An unexpected Encounter

Somewhere, in a distant land where the earth had long since ceased to green, where the song of birds had been replaced by the song of death, a being clad in armor as black as ebony stood facing the blowing wind. There was no sign of his real identity, his armor covered his entire body.

The only thing that was visible of him were those two fireflies glowing through the darkness and staring at the horizon without wavering. Yet, as the wind died down, his eyes flickered slightly.

The being felt an echo spreading across the surface of the world.

He turned his head in a specific direction and did not leave it for a moment.

"Hmm..."

He snorted slightly and his then motionless armor mutated like a colossus awakening suddenly after a long sleep.

All of sudden, tremendous energy surged out of his body and the wave caused pushed everything around him like a cyclone. A mysterious misty ink escaped through the gaps of his armor and spread on the ground quickly. And then, in a flash, his body disappeared, leaving behind only a deafening thunder and earth as black as coal.

***

We advanced into the luxuriant canopy with a certain amount of apprehension, but also a feeling of anticipation that was difficult to contain. It was so exciting to be able to explore a new world that I couldn't get the palpitations of my heart to stop. Since we had heard that strange roar, we had been going in the opposite direction in the hope that we would not have to come across that beast.

At that moment, we were driving between the tall trees that covered the sky with their thick foliage, however, it was not very dark on the ground. The rays of the suns could easily pass through them and gave us good visibility.

The roots of some trees coming out of the ground like rabid dragons and twisting like spaghetti to plunge back into the ground, creating strange green tunnels at times. I could still hear the sound of the wind whistling through the foliage and I could even see some birds. However, one thing intrigued me: I had not yet been able to see any other animal in the vicinity. Was it our presence or the deafening noise that was spreading in the forest? Or... Could it be that there are no animals in this world at all? This last thought gave me a shiver as we moved further and further into the forest.

I had no idea where we were going and it was the same for the Holy Spirit...

Nyfeirg strangely coughed at the same time.

Um, I meant of course that it was the same for her who hadn't said anything for a while. It wasn't as if there was any discomfort between us, but I wasn't the most talkative when I was driving. After all, I rarely had anyone to talk to at times like that.

Nevertheless, that didn't mean that there was no interaction between us. I had noticed that from the beginning Nyfeirg had been anticipating my actions very regularly.

Since she could perceive my feelings and thoughts, she could anticipate my actions and before I could react, she had already initiated the movement. It was quite disconcerting at first to feel that the vehicle was moving on its own, but on closer inspection, it was not that disturbing. If I had to be completely honest, I'd say it was pretty convenient.

I had learned that autonomous vehicles with sensors and automatons had been successfully developed in my world. These were then able to move without the help of human action through the city and traffic. It was quite impressive when you think about it, but Nyfeirg was different. It was as if it was an extension of myself. All I had to do was to wish that I wanted to go in this direction or that direction so that she would start going the way I wanted her to go.

Since we had left, the landscape had not really changed. The forest in which we were located must have been gigantic because I could not see the end of it and this sea of vegetation prevented me from seeing more than fifty meters away.

I suddenly felt my belly gurgling.

"It's about time we found something to eat," I whispered.

Nyfeirg nodded, and we accelerated noticeably. Soon after, we finally arrived in front of a large lake where I could notice a large waterfall supplying the lake. There was also a torrent that meandered through the forest. It was a rather impressive sight for me who had rarely traveled. I imagined that even on Earth there had to be this kind of spectacle.

We stopped a few meters away and Nyfeirg shut down her engine immediately, letting us be overwhelmed by the lapping of the water and the majestic sound of the water flowing from the great cliff where the waterfall originated.

I examined the water for a moment, the desire to quench my thirst was great. I knelt and was getting ready to drink the water when Nyfeirg called out to me at the same time.

"Be careful, John. We don't know if this water is drinkable..."

I nodded my head and dived my hands into the lake. The water was clear and cold. I had difficulty imagining that it could not be drinkable. After all, being dead once, I was not really risking much by drinking it.

Putting aside these crazy ideas, I swallowed the water without hesitation. The sensation of the liquid flowing down my throat was pleasant and I felt that my hunger was gradually subsiding. After quenching my thirst, I wiped my mouth with my sleeve and sighed with happiness.

The water was delicious. It didn't smell at all like the water coming out of the tap at home.

"Is everything all right, John?" Nyfeirg asked me in a worried tone.

