《Where am I?》


 Chapter 1 - Arrival

    There was no sense of confusion as I found myself standing in the middle of an empty room, a fact that would confuse me later on.


    Surely there should have been some sense of disconnection? Some reaction to the strangeness of things? But no, I remember feeling it was all... expected.


    Everything was as it should be.


    I was a different person then, in that distant few moments ago, filled with a boundless confidence in myself and in the rightness of the situation. I even felt... jubilation? I had succeeded!


    This did not last long though, or at least I don''t think it did? Time is hard to tell in a windowless, lightless room after all.


    I stood in that spot for some time, expectant of something. I don''t know why, not anymore, but clearly something was supposed to happen. Should have happened.


    The feeling of sinking confidence is one of the sharpest emotions I have had since appearing here. That sense of self-belief had overwhelmed me before, it had defined me; it had perhaps numbed me to the isolation of the moment and its weirdness.


    The loss of confidence finally bought about the confusion with the situation, a sudden grasping for memory, for context that I suddenly realised utterly refused to come.


    I spent a moment standing there, trying to realise what was wrong, and failing to remember what was right. I sat down after an endless while, doing my best to remember... something. What was my name? Anything.


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    Or to at least regain the sense of certainty I had a moment before! I suddenly realised how comforting it had been, not to feel the need to question.


    But I couldn''t. it was gone, and it left me... as I am now. Questioning, confused, isolated and in the dark.


    I am alone, in a dark and silent room.


    ... Where am I?


    ________________________________________


    Welcome to my fiction. :)


    This story is a concept I have been working on for a while. It is a sandbox adventure where I will provide several options to vote on per chapter. The character will then act on the one with the highest votes, for good or for ill.


    I am new at writing so don''t expect a masterwork, and the nature of this kind of story means it will likely turn into a mess. There will be times when the votes will be interpreted in a way other than what you expected when you voted, and there is little I can do about that.


    All I ask is that you join me on the trip, you stay respectful in the comments and enjoy the ride. :)

 Chapter 2 - My Body, My Self

    Before all else I should first know myself, where I stand in the world and who I am. This tenet is a pure one, and feels right and true. Without a set point how can I truly know what is around me?


    Still sitting on the cold ground I reach out with a hand and touch the other, glad after a moment that I do seem to have hands. Each finger is long and straight, with no calluses or scars that I can feel. I feel that they are large but not massive, strong but still pliant and graceful.


    After a moment I run my hands up my arms, memorising the flow of movement as I form a mental image of my body.


    Two arms, good, though I feel silly for that thought a moment later. It should have been expected after noting two hands after all.


    I note that my arms are strong and muscular, but not swollen with unnecessary muscle but firm and with reasonable definition. I also realise I am hairless and my skin is soft, smooth like a child but with a solidity and surety that suggests adulthood and masculinity.


    My chest is just as defined, but also as smooth and scarless as my arms. This seems wrong somehow but like my other memories I am unsure why and I allow it to fall into the rest of the confusion over the situation.


    I touch my face, finding a strong chin with cheekbones that could cut glass. Like the rest of me my face lacks hair and a swipe against my cheek shows that I lack even the faint stubble of the recently shaved.


    Sliding my hands up further I feel my scalp, and am glad to find hair. Trying to pull out a strand to measure its length I find it tied up elaborately. I loosen what I assume is a braid with some difficulty and find it stretches surprisingly long, reaching the floor where I sit and perhaps a bit further. Each strand is silky and smooth but when I yank at a strand I fail to remove even a bit, suggesting surprising strength.


    Travelling down now I feel my lower abdomen, flat with a ripple of abs, before finding sign of manhood that is hard to ignore. It is as hairless as the rest of me, which fills me with a slight sense of discomfort before the realisation that I am completely naked comes to mind.


    I steadfastly put that thought aside for now though, not having finished exploring my form nor having any way to rectify the situation anyway.


    My legs hold no secrets, matching my arms and torso in their strength and strange smoothness.


    From my position sitting on the ground I lift my left foot, stretching it easily to where I would be looking at the underside should there be light to see it, my fingers travelling over it like feelers. Like my hands it utterly lacks the callouses of hard work or even daily life, even the small tough parts that mere walking would normally create are simply missing.


    Lowering my food I ponder what I have learned of myself.


    Clearly I come from some wealth or pleasure, or I would not lack the signs of hard work. However this contradicts with the fact that my body is defined and strong, things that only that very work would normally gain it. It is also smoother than I feel it should be even then, lacking the small nicks and scars that normally come with life.


