Discordant Note | TBATE

Chapter 2: A Hike in Another World

Scratch that, was my knowledge of the future even worth anything? If Multiverse Theory was true, then I could be in a timeline different from the one I purportedly knew of. I had felt a measure of security once I somewhat settled into the idea I was in another world because I knew the world well. But did I truly know this world?

After all, Lady Dawn shouldn't be alive.

She was an asura; a phoenix from Epheotus. In the novel, Agrona had captured her innumerable years ago, then allowed Cecilia–the Legacy–to drain her of her mana, killing the phoenix and leaving her a husk.

If my knowledge of the future held any weight, why was she with me?

I noticed my spiraling thoughts and clamped down on them, hard. If there was anything I knew, it was that I needed to maintain control. Control of myself. These questions could be answered later when I wasn't in a monstrous forest that would maybe–probably–try and eat me alive once darkness set in.

I had to slow down as shadow encroached on the world, the night stretching her grasp over the sky. I took more measured steps now, trying to avoid making too much noise. I wasn't as successful as I hoped.

It was by a stroke of luck that I noticed the mana beast first. I heard a light rustling, and I froze in my tracks like a deer in the headlights. Rescanning my surroundings revealed a nearby clearing where a few of the rat-lizards snuffed about. They were a strange mix of brownish-green, with smatterings of scales across their bodies. They were each about as big as a medium-sized dog, with claws that I knew to be razor sharp on each of their limbs.

They hadn't noticed me yet.

Slowly, carefully, I began to try and tiptoe my way around. Sweat beaded on my brow as I forcefully calmed my breathing. I didn't want to fight these things. They had already killed this body once: they could do it again.

I was almost past the clearing when one of the rat-lizards began to sniff the air. My blood pressure spiked as it began to turn towards me slowly, following its nose. I took a hasty step backward, and with my horrid luck, snapped a twig.

The rat-lizards turned their beady eyes to me with a predatory gleam.

I ran, bolting as fast as my legs could carry me. I could hear the creatures following me, a strange mix of squeak and snarl emitting from their misshapen snouts. I didn't feel confident fighting these things, not as I was.

They were gaining on me, however. My legs weren't as long as I was used to, and while this body certainly had better cardio than my old one considering I was still moving, my two legs struggled to outrun the four legs of the beasts behind me.

I heard a break in the snarling, and I just barely managed to weave out of the way of a tree as one of the rat-lizards leaped at me. The creature slammed facefirst into the trunk with a satisfying crunch, but the edges of its claws had managed to trail across my left bicep. The cut burned, leaking a stream of blood as I continued to book it across the forest.

Clenching my teeth against the pain, I grabbed a handful of rocks from my pouch. Twisting lightly to look behind me, I chucked a few small pebbles back, adding a push from my telekinesis just as they left my hand. It created the loose equivalent of a shotgun shell, accelerating the rocks from my throw with a wave of force.

The pebbles battered two of the rat-lizards, opening small wounds and scrapes across their bodies as the stones impacted. My monstrous pursuers stumbled, allowing me to gain more distance. My breathing grew more haggard, but a bead of hope sprouted in my chest. If I could damage these things enough to ward them off, I'd make it out alive.

A break in the treeline in the distance caused that sprout to blossom. Was that the edge of the forest? Had I finally gotten out?

I picked up speed, ignoring the burning in my legs with the energy only adrenaline could provide. I was almost free!