Trouble comes knocking

Chapter 2: Trouble comes knocking

The dense forest of Faeryn was eerily quiet, the usual sounds of wildlife muted as if the woods themselves were holding their breath. The only sound that broke the silence was the frantic rustling of leaves as a figure moved swiftly through the underbrush, her breath coming in quick, shallow gasps.

Her name was Sera, and she was not like the others in this land. Where humans had legs, Sera had the long, sinuous body of a serpent, her pink scales, glinting darkly in the dappled moonlight that filtered through the canopy above. She was a Lamia, a creature born of both human and beast, and for that, she was hunted.

She had been running for hours, her strength waning as the relentless pursuit continued. The soldiers of Faeryn were close behind, their harsh voices and the clank of their armor growing louder with each passing moment. From the looks of it, They wanted her dead, and there persistent attitude hinted that they would not rest until they had her head.

Her heart pounded in her chest, not just from the exertion but from the fear that gnawed at her insides. She had seen others like her fall, their bodies left to rot as a warning to any who dared defy the kingdom's decree whereby all nonhumans were to be hunted down and slain to calm the wrath of the god's of the kingdoms holy church. But Sera on the other hand was different from those before her who had fallen, she was a head strong fighter, and she would not go down without a fight.

Just as she was about to make a desperate dash into the thicker undergrowth, a sudden flash of light in the sky caught her attention. She looked up, her emerald green eyes narrowing into slits as something plummeted through the air, crashing into the forest floor with a thunderous impact.

BAMM!!!

The ground trembled beneath her as a dust cloud was instantly kicked up. The sudden shock caused her to instinctively coil her body tighter, her gaze fixed on the spot where the object had landed.

" What's that‽"

" Could it be the monsters doing?"

" It must be an enemy attack, remain alert, your weapons at the ready men "

The soldiers paused, their attention momentarily diverted by the unexpected event.

_There's my chance!_

Sera's mind raced. Whatever had fallen from the sky was her only chance. While the soldiers were distracted, she could escape, find some place to hide.

" Dammit she's escaping!" The soilders cursed in frustration as Sera fled from their site's.

However, after slithering a few tens of meters ahead into the thick underbrush, She stopped. Sera felt as if something had held her back. Curiosity, perhaps. Or maybe a glimmer of hope that whatever had come from the sky might perhaps be her salvation she wondered.

_Lets just take a look first, Who knows what could've fallen out of the sky right out of the blue?_

She moved cautiously, her body gliding silently over the forest floor as she kept to the shadows, her eyes locked on the crater that now marred the earth.

_its a human‽_

As the dust began to settle, she saw a figure lying at the center of the impact, a man, unconscious but seemingly unharmed.

_.....‽_

Sera's breath hitched. What was a human doing here? And how had he survived such a fall? She wondered.

The soldiers however had also noticed the man, before anyone of them could voice their thoughts, Their leader began barking orders to surround him. "He must be a sorcerer! Or worse, an ally of the monster!, Seize him!"

Sera's heart lurched. If they captured him, She was sure that they would definitely kill him. Just as they would have killed her.

Her conscious began weighing on her mind as she began contemplating on whether to intervene and save him, Although he was a human, He had saved her earlier and that was something she couldn't easily disregard.

_Dammit, what should I do?_ She pondered.

Her instincts screamed at her to run, to save herself, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from the scene unfolding before her.

" Arrghh...., What happened?" As the soilders closed in, The man, Gift, began to stir, groaning as he slowly regained consciousness. His vision blurred, his mind struggling to make sense of what had happened.

The last thing he remembered was the blinding light, the flash of the weapon that had sent him hurtling through time and space, or so he thought. And now... now he was here, wherever here was anyways.

_Pixel you still there?_

[Still operational] pixel replied uniformly, her timely reply at least helped to calm down Gifts thoughts a bit.

Unfortunately, Before he could fully comprehend his surroundings, the soldiers were upon him, their weapons drawn and their eyes filled with malice.

" S-savages‽" Gift's heart pounded in his chest, fear gripping him as he held up his hands in a gesture of surrender.

" Savages‽, you dare insult the soilders of Faeyrn boy!" The captain of the squad of soilders rebuked, his face looking enraged.

" How audacious!" A random soldier admonished, brandishing his sharp sword.

" Captain allow me to slay this ignorant commoner instead!"

"Wait, I'm not here to hurt anyone, This is clearly a misunderstanding kind sirs" Gift tried to calm the growing tensions, his voice hoarse. "I don't even know where I am—"

"Silence, sorcerer!" the captain of the soldiers snarled, advancing with his sword drawn. "You're responsible for the escape of that monster!, And now, you'll pay the price!"

_Looks like this mans dead serious on attacking me!_

Gift's mind raced, panic threatening to overtake him. He had no idea what they were talking about, but he knew one thing for certain, these men were not going to listen to reason. He was in danger, and he had to act.

_In this case I guess I can only react in self defense_

His Instincts took over as the soldiers lunged at him, their blades aimed to kill. But Gift was no ordinary man. The nanotechnology suit he wore, though battered by the dimensional shift, was still operational, enhancing his reflexes and strength beyond human limits.

As the captains sword came barring down in one vertical swing, Gift moved with a speed that surprised even him, maybe due to his panicked state, his movements were far faster than during his presentation on stage prior to now

From his own point of view, The captains swinging sword moved at an extremely slow pace, similar to a movie downloading when you had extremely poor network.

With flash like movements, he stood up and swerved to the right, dodging the first attack. Then he slammed the side of his fist horizontally on the side of the captains neck, countering with a precise strike that instantly dislocated the soldiers neck.

The other soilders watched with disbelief as their captain slumped onto the floor lifeless in only a single breath.

" Captain!!!, You bastard, you'll pay for that!!" A few of the soilders screamed in fright and fury as they all lounged at Gift.

Gift who saw them approaching let out an unfortunate sigh before his eyes became clear once more.

The fight that soon followed was brutal and swift. Gift had never been a warrior, but his technology did the work for him, his movements fluid and deadly.

The soldiers, trained as they were, were no match for his advanced abilities. One by one, they all fell, their armor clattering as they hit the ground.

As the last soldier crumpled, Gift stood calmly admist the lifeless corpses without a single scratch whatsoever, he wasn't even out of breath nor tired, as if he could continue fighting several times over without feeling the least bit exhausted.

His eyes had long since turned misty as he glanced at what he had done. Truly, He hadn't meant to kill them.

He had only wanted to defend himself. But now, the forest was littered with bodies, and he was the only one left standing.

"Who's there‽"A rustle in the bushes made him spin around, his senses still heightened.

There, just beyond the trees, was the girl. Or rather, the creature. Her serpentine lower half coiled in readiness to flee, but her upper half, a human torso with pale skin and long, dark hair—remained still, Her emerald green eyes watching him with a mix of fear and curiosity.

Gift's eyes met hers, and for a moment, they simply stared at each other, two beings from different worlds trying to make sense of the other. Then, without a word, she began to slither away, her movements fluid and graceful despite the tension in her body.

"Wait!" Gift called after her, his voice raw as he made use of his incredible speed and chased after her.

He needed answers, and she seemed like his only hope of getting them since he had technically ruined all his chances of getting some earlier.