"This water is delicious! I've never drunk anything so good," I exclaimed enthusiastically. "However, water is not going to feed me..." I added, stroking my belly.

I looked around me, but I still saw no animal presence nearby. I began to worry. If I didn't eat quickly, I would eventually collapse and if things went badly, I might even die. The mere thought of starving gave me goosebumps. It was something I wanted to avoid at all costs.

Suddenly, not far from me, a reflection caught my attention. It wasn't very visible, but it was enough to make me think about it. A silvery shadow was moving nonchalantly below the surface of the water.

"Could it be..."

The shadow didn't seem to be particularly suspicious of me. It approached slowly while zigzagging until I could clearly distinguish its contours.

"A fish!" I cried with joy.

It was a small fish swimming quietly and as I saw it approaching, my belly began to gurgle more. It was decided, I now knew what I was going to eat. However, catching a fish without a rod was easier said than done.

I decided to give it a try and took off my perfecto and boots and pulled up my pants before immersing myself in the lake water.

"John, I don't think this is a good idea," suggested Nyfeirg, slightly skeptical.

"Don't worry about it. I'll get it, I'm sure I will!"

I was so confident in myself that the mere thought of failing didn't occur to me. What's more, this fish kept coming even though I was only a few meters away from it. It was too easy.

"Patience... a little more... come closer..." I whispered as I watched it.

Like a lioness preparing to pounce on her prey, I was waiting for the right moment to catch him. Little by little, the tension rose in me as the fish approached.

The distance was then only a small meter.

"Come on, come on... don't be shy..."

Suddenly, my hands dived into the water and grabbed the fish... At least, that's what I had hoped for. But the reality was far more implacable than I had imagined.

As soon as the murky water became clear again, I noticed that the fish had escaped me and moved only a few centimeters away as if to taunt my incompetence in catching it.

"You... don't think you can get away with it..." I grumbled.

I waited again for the fish to get close enough and then dived back into the water... Unfortunately, my attempt failed again. Not without difficulty, I tried again, but this fish was so vivacious that I couldn't catch it. It was even more agile than an eel.

"I'll get you, you'll see!" I cried angrily.

As I was about to try again, my foot stumbled on a stone and my body collapsed into the water with a great splash.

I watched the fish swimming away at full speed without being able to do anything and my body completely soaked.

"I told you... Haha haha... it wasn't a good idea... Haha haha."

Nyfeirg had a hard time containing herself despite my disappointment. I felt humiliated and in a bad mood. So I needed something to calm me down.

I returned to land and fumbled my coat pockets. I hoped that my cigarettes had also survived my death and was very pleased to find that my packet and lighter were indeed in it.

Without hesitation, I took out a cigarette and lit it urgently before smoking angrily at it.

Shortly afterward, I was sitting on the bank, my body frost, and my eyes glassy. I had won everything or rather lost everything. But in my great misfortune, I could enjoy my cigarette.

Large plumes of smoke rose in the moist lake air with each of my exhalations. The only comfort I had was that despite all this, I was not completely alone.

"Are you feeling better?" Nyfeirg asked me calmly, "Don't worry. There will be many more opportunities."

"Yeah..." I replied without much conviction.

I'd just finished my cigarette and was about to have another one when my hand stopped on the packet. I understood that at this rate I would soon run out of cigarettes. Besides, it was a good bet that this world didn't know this kind of product. So the conclusion was that these would certainly be the last cigarettes I would ever be able to taste. So I had to save them for later. With a hint of disappointment, I finally put my pack and lighter in my pocket.

Now I had to warm up. Since I had a lighter, I could make a fire but I was missing the wood.

"I'll be right back," I said immediately.

Nyfeirg didn't say anything, but I could feel that she had understood what I meant.

A little later, I came back with twigs and some branches that I had found here and there.

The fire burned vigorously while my clothes gradually dried. I was only wearing my underwear but I didn't care. Nyfeirg hadn't said anything either. By the way, was she a woman or a man? How should I look at her?

I had given her a name without really taking that little detail into account. I had assumed that a motorcycle was a woman, but perhaps I had made a mistake.

"Tell me, Nyfeirg," I asked apprehensively.

"What?" she asked me curiously.

"Are you a woman or are you a man?"

There was a silence between us at that moment. Only the crackling of the embers resounded.

