Chapter 3: 003

Hours passed by like an arrow as Henry searched for a place to rest his weary body and to gather his thoughts. He had half a mind to just huddle underneath a tree and call it a day. His mind was immediately changed when he saw webs covering a portion of the ground underneath a few trees. He decided to keep looking. The scenery was getting more and more bizarre as he roamed further around the forest. This was not the world he knew. This was not earth. That much was evident. At a glance, everything looked familiar but if he gave a closer look, the similarity ended on the surface. He saw flowers that resembled rose but it was blue and without thorns around the stem. He saw morning glories but they were huge and they wrapped around tree trunks. He saw tulips as green as leaves and it oozed off a fragrant sweet smell. It tempted him to get a taste but the cry of his inner voice made him shirk away from the tulips. They were poisonous, that was what his instincts told him. There were orchids as colourful as a rainbow but they were even more dangerous than the green tulips. He saw a bug landing on a petal of an orchid. In an instant, the orchid curled up, trapping the bug with its petals. He even heard a crunch sound as the bug was crushed.

Nothing in this forest spelt safe. Strangely enough, he didn’t see a whole lot of animals or creatures. He saw apes armoured in rocks swing from trees to trees. He saw a brown panther with green stripes sleeping on a branch. He saw a nest of webs between trees in the far distance. He caught a glimpse of a spider a size larger than him crawling among the webs. He was sure there was a lot more out there but hiding out of sight. 

The trees began to part in front of her, leading her to another glade but this one wasn’t generous with the sun. The surrounding trees had a queer growth, causing them to veer towards the clearing as they grew, forming a shade for the glade with the branches and leaves. A cave stood brazenly and ominously at the far end. As Henry neared the cave, he discovered the cave was wide enough to accommodate his size a dozen times over. A wave of stench hit him as a gust blew. Fear instantly got ahold of him and terror sent shivers down his spine. The pungent smell alone caused him to freeze up. He had never been terrified by smell alone even if the smell was extremely foul. At most, he would twist his face. However, the foul smell instilled fear right into his bones. Then he remembered something about animals; they marked their territory with their urine.

Is this how those animals feel when they smell the urine of larger animals?

Another question went unanswered. He strained his ears to catch any noise that might drift out from the cave. His hearing was sharp, extremely so. He had come to realise that fact. He often heard things that sounded close but when he turned, he would find it was coming from half a mile away. After some time, he heard nothing but the whimpering of the breeze. Still, terror was wrapped around him. He braced his screaming nerves and took a single step into the cave regardless. A dreadful cold shrouded him at a single step but he persisted. There was only urine and perhaps some faeces inside the cave, much better than the danger that awaited him outside. His fear was illogical and instinctual, he convinced himself as he struggled to take another step into the cave.

All of a sudden, his limbs left the ground and he felt weightless for a moment but when he started to fall, he realised he had just been grabbed and tossed. He whipped his tail and planted his limbs on the ground as he landed. A face of amazement spread across his face. He wasn’t surprised that he succeeded in preventing himself from tumbling. He was surprised that he knew what to do, almost as if it was instinctual.

It has its merits, I suppose.

A growl drew his attention from himself. He gazed ahead, landing his sight on a quadrupedal furred creature. His impression of the creature was of a Tasmanian Devil but the Tasmanian Devil he knew didn’t have wings for its forelimbs like that of a bat’s. The Flying Devil, as Henry dubbed it in his head, was slightly bigger than him but otherwise, it wasn’t that imposing. If there was anything he had to worry about was its strength. It had managed to toss him into the air. He glanced at his left hind limb. There was a bite mark but no wound. The Flying Devil was strong but its teeth weren’t sharp enough to pierce through his scales despite its strength, Henry surmised.

Is this cave the Flying Devil’s abode?

No, Henry gathered. The Flying Devil was wary of its rear as if it was afraid that something would attack it from behind. It did not live here. Either it was just a coincidence that it just stumbled upon Henry or it had been lying in wait for prey. Whichever the case, it mattered not to Henry. Like the centipede, the inner voice did not allow him to run, not that he would. After his victory over the centipede, he gained some confidence. Moreover, the Flying Devil would not taste as terrible as the centipede anyway, or so he hoped. Though he felt confident, he knew nothing about the enemy before him. It was piercing him with its gaze. He wanted to take a step back but if he did, he knew it would make him look weak and make his enemy confident. He couldn’t have that. And so, Henry took a step forward and growled. 

The Flying Devil flinched slightly but it recomposed itself and growled back. It spread its wings and took flight into the air. It circled the clearing for a few rounds before diving straight down at Henry. He poured strength into his limbs and pushed himself out of the way as the Flying Devil swooped in. It immediately soared back into the air when it missed. 

Damn it! How can I beat this flying fuck?

Henry tried breathing fire but all that came out was a puff of smoke. Disappointment crossed his face. The staple feature of a Dragon was not one of his. As he mulled in his dismay, a tinge of hope appeared amidst his disappointment. He had felt a touch of heat in his throat.

