Stray Elf: Lost in the System

—Months ago—

I remember falling. Something heavy drove its way into my skull, and a rush of pain crashed over me in waves. Amidst all the confusion and darkness, I struggled with my surroundings. Each time I opened my eyes, a new scene slammed itself in my view.

In the first vision, I awoke shivering in a horrible freezing storm. It felt like my gut had something ripped out of it, and an ominous glowing sphere hung far above me. Did I fall from that? Blinding snow whipped my face as I tried to make sense of it all. Every bone in my body felt like it was broken. Lifting my arm and struggling to get up, I realized it was covered in purple and blue hues along with icicles. My ears registered a snap. To my horror my arm shattered and I felt nothing at all. I screamed and someone's heavy boot made its way towards me.

The second vision I had was too blurry, but in my daze my bare feet felt wood. I was swaying back and forth slowly, but I could not see. I could hear, at least. Thunder and waves crashed against this place. I was on a ship made of wood? Why did I think that seemed so antiquated? The rattling of chains scraping against each other rocked me, and I realized they were wrapped around my legs. Who am I? Where was I going? Was I a prisoner? I was about to let out a scream, when someone's hand grabbed my throat and pulled me into a sea of unconsciousness.

My vision became less blurry, but the headache remained. Someone was shaking me, and as my vision cleared it was definitely not human. I screamed. The ugly face looked relieved to see me alive. Why? I tried to move, but a pounding pain struck my head.

"You're alive!" The creature's voice laughed. "Easy, rookie, you just took a blow to the face! I'll get you up."

As more of my consciousness pieced itself together, I heard bloodcurdling screams and the distinct sound of metals clashing. I was in a battle! I frantically tried to move, but my body was being lifted up. The beast that helped me up pat my shoulders, then slammed a heavy object in my hands. A real sword? What the hell?

"You look like you've forgotten everything," he snorted, but realized the possibility that I did. "Welcome back to hell, rookie. Let's get back to work!"

Suddenly, I felt the heat and weight of my surroundings. This was not a vision! Was I actually in hell? I turned to the beast, but he was long gone. The fray was a flurry of flailing limbs and blood. I heard a war cry rushing towards me. A human!

"Hey!" I croaked, but the man did not cease his charge. "D-Don't swing!"

"Fah, Sah!" He screamed in an unknown language, slashing at me with his sword.

I swore. It appeared to me that this man, and the many others that looked like him, were my enemies. As his sword clanged with mine, I realized my body seemed to know what it was doing on its own. I felt like I was two people fighting for control over one body. This man's strikes were savage, but I let the old person who used to be inside this body handle the work and wait for an opening. As he swung down, I caught his face with my blade. He collapsed without a sound, with a red hole in his helmet.

My hands shook so violently that I dropped the sword. Have I ever killed a person before? Someone pat my back, startling me. I was still in the battle! I clamored for my sword again, but wrenching it out of the dead man's face made me feel sick. Laughter filled my backside, and I turned to see it was the beast again.

"Good, it looks like that side of you is still in ya, rookie," he grinned and sat back, resting his feet on the man I just slew. "Battle's soon to close. Us Tusks can take it easy and let them do all the work."

"R-Right," I stammered, clutching my sword close to my chest and shaking as I sat beside him. The battle did not seem like it would move towards us and this beast did not seem like he was an enemy, so I forced myself to resign and attempt to figure things out for myself. The sky was turning orange, and I saw that there were two small suns sinking into the horizon. How ominous, I thought to myself as we sat in silence. And then seven moons came into view through the purple night sky.

I was truly in a different world. My nose twitched as the acrid and disgusting smell of what I assumed was death assailed my nostrils, but I could not escape it. As I was smothered by the clouds of stench, something else clogged my vision, and a surge of energy jolted within me.

Status: Initiating...

"What was that?" I could have sworn I heard a voice! No sooner than I asked that question, my vision returned to normal.

"You'll get used to it," the beast next to me relaxed, but cracked an eye open and saw my twitching nose. He smirked. "The smell gets good. It's like, some say, the smell of victory. Ha!"

Something was entirely wrong. Did I die and end up here?