"Are you only asking now?" she sighed loudly. "If I didn't know you, I'd say you're the biggest cad I've ever met."

"I'm sorry," I said.

"Anyway, if you weren't like that, I couldn't consider you my partner either. And to answer your question, I'm a woman, at least that's how I consider myself."

I nodded my head while staring at the fire in front of me. The gurgling of my belly became more and more numerous. The water would no longer be enough to satisfy me, I had to find something to eat.

There was only one solution left: to hunt. It was not something I was used to. In my world, hunting was for entertainment, not for food. But in this world, it was quite the opposite.

I took a branch that was sharp enough and took out the parts that didn't interest me until I finally ended up with a kind of pointed stick. I didn't have a knife so I would have to make do with this.

"I'll see if I can find something," I said to Nyfeirg while putting my wet pants back on.

"Be careful, John. If anything goes wrong, just yell and I'll come right over."

I left Nyfeirg, who watched me with some trepidation and walked into the forest. I didn't intend to die here, if ever trouble came, I would not hesitate to leave immediately.

A few minutes later, I found myself alone among the canopy lit by the rays of the two stars that dominated the sky and danced with the wind on the foliage of the trees. Around me was a heavy silence.

Shortly afterward, I heard a sound of broken branches, followed by a hoarse growl and a second, higher-pitched growl. I instinctively stopped and stooped down to listen safely.

My luck had finally come, I had only had to walk a few hundred meters away from Nyfeirg to get my life back on track.

Not far from me, two animals were killing each other. The problem was that I had no idea what they were doing. I had only been in this world for a few hours and everything was unknown to me.

I was now crouching next to a giant oak-like tree whose roots were so thick that they were completely hiding my body. Just behind them stood the two beasts that were fighting ferociously when suddenly the fight was over.

I held my makeshift stick firmly and stopped breathing. Had they finished? Who was the winner? Only the animal with the loudest growl could be heard. I presumed that its opponent had met a fateful end and had become the winner's meal.

I decided to give it a try and approached slowly and quietly. My feet felt the roughness of the soft ground, it was a strange feeling but not unpleasant.

When I managed to take a look at the scene, I saw a strange animal resembling a wolf, but thicker and more dangerous than the ones I knew. In front of it was another animal lying on the ground. It was quite small and resembled a hare, but I could see that it had a horn on the top of its head, which had been cut off and its blood was spilling profusely on the ground. The 'wolf' wagged his tail from left to right with joy. That's when I understood that the law of the forest was implacable.

It was to kill or to be killed.

"How am I going to do it?" I asked myself while scrutinizing the animal. "I will be killed if I try to attack this monster..."

Suddenly, a gurgling sound was heard and the 'wolf' immediately turned towards me, his ears pricked up. Its eyes were red and its fangs were dangerously sharp. He began to growl when he saw me and slowly approached.

"Damn it!" I whispered. "Why now?"

I cursed the body that had just made me discovered. Now that I was out in the open, I didn't have much choice: I had to escape this monster. But it was very likely that it would catch me as soon as I started running. The monster was circling me, probably looking for an opportunity to attack me.

Without taking my eyes off him, I grabbed my stick tightly but my body was shaking like a dead leaf. It was not the same danger as when I was caught in a fight. Here, I could be devoured in a matter of moments.

"Stay away from me, you damn predator..." I yelled fiercely.

Maybe this animal would be receptive to it if I showed it that I wasn't afraid of it, but I had to admit that it didn't work. Worse, it had rather the opposite effect as it barked more and more beautifully at me. He was about to jump on me, I could see him slowly stretching out his paws. My hands tightened their grip on the stick as my heartbeat suddenly accelerated.

Suddenly, the monster started running towards me and jumped with its mouth wide open. I barely had time to reach for my stick when it was already on my head. We collapsed to the ground and I could feel all the force it was putting into its body to try to kill me as quickly as possible. Fortunately for me, my stick seemed strong enough and kept the gaping mouth of this monster away from my head. Only a few centimeters separated him and me.

"Fuck... Do you think I'm going to let this happen? Nyfeirg!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

Immediately, a metallic humming sound was heard and the monster stopped at once. Very quickly, the humming came closer and the monster instinctively moved away from me to face this newcomer whom he probably never met in his life. Shortly afterward, Nyfeirg appeared at full speed and came between me and the monster.

"Watch out, he's dangerous!"

