Art itself is a reflection of the world. Yet, within every bloom of beauty lies a seed of destruction.
And to me, humans are that seed.
They corrupt everything they touch. They take what is beautiful, reshape it to satisfy their desires, and leave behind something unrecognisable. I've long stopped pretending to believe otherwise.
As I stood upon the earth, surrounded by nature in all its peaceful splendour, I couldn't help but admire its passivity. The trees stood silently, the water flowed without complaint, and the wind moved freely through the leaves.
Nature was beautiful.
Peaceful.
Unable to fight back.
But my attention wasn't on any of that.
I was staring at the grotesque thing before me.
A twisted, man-made abomination.
A hybrid monstrosity with the fangs of a tiger and the elongated body of a serpent. Its enormous frame emerged from the waterfall, water cascading down its scales as it slowly raised its head.
Its eyes met mine.
For a moment, neither of us moved.
I already knew what came next.
Either I killed it, or it killed me.
It was always that simple.
I examined my options, although calling them options was rather generous. I had two knives, a broken sense of self-preservation and an opponent that possessed practically every advantage in its environment.
The beast had the water.
It had the speed.
And judging by its size, it probably had enough strength to turn my body into something resembling a crushed tomato.
Wonderful.
I needed to get it out of the waterfall. Fighting it in the water would be foolish, especially when I had no idea what it was capable of.
So, I needed to make the first move.
I tightened my grip around one of my knives, adjusted my stance and aimed directly for its eyes.
Then I threw.
The blade cut through the air with almost perfect accuracy.
Almost.
The beast moved.
It dodged with such ridiculous speed that the knife passed through the space where its head had been a fraction of a second earlier.
I barely had time to register what had happened.
A shadow appeared beside me.
Its tail.
A towering, nine-foot mass of muscle swung towards my right side, moving with enough force to make the surrounding air tremble.
I tried to react.
Too late.
The impact was devastating.
My body was launched sideways, the force sending me crashing through the air. I heard several sharp cracks as my bones gave way beneath the blow.
Pain erupted through my right side.
My arm was out of place.
Useless.
As always, my body was a liability.
I really needed a better one.
Still, there was no time to complain.
I gritted my teeth, grabbed my injured arm and forced it back into position.
CRACK.
The pain was immediate, but I ignored it.
Good enough.
I was still alive.
And that was all that mattered.
As my body continued travelling through the air, I realised I had very little control over my momentum. The beast had sent me flying, and the distance between us was increasing.
But perhaps that wasn't entirely a bad thing.
I twisted my body.
Then I spun.
My free hand tightened around the remaining knife as I adjusted my position, turning my fall into a controlled rotation. My body became a blade in motion, cutting through the air as I prepared to meet the creature head-on.
The beast screeched.
It seemed almost startled by my refusal to remain helpless.
Then it launched itself after me.
Its enormous body surged forward, water exploding behind it as it pursued. Its tail began glowing a menacing red, the light spreading across its scales like molten metal.
Interesting.
So it had another trick.
I couldn't afford to find out what it was.
Not here.
Not now.
All that mattered was Elizabeth.
The one person in this miserable existence who kept me sane. The only reason I hadn't embraced the sweet release of death.
I had to return to her.
I had to see her again.
The forest, the water, the wind...
Everything around us became irrelevant noise.
There was no time to appreciate the scenery or contemplate the absurdity of my situation.
There was only the beast.
And me.
Two forces hurtling towards one another, each carrying enough destructive intent to turn the coming collision into a catastrophe.
Meanwhile, in a different part of this vast environment, Elizabeth stood surrounded by an entirely different set of circumstances.
She was a vision of beauty, the sort of woman whose presence could effortlessly draw the attention of those around her.
Her skin possessed a warm caramel complexion, glowing beneath the natural light. Her rich, voluminous hair cascaded around her shoulders, framing her features with an effortless elegance. Her figure was equally striking, and even in the unfamiliar surroundings, she carried herself with a confidence that made her difficult to overlook.
Yet, unlike those who might have been distracted by the beauty of their surroundings, Elizabeth had little interest in admiring the scenery.
Her attention was fixed on the obstacle standing before her.
Her body began to glow as she prepared herself, the energy surrounding her growing increasingly intense.
She looked ahead, visibly irritated.
"GET OUT OF MY WAY! LET ME GO FIND MY SON BEFORE HE DOES SOMETHING CRAZY!"
Her voice rang through the surroundings.
Whatever this challenge was supposed to be, Elizabeth clearly had other priorities.
And somewhere in this vast, unfamiliar environment, Michael was about to discover that surviving his first encounter might be considerably harder than he had anticipated.
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