I woke up to sunlight warming my tail, apparently, it had slipped out of my makeshift shelter during the night.
I'd survived.
Honestly, I'd been half-convinced something was going to eat me in my sleep. But thankfully I was still alive and uneaten. Maybe I got lucky… or maybe that wolf from yesterday was an anomaly.
The grass sparkled with morning dew, and for a moment the forest didn't look so bad. I thought, "maybe there was a chance this place wasn't as dangerous as I'd imagined."
Then I realized, I already felt hungry again.
I remembered the wolf meat from yesterday. It had tasted surprisingly decent, so I was actually looking forward to eating more. As I made my way toward where I left the body, I noticed my arm.
It had almost completely healed.
"Nice!" I thought. "Dragons must heal really fast."
Even though I was still in a pretty bad situation, I was starting to feel… a little positive.
That is… until I saw the carcass from the wolf.
Or what was left of it.
A swarm of at least ten rats were tearing into the dead wolf. Blood sprayed as their sharp little teeth ripped flesh apart. I froze, horrified. These weren't normal rats. Each one was the size of a house cat, maybe a foot tall, with coarse fur and twitching, jerky movements.
Their eyes were black and blank. Soulless.
My heart quivered at the thought that I might've been on their menu if fresh wolf meat wasn't available.
Any idea that this forest wasn't such a bad place was instantly dashed away.
I took an uneasy step back.
I thought, "Maybe I can just quietly leave…"
But it was too late, one of the rats stopped chewing and turned to look at me. Its face was soaked in blood, its little jaws twitching. It stared at me for a second.
Then it let out a screech that chilled my bones.
The rest of the pack turned toward me. Despite their size, I was still much bigger than them; but could I take on ten at once? I wasn't so sure.
I took another step back, hoping they'd just go back to eating and let me slip away unnoticed.
But almost as if they were one creature with one mind, they all started moving in my direction.
I was about to turn and bolt, but before I could, one of them jumped at me.
Its mouth opened, revealing teeth that seemed way too large to fit in its mouth. With no time to think, I raised my claw and slapped the vermin away.
These creatures were nothing like rats from my world. They didn't seem afraid or even cautious. It was like they existed only to eat and kill.
I wasn't getting out of this without a fight.
But charging into all ten would be suicide. I had to pick them off, one at a time.
I took a few quick steps back, and they kept pace, closing the distance fast.
"Ok," thought, "let's see if they're as predictable as I think."
I stepped forward just a little, and just like before, one of them lunged at my again. I was ready this time.
"Yes!" I thought as my prediction came true.
I braced myself, stiffened my arm, and stabbed my claw straight through it while it was midair.
The rat let out a sharp squeal, then went limp. I threw it off my claw and glanced at the rest.
One down. Nine to go.
Then two more leapt toward me.
I dodged one, but the other clamped down on my arm. Its teeth sank in deep, sending another burst of pain through me.
The wound wasn't very deep, but its sharp teeth hurt like crazy. I slammed it against a nearby tree, killing it, and shook it off.
That made two down.
For the first time, the rest of the rats hesitated. They didn't attack immediately like before. It seemed they'd realized doing the same thing over and over wasn't working.
That meant I had a chance to split them up.
I glanced around and spotted a stick lying nearby, it was long, not very thick, but it should work for what I had planned.
I grabbed it and quickly flung it right into the middle of their group.
They all scattered in different directions, jumping back instinctively.
Now it was my turn to go on the attack.
I rushed toward three of the rats that had split off together.
They wouldn't fall for the same trick twice, so I couldn't afford to just take out one of them.
While they were still disoriented, I stabbed the nearest rat. It let out a short shriek before collapsing.
The other two spun around to face me, I moved before they had a chance to react.
I slashed with my other claw, cutting into one's side. Then I twisted my body, letting my momentum carry me into a full spin.
My tail whistled through the air and smashed into the last rat, flinging it into a tree with a dull thud, killing it.
Five down. Five to go.