Nyfeirg didn't answer, but I knew she could hear me. She was busy keeping a distance between me and the monster who had stopped growling but continued to stare at us with hatred. After all, we had just stopped her from finishing her meal. But it didn't matter. It was him or us.

Nyfeirg made her engine roaring once, forcing the monster to back off. Then she moved forward threateningly and repeated the operation. This time, the monster offered no resistance and fled in a hurry through the forest. Nyfeirg did it a third time to send a message to all the animals in the area that we would not give in.

When we were certain that all danger was over, Nyfeirg turned off her engine, and the silence was restored.

"Thank you."

"It's okay to help each other, partner," she answered warmly.

Now that the threat was over, I could breathe. My legs had lost their strength, so I couldn't get up right away.

"Still," I said, looking at the inert body of the devoured animal, "the problem of food is finally solved."

"I hope you plan to cook it first, John."

When we returned to the lake with the bloody body of the herbivore, the fire was still burning peacefully, but the amount of wood had decreased drastically. I laid the body next to the fire and immediately went to find something to rekindle it. On my way back, I realized that a problem was about to arise: what to do with the animal's fur? One solution was to cook it as it was, but I was not very keen on the idea of eating burnt fur. The other was to skin it completely, but I didn't have any weapons with me. So I had to find a solution.

As I got up, I looked around me and on the shore for a sharp enough rock. Fortunately, I was able to make out some objects that were glinting in the daylight. As I approached, I saw that they were stones that looked very similar to flint. And, as my luck finally smiled upon me, it turned out that I was not wrong. While searching through the debris, I came across a few very sharp flakes that I would use to cut the skin of the dead animal.

I immediately returned to the small camp and set to work. The slimy blood was flowing everywhere and an unpleasant noise was escaping from my hands each time I manipulated the shreds of flesh.

While the animal was cooking over the fire, I took off my clothes again and laid them next to me.

Little by little, the sky turned orange, then red and finally night had come. Under the crackling embers, I could hear the forest animals and insects as I leaned against the Nyfeirg for protection.

One thing I understood was that as long as I was close to her, nothing would happen to me. The animals seemed to be frightened by her for some mysterious reason but it had the advantage of protecting me from this hostile environment.

Another thing I understood was that this hare-like had no taste. Its flesh was bitter and difficult to chew. Also, there were no condiments that I could put on it to lighten the bitterness of the meal. Nevertheless, I could not be finicky either. So I decided to endure it in silence and ate what I could.

After a few hours, my clothes had finally dried. I put them back on immediately and restarted the wood fire. It was time to sleep now.

I lay down next to it and while looking at the little piece of the sky...

"What will happen now ?" I whispered.

Why was I there? What were our goals for me and Nyfeirg? Why was Nyfeirg alive?

"You seem pensive to me, John. Is everything all right?" she asked me.

"Yes..." I thoughtfully replied. "Now that I think about it, can't you read my thoughts right now?"

"Yes, it seems that you have to have physical contact for that to be possible."

"I see..."

Fortunately, there was always this possibility if I wanted to avoid being spied on from the inside.

None of us spoke afterward, letting the silence gradually take hold. The sound of the waterfall, as well as the fire, rocked me and I felt that my mind was gradually escaping to the land of dreams…

"ROAAAAAR!!"

I immediately opened my eyes under the emotion and straightened up immediately. The roar was very distant.

"It was..."

"It seems so, yes... But don't worry. It seems to be moving away," Nyfeirg reassured me.

That roar was the same as the one we heard earlier in the day. The roar was heard again, but the sound was barely audible this time. I swallowed and looked in its direction before going back to bed, not without some discomfort.

A feeling of doubt invaded my mind, would Nyfeirg manage to protect me from any situation?

I slowly closed my eyes but I could only fall asleep one hour later.

The next morning I was awakened by the rays of daylight caressing my face. My body was somewhat chilled by the coolness of the morning, and the fire had been out for a long time now.

Nyfeirg still seemed to be asleep while the headlights were completely out. When she felt that I had just woken up, she in turn woke up.

"Hello, Nyfeirg," I yawned at her.

"Good morning, John. Have you slept well ?" asked the motorcycle whose headlights were flickering dimly.

His metallic voice, although peculiar, was not aggressive for all that. Moreover, I could discern a certain affection in the tone she took.

As I gently stretched, we talked about our next destination, although it always came down to the same vague idea of a place we didn't know.

