To Rhial

1

Adam

Patches of sunlight drifted through the gently swaying leaves above me and I filled my lungs with air. The air was crisp, clean, and dry like a late-summer afternoon in the shade. It was serene and beautiful. And then I realized something.

My fuckin' back hurts.

As I tried bending my neck to look around, jolts of pain shot up my stiff back. It felt like a rock was driven into my lower back, but it hurt too badly for me to stay there and think. I tried slinging myself up, only to cramp and seize. Rolling off of whatever hard, uneven surface I was draped over, I landed on my hands and knees. My hands swept over the forest floor, which was littered with dead leaves and tiny green shrubs.

Holy shit, why am I so buff?

I didn't even realize I muttered this as I examined myself. My muscles were rippling and huge. Even the loose off-white tunic covering my torso was stretched by the sheer size of my chest and back. It was everything I ever wanted, but never tried for. All for free. Well, I died, but technically it was free. I pushed myself up. It was so easy. Like nothing. I lowered again just to be sure I wasn't fooling myself, and then pushed my body up with ease. In fact, I pushed so hard that the momentum carried me to my feet. I bounced on my toes, getting a sense of the noticeable change in the power my muscles could exert and an astounding lack of fat.

I had on a shirt like an old medieval tunic with some rudimentary gray pants and leather boots. My skin was a natural green color with gray undertones and I could feel large bottom teeth, like tusks, just two of them poking out from between my lips. Even though it would have been jarring before, I didn't even notice they were there until I prodded at them with my massive sausage fingers.

In front of me was a tree line and a large rock that I had been laying on. I reached a hand to my lower back to rub at the wide bruise while I took in the rest of the scene. My eyes passed over the dark tree line where spindling branches were ominously towering above me. Behind me was what looked like a small clearing of ferns, grass and shrubs illuminated by the morning sun, a strange bright pink tone to the stems of the grass and shrubs. Oddly enough, there was a covered wagon with what looked like crates in it, but no horses in sight.

I moseyed into the clearing and let the warm breeze brush over my skin.

This, whatever this is, is real. This body is real. This... place... is real.

A woman's cheery, slightly deep voice drifted from behind some shrubbery on the other side of the clearing.

"Hey, you, you're finally awake. Good. Some monsters attacked me, tore up my clothes. Could you grab me something from the wagon?"

"Y-yeah." I was certainly startled by the voice, but it didn't sound hostile so I complied.

I awkwardly stepped around the wagon, casually glancing where the voice originated from. I pulled the rough burlap cover off a box of what looked like some strange green bulbs. My nose caught the sweet, almost candy-like scent of these fruits.

I turned around and tossed the burlap tarp to an extremely pale hand poking out from the bushes.

I slowly wandered toward the bush. "Who are you?"

After a few moments of the bush rustling, a pure white, almost translucent, soft featured but thin face popped up and scanned the pasture. It was outlined by a head of full, deep crimson hair that gently waved down past her shoulders. Vertical slitted pupils surrounded by bright ruby red irises locked onto me curiously. Then she smiled, showing off her expressive red lips with two very prominent fangs peeking out from between them. She shot up and postured like a femme fatale.