The Witcher: Beast in human skin

The ground was cold beneath my head. My eyes struggled to open, but my ears and nose brought waves of information to my semi-conscious mind.

The influx of smells and sounds seemed to spur my nervous system into action and I felt a trace of strength return to my limbs.

Having lay completely immobile on the cold and unknown earth for what felt like hours, I was finally able to open my eyes and see my surroundings.

'Trees.' The word came to my mind instantly and with irrestible demand for my attention.

They were beautiful. Tall, far taller than I thought a tree could ever be. Their huge leaves were a bright and verdant green, I felt as if I might be reinvigorated just by the exuberant vitality radiating from them.

For a moment my thoughts were held tightly by these silent wooden giants.

Then came the pain.

My back arched as the agony coursed through me. I was vaguely aware of a scream leaving my lips, but my body was too consumed by chaos to register the sound in any meaningful way.

The speckled sunlight that fell through the canopy allowed me to see with chilling clarity the state of my injuries.

Almost every inch of my body was stained a deep purple by countless broken blood vessels and internal injuries. As I screamed and shook with agony I felt the horrifying sensation of my exposed bone rubbing against the ground.

Some of the wounds were long and gaping, evidently caused by a sharp weapon. Others were ugly and uneven, but unmistakably caused by the crushing jaws of some fericous beast.

I was dying.

That strand of life force that had previously granted me strength to open my eyes was fading rapidly.

Just as soon as my life in this new world had begun, it was about to end.

'No! I can't die like this!'

The primal desperation to survive filled me. My screams had left my throat too raw to speak and I knew that even if a doctor happened to be wandering through these strange woods; there was no medicine that could heal the fatal wounds draining me of life.

A calmness descended upon me. I could feel the end approaching.

Wandering the boundary between life and death I felt something within me begin to go dark.

'Reborn only to die minutes later. What a cruel fate.'

The seed of darkness continued to spread through me, swallowing up the thoughts and memories that formed my identity.

In a few short moments I would cease to ever be.

My story would never be told to those who might inhabit my new world. The animals that had raked their claws and teeth across my chest would finish their meal and I, a traveler from another world, would become a beast's dinner.

Blood dribbled down my lips and onto the earth as I laughed. The sound was harsh and the movement only further intensified my pain, I imagined if a child happened to pass by at this moment then they might struggle to ever sleep again with my tortured laughter echoing in their dreams.

Death approached me and I approached death.

Thrashing about wildly on the earth had exacerbated my injuries and I knew it. But this meant nothing, I had neither the willpower to endure the pain nor the intent to die silently.

As the corners of my vision became eternal darkness, I felt my limp body roll onto it's side.

A pair of eyes stared back at me.

They were long and wide. Bestial in nature and still retaining the ferocity the creature once had in life.

It was a wolf. A large and powerful male. The handle of a blood stained sword jutted out from it's stomach. A line of ants marched across and inside it's stomach, carrying out small bits of darkly coloured flesh on their backs.

A fragment of a memory flashed through the embers of my consciousness. The final struggle between man and wolf, ending woefully in slow blood loss for both parties.

Whatever force had brought my spirit into this world had given me a few brief moments of renewed life. Though it's lifeless eyes would never know it, this wolf had succeeded in killing it's prey twice.

'The dead feel no joy.'

The wolf's fur was soft against my fingers, most of them broken or twisted beyond recognition.

I could fight no longer.

Then the world went dark.