A gurgling sound was heard.

Having been used to eating first in the morning, finding myself on an empty stomach was difficult to bear. Alas, having nothing to eat, I had to make do with a few roots and flowers that were nearby. I did not intend to try again the experience of yesterday and find myself soaked again.

After taking a big sip of water to get the horrible taste of that particular meal out of my mouth, we set off again.

While we were driving, a question came to my mind: how did a spirit like Nyfeirg lived? I decided to ask her the question, but her answer surprised me even more because I was not expecting it.

"I live thanks to the energy in the air. I can't explain the principle too well but I would say that it's like feeding yourself by simply breathing. That being said, your energy is also useful to me."

It was indeed very practical, but I didn't think it could live by breathing. As for my energy, I didn't really understand the principle behind it.

Unlike her, I had to sleep, drink, and eat if I wanted to survive.

Life was unfair to some, but there was nothing I could do about it.

A few hours later, we finally got out of the forest and discovered with admiration the incredible vastness of this world. We were now in the heights of a long and wide hill that overlooked the surroundings. This view certainly took my breath away.

In front of us stood a mountain range that escaped towards the horizon. Some of them were so high that their tops were lost in the clouds. Just looking at them, I felt my head start to turn. There were a few packs of birds flying nonchalantly in the sky and heading towards them.

Below, I could see two rivers winding their way through the valley and joining at the bottom while large forests covered its sides and those of the surrounding hills. I could even see a few herds of animals that had gathered to drink from one of the rivers. The landscape was fantastic and I couldn't help but whistle.

"It's really beautiful," Nyfeirg added.

"Finally, this world is not so bad, what do you say?" I asked with delight.

That same intoxicating feeling of freedom invaded me again and made me want to go on a trip.

"Want to have some fun?" suggested Nyfeirg playfully.

"And how! Let's go, partner," I replied immediately with enthusiasm.

The engine roared in ecstasy and soon after we hurried down the hill to the valley floor. Whether on Earth or here, feeling the wind against my face was just as pleasant and gave me an indescribable feeling. Except that this world had everything to offer us and we had everything to discover. I almost regretted not having known this world sooner.

As we rode, I felt no loss of grip along the way. Since Nyfeirg had become what she was, it was as if everything had changed.

***

Two reptilian pupils, each surrounded by an azure-blue iris, scanned the valley from left to right, from top to bottom. Intrigued by the strange humming that spread across the valley, the eyes were drawn to a point spinning at full speed. They blinked rapidly as if to make sure what they were seeing.

Then the eyes closed and a cavernous roar was heard.

Soon after, the monster was racing toward the point.

***

Suddenly, Nyfeirg and I heard that beast roar again, but this time the roars were much closer than last time. The roars resonated throughout the entire valley and did not seem to come from any particular point.

"Did you hear that?" I asked confusedly.

"Yes," I asked.

I decided to stop and listened. Everything was quiet around us, maybe even too quiet. I could almost feel my heart beating through it. Suddenly Nyfeirg cried out.

"Upstairs! Watch out!"

An impressive shadow approached us at full speed from the sky.

"What... What is that?"

And then without warning, a huge monster appeared through the clouds.

Its body ending in a long pointed tail was supported by two pairs of imposing wings that moved the air with force and vigor, spreading the clouds majestically as the swell would collapse against the rocky shore.

Two powerful legs were positioned at the back of his body and seemed strong enough to grip both of us effortlessly while his skin was covered with a dark red armor of scales that seemed to absorb the rays of the two suns.

With his imposing mouth, I could discern a row of sharp teeth capable of cutting through any living thing with a single jaw stroke.

Finally, nothing was more terrifying than its piercing gaze that stared at us with delight.

My mind was trying to understand what was attacking us but my body refused to move despite the imminent danger that was rapidly approaching. What was that thing coming down from the sky? I felt like I knew it, but I couldn't remember its name.

"John, let's get out of here!" Nyfeirg cried out in panic.

Coming back to myself, I found myself marveling at this beast that had only one desire, and that was to eat us for lunch. Immediately, I pulled on the throttle and the bike skated for a few seconds before quickly picking up speed.

It was only afterward that I understood that we had just narrowly escaped death when I felt a strong gust of wind brushing against my back. Looking behind me, I saw the monster regain altitude after having grazed the ground. My hairs began to stand up one after the other while my face bled. I had almost been killed because of my naivety, fortunately, Nyfeirg had had the decency to warn me in time.

