A Chance to Live

Chapter 7: Lounge Lizard

     I opened my jaws, aiming at his neck. My stomach roared at the chase, and was happy it was going to be filled. Blood came to my mouth without warning, and suddenly all my muscles in my upper half of my body stopped working as I tumbled to the ground.

     When I finally realized I had my eyes closed I slowly lifted the lids, only for pain to shoot through them. I ignored it as I looked for the deer, which were nowhere to be found. I tried to smell their scent, but they were long gone. Trying to get up proved to be difficult, for every time I moved something in my body, it either felt limp or the muscles practically exploded.

     The fogginess still hadn't receded from my vision. In fact, it stayed there. This confused me to no end, with my eyes pulsing with strain to keep them open.

     "What is going on," I moaned fearfully, "and why is my vision not returning to normal?"

     I got no response. Hearing the snapping of a twig, I looked over to see a dark and furry figure looming in the shadows, and something about it reminded me of a wolf, but this was no wolf. Its maw was covered in blood, its golden eyes piercing my own as they lit up like they reflected the sun's very own light.

     I let out a throaty growl at the creature, and its glare harshened before it responded in kind. I reared up on my legs and stood up as high as I could, ignoring the pleas from my legs to stop. Screeching at the beast, my breath felt as if it was swelling up like a stomach.

     Once again bile built up in my throat and invaded my mouth, and I was forced onto weak knees as my body collapsed, quivering with unknown fear. When I opened my eyes the figure was no longer there, just the wind blowing against my scales in eerie silence.

     Many minutes passed, and the atmosphere became more dense as time continued on. The sudden urge to lie down and take another nap rose in my mind like a bird, and I felt happy to do so. Shaking my head in disbelief, I trudged off through the forest with this feeling of impending doom that I couldn't shake off.

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     I awoke in a surrounding habitat of metal, and I grunted in disapproval. The light struck my eyes weirdly, and everything appeared grayish. Drained. Glassy. I felt my head throb, but no pain came as a result. My soul felt unstable and yet contained at the same time. My thoughts slow and unprocessed, my brain fogged with confusion and fear.

     My ears pulsed. Echoed. Ringed. Even my own thinking was set in a strange sort of focus. Spinning.Twirling. My mouth felt weak and unsupported, and my claws shaped in unsharp fingers. Rounded. Dull. My eyes narrowed at strange feelings of want. Listening. Longing.

     It was then that I noticed the twinging in my ears was sound. Somebody was speaking. To whom? My answer not provided easily, the coverings on my eyes lifted to reveal myself in a poorly lit room. Small, but in whatever small eyes that I was peeking out of, it was the biggest room I had ever seen.

     A figure emerged from the shadows, claws dug into the metal floor. The orbs that were its eyes glowed ominously, but it seemed almost comforting to me. Calming. Peaceful. He approached me, and his complexion looked similar to my own, even the stance in which he was in.

     He barked at me, echoing in my ears again. It sounded familiar, and my brain surged within my knowledge to find out what, or whom, this one was. It wouldn't have mattered, as I was entranced in his movement. Something about him called to me.

     My body involuntarily stepped forward, my limbs shivering. The scales on my body seemed missing, and I felt alone when I was not. Ignored. Neglected. I approached him with uncertainty, to which he just cocked his head at me. I stopped, feeling intrusive of something I wasn't sure about.