Chapter Two: First Encounter

Alex was in a tremendous amount of pain when he awoke. The feeling of stapping needles coerced across his skin and a terrible hunger plagued him. But Alex was at least used to that, or thought he was, as he could push that feeling away. He sits in the middle of a forest on a soft patch of grass. He placed his hand on his head, trying to remember what happened, but no matter what, he couldn't, at least not really. He remembered his name Alexander Silver, hated anchovies, and loved peppers. He remembered the parts about himself but not about much else. He knew what trees and grass were, but it would blank whenever he tried to remember his past. He shook his head no point in trying to remember more than he could. Then, standing up, he looked around him. He was in a dark forest whit only the moonlight shining down, but while this forest should've been difficult to see, he could look out on it like it was daytime. Even better, he could see far and sharper; he saw the tiny bugs climbing up a tree over 50 ft away. And if he focused, he started to hear them scuttling up the bark as well; in the same breath, he began to notice more ad more sounds.

Gripping his head and groaned in pain as so much auditory information started to pelt him from the bugs crawling underfoot. The night animals scurried and flew in the forest, the faint sounds of running water from a river, and even the sound of the water circling through the trees around him. The most painful was the rapid heartbeats of all the creatures around him. He curled up in a ball as he struggled with the pain. As he lay there, there was one sound that stood out to him the sounds of voices faint but distinctive. There seemed to be someone yelling. Alex's head snapped toward the voices, focusing on the sound as he blocked out all others. He stood and started to rush forward. It wasn't due to the possibility of people but a more intuitive feeling. Something profound pulled him to them; he went from walking fast to jogging, running, and sprinting. His legs blurred as he started to move. His speed was above what the average human could exhibit in a dense forest, but Alex had an advantage. He began to leap and side steps over the trees and rocks, never losing his footing once as he ran.

After a minute, he started to hear the voices more clearly. There were six voices, three distinctly male, one young woman, and two voices of young children. The voices were arguing about where to take them as the kids cried. He couldn't figure out what language they were speaking. Still, the men were arguing intensely, and the women huddled over the children trying to talk to them calmly as they cried. Two of the men looked human, while the third was entirely different. The two humans wore similar clothing; both had on a thick pair of pants with leather armor from greaves, vambraces, and a chest piece. One had a bow, a quiver, and a longsword, while the other had a shield strapped to his back and a short sword on his waists. They had dirty hair and rough faces. They were, in his mind, two common thugs that anyone would be in a dark street; he had met several when he walked the night in his hometown. Alex froze as that thought flashed into his mind. Then, shaking his head, he focused on the last one, which seemed most dangerous. He stood about two heads taller than the other men putting him solidly at 7 feet tall. But what was most strange was that he was not a human. He had dark green scales covering his bare body. He wore only a kilt covering his lower section and a pauldron over his left shoulder. He had a large scimitar closer to a broad sword than any real sword from his world on his back, but not like he would need it to do damage, given his massive claws, chap teeth, and powerful swooshing tail.

Alex slowed his approach, letting his instinct dictate his actions. He crouched down, slowed his breath, and carefully moved, allowing his body to blend in with the woods. At this time, Alex was also having an internal struggle. A darker part of him was trying to rear its head and take control, but Alex kept asserting control over his body. As he struggled internally, the men seemed to come to a decision and move over to the women and children. They had a couple of unique features as he looked closer at them. While they looked human, the woman had silver marks swirling around her skin and red hair, and her ears were elongated and came to a point. The two children had distinct Blue hair and no effects on their skin, and they shared similar features to the girl. Maybe they are her siblings, he thought. They yanked the redhead by the hair, making her shout in pain as they pulled her away from the kids. The two children tried to protest, rushing forward only to be met with a kick from the two men. The one man pulled her by the hair and brought her face to his; he was saying something that made the women's face pale as he licked her face laughing.

The other man started to protest till the first through a small bag at him, dragging the girl towards the wood. The big lizardman yelled something, but the human waved it off. I observed as he pulled her into the wood. Slowly creeping from my spot, I slipped back deeper into the woods and approached the area where the two were. The girl was crying and pleading, but the man just laughed. Alex knew what would happen to her, but he needed to wait. He had no weapons and was not confident taking them in a straight-up fight. So he hid in the dark. The man grabbed her dress, which was already partially torn, and ripped it off of her, revealing her soft skin and chest. Laughing, the man grabbed her breast violently and forced a kiss on her. The woman bit his lip, causing him to shout in pain. He punched her violently, making her pass out from the blow falling on her back. The man shouted, laughing simultaneously, and started to remove his belt. Alex smelled the lust watching off this man and knew his opportunity had come—the other two men were discussing something, paying no head in this direction. Alex waited just as the man's pants dropped to his knees, he stroked. The violent instinct he repressed was letting take control of his action.