The remaining rats had huddled together; their eyes locked on me.
I could tell they were getting smarter, or at least more cautious.
I considered attacking them all at once, now that their numbers were halved… but it still felt too dangerous.
Then another idea came to my mind.
I slowly shifted my weight to the right, then spun hard to the left, dragging my tail along the dry forest floor.
A huge cloud of dust was created, engulfing everything in a wide circle.
I couldn't see the rats, but I remembered exactly where they were standing.
I dashed forward; claws raised and plunged them straight into the dust.
I felt my claws sink into two bodies at once. They squirmed, but only for a second before going still.
That left three, and they didn't wait.
All three rats launched towards me at once.
I barely had time to react.
One latched onto my side, biting down hard. Another clamped onto my leg, they did everything they could to inflict as much pain and damage as possible. It was excruciating but not debilitating.
The third rat thankfully missed me and landed just in front.
I roared in pain, but I didn't stop moving.
I lifted my right leg and stomped down on the rat in front of me, crushing it instantly.
And just as I did, that strange energy surged through my body again, the same one I felt after killing the wolf.
But I remained fully focused on the fight in front of me.
I grabbed the rat on my side and tore it off, ignoring the sting as it ripped a few of my scales loose; that were stuck in its devilish teeth. With a growl, I slammed it into the last rat, the one still clinging to my leg.
Their bodies collided with a sickening crack, they both dropped to the ground, dead.
The fight was finally over.
I was left with a sick feeling in my stomach. This fight had been far more violent and bloody than the last. I was covered in blood and just wanted to wash it off.
But first, I checked on the wolf carcass.
The rats had completely devoured it. All that remained were a few mangled organs. Despite technically being a "wild dragon" now, the idea of eating brains, guts, or anything besides meat still made my stomach churn.
Thankfully, there was still some meat left... just not on the wolf.
The thought of eating those rats was disgusting, but it couldn't possibly taste worse than they looked. And it's not like I had any better options.
So, I grabbed a couple of the less mangled ones and made my way back to the fire pit I'd used the night before.
As I walked, I realized two things.
First, the wounds from the rats, even though they were shallow, hurt way more than the wolf bite had. These things were clearly made to cause pain. The thought of being eaten alive by them was terrifying.
Second, I'd grown a little taller again. I remembered that strange sensation kicking in after killing the eighth one. Maybe because they were so small, I had to defeat more of them to get stronger? I'm not sure, but that's my theory for now.
When I got back to the fire pit, the sun was still low in the sky. That was good. I had a plan for after lunch, but it was going to take time.
However, before doing anything I went to wash off at the stream.
While doing so, I thought about the past fight. I'd surprised myself quite a bit. The way I moved, how I reacted, it almost felt like second nature.
It was different from when I fought the wolf. Back then, it had been a one-on-one fight for my life, and I'd felt shaken afterwards, and rattled by the fear, the pain, the fact I'd nearly died.
But fighting the rats?
In all honesty… I was pretty ruthless.
Even if they didn't give me a choice, and on top of that I really didn't feel anything after this fight.
I looked down at my claws. There was blood between them again.
And aside from the fact it came from those gross rats, I wasn't even all that bothered by it.
Was I becoming more dragon-like?
The thought unsettled me a little. Or maybe this was just how anyone would react when constantly thrown into life-or-death situations.
Either way… I didn't have an answer.
After washing myself off-then doing it again (and a third time, just to be safe)-I was finally clean. Then I got to work preparing the rats.
They were harder to prepare because they were much smaller than the wolf and had to be gutted, but I got the hang of it.
And soon, they were sizzling over the fire.
When the food was done, I hesitated. Sigh.
I really need to find something normal to eat soon.
Then I took a small bite.
It tasted... weird. Nothing like what I was used to.
Still, I forced myself to eat and tried to be grateful.
After all, if things had gone just a little differently, I might've been their lunch instead.
Once I finished, it was time to test out my idea.