    Does this mean¡­ it hasn¡¯t had any life to live so far? Could I be some kind of newborn? A construct of some kind formed from magic?


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    No moment of clarity comes at this, and so after a time I decide to stand and continue my investigation.


    Perhaps in movement I can learn more of myself?


    At the thought of movement I instinctively think of battle and training, and fall into a basic stance, standing seemingly at rest with my left hand forward and held as though it were a blade. Belying the casual look I feel my insides twist and prepare, each line of my body perfectly enhancing what is to come.


    After a moment to center and without thought I step forward, my hand moving down in a slicing motion that is at once slow and fast. It strikes toward an invisible foe before me. After this moment it turns in mid air, my body twisting to the left as my right leg rises facilitating a stab across my torso with the same arm, one that would come at a difficult to avoid angle.


    Another slash, a thrust and a leap backward! In mid air I allow myself to spin into an effortless flip before landing on the balls of my feet with hand still extended as if to counter a blow before turning the counter into a full body thrust!


    It all feels¡­ smooth and natural. A set of actions that have been performed before and often, to the point where even ¡®muscle memory¡¯ is too mild a word to suggest how innately they are a part of my being.


    I continue the set of moves, each feeling easy and slow but also¡­ lacking something. I also feel myself growing sore and tired, the moves that were so easy before clearly beginning to put strain on this body of mine.


    But I shall not stop due to such a thing, for that is not who I am. Instead I respond to the pain by increasing the speed and power of the blows, slicing the air with my extended arm, dodging increasingly powerful illusory foes!


    ¡­ and then my leg cramps, my arm fails to enter its intended capacity and I am overcome by the harshness of a leap. The entire set of movements collapse and I fall, a tangle of painful and sweaty limbs as I collapse to the floor.


    I land hard, scraping myself on the cold floor of the lightless room and sliding what I assume to be several feet.


    Panting for a moment I just lie there in a moment of shock and suffering. I touch my left side and arm, the location that took the brunt of the fall, and feel a trickle of blood on my fingers. I feel the tatters of torn skin, no longer smooth.


    I feel indignant, that my body would collapse after only this much! That merely tripping would cause me to hurt! To bleed!


    The humiliation¡­


    I return to a seated position, feeling the slight dampness on the cold ground, a warm damn contrast to the dry chill of this place.


    Centering myself, I again try to take stock.


    I am naked, strong and fragile at the same time and male. I am not who I was before, a fact I know despite lacking knowledge of who I longer seem to be. I am skilled in a martial art that I am simultaneously unable to properly use and have no memory of learning.


    And the event that was to come¡­ has still failed to come to pass.


    ___________________________________


    Three votes. That is three more than I feared I would get, so I have no complaints. :)


    Sadly no Blue Boxes so far. But who knows, they could come?

 Chapter 3 - The Room

    Votes:


    Explore the room: 2


    Go to Sleep: 1


    Explore Memories/Mind: 1


    __________________________________


    Feeling more centered after getting to know myself I consider my next step. The desire to explore my mind, to try to piece things together somehow, is very strong. However there is little point in doing so while in a situation of potential danger. It could even be considered self-indulgent.


    What is the point of knowing where I came from if I am immediately devoured by a beast?


    Leaning forward I fall onto my hands and knees, sore palms sliding across the floor curiously. The ground is cool and hard, as painfully discovered during my fall, but closer inspection shows it is not completely flat. Faint waves and creases in the floor suggest something more raw like cut stone.


    I move forward, feeling for the edge of what I assume to be a stone block, but even travelling several meters fails to find any such thing. It is as though the entire floor was made from a single massive stone, carved into the shape of a floor.


    With infinite patience and a strong sense of personal location and direction I continue moving forward at a slow and deliberate pace, careful to miss nothing.


    After moving perhaps twenty feet forward my fingers finally touch something, and with a movement upward my assumption is found to be correct; A wall is ahead, made from the same shaped stone as the floor and my probing fingers confirm it is connected to the floor without joint or gap. It seems this part of the wall at least is carved out of the same stone as the floor.


    I crouch as I move my hand upward, then stand extending upward while trying to touch the roof. I fail to make contact, suggesting a high ceiling above me. A leap and swipe but this also fails to provide contact. With nothing to stand on and this body too weak to leap more than a half dozen feet in the air I abandon this part of the exploration until later, just hoping there is nothing above to threaten me.