Alex shoots forward from the darkness. He wraps his hand around the man's mouth, cutting off his shout; he yanks his head to the right as he plunges his now elongated canines into his neck. His instincts guide the bite, so both fangs sink into the man's carotid artery. At the same time, they release venom that courses through the man's blood, causing his body to freeze up nearly instantly. Alex does hesitate and beans to drain him in a matter of seconds. Letting the man's body drop to the ground. Wiping his lips, he savors the taste of blood, feeling the hunger settle. He looks at the girl and smiles. His hunger returns with a vengeance demanding to be sedated. He steps forward, freezing up as he wrestles with his inner darkness forcing it back down. Alex realized he would have to be careful when relying on his instinct. While they may be able to help him kill, they are an authentic double edge sword, running him the risk of losing himself in bloodlust. He reaches down and undresses the man taking his gear for himself. While they aren't an exact fit, he is 6'2", and the man is about 5'10"; he places the vambrace and greaves on, strapping them down and leaving the chain mail. If he took down those other two, he would need stealth. He places his bow and quivers on himself and straps the blade to his waist.

Taking the man's cloak as well, he placed it over the passed-out woman. He slips back into the woods and sleek over two, a good advantage spot. He stares at the two remaining men. His bow is made from smooth wood and is on smaller sides than the ones he can imagine, most likely used on horseback. Taking out a couple of arrows to make it easier to grab them, he has an idea. He forced his fangs to come out, and they flooded his mouth with venom. Spitting it into his hand, he rubbed it on the arrowheads and readied himself. He lifts off the bow and nooks and arrows. He has six shots to take at least one of them down. Aiming at the human, he judges that there is about 20 yards between them. His arrow launches out with speed zooming through the air and completely missing his target, slamming into the ground about 5 feet in front of them. The two look up in shock, the lizardman drawing his scimitar while the human jumps back in fear. Not waiting for a second, he lunches his second arrow aiming higher and at the lizard man. His arrow zooms forward and is deflected by a swing of the scimitar, being smashed apart. Alex cussed as he ready his third arrow, firing at the human. This time the arrow slams into his leg as he tries to bring out his shield. Throwing caution to the wind, Alex takes the last poisoned arrow waking out of the bush he was hiding behind to get a clear shot. He fires at the human, slamming the arrow into his chest.

Not even having the chance to breathe, he jumps back, falling. As the lizard covers the gap between them in under 2 seconds, he swings his scimitar aiming to remove his head. Alex rolls to the side and leaps up. Dropping the bow, he draws his longsword. Alex has never used a sword in his life, or what he can remember, but he remembers watching shows that showed a sword fight. Imitating their posture, he attacked the lizard, who smirked and stepped back from his wild swings. Not showing concern, he swung his scimitar, deflecting one of Alex's strikes, leaving him open for a massive kick that sent him back. Landing on his ass, Alex rolls to the right as the lizard slams his blade down, trying to pin Alex to the ground. Alex takes this instant and strikes the sword clumsy at the lizard's leg. The scales of this beast deflect the weak blow. Alex stumbles up and shakes with a smile on his face. While he is in a horrible position and can die anytime, he enjoys himself. The excitement of fighting is something he loves. He decides to risk it all. When fighting someone superior to yourself, the only option is to go all out and hope for the best or run. Still, looking at the lizard, he's guaranteed death if Alex shows him his back.

Lifting the blade, he watches as the lizard man rushes him and swings his sword furiously at him, each blow rocking Alex back as he can barely deflect them one by one. Taking this as his only moment to strike, Alex rushes in on the lizardman's next blow. Closing the distance between them, he attempts to plunge the longsword into the lizard's gut. And he almost succeeded. He closed the gap and did land the blow, but the longsword was in poor condition from the start, and taking the beating from the scimitar only made it duller and more fragile. The blade tip strikes the lizard man's gut and breaks on his scales. Alex did get a moment to cuss as the lizard grabbed him by the neck, lifting him in the air, and plunged his scimitar into Alex's gut. Coughing up blood, Alex feels pain flare throughout his body, burning hot pain. Alex looks at the lizardman as he laughs loudly. Taking this chance, Alex does the only thing he can, flooding his mouth with venom and spitting it directly into the lizard man's mouth, a lovely solid lob. The lizard man chokes for a second, and rage fills his eyes. He flings Alex off his blade, tumbling on the ground a few feet. Slowly getting to his feet, Alex notices he is extremely pale and cold. Still, the wound has started to net itself together slowly.

Alex looks up at the lizard man as he walks towards Alex, but after two steps, he slows and wobbles. Alex notices his broken sword in front of him; grabbing it, he rushes at the wobbling lizard mand. The lizard swings at Alex but slower than before. Alex ducks under and swing up, cutting the strap that held the pauldron, leaving a bare spot of green skin with no scales. Ale jumps back and strikes at that weak spot. Gripping the sword underhand, he runs forward, slamming the blade into the lizardman's old wound and plunging it down. The lizard man still has a bit of strength and bites down on Alex's shoulder, causing him to scream in pain, but gritting his teeth, he forces the blade in deeper. The lizardman drops to his knees, letting him go. Alex steps back, bleeding profusely. He looks around and picks up the giant scimitar, which weighs nearly 20 pounds, and with as much pain Alex has gone through, he grunts. Lifting the blade, he swings it down on the lizard man's neck with all his strength, and while not cutting it through him, he creates a massive gash that spews blood out. Alex falls to his knee, out of breath and energy. He looks over at the last human, who is barely alive himself, and smiles as he passes out.