Seeing those rats this morning had completely convinced me of one thing: I couldn't sleep on the forest floor anymore. Most dragons in stories lived in caves, but I had a different idea.
It was so obvious.
Where could I be safe from other monsters?
Where could I get a good view of my surroundings?
Where could I see the stars better? (Which, so far, were one of the only good things about this world.)
The answer was simple! Even if it was perhaps a bit ridiculous.
A treehouse!
I know. A dragon living in a treehouse sounds insane. But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. And honestly? I kind of liked the idea.
I had the whole afternoon to get it done. I didn't think I'd be able to build anything fancy, but if I could just make a floor to sleep on, I'd be more than happy.
The tree I'd slept under last night would work perfectly. It was one of the tallest in the area for sure.
That said, none of this was going to be easy. I'd have to carry big sticks up the tree and figure out a way to secure them. I had a plan for that once I got up there, but the literal heavy lifting would be getting everything up there first.
I decided to test my strength.
I grabbed a stick that wasn't too thick but was around six feet long. I held it in one hand. My claws had great grip, but climbing was awkward without the use of my other hand.
Still, I managed.
Once I reached the top, I saw just how good the view really was.
The forest wasn't too thick, so I could see a lot of the ground for a fair distance, and to my joy, I didn't see a single gruesome monster while I was up there!
I started flattening out the top and snapped a few branches to make space for the floor. It wasn't much, but it was mine.
While trying to break one particularly thick branch, it slipped from my claws and smacked me right in the face.
I nearly fell out of the tree, but I managed to grab another branch just in time.
After that scare, I climbed back down. Now that I knew this was doable, I needed some rope.
I remembered a trick from one of those nature survival shows: if you scrape the inner bark of certain trees, it makes a decent rope substitute.
I spent the next hour going from tree to tree, using my claws to cut into the bark and peel it away. Once I had enough, I bundled it up and slung it over my shoulder, then carried it back to the top of the tree.
Now came the hard work again.
This time, I tried carrying the big sticks in my mouth while climbing. It was way easier, but it felt weird using my mouth as a tool.
I guess for a dragon, this would be normal. (Well… maybe the carrying part. Definitely not the treehouse-building part.)
But by the twentieth trip up and down, I'd stopped thinking about it.
Once I had all the sticks I needed, I started wedging them into place between the tree limbs, making the structure as stable as I could. I tied up the loose areas with the bark rope.
The floor ended up about twice as long as I was. Perfect.
I could sleep comfortably here without worrying about getting eaten. I could also store food and anything else I might come across.
I cut a hole in the middle for climbing up and down, then brought up some leaves to make a bed. It was rough and messy, but it would work.
The day had flown by.
Suddenly, I remembered the dead rats I'd left behind. I hurried back, hoping something else hadn't eaten them and repeated this morning's nightmare.
Thankfully, they were untouched.
I brought them up into the tree and placed them in the farthest corner from where I'd be sleeping. They smelled awful, but it was better than losing my only food.
I'd definitely need a better way to store things.
The sun was setting now.
I looked back on everything I'd done today; I'd fought for my life again, and been injured in the process, but I kept going. And I'd actually managed to create a safe place to rest for the night.
After what I pulled off today, I made a decision.
I'm still confused about what I'm doing in this world, and how I got here… but I won't give up, no matter how bad things get. As long as I'm still breathing, I'll keep going.
I'd gained a little confidence after surviving my last two fights. Now, I actually believed I could make it in this crazy world...
as long as I wasn't stupid.
The sun dipped fully beneath the horizon, and I lay down in my new bed. It was a huge upgrade from the forest floor.
The stars began to shine above me, brighter than the night before. I stared at them, wondering if there were people in this world, and if they had names for constellations like we did back on Earth.
There were twelve stars clustered together in a shape that kind of looked like the head of one of those demon rats.
Ugh.
I must be going a little crazy if I'm seeing rats in the stars now. Maybe the smell of the rat meat is getting to me.
Yeah… I'm definitely going to have to deal with that tomorrow.