissed.

“So much hate. I love it. Don’t worry, I’ll give you a body worthy of your role… Be reborn, destroy and devour, as is your nature, so that the Virtuous may fall.” it mumbled in madness. A clawed finger touched the soul’s forehead, making it glow and vanish into the darkness. The thing snickered before disappearing just as it had appeared.

* * *

He felt confined, sealed even. He could move around slightly, but it was tight. It was round and full of liquid, an egg. He could breathe now, so he supposed whatever happened in that dark place actually wasn’t a weird dream. That thing, whatever it was, left him with a feeling of deep familiarity and dread.

Replaying the events that occurred in his head, he couldn’t help but feel at wits end. Instead he looked at what he knew for certain. First, he died and was brought back to life with his memories intact. Second, he returned with more than just his memories. There was information in his mind that shouldn’t be there. Like a whole new language for instance, and not just one, but three. Draconic, infernal and common language were their names. He almost went ballistic as he reviewed the complicated languages he thought he couldn’t even pronounce. Feeling stifled, he continued to review the new information. A new world!

He had an extra appendage and he knew he wasn’t human anymore. His name was different. It was like someone etched it onto his very soul – Atkozott. The thing that disturbed him most though, was the presence of pride and strength, which had been tossed away long ago. He couldn’t understand how it was possible to change like that, to get something like that back. It was a change to his basic instincts and nature. What did that thing do to him? Sudden surge of memories almost knocked him out. It was like a floodgate opening.

All those memories he locked into the deepest, darkest hole made his head feel like exploding. The emotions accompanying them made him want to go back to being dead. Rage, sadness, hate, envy, fear, malice and, worst off all, desire. His world broke over and over again as his shattered soul was slowly patched up to fit the new creature, twisting his very essence in order to fix what never should have been whole in the first place. In that moment, he hated humanity far more than he ever hated himself. In fact, he finally understood who he was.

The influx of pent up memories and emotions built up as he felt a hiss well up in his throat. He tried hitting the firm walls in fury, but it was too cramped. He felt weak. He hated it. The exhaustion overwhelmed him as his consciousness slowly drifted away into the nightmares of his past. 

* * *

He awoke again, tired and stressed. He had no notion of time, but at the very least, his cage was warm and comfortable. The process of assimilation had finished, leaving him with a clear head. He felt bumps and had the sensation of moving. It made him feel nauseated. He tried to move around, but that didn’t work out as he had hoped it would. He started rolling around, much to his dismay. After hitting something hard, he saw stars as the dizziness hit him. He gave up on moving for now and heard sounds, but it was like being submerged under water.

"Heh. The Quallas will soon hatch since they are so lively. The huge one’s gon give us some extra gold. Got any idea what it is, bro?” 

"Yeah, yeah... don't get yer hopes up. Even the appraiser had no clue what it was. Remember, as far as we’re concerned, it’s a big, strong Qualla. The paint should be ‘nuff to fool sum villagers in Fort Town." 

"Bah! I don't give a damn 'bout what's inside! But that don’t look like no bird egg, bro. Our people wouldn’t fall for it. Them beastfolk will take the bite. The degenerate furries. Ya think it’s true they fuck animals?”

The other guy just sighed and kept quiet. The word beastfolk caught Atkozott’s attention and something seemed to click inside his head. Right, he himself wasn’t human, but he had a humanoid body. There were probably far more species in this world, the knowledge he had gained confirmed it. Beastfolk, elves, dwarves, gnomes... there really were too many to count. He understood the most populations consisted of humans, beastfolk and elves, however he had no idea to which degree.

At this point, he just felt stressed out. A spark of anger pitched inside at the fact he was being sold like property. That pride surged and his instincts howled injustice, giving him bloodthirsty thoughts. He couldn’t do anything about it and simply ended up exhausting himself until he fell into slumber again.

* * *

Loud shouting woke him up from his nap. Thankfully, he was no longer in motion and felt refreshed until the shouting began hurting his ears. Annoyed, he tapped the surface of the egg and realized he felt stronger and bigger.

"Why the hell did you buy this?!" a man shouted in anger. 

‘Oh, the joy...’ he thought since he knew the two bros had found their sucker.