Smoke came out. This means that it’s possible for me to breathe fire but this body is still too young to be capable of it.

That was Henry’s conclusion and his optimism. The Flying Devil dove back down after a few rounds around the clearing. This time, it stopped right before a certain height and bared its hind limbs. Henry spun away from its talons as they dug into the ground. Just as it was about to fly back into the air, an idea struck Henry. He spun his body again and slammed his tail into the Flying Devil. He missed its body but he knew he hit a part of the Flying Devil as he saw his bloodied tail. The Flying Devil shrieked in pain as it ascended into the air. Its hind limbs were a mess. It snarled furiously at Henry but fear was evident in its eyes. It was now acknowledging Henry as a proper foe instead of simple prey. Henry flashed the Flying Devil a grin as a taunt. If these two creatures were anything to go by, the creatures were mindless and only adhered to its instincts. They had ferocity but not much intelligence to compliment it.

Seemingly provoked by Henry’s grin, the Flying Devil retracted its wings and allowed the gravity to do the steering. Henry lowered his stance and prepared to whip its tail. The Flying Devil spread its wings just before it went into Henry’s range and he fell for it. His tail whipped the empty air. The Flying Devil smirked and plunged right then. It jabbed its claws at Henry. However, the Flying Devil’s claws bounced right off his scales. Shock appeared on the two’s faces but one was delighted and the other was distressed. The Flying Devil spread its wings in a hurry but Henry had grabbed its mangled hind legs.

Thank god for opposable thumbs!

Though he had successfully caught the Flying Devil, he couldn’t exactly pull it down. It wasn’t as weak as the centipede. The Flying Devil beat its wings harshly to struggle itself out of Henry’s grip but he only tightened his grasp harder and harder. It was a battle of endurance. The wounds on his back throbbed with pain but he refused to let the Devil go. He would be in for a whole lot more pain if he let go. Eventually, Henry won in the endurance as the Flying Devil ran out of juice to keep its wings flapping. It retracted its wings and lunged at Henry with its remaining forelimbs that were his wings and its fangs. Henry expected this and countered with an uppercut. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of the Flying Devil’s dumbfounded expression just before he socked it from below its chin. It knew nothing about an uppercut, a human’s way of fighting. For the finishing blow, Henry thrust forward and sank his fangs into the Flying Devil’s throat. Its blood oozed right into his mouth. Unlike the centipede, the blood was warm and it didn’t taste as foul as the centipede’s blood. In fact, it wasn’t too terrible at all. It was a little smelly but nothing he couldn’t ignore with his willpower. The Flying Devil was still flailing about even with his fangs sank deep into its throat. Henry finished it off by tearing its throat off. Only then the Flying Devil went limp and motionless.

This exchange paved a path to a piece of information for Henry. Dragons were either rare or he was the only Dragon in existence if this was a story with him as the protagonist. He came to such conclusions due to the fact that the centipede and the Flying Devil seemed to have no idea what he was capable of. There was also the fact that he wasn’t attacked by every living being that was probably watching over him presently from somewhere. He was an anomaly and they did not know what he was capable of. If he was in their position, he would adopt the same strategy. Let the others prode him and then decide whether he was worth attacking.

Another foe down. A smile spread across Henry’s lip at the triumphant feeling. As natural as it felt, he threw his head up and roared into the skies. His roar was deafeningly loud to his ears but he wondered how loud it was to others. The roar widened his smile. It felt good to do that. It was akin to cheering one’s own success with a shout. When he had settled down, he slowly made his way to the cave. His smile faded when the adrenaline died down and the pain returned. He was then reminded how wounded he was. The centipede’s sickle claw must have been incredibly sharp considering even a physically stronger and a tad larger creature wasn’t able to wound him with its claws.

Relief was just creeping up on him when another sound raised his caution yet again. He heard leaves rustling and twigs snapping, and then a faint cry. It wasn’t the screech of a bug or a growl of some rat-wolf hybrid. It was a squeal. It sounded gentle but he doubted its temperament was as gentle as it sounded. As if to prove him right, the owner of the sound revealed itself from the bushes just at the border of the glade. 

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A rabbit?

Henry muttered in his heart. It was indeed a rabbit but it was big. It was thrice his size. The rabbit had grey fur and bore a pair of tusks that appeared to be its buck teeth. Its eyes were huge and wide, comprising a quarter of its head. It had long and sharp claws on all of its four paws. The claws were bigger than his and the Flying Devil’s, around a third of the centipede’s sickle claw.

I am not its match.

That assessment came instantly to Henry. For the first time, his inner voice was telling him to run. But where? He asked the voice but no answer came. He clicked his tongue in frustration, producing a sound sharper and louder than he desired. The vicious-looking rabbit seemed to take that as a sign of intimidation. The rabbit snarled and hopped with its overgrown hind legs. In just a single leap, it covered a few metres of distance. When it landed, its feet sunk slightly into the ground. Henry jutted his eyes out at that sight. The rabbit didn’t look strong but looks were often deceiving. On top of that, the rabbit was exuding a suffocating aura with its presence alone. He wanted to run but where would he run to?

