From Other Worlds

3 》No Choice

When I come to, I am in intense pain. As is Vilkas. He lays on his side in the cell we share, and his body heaves as he is in a lot of pain. His ragged breaths are loud and shaky, and he sobs. I sit up on the cot they placed me on, but my vision swims and sways. I gasp, blinking a few times.

"Vilkas," I say, coughing as my throat is dry. He moans from the floor, his chains clinking as he shakes.

He looks so different from last time I saw him. Now, his green eyes are seemingly glowing. Claws click as they pop out of his fingertips, and he screams as his body twitches and shivers. I stand up, shaking my head a little to try and not be so dizzy. I stagger over to his side, and Vilkas raises his head, those green eyes filled with tears.

"Oh, Vilkas," I say, my voice breaking as I start to cry. I see his body has been basically torn apart and reassembled. But I see now that he might die. He was human before, but now, now ....

His long, black hair has been shaved shorter. His pale skin is covered with specks of blood and new, fresh scars. Vilkas's body shivers hard, and then, he starts to scream. Tossing his head back, his body jerks hard. The sound that comes from him next is not human in any sense of the word, as Vilkas cries one last time before his body seems to almost explode into a whole new body.

Now, laying on the floor, instead of Vilkas, is a creature that resembles a wolf, its fur is dark reddish in color. Its eyes, there are four of them, are all the same shade of green as Vilkas's.  And as it stands, its six legs producing sets of long, curved black claws from the paws that serve as feet. Four massive, sinewy wings unfold from its back, and two curved and sharp horns pop from the beast's head.

"Vilkas..." I whisper. He moans softly. Lowers his head, and lays down before me.

Suddenly, we both hear a set of footsteps that are coming up to our cell. The figures that appear outside of our cell all peer inside, between the thin but electrified bars. I look over to the wolf thing Vilkas has become. He growls low in his throat, staring down the six beings that then turn off the electricity to the bars, and open the door.

A tall Ehlo female walks in first, the armor clad soldiers behind her stand guard, weapons trained on us. The Ehlo female stops before me, studying me with disdain. Her short, purple hair falls in her eyes, which are red, standing out against her pink skin.

Her fangs flash as she grins at me, her dark red eyes glistening as she watches me. Vilkas's growl grows louder, and she whips her head toward him.  A sick, twisted smile crosses the Ehlo's pink face.

"Hmm," she murmurs. She turns to him, raising her hand. I watch, confused, as she flicks her wrist. An object on her wrist beeps, and a thin, green light covers Vilkas's body. He snarls as it touches his fur, and I realize why.  He was mutated by a similar strange light.

"Leave him," I snap in the native tongue of the Ehlo, which has no actual name. The Ehlo female whirls, striking me across the face. I fall back, my wings pinned between my body and the wall. The Ehlo advances on me, and Vilkas barks loudly, the sound nothing remotely similar to human.

It is because he is not a human anymore, no. He is Trihaix now. Trihaix are basically what she's heard humans call 'werewolves' and even though she's not sure why they'd not call them their true name, she doesn't really care. He snarls at the Ehlo, and she shakes her head.

"He cares for you," she says. "Hm..."

The Ehlo turns and brings her wrist to her mouth, muttering the name Dain into it. He is the Gamemaster, he is in charge of the fights between the prisoners. Moments later, Dain materializes in the hall beside the soldiers. His gaze flicks between me and Vilkas.

"I've got an idea for you, Dain," she says, grinning back at us with sick glee.

Dain smirks at us.  "Of course. Of course, you're a genius, Belhala." He sneers at me and Vilkas. "You will come with us and become our prized fighters. Or .... I'll kill you both."