"I'm sorry Seth. They told me it was a variant Qualla egg, stronger than the average one so I thought you'd be happy." a woman complained defensively. 

A heavy sigh came from the guy, Seth apparently. 

"Anya... damn... I knew you were a klutz, but couldn’t you recognize the smell of dry paint or the fact that the surface isn’t even remotely smooth? For one, it's freaking huge! I’m pretty sure it’s a reptile egg.” He was getting more annoyed by the second.

Atkozott could sense them beyond his shell. The man was giving him a bad feeling, making him feel threatened. He didn’t like that. Not one bit. The aggression and anxiety were pouring of that Seth person. The urge to kill to survive awoke. He wanted to get out and leave, still indecisive about randomly murdering the two beastfolk. Could he even do it? Was he an infant? What was he even? Inspecting his knowledge, all he knew was that he was a humanoid creature long extinct in this world.

"H-hey, maybe it's something useful. Aren’t you just a little curious what’s gonna come out?" she spoke with a squeak and seemed to act like a spoiled child.

"No. We are getting rid of it and that’s final.” he said with a dull voice. 

"What?! No way! I bought it with my own money!” she stopped her fit and continued, “And besides… the contract was made already…”

Then there was nothing but silence for a few minutes.

“You what?”

“Contracted it…” she mumbled.

A sudden snarl startled Atkozott slightly, he hadn’t known they could do that. It was about time to join this interesting conversation. He began slamming against his shell. It didn’t take a lot to break it. Gasps of surprise came from the duo, but he ignored them. The cracks spread like cobwebs as he felt the shell budge, making the liquid gush out from the fractures. 

Shoving his head out like a ram, he took his first breath. Then, for the first time since the day he died, opened his eyes, before quickly closing them again. It was so vivid and bright, it actually hurt. Slowly opening his eyes and blinking repeatedly made it easier to adjust, he directed his gaze at the duo. His vision was sharp and accurate, nowhere near comparable to his previous muddled eyes.

Seth was tall and slightly muscular with a young, boyish face and short brown hair. But what really got Atkozott’s attention were the ears sticking out of his head and a shaggy tail sticking out of his ass. His eyes were dark, but he could distinguish his pupils were different than a human's. He reeked of dog or maybe wolf. He wasn’t sure. Wait... taking in a whiff of air, a bunch of foreign scents invaded his nose, making him wince in discomfort as he grabbed his nose. He was definitely in a barn. Shaking his head, he tried again and slowly adjusted to this newfound sense of smell. The wolf man, Seth, was staring at him cautiously with wide eyes, positioning himself in front of the girl. His clothes were fairly simple, a loose cotton tunic with some stains with patched, leather pants and black boots.

Shaking his head from the nearly overwhelming senses, Atkozott turned his attention to the girl. She was a beastfolk like the man, but there was quite a difference. She was short, around 165 cm, while the guy was approximately 175 cm tall. She had a cute face, reddish hair tied in a short ponytail and thin lips. Small, round ears and a hairless tail similar to a mouse fascinated him, but the blue-violet eyes made him realize that this truly was another world. Such an interesting eye color. He almost forgot that his situation was anything but favorable. She wore an auburn dress with brown boots and a black sweater.

All in all, the guy was quite annoying with his wannabe hero attitude and the girl was kind of adorable, until Atkozott remembered their conversation and anger flared. She said he was under contract and he really wanted to know what that meant exactly.

“What the fuck is that…” Seth muttered in a defensive pose while the girl’s jaw dropped.

Atkozott frowned, he hated being the center of attention. He had been antisocial for his entire life and spent it basically invisible to others. The thing he hated most was being stared at. Strange instincts flared as a threatening hiss escaped his lips and he got on all fours and moved back, feeling outnumbered. He could tell how small he was, just around 10 years old maybe, but didn’t dare avert his eyes from what he felt was a threat.

Seth’s POV

I was furious when Anya spent her hard earned money on an egg just because it was large. Her father left her in my care when he died and I sure as hell wasn’t going to let my little sister off the hook until she understood she was in the wrong. She needed to learn how to be more responsible. We were arguing when that thing hatched. The beige eggs artificial paint cracked, revealing a dark green egg bordering black. I had felt the surface earlier and immediately knew it was a reptile egg. It was the size of a small barrel, which should have been a dead giveaway that it WASN’T a damn Qualla egg.

