I'm bouncing on the lizard's back, trying to hold on to his head's scales when I feel a ripping sensation within me like I'm being torn apart from the inside out.
A bloodcurdling scream escapes my mouth as I try to grab the lizard's scales tighter, hoping to stop whatever was happening to me. I could feel my skin splitting ferociously, my eyes rolling to the back of my head so fast I'm sure I'm being possessed. The bouncing stopped but I couldn't do anything.
My vision was blurring at the edges, my head stuffed with cotton wool.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
[Defence transformation complete]
[Lynx mode activated]
Lynx? I say in my head , but something feels different. Like I'm in a corridor locked inside my own skull.
My senses are heightened. I can smell the swamp nearby, the croaking frogs suddenly deafening, the scent of stagnant water so sharp it stings. I'm itchy everywhere, like I haven't showered in weeks. Oh my gosh — couldn't I have transformed into a clean lynx?
I look around. The lizard man is staring at me like I've grown a second head. I don't pay attention to it. I can hear the snail man approaching fast — two seconds from catching up to us.
I turn and charge.
My limbs carry me faster than I ever remember moving. I slam straight into the snail man, my snout hitting his slimy mouth fold. I open my mouth wide and tear his tentacles off with a clean bite. My paws keep slipping against the slime being secreted from his body. The scent of copper fills my mouth — I've swallowed a copious amount of blood.
The snail beast thrashes ferociously underneath me. I step back and lunge again, my rage and disgust combining into something dangerous.
I grab his oddly thin legs and sink my fangs in, tearing through flesh and tendon without mercy. My vision is red but I don't care. I'm ripping his lower body to shreds, oblivious to everything around me. The sun is fierce against my face and I can feel a migraine building behind my eyes.
A gunshot.
A sharp prick. Then another. Then another.
My vision swims. My limbs go heavy. My tongue lolls in my mouth.
A delicious sleep wraps around me like a warm blanket on a rainy day.
Hello, Ravine. A soft feminine voice rings in my head.
[I can see you're asleep. You can't stay asleep for much longer or you're going to explode.]
What the fuck!
I jerk awake. My head spins from an intense headache pulsing through my skull — blinding hot pain surging like a blow from above.
[Ravine, I'm Zoe, your system manager. Your second mission is to kill the village chief. That's after you mate, though. I'm only here to let you know this is the perfect opportunity.]
I couldn't see anything as she spoke. My vision swam like ripples in a pool. I blinked and tried to focus, reaching for the ground beneath me — but my hand was frozen in place.
I widen my eyes.
I'm in a metal cage. Sun reflecting off the bars. My hands bound tight with a leafy twine. I try to jerk my hands apart but the twine holds. I try to stand the sun hits my eyes so sharply it feels like I'm going blind.
No one is around. The floor is barren, nothing like the green marshes from before. Thick rows of trees surround me on all sides.
Who the fuck did this. And why the fuck is a Zoe talking to me.
[Hi, you called. I'm talking to you because I'm your system manager. I help you navigate your transmigration journey.]
Ohh.
Ohhh.
Ohh.
Weird noises close in from all around me.
Suddenly a huge baboon swings in front of me, gripping a vine I hadn't seen before. Its misaligned jawline makes it look like it's grinning. Another swings. Then another. I look up baboons everywhere, filling the trees.
Some face away from me entirely, their red hairy backsides on full display like it's a prize. I hear a loud clicking at my cage and see the first baboon directly in front of me now, his long hairy muscled arms extended toward me as if in welcome.
My situation is so chaotic I could laugh and cry at the same time. Their squawking gibbers surround me, dozens of them pressing toward the cage bars, reaching in.
A female , identifiable by obvious reasons — brushes my toes. I flinch so hard I slam into the other side of the cage. They crowd around and touch my hair. I squeeze my eyes shut, bracing — certain those black ugly nails are about to tear me apart.
Instead I feel the gentlest pat on my head.
Almost comforting.
Almost.
Almost immediately, five men walk forward. The baboons must have been drowning out the sound of their approach.
The first man was the one I'd seen this morning. The freak who told me he'd put his mouth on me. His deep blue eyes were so enchanting I could fall straight into them.
"Why did you eat the king's son's legs? You freak." The voice came from a man who looked like a majestic leopard — his hair streaked with yellow and brown , his jawline so sharp it could cut glass.
"You know she's always been a rogue," another said.
What? I mutter incredulously, trying to stand. My legs fail me as a result of weakness.
"We cannot take this anymore, Ravine. Even though you're our mate , enough is enough."
"What the fuck are you talking about? What is enough?, who are you guys ".