    Still standing I put my left hand on the wall and begin walking along it, tracing the length of the wall for at least twenty meters before hitting a corner. I continue along that wall as well, finding no gaps or breaks in the surface, nothing other than the same waves and creases to prove that I am moving at all.


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    I finish the next wall before finding myself back on the original, my mental map measuring the room to be approximately a square twenty meters to the side, and am beginning to think this room had no exit before finally finding something new just a few meters to the left of my starting point.


    My hand comes to an edge, one sharp enough to almost cut my hand as it travels across it and in to the gap beyond. The edge leads to a dip perhaps a meter deep and two meters wide, extended hands show the gap is rectangular in shape and a leaping grab teaches it is perhaps ten feet high.


    Brushing my hand over the stone within the gap itself I have to swallow my excitement at finally having broken the monotony of the room. Finally I had found a hint of a means to escape, one I had not expected to be so very easy.


    Investigation shows that while most of what I assume to be a door is flat like the walls there is a definite gap at the sides and below, proving it to be artificial or at least separate from the rest of the room so far. There is also a deep groove like handhold on the left hand side of the feature, which is likely supposed to be used to shift it.


    I am about to do just that when I pause, wary of what might be on the other side. Could this be a trap, and having opened the door I will be attacked?


    Letting go of the handle for a moment I consider my options.


    Perhaps I should search the room more, to find some kind of light source at least? Few would make a room with no windows without at least some kind of ability to provide vision.


    Or I could swallow my paranoia and simply open the door, hoping for light on the other side?


    ¡­ I could instead take a far more aggressive stance. I am clearly a powerful martial artist, and could likely simply destroy the stone. If I send its shards flying at those on the other side of the door then that added to my sudden appearance should give me an advantage against anyone there. If they are not hostile before though they would be now.


    Hmm¡­ What to do...

 Chapter 4 - Illumination

    I raise an arm, seriously considering just breaking through the doorway with a show of overwhelming force but¡­ no. I cannot allow my pride to drive my actions, not when I am in this naked and weakened state.


    Stepping away from the door is difficult though, mostly due to the difficulty in assuring myself it is from caution and prudence not fear.


    I turn stiffly toward the center of the room, though pointless without light it is a symbolic in its own way, I firm the decision to first complete a search of this area before I even consider outside of it.


    Bringing up my mental map of the room I note that I awoke in approximately the center of the twenty by twenty meter space. It is hard to judge this as fact due to my previous martial arts practice and the disorientating darkness but it seems to be true. I had encountered nothing when walking directly south of that, or when walking along the outer walls so those areas at least are ruled out.


    Perhaps there was something to the north of where I awoke? An altar or pedestol of some kind?


    I step directly away from the door, heading northward toward the other end of the room. My heart stutters for a moment as I lose contact with the reassurance of the wall and step into the dark void of the room, but I will lot allow such uncertainty stop me. I am better than that, and I am capable of walking in a straight line at the very least.


    Extending a hand like a feeler I walk in slow measured steps, expecting to find nothing but hoping regardless. ¡­ I am disappointed though when all I find is the opposite wall, just as cold as it was when I entered.


    I turn and lean backward into the solid comfort of the wall as I look into the darkness of its center. I reconsider the room''s design and wonder if there might be something to the left or right of the room, but eventually decide to put that aside for now. Performing a grid search of the room would take too long, and while I am confident in my ability to walk in a straight line I am not that confident. I will leave that option for when other avenues have failed.


    What other options have I?


    Feeling the cold stone under my palm, I begin to wonder. Usually torches and other light fixtures are laid on the wall itself, aren¡¯t they? Though I felt nothing during my walk around, perhaps I was simply looking too low..?


    Turning I reach out with my left hand, stretching it upward along the cool surface. Somehow I am more confident in this search than in the walk across the room, a surity that was a lacking making me expect results here. After a moment though I am disappointed, the feeling stronger than it probably should be by now.


    After a moment of pique I sigh and gather myself, and turn to return to the door when I pause and¡­ step slightly to the right. Returning my hand to the wall, I reaching up again and almost as if lead to it¡­ I feel a bump in the wall.


    I exalt as I grip at the bump, enfolding its palm sized form in my hand. It is smooth but not quite perfectly round, feeling closer to egg shaped and with slight inconsistencies as though it were a poorly made drop of glass.