It shook as a small head busted out and took its first breath. It violently exited the egg with soft growls before stumbling and sitting down. It continuously blinked, tears forming at the corners before it wiped them and looked at us.

My breath caught in my throat as I stared into those vividly green eyes. I could recognize it was a male and that it was... a humanoid of some sorts? I have no idea what I’m looking at. The things... or boy’s pupils were constricted into eerie slits, the sclera of his eyes pitch black like the demonic races. His face looked pale and flawless, like a well sculpted doll. The kid’s white hair reached his shoulders, dripping with the fluids while two small black horns curved backward slightly from the top of his head. Another confirmation his origins were demonic in nature. Noting a tail longer than the child’s body, covered in white scales, I sucked in a sharp breath, seeing a dangerous pointed spike at the tip. Patches of white scales covered the little monster’s vital areas. My gaze landed on the kid’s hands.

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Like a weapon that was merged to his body, the vicious claws and odd skin made me slightly push Anya back. Like a set of deadly gauntlets, the strange, chitin-like skin ended at his elbows, protruding slightly. The final straw were the clearly demonic markings on his skin. Only demons were born with that. It represented their clan or bloodline, or something like that, but the demons he knew didn’t have so many of them. It almost reminded him of the tribal tattoos some races made as tradition.

Demons were usually aggressive but liked to keep to themselves. Their fertility was so low, that their populations keep dwindling over the years. Those marks gave him a bad feeling, like something was very wrong with the little monster. He couldn’t make heads or tails of this seemingly 10-year-old... freak.

The boy got on all fours and hissed, baring his obviously sharp teeth, keeping his eyes locked on us. I felt like prey. I hated that feeling since I was a wolfkin. My instincts screamed to protect Anya and attack first. But I recalled she contracted the damned thing. My head snapped in her direction as I whispered, “Knock it out now.” Her eyes flickered, as she pointed her hand at the kid, “Stop right now and don’t move.”

A long, forked tongue flicked out of the boy’s mouth as he hissed again, his expression becoming confused before it beamed with anger. I realized this boy was nothing like us, he was obviously being controlled by the beast inside, his instincts much stronger than that of beastfolk. I could see the boy flinch in pain when he tried to move. He couldn’t disobey orders.

I sighed in relief, thank the Gods that contract is working. Although it was a basic binding, it was still strong enough to control the creatures though pain. The boy made a small sound of distress, his eyes wide in anger before he did something that made me almost rip at my hair. The little freak spoke.

Atkozott’s POV

They were hurting me and I have no idea how. After the woman said those words, warning bells rang in my mind before pain spread from my neck like molten iron though my veins. Glaring in disbelief I basically growled the words, “What the hell are you doing to me?” the foreign language clumsily slipping off my overly long tongue.

To say they looked stunned was an understatement. They were tense and focused on me, I wasn’t sure what to do. I was angry and ready to spill blood, but it hurt to move. The more I glared at the dog the more nervous he felt, “You can talk?!”

“Yes. Now stop hurting me!” I hissed and stood still, glaring daggers at the both of them. That went better than I expected, the pain lessened as I stopped trying to move.

"How can you talk? What are you?" Seth asked doubtfully. What kind of question was that? How was I supposed to know?

"How should I know Fido? I literally just hatched." I say in annoyance as I point at the broken egg shells. 

The dog looked confused, but at least, his killing intent disappeared. I felt the power of the previous order slowly weaken as I rolled my shoulders and stood on shaky legs before instinctively waving my tail to gain balance. It was so perfect, I was surprised. The duo was still staring and I really didn’t know what to say. This kind of socialization was completely foreign to me. I understood I would never be the same and I was glad. I saw my hands and body, felt the fangs in my mouth. I wasn’t a sick, withering man anymore. Feeling the youth and strength, the incredible senses, I couldn’t help but feel slightly high on it. My body felt incredible.