However, the lull was short-lived. As Nyfeirg alerted me to a new attack, the monster that had flown away came back again and rushed towards us. However, this time was different. The monster opened its mouth wide and I could see a flaming gleam in the back of its throat. A bad premonition filled my mind and I decided to turn off to the side.

Soon after, I realized that if I hadn't done this, we wouldn't be here anymore. Indeed, as soon as we had been deported, an unbearable heat attacked me from the side. As I looked around, I could see a blazing fire spreading on the ground like a fierce monster devouring everything within its reach, right where we were. The flames had reduced everything to ashes, both the vegetation and the ground which had turned black as coal.

"Wow, this monster can spit fire," I cried out in amazement. "Nyfeirg, we have to get out of here as soon as possible! I don't want to end up like a hot dog..."

Another roar was heard in the sky. Obviously, having avoided death at close quarters had enraged the monster that was chasing us.

"We must find shelter quickly," I murmured. "But where..."

We were getting closer to one of the two rivers and the animals that were there had scattered in panic at the sight of this immense beast that was chasing us.

"What do we do? We're going to get stuck" I exclaimed worriedly.

"Let me do it!"

Without me having to intervene, the motorcycle began to accelerate more and more. I didn't understand what it was trying to do, knowing that the river must be deep enough, I didn't imagine that we were going to be able to ride on the water...

At least that's what I thought. No sooner had we reached the river than the monster had caught up with us and was about to spit fire from the underworld again. At that moment, an incredible thing happened. Nyfeirg, instead of slowing down, speeded up and the motorcycle went into the water but instead of drowning us. she crossed the river as if nothing had happened. The wheels pushed the water back without much difficulty and we were able to cross the river immediately. I also noticed that the level was not as deep as I had imagined. It was quite possible to cross it on foot.

The monster which pursued us also seemed surprised because it did not attack immediately. However, a few seconds later, I could again feel the intense heat burning my back.

In no time at all, we crossed the large body of water and without decelerating for a single moment we rushed into the nearest forest. The monster behind us roared again and gained altitude before hitting the trees.

We continued to drive through the forest while avoiding crashing into the trunks of the trees on our way until the monster's cries disappeared. When we were sure that there was no more danger, I got out of Nyfeirg, but as soon as I had put my feet on the ground, my strength left me. I collapsed immediately, completely drained of my energy.

"John!" Nyfeirg cried out. "Are you all right? Are you hurt somewhere?"

"I'm... I'm all right," I replied half stunned. "I just need... I just need to... I need to come to my senses."

"All right," I said...

Although she nodded, she did not seem convinced. The tone of her voice was slightly shaky. It must be said that I wasn't leading either. It was one of the worst experiences of my life. At least since my second life.

"I thought my heart was going to give out," I confessed as I lay down on the cool floor.

"Me too," Nyfeirg added. "That monster was just plain scary!"

I remembered the recent events and as I did so, a word came out of my mouth.

"Dragon..."

"Dragon?" Nyfeirg wondered. "So that was a dragon?"

I had no other explanation. Since I never read books, I couldn't immediately tell what it was, but I had heard the name somewhere before. Now, everything seemed to clear up and the part of my mind that was fogged up immediately disappeared.

"So that was it... a dragon..." I repeated in a low voice.

I let out a small ironic laugh from my mouth as I realized how close we had come to death.

"I'm sorry, Nyfeirg... I almost got us killed," I confessed with great shame.

"I'm the one who's sorry," she replied despondently. "If I had been quicker, we wouldn't have had to go through this."

I shook my head in protest.

"No, I'm the one who didn't react as I should have... But what can we do about it?"

"I... have no idea," Nyfeirg replied, lost in thought.

Little by little my mind was fading away under the lullaby whispered to me by the wind passing through the trees. I was tired, very tired... I needed to rest for a while.

"John?"

As Nyfeirg called to me, my sight became more and more blurred, and as I struggled to understand her words, darkness took me away.

I would say that I must have slept for several hours because when I opened my eyes, the sky began to turn red. Nyfeirg was still at my side, although she was asleep too. Her headlights were off and I imagined that she must also be exhausted from what we had just gone through.

As I was about to call her, my belly began to rumble. I was very hungry, and I hadn't eaten anything since this morning. So I decided to get something to eat while I waited for my partner to wake up.