    Twisting and brushing it does nothing, but I somehow know that this is the answer to the light problem. I just need to make it¡­


    [Awaken.]


    A jolt of power flows from me and into the stone, like a spark of flame from flint. And like the spark it seems to catch something within the stone, creating a small flame within it and bringing light to this new existence for the first time.


    The stone is a small one, slightly smaller than the palm of my hand and seemingly pushed into the hard rock of the wall itself. It looks like some kind of dirty brown glass blown by an unskilled crafter, it''s only impressive quality being the tiny pale white flame I had ignited within its center, the tiny thing illuminating the area around it.


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    The light is a gentle one, just slightly brighter than a candle. But any light is better than none, and in this otherwise pitch darkness it shines like a beacon.


    Looking around I take in the room.


    As previous exploration had shown it is a twenty by twenty cube of stone seemingly carved out of the center of a massive stone by a crazed sculptor. The room is utterly empty except for the arch of the entrance, the doorway it leads to and the stones much like the one I just ignited. Each of the stones seem to have been placed around the room in a haphazard way as if by a lazy crafter with immense strength simply pushed them into the stone walls as an afterthought.


    Looking down at myself I note my initial inspection was correct, I am clearly a strong if young male. My skin is a pale white, nearly to the point of albinism, and utterly hairless and almost unmarked. A lock of my hair shows a great deal of contrast, its dark brown color, a near black in this dim light, simply makes my skin seem even paler.


    Also providing a sharp contrast, and the only thing marriing my skin, is the red colored blood slowly hardening on my side and palms from my previous fall, the dim brown-white light making it seem closer to mud than to any true red.


    Not willing to break the one light I had by meddling with it I head to the next closest stone and reach up to touch it, once again Awakening it with a touch of that inner fire. It is effortless to send out the spark this time, an instinct as simple as breathing, but I feel slightly dizzy afterward. It has created an empty feeling in a way that feels unfamiliar. The light ignites though, showing a stone slightly greener than the other, wrapped in swirls of yellow, but filled with the same tiny but precious illumination of flame.


    Touching it I feel it for a moment before gripping it and, with a yank, pull the stone from the wall with surprising ease. It is cool orb, the flame within seemingly generating no heat. It is surprisingly heavy for its size, perhaps about the same as lead?


    I look to the door before looking back at the walls, briefly considering taking the other stones too. But they are going nowhere, and I feel an instinctual fear of spending too many of those sparks of power. They are clearly in limited supply and already I feel weakened by just the few I have spent.


    Taking the small light I head back to the door, considering what to do from here.


    With my current weakness the idea of attacking the door now seems foolish. In retrospect I doubt I could have truly destroyed it, not in my current form. Any such attempt would likely harm only my hand and what little remains of my pride.


    But that does not mean I should simply open it and step out. Why leave my fate to trust in unknown others, ones who could have had something to do with my current position?


    Perhaps I should douse the light in my palm, using darkness to conceal myself as I exit? It would give me a moment to grasp the situation at least before deciding on my next actions.


    This could be seen as suspicious though, leading to future trouble. There is something to be said for simply leaving with confidence, light in hand. Facing those outside with pride and aplomb could make a better first impression.


    Then again there is a danger in taking a moment once I leave to assess. Perhaps I should simply dive from the doorway at a dead run? If I flee out of the immediate area then any traps laid would be foiled. I would have to swallow my pride a little to do something so cowardly, but better a live coward than a dead king.

 Chapter 5 - Doors and Armordillos

    My hand, holding the flame-touched stone, grips the groove in the door as I shake off all thoughts of fleeing. I am a warrior, proud and sure hearted, I will not flee in the face of the unknown.


    It is better to die on one''s feet than to live eternally on your knees.


    As I touch the cool stone though I feel the twinges of pain from my scrapes and pause, reality forcing me to take a moment to reassess this decision. Clearly my skills as a warrior are not what they were or I would not have fallen and harmed myself as I did. Unwarranted pride can only lead to misfortune and death. How many young geniuses die from this great enemy?


    With a deep sigh I lower my hand, taking a moment to consider my options and go over my plans once more. What can I do that I have not yet done to improve my chances?


    Immediately I look down at the little light in my palm, shining gaily in the gloom and feeling somehow precious. Initially I thought such a thing would be a boon, allowing me to see my foes. But when I reconsider perhaps that is just my mind seeking comfort at the cost of danger? Perhaps I should truly dim this for now so that my exit doesn¡¯t flare for those outside? They may miss a doorway opening but if it is as dark out there as it is in here then this light will draw eyes like nothing else I could possibly do.