“Let me leave.” I said slowly, still unfamiliar with the new language, common, I believe it was called.

Surprisingly, the mouse girl spoke nervously, “Sorry, uh, kid, but you either stay here were we keep you under control or we, uh, have to, uhmm...” she fidgeted and stared at the dog with begging eyes. He rolled his eyes and sighed, “Or we have to kill you. That’s the law. As far as I can tell you’re a demonic creature of some sort, you’re definitely not a demon though. You are too much of an unknown and, by the common-law, we are not allowed to let you go in case you are a danger to others.”

I felt my pulse rise at the notion of being someone’s property, it didn’t sit right with me at all. Controlling my breathing, I acted unbothered as I crouched down, glaring at them, “Explain better.”

Seth’s eyes narrowed, “Sure... By the common-law all owned monsters, beasts and unknown creatures must be strictly under contract control or put to death. Whether you like it or not, I have deemed you dangerous and therefore it is my civil duty to make sure you don’t escape and endanger others.” he turned slightly to the girl, still keeping his eyes on me, “Anya, we should call the Tamer Association and hand him over to them. I really don’t want to deal with this thing. We could get a lot of money for him.”

She bit her lip and worriedly gazed at me. However, the idea of being passed around like a sack of potatoes and the fact that they were basically telling me I was their slave really pushed me over the edge. I was about to pounce on the stupid dog when Anya raised her hand, “Stop! I don’t want to hurt you but I will if you don’t calm down.”

My rage simmered as images of ripping out Fido’s throat filled my imagination. If this was before, these sadistic tendencies would have been far more curbed, but I felt it somewhat enjoyable. I understood I was in deep shit and needed to be rational. My emotions were one fat clusterfuck though. I almost felt rabid.

Taking a deep breath, I looked away from them and closed my eyes, trying to calm down, ‘Relax. Just calm down. Act reasonable. You are not an animal for fucks sake so stop acting like one!’ he silently ordered himself and a cool sensation came over him. Everything stopped and all that was left was an odd calm. Like a switch was flipped. Now that he could think clearly, he slowly analyzed his situation and what he understood of it. They could control him with strange magic, the pain he felt was unfamiliar in regards to its source, and unlike anything he ever felt. I knew there was magic in this new world thanks to the information I awoke with. What I didn’t know was the extent of it. That wasn’t important at the moment, what I needed was time. I felt like once this body matured a bit, I could probably get around this strange magic and fight it. Maybe I could fool these two? Cohabit with them until I don’t need them anymore? Might work.

Seth and Anya were startled when I suddenly straightened my back and looked at them with cold eyes, “Alright, let’s talk. I’m sure we can come to an agreement.” The calm I was under seemed to affect them as they seemed confused by the sudden change.

Baffled, they looked at one another. Seth shook his head at Anya, but she crossed her arms and made a pose, “What the hell is your problem Seth? He’s obviously not a wild monster, but a sentient being, just like beastfolk or the demons, hell even the gnomes are weirder-looking than him. He walks, talks and breaths. Remember how our people used to be treated? Humanity had the greatest numbers and treated us like animals, the elves were the same, and they still treat us like animals. I say we give this a chance. If I’m wrong, well, there is nothing he can do since we are protected by the contract.”

“But -“

“No. Stop. We have the insurance and, honestly, I am very curious.” she looked at me, “Alright, here’s the deal. You can stay here and help around the place. We’ll give you food and shelter in return and let you live normally just like we do. You hurt someone and we will put you down, do you understand?” she tried sounding firm and imposing, but I caught the quiver in her voice. I kept my face blank but my mind was in fast in action. If it’s going to be like that, then I have no issue just leaving once I don’t need them anymore, even though the dog is threading on thin ice.

“Anya! Take a good look at him! He fucking speaks and he just hatched! This is no child and you know it.”

She looked insecure, but stayed firm, “It doesn’t matter. We don’t know what he is or where he came from. He’s here now, and he’s my responsibility. Not to mention, I hate to think what those insane alchemists would do to him... You know how much I hate those sickos.” she glared at Seth, “You’re the one always telling me to take responsibility so now I am.”

I stayed silent through their argument. I was skeptical and definitely didn’t trust either of them, but my options were few and the other, unfortunately, too far out of my control.