The cave…

He came to that idea. Although the rabbit exuded a dreadful aura, it was less severe than the feeling he gotten from the cave. It was a gamble but it was his only option. He bit down his fear and turned his back to the rabbit, breaking off into a dash towards the cave. He paid extreme attention to his limbs as he ran in order to not trip. Running was easier than walking. It felt as if the air was helping him staying upright. 

The rabbit hopped again. It wasn’t in Henry’s sight but he could hear it hopping. He could even felt it hopping as the ground would shake faintly. He didn’t glance back and kept running for the cave. The rabbit landed right next to him before he knew it. Fight or flight? Henry asked the voice but the rabbit answered with its tusks. Henry decided on flight. He leapt forward and avoided the rabbit’s tusks that dug into the ground. It pulled its tusks out without difficulty and lunged again. Henry wiggled his posterior, in hopes of striking the rabbit with his tail. And he did, but the result was the opposite of desirable. The tail whip was weak and it was equivalent to a light slap, which only angered the rabbit.

Stupid! Stupid!

Henry admonished himself but he didn’t stop running. The rabbit watched him run, without a hint of haste in its glare. The rabbit took its time lowering its stance before straightening its hind legs in a snap, flunging itself into the air. The rabbit landed right behind Henry. It stepped on his tail, causing Henry to shriek and fell forward. The rabbit bared its tusk, ready to sink them into Henry’s body. 

I will not die here!

Henry screamed in his heart. He returned the rabbit’s hateful glare as if to tell it to not underestimate him. He scooped a handful of sand with his forelimb and flung it at the rabbit. The trick caught the rabbit off guard and it stumbled back as it tried to rub the sand off its eyes. Henry resumed running after the rabbit’s feet was lifted off his tail. He didn’t check how badly his tail was hurt. That could be saved for later.

Saved!

Henry tossed himself into the cave at the last few steps and he felt the ground behind him explode. He turned around to look, finding the rabbit had dove right into where he had just been. The rabbit glared furiously at Henry. It looked like it would lunge at him at any second but it didn’t. Henry’s gamble paid off. It didn’t enter the cave. It was afraid. Henry was afraid too but his fear of dying at the rabbit’s tusks overrode his fear of entering the cave. It was only possible because he still had a trace of his humanity within him, allowing him to defy his primal instincts. 

The rabbit lingered around the entrance of the cave. It could not enter but it wasn’t about to let Henry go either. It had only looked at Henry as food but after getting slapped by his tail and thrown sand into its eyes, it was no seeing Henry as its archenemy. Its rage was so great that it tried to take a single step into the cave but its primal instinct prevailed and held it back.

Seeing the rabbit was struggling vainly to enter, relief washed over Henry once again and he slumped to the ground. His exhaustion had caught up to him. He didn’t know exactly how much time had passed but he deemed it to be enough for a day. He looked at himself once more. He peered at his fore limbs. It was still hard to believe that he was now a Dragon but without a doubt, he was a Dragon now. Everything he felt so far was too real to be chalked up to this whole ordeal being a lucid dream. More than his current identity, he was more troubled by his past identity. How could he not remember who he was?

Henry wasn’t a stranger to the concept of reincarnation. Putting aside fantasy novels, there were some religious beliefs he could remember, pertaining to people reincarnating into certain animals depending on their feats and deeds when they were still alive. As he was now a Dragon, was this supposed to be a reward or a punishment? Depending on the answer, he knew his future outcome would be vastly different to one another. His head began to hurt as he tried inserting logic and reasoning into the cause of his current happenstance. 

After some mulling, he decided to just put the questions off for now. There was no use thinking of such questions. There was no use to those questions as of now. Besides, he had more pressing matters to be concerned about at present. He had found himself a place to rest for now but how long could he stay before the owner returned? Also, there’s the matter of food to be worried about. He doesn’t even know what he could or should eat. Ideally, he wished to be an omnivore but somehow, he doubted reality would be so convenient. Dragons were often portrayed as carnivores in the fiction pieces he had read. He didn’t know if it was his disposition as a former human or if it was simply a Dragon’s palate, he didn’t find any of the “meat” he encountered so far as delectable, appetizing, or edible.

Henry recalled the taste of the Flying Devil. It wasn’t as foul as the centipede’s but he wouldn’t call it appetizing either. It was just neutral on his taste buds. Perhaps all would change once he was hungry, he thought. He wasn’t hungry yet but he knew he would be hungry soon, once his mind got used to his current circumstances and his body fully relaxed. What he wanted now was to close his eyes and dispelled all the fatigue and exhaustion he had accumulated from all his ordeals. He held on to the faint hope that when he opened his eyes, everything would be back to normal.

The rabbit was still pacing restlessly outside of the cave. There was the possibility that the owner of the cave would return while he slept. However, he was too tired to care about any of those. Everything would be alright, he thought as such when he closed his eyes. In no time at all, he was deep asleep.

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