    I run my thumb over it trying to figure out how to turn off its luster. I am wary of succeeding too well though, concerned that if I am not careful I may turn it off in a more permanent way than I might wish. I shake this thought from my mind though, there are other unlit stones I can replace this with if so, and I shouldn¡¯t make problems for myself when I have enough already.


    [Slumber]


    After intoning what seems appropriate I wait, hoping that would do something to quiet the light, but nothing happens. Clearly there is more to it than mere words.


    Thinking back to that spark I try to feel for the same energy within the stone and myself, and after a moment I faintly feel it. It is different, harsher than what left me and somehow¡­ foreign. But I can clearly feel the power within the flame.


    I try to quench it, in the same way I pushed energy in before, but feel resistance. The flame may have been lit by me, but clearly it is sustained by the stone itself. Like a spark from flint used to start an inferno, it will take more than another spark to contain the blaze since it has had time to feed and grow.


    Like instinct I try to simply draw the light out instead of simply ending it and feel it flow back into me, with some effort. I can feel it wants to but it requires something, a trigger of some kind. Once again I speak¡­


    [Consume]


    Immediately it has effect and I wince, the flame within flowing into me with a heat that had been lacking from the stone itself. It enters my veins through the hand I am using to hold it, flowing through my body like itchy scalding water and making me feel very uncomfortable.


    I open my eyes as the pain settles and begins to recede, realising the light from my palm has faded only the light on the wall remains. I consider quenching that one as well, but the memory of pain and the dimness of its glow make me decide not to. I am not afraid of pain when needed, but I am no masochist to suffer without good reason.


    Turning to the door, pitch dark now with only the tiny light on the other side of the room to illuminate, I grip the groove and push.


    I feel movement, but it is a minor thing. This door is clearly heavy, little more than a giant stone placed in the way. I push on it more and feel it shift slightly before settling back where it was.


    Continuing to push for a moment with no results I pant, then stop, shaking the ache from my hands and arms and loosening up my body for a second attempt.


    This time I approach the door in the center, pushing directly outward. It is clearly the right move, the door shifting noticeably as I push. It shifts outward a few inches, then a foot. Light pours in from above then, almost startling me enough to stop, but then momentum takes its course and the doorway falls outward and down to the ground.


    BOOOOOOM!


    The massive stone door falls to the ground with a thump, erasing any benefits of stealth I may have considered.


    I squint as the noonday light suddenly fills my vision, nearly blinding after the dim illumination inside the sealed room.


    A crisp and cool wind blows past me as it flows into the formerly sealed room, smelling of trees and nature as well as the musky scent of animals and murkiness of recent rain.


    Looking around as my eyes adjust I see a clearing outside the fallen doorway, perhaps fifty feet long and thirty wide, full of undisturbed wild grasses and flowers. Trees fill the edges of the clearing with no roads or paths obvious among them.


    But those things can be studied more later. More immediately noteworthy is that I am not alone.


    Startled by the falling door and staring toward me in wary alertness are three strange creatures. Quadrupedal and lizard like, the creatures are covered in a shell made from interwoven plates, each surprisingly uniform in size and shape as they form a long bowl shape on their backs. Their snouts  out front are long and mouths full of a near random assortment of teeth, most of them very visible as they snarl at me in their startled anger. Their claws are small and harmless looking, clearly used more against bugs and dirt than as weapons.


    Wary, I try to decide if there is something I can do to avoid a fight with these creatures. That armor looks problematic to deal with, and even without it they are each about the size of my waist even on all fours, giving them a massive advantage in mass and power.


    Before I can run or even retreat backward further into the room the frontmost creature, which appears to be the alpha of the small group, decides I am clearly a threat to it and its territory and charges toward me.


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    Rather than just running though it does something strange, falling forward and rolling itself into a kind of wheel, showing the use of those uniform plates as it bites its own tail and begins to spin toward me at ever increasing speed! It starts about thirty meters from me, and after about ten its speed begins to tear up the grass, the friction of its movement too much for the sod and grass to deal with!


    My choices are simple. Step back into the room or step out and battle it in the open.


    It is an easy decision though. The doorway isn¡¯t wide enough for me to fight freely while providing more than enough room for the creature to charge through. Staying here, or going back inside, would be to trap myself and force a direct confrontation with the creature. One that I am dead certain I could not win.