"You are officially my property, BUT, mind you, it is by law. You are bound by a basic contract to me. I can't free you even if I want to, it’s something done by a specialized professional from the Tamer Association. An unknown like you is normally classified as a monster and monsters are only allowed in society under a binding, be it slave, servant, familiar or domestic. Those who aren't one of those are hunted down for sport or under guild orders if they become troublesome. I was obligated to make the contract when I bought the egg and it bound you, putting you under a basic domestic contract. That's why, monster eggs and young beasts easily sell at high prices, because those are the easiest to bind. There are marks on your neck representing the contract. It gives me the authority to detain you if you're troublesome and aggressive. It's better than a slave contract, trust me, slaves are shown no mercy, especially monsters." 

She had a small circle on her hand that looked an ouroboros I noticed while she was selling her pitch. I couldn’t see mine but understood now why the pain spread from my neck. Did she even hear herself speak? These kinds of self-righteous people were the worst. I felt cheated but the cold calm kept the anger at bay easily enough. I looked at her coldly, "So basically the worth of my life is measured in money and my free will almost nonexistent.” 

She opens her mouth to answer, but Seth cuts her off "Since Anya wants to give you a chance, I'll give you one too. But if you cause any trouble for us we will either kill you or sell you, got that? So don’t even think about hurting Anya or I swear I will end you." he growled in threat.

I silently stared at Seth, before cracking a small smile. The more I glared at him the more he seemed affected, slowly losing his bravado. Making me understand very clearly that I could be intimidating. Another useful tool to use.

“You can just call me Atko.” For some reason, giving out my full name to these people rubbed me the wrong way, “I will agree with the gir- Anya’s proposal, but, I would appreciate it if you don’t use that,” I point at her wrist, “To order me around and hurt me. If you need something, ask normally.” Thinking about it, I decided that losing the cold attitude would be more beneficial at this point. The more docile they think I am the less they’ll be on guard. Once that guard drops, I can escape. I’ll play nice for now, see how it goes.

It was quiet for a while. 

"Nice to meet you Atko. You already know our names so I welcome you the Preiss household. I came to live here with Seth when I lost my family. Don’t hold his bad attitude against him.” she had a sad expression as she spoke softly.

She was way too chatty and friendly for his taste, he hated go-lucky people like her. Smiling widely, she continues "I'll get you my old clothes, they should fit you. I doubt you want to run around in your birthday suit."

Only now remembering I was completely naked, I found it strange that my nudity didn't bother me, it was quite liberating in fact. The intense emotions, new urges and the strange body were almost overwhelming as I realized the calm episode had ended and I felt normal again. I understood that the instincts made me almost irrational, while my mind was trying to stay rational. It was disorienting, I need time to adjust. Glancing at the dog, I figured the man was probably going to be a useful training tool for keeping these new instincts in control, after all, if I killed someone, I wanted it to be my choice, not some emotional outburst. Right, the phrase was ‘harness your instincts’.

Anya and Fido, slowly walked out of the barn while the dog kept his eyes on him, “Come on then.” Walking out, I was surprised to see a beautiful meadow with strange, large birds behind a fence. There was a thick forest beyond the fence and a dirt road that led somewhere past it. The house had two stories and reminded me of traditional German houses. The roof was red and its foundations a combination of wood and stone. There was a large garden with vegetables next to the front porch with many strange unfamiliar plants, though some foliage was common with Earth.

They invited me inside the house and offered a towel, as Anya went to fill their bathing basin with water to let me wash up. I put on a pair of brown pants and a gray linen shirt she prepared, before hesitantly looking in the mirror, something I always avoided. My eyes were intimidating, an unnatural color of emerald green, almost toxic. A childish face, yet a far cry from my previous life. Could I actually be considered handsome? My skin glistened with health, somewhere between human and snakeskin.

My attention was snapped away from observing myself to Seth when he cleared his throat, "Here, these should fit you. Oh, and you sleep in the barn for now, I don't trust you." he said as he offered a set of boots. Accepting them, I gave a nod and left the house, thinking of ways to turn this horrible situation somewhat advantageous.