Hours had passed since Jed last saw the monstrous lizard vanish into the dunes. His body ached from exhaustion, and now another primal need clawed at him — thirst.
The barren land stretched endlessly with no food, no water, no life… only sand and stone. With cracked lips and a dry throat, Jed forced himself to keep walking. Minutes turned into hours. His legs grew numb, his vision blurred. Just as hopelessness began to sink in—
He saw them.
Giant trees stood like titans in the distance — not just trees, but a forest.
"If there's a forest… there has to be water," he whispered hoarsely, eyes gleaming with desperation.
Despite the weight of fatigue, he trudged forward, conserving his breath. When he finally reached the edge, the air shifted — cooler, damper, alive. He spotted a glimmer between the thick trunks — a clear pond, calm and inviting.
He rushed toward it, dropped to his knees, and drank greedily. The cool liquid flooded his senses — the relief, almost euphoric.
But his instincts returned quickly.
This pond… it's too clean. Too perfect. Am I alone?
He scanned the forest. The silence was unnatural. And as he took one final drink and stepped back, a rustling caught his ear — a bush trembled a few meters away.
Something was hiding.
Jed, still starving, calculated quickly: If it's small enough to hide, maybe I can kill it. Eat. Survive.
Weapon in hand — a sharpened fang from the giant worm — he crouched low and crept closer.
But then… a shadow.
Leaves dropped above his head.
He looked up. His heart skipped.
A crimson monkey clung to the branches, its eyes locked on Jed, and a faint red glow pulsed from a crystal embedded in its chest.
Jed didn't move. Neither did the monkey.
Then—it leapt.
Simultaneously, something latched onto his leg from the bush below — another monkey. He was outnumbered.
Pulled onto his stomach, he gasped as the airborne monkey landed a crushing fist to his back. Pain ripped through him.
But adrenaline surged.
Jed twisted violently, stabbing upward — the fang pierced the first monkey's eye. It screeched and staggered back.
He kicked at the second one still gripping his leg, broke free, and sprang up. With a roar, he tackled it. Teeth flashed — it tried to bite his face — but Jed drove the fang repeatedly into its gut.
Blood spilled.
The first monkey, half-blind and disoriented, tried to flee.
Jed didn't chase.
His hands trembled. His body ached. He was starving… again. With no hesitation, he began to carve meat from the fallen monkey.
The taste was bitter, but survivable.
Then something caught his eye — the crystal.
Still embedded in the monkey's chest, it pulsed like a heartbeat. A whisper entered Jed's mind — foreign, strange, but clear:
"Consume it."
Cautious… but desperate, he obeyed.
He swallowed it whole.
A moment passed.
And then—warmth.
The pain in his back faded. The aching muscles relaxed. The dizziness vanished.
Jed stood taller, breath steady.
"I can survive here."
And for the first time since arriving in this world… Jed believed it.