    If I can not retreat, and I can not fall back then¡­


    I step forward, falling into the same combat stance as before. My left hand raises, forming a blade as my body turns slightly to the right with left leg extended to provide a smaller profile.


    Several steps toward the approaching creature allow my posture to reform, power to flow in and instinct to take over. However I underestimated the speed of the creature and when it gets close I can do but perform a series of complicated steps to avoid it.


    As I do I take a closer look, noting that the plates do not connect perfectly, leaving a gap at the side of perhaps a foot in diameter, through which the creatures eyes and head could be seen, allowing it to see where it is going. I can also see its belly, condensed as it is by its position it still looks far softer with its thick fur than the thick metal-like plates of its back.


    With surprising control, the creature does not do as I expected and crash  into the wall, instead tilting on its side slightly and turning a graceful U-turn right before entering the Room before rushing away about twenty meters back to where it started.


    Still in wheel form it growls at me, rolling forward and back threateningly as it tries to break my nerve or make me flee. I don¡¯t though, having seen its speed I know there would be no worse decisions. It can easily catch me, and it would roll me flat. I wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against such ability, not as I am.


    A minute passes, then another, and I just continue to wait. There is no point in me attacking it, doing so would draw me closer to the other Armordillos, as I decide to name them, which could trigger them to attack along with my current foe. I believe I stand a chance against one but multiple would be a challenge I do not currently have the capacity to deal with.


    Eventually its nerve snaps and it spins at me again, it''s furious charge once again tearing entire clumps of weeds from the ground as it skids toward me at phenomenal rate! I stand there with seeming nonchalance, my plan decided already when I noticed the gap. All I need is to show the same skill I had when inside, along with the willpower not to panic when faced with several hundred pounds of metal and speed hurling at me at speed.


    I wait as it gets closer. And closer¡­ I tense up as it is just a few meters ahead then¡­ I side step with complicated skill, putting me just beside it as it passes!


    With a familiar movement I of my body twisting, I turn myself to the left as my right leg rises facilitating a perfect stab across my torso, one that really does come at a difficult to avoid angle. In my palm is the stone, which smashes into the gap as if it were made for it, striking the creature directly in the head!


    Stunned by the powerful blow it flinches, releasing its tail from its mouth and uncurling as it seeks to avoid the damage. It fails though, its speed and error enough to turn it and put it into a now entirely unintentional roll on its side, spinning and landing hard on its softer underbelly and head before bouncing off the fallen door and hitting the rock face to its side with enough remaining velocity to cause serious damage.


    As it lies there dazed I turn to look at the other two creatures, prepared for them to join in, both of whom have lost their nerve and have taken this chance to flee, turning into balls as they roll into the trees on the opposite side of the clearing. It is clear I am now seen as ¡®threat¡¯ instead of ¡®prey¡¯ and they want nothing to do with me. They have seemingly no loyalty toward the fallen creature, leaving him to his fate as he would surely have left them to theirs.


    Movement behind me causes me to turn and remember that the first creature is not dead yet, merely dazed. Not wanting to give it the chance to recover I move over to it swiftly, using one foot to roll it fully onto its shell like back to expose its furred belly and head.


    I lift a foot then and with no hesitation I stomp down on its head with all my weight and might. It squeals at the injury and attempts to roll to the side to avoid further blows so I kick again, striking it on to its back once more. I then kick again. And again. It takes a dozen such kicks before the creature finally ceases its struggles, as I pant with the exertion of it. I am relieved when its breath fades, the light leaves its eyes and it passes away.


    I finally allow the stress to affect me and grow pale, the weakness in me catching up now that adrenaline is gone. I fall to my ass beside the creature, almost hyperventilating as my vision goes briefly black.


    That was too dangerous. The creature was clearly stronger and faster than me, and if my side step had been even slightly mis-timed this creature would have utterly destroyed me in a single charge.


    I must get stronger, much stronger, if I intend to survive this place¡­


    Turning to the creature, I decide that I shouldn¡¯t let this corpse go to waste.

 Chapter 6 - Bloody Necessity

    Looking up at the trees on the other side of the clearing, where the other two creatures vanished moments ago, I feel my breaths stabilize enough for normal actions once more.


