Genesis (old draft)

Chapter 2: First Discoveries

The next thing I felt was cold.

A biting cold that made me shiver uncontrollably. As I opened my eyes, awaking from my slumber, I realized I'd been sleeping without any clothes, which then reminded me of yesterday's events. Knowing I should save my pondering for later, I put on what clothing I could, picked up the spear from earlier, and set out for home.

When I reached my house, a small four room cabin with a garage, I immediately turned up the heat, put on some new clothes, and sat down for a while to warm up. Once I got comfortable, I picked up the spear and gave it a closer examination. It was completely metallic, yet lighter than it looked. It still wouldn't have been practical in battle, perhaps it was ceremonial. That would make sense, as there were also numerous markings and runes going up and down the spear's shaft. I couldn't read them, unfortunately, so I went over to my laptop to look them up.

I searched quite a while for the symbols, but the information evaded me. I'd decided to try again later, because I remembered how I'd planned to sell the bear. So I re-bundled myself, got into my truck, and drove.

When I reached the bear's carcass once again, I set to work. There was a special rope and pulley system in my truck that aided me in dragging large loads onto the truck bed. So I hooked the ropes into the body, turned on the power, and got the bear on. I then drove home, dragged the bear onto a large table in my garage (the one I use for preparing my game), and looked at it. I'd still been wondering why that bear acted so strangely. Out and about in the dead of winter, not attacking me at first? Well that last bit is something I will always be thankful for. He generally was just acting smarter (or dumber) than most bears were, and I wanted to know why.

I contemplated further whether or not I wanted to prepare the dead beast for sale. I decided to try something before doing so. I held up the spear and touched it to the bear.

Suddenly the spear and the bear glowed, some of the markings on the spear rearranged themselves, then the bear was absorbed into the weapon in a brilliant flash of light. The spear then glowed brightly and abruptly before jolting me with energy as it had before. I watched as a grew an alabaster coat of fur, tough, sharp claws, green, scaly skin on my forearms, and talons slicing through my boots. Then came pain. My head aches terribly, and I felt as if the bone in my skull had grown out of control and pierced my skin. My mouth and lips hardened excruciatingly as if they'd become bone. My skin stang as if dozens of needles had punctured me from the inside.

After a while the painful changes had finished. I hobbled to my bathroom to look in the mirror. I saw that I had long, dark, tough looking horns, a large, hooked beak, and feathers that ridged all along my arms and legs. The sight horrified me for a moment, staring in awe at what I'd become.

I needed to find out what exactly that spear was capable of... and I needed to do so quickly.