I wasn't planning to go very far, but I was hoping that my lucky star would smile at me this time. So I silently walked away, following my instincts, and went where I thought I should go. I obviously had no idea what I was looking for or what I was going to find. What was edible for a human like me? What was dangerous? I knew the water was drinkable, but what about the rest? Apart from that kind of hare-like I had eaten the day before, nothing seemed to satisfy my appetite.

The only thing I hoped not to find was that sharp-toothed wolf that had almost killed me. Fortunately, Nyfeirg had been there, otherwise, I wouldn't be here to talk about it anymore. However, as I was getting away from her, I knew I was putting myself in danger, but I didn't have a choice because if I didn't, I wouldn't find any animals. It was a difficult problem to solve.

As I walked, I could hear the hooting of night birds, most likely owls or something like that, through the woods. And then, in the distance, a roar could be heard again.

The dragon was not far away. Should I turn around and wake Nyfeirg? Something told me that it was not necessary. Moreover, in this thick forest, he would not spot us... At least, I hoped so, otherwise, we would have had no way to escape him and he would be certain that at that moment, only death would be waiting for us. There was no telling to know if I would reincarnate or be transported to another world like this time and even less if Nyfeirg would still follow me. It was even possible that I might simply disappear and go back to nothingness forever.

After a few moments of reflection, I continued to venture into the forest. I was now above a mound where huge ferns were growing. There were also strange plants, taller and wider than me among them and their appearance made me strangely think of these carnivorous plants. It was therefore prudent to get away from them as soon as possible. I had no intention of dying stupidly by being swallowed by one of these disgusting things.

I gently walked around them taking care not to be within their reach and continued on my way.

A little later, as I was walking along a stone path, I heard the ground shaking slightly. I immediately took shelter and looked around. I was afraid it was the dragon that had discovered me. It didn't take me long to realize that it was a herd of animals, the same ones that were by the river, approaching at full speed.

My eyes widened as I saw their impressive numbers. There must have been at least a hundred of them. Everything was shaking around me, it was like a storm that never stopped.

I hid behind a tree and saw the impressive pack of herbivores rushing through the forest in front of me. They looked like deer but were smaller and had three horns instead of two. Besides, their color tended more towards red and orange rather than brown.

Once they had disappeared and calm was restored, I started walking again.

"I would have liked to have tasted one of them," I thought with some disappointment. "I'm sure they would taste better than that strange rabbit..."

Unfortunately, there was no way for me to kill any of them. I had no weapons with me and if I had the misfortune to approach them, I didn't need to have a great imagination to know the tragic fate that would await me.

"This world is much more dangerous than mine... If I am not careful, I may make the slightest mistake," I whispered with conviction.

I promised myself that I would be more careful from now on.

As I continued on my way, I heard a peculiar noise that caught my attention.

"It sounded like... Water? There is water nearby!"

I walked down the stone path from where I was standing and finally came face to face with a spring that flowed abundantly from the heights of a hill. It was a peculiar place and many rocks were surrounding it, which gave it a somewhat mysterious vibe.

The desire to bathe suddenly appeared to me. I had sweated a lot because of this hellish chase and I smelled awful. So I decided to let myself be seduced by the idea and got undressed at full speed before plunging into the cool water.

The contact of the water on my skin was relaxing and even though the temperature was not very high, I finally had the feeling of being clean again, if not less dirty.

"Ah!" I exclaimed with delight. "This water is really good to..."

As I was about to finish my sentence, my body froze abruptly as I opened my eyes in astonishment. Indeed, a naked woman in the middle of the spring was standing in front of me.

The woman looked strange, almost ethereal in the dying daylight. She had long and wavy beige hair, her blue eyes were so clear that they looked like diamonds. Her body was gorgeous, but one peculiar detail intrigued me. On either side of her face, two long, pointed ears popped out of her hair and moved frantically with emotion.

Which race was this woman of?

She had also frozen when she saw me and hid her chest with difficulty. However, I could see that her murderous gaze was falling on me. Worse, It felt that I was the worst monstrosity in these lands.

I stood still, entranced by the idyllic vision in front of me. However, something was telling me that I had better get out of there as soon as possible if I didn't want to die soon. However, I sincerely thought that I had done nothing wrong so far. So, to avoid any misunderstandings, I decided to take the lead.

"Uh... Hi!" I said.