    I worry about those two, they retreated too quickly for my liking. While facing them would be mildly dangerous I am concerned that it would be even more dangerous should they return later with reinforcements. Even three of these things facing me at once could likely kill me unless I had extreme luck and was at my best, or they faced me one at a time such as this creature did. With this lethargy from sending out those sparks, and my mind still muddled after awakening as I have, I am far from ¡®at my best¡¯.


    I peer down at the corpse of the Armordillo then back at the Room with reluctance, knowing what I must do. Having just escaped from that place I am loathe to return, but for now at least it offers a touch of safety that is lacking out here. My pride is stung once more at the need to retreat, but pride comes before a fall.


    Standing with a humiliating grunt of effort, I grab the surprisingly tiny front legs of the creature and begin to pull it back toward the Room, straining at the things massive weight. The plates on its back make things more difficult as the edges pull and snag at the weeds and plants on the ground. Eventually I approach the massive stone that was once the doorway and maneuvering it on top of that takes even more effort, enough that I have to pause to gather my breath again once it is on top.


    After a moment I look out again at where the others left and instantly regain my wind, pulling once more inside. I can suffer later, when I am out of immediate danger.


    Once it is just inside I drop the arms and it hits the ground with a thud and head back out, feeling light as a feather without the thing holding me back. Since I intend to return to the room I have decided not to do things halfway.


    Heading into the closest trees I grab one of the many fallen branches before I return to the entrance and use it to brush at the blood trail leading to the room, muddying the trail a little bit. Once done I  place it in front of the exit, blocking vision a little. Several trips and several more branches later I have formed a crude camouflage, not one that would withstand more than token scrutiny but hopefully enough to confuse animals or at least give me a moment''s warning should anything approach.


    Back inside I pick up the creatures front again and drag it to the opposite end of the Room from the doorway, instinctively sitting under the comfort of the lit stone in the wall.


    I am exhausted by this point, utterly shattered. It is hard to imagine that it has only been less than an hour since I awoke here. It feels like days.


    Pride roars and I force myself to action, turning to the corpse to study it.


    Moving to the mangled head I pull back its lips to investigate the teeth. They are varied and many, looking quite terrifying. Somehow though I know this kind of teeth is not really intended for eating meat or plants but insects and other small creatures. Small bits of such bugs caught among them prove this hypothesis to be correct.


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    The claws are next, and I find that they are much smaller and blunter than they should be, perhaps due to its fairly unique method of defense? Large and sharp claws would be problematic when they are rolled up inside a wheel shape, placing them right next to his own belly and head. When making contact it could inadvertently gutt itself. Playing with them a moment I press on the pad and find that they are actually extendable, growing perhaps three times as long as what is obvious, they are thick and blunt ones probably intended for both peeling back bark and striking from the side during a roll without breaking off.


    The shell is next and proves to be lighter and more malleable than I had initially thought. One of the plates near the tail is loose and after some straining I manage to pull it completely free, finding it fairly light and mutable, bending much like a slightly more stiff form of aluminium. The edges are fairly sharp, and the entire plate is perhaps a few millimeters in thickness, about twenty centimeters in width and perhaps a third of a meter long.


    I fold a part of the plate over on itself with effort then stomp on it, thickening it before twisting it, forming a crude handled blade. I test it on the creature''s flesh and it cuts, though with difficulty. The strain bends the blade slightly, proving how little durability the thing has. But it is better than using my fingernails and will do until I find something better.


    Over the next hour I use the blade, and its replacement when the first bends beyond use, to cut away all the plates. I set them to the side for now, then focus on the rest of the corpse.


    Deciding I might as well prepare the meat for later, I first peel off the skin and set it aside before starting to clean it, pulling out its innards as I leave it to bleed nearby. I stand and head to the exit, planning to cast them outside so the bloody scent doesn¡¯t lead creatures in, when I see a small spark of something¡­


    Searching through the remains I spot...


    A stone.


    Perhaps a quarter the size of those in the wall and connected to the innards of the creature is a small pebble in the same vaguely tear shaped form of those on the walls. It is a yellow green color speckled with blue and red, looking like a much smaller and duller version of those I have already seen.


    Huh?


    Pulling the stone from the remains, I toss the guts outside, then head back in. Sitting under the light of the stone I examine this find, wiping away the blood with a bit of spit and the skin of the beast before holding it to my eye.


    The thing has the same strange weight of the others, as if it were lead instead of the glass like substance it seems to be. I can also feel a strange energy within it, something hard to miss after I accidentally consumed the flame from the other earlier. This energy seems gentler but also far weaker than the other.