THE LAST LYCAN

His mind awakened to the sound of rustling leaves and streaming water. He inhaled slowly, his eyes still closed. The air was so full and fresh and he could feel a certain warmth on his face. And was that grass beneath his body? He slowly opened his eyes, streaks of light almost blinding his view, but he noticed a pair of eyes staring down at him, along with what looked like...Tusks! He jerked up off the ground and he could see it much more clearly now as he hurriedly pulled himself away from this thing, whatever it was. Big angry eyes burning gold, pointed ears that were quite small compared to its head, leather-like skin that had a gray-ish tone, a huge muscular figure that was almost three times his size, and those tusks, those large pointy tusks that protruded from the lower part of its mouth. Or were they just really large teeth? He couldn't tell, but what he did know was that this was no familiar beast. He drew in quick shaky breaths, and as he slowly backed away, his sights fell on a twig that lay few meters away from his foot. He slowly tried to reach for the small branch and he could hear the beast grunt softly. It took a step forward and he hurriedly snatched the twig, gripping it firmly with sweaty hands. The creature peered at him in bewilderment. Perhaps he was just as strange to this thing as was the other way around.  With a grunt, it took another step. "Stay back," he cried, waving the twig around as he struggled to find his footing. Was he hallucinating? Exactly how much did he drink last night? He cursed under his breath. “It's all just a bad dream," he whispered. The beast started to move towards him and he felt himself tremble. "Back! Don't come any closer!" he whined. And as the distance between them grew smaller, he held the twig even harder. Running wouldn't do him any good. He was fast, but judging from the size of this creature, it could knock him dead before he took five steps.  Perhaps this was one of those dreams where you would get pulled out just before something drastic happened. Well, there was only one way to find out.  He could hear the footsteps grow louder and the image of the beast, larger. Now this seemed to be far from a dream. It was a nightmare! This thing was moving towards him with what seemed like murderous intent, and he wasn’t about to let an unknown creature be the author of his demise. He would take his chances.  He quickly ditched the branch and made to scurry. But a loud thud stopped him dead in his tracks, along with a ringing in his ears. Make that one step, he thought as his legs grew weak, and slowly he slipped out of consciousness. What sort of hell was this? The sound of birds cawing and flapping was what brought him back to, along with the stinging pain in the back of his head. Now, that for one had to be real. So real it knocked him out. Apparently, it would seem this was no dream. But how? The air was cooler now, and as he opened his eyes he could see the dark of night had dominated the atmosphere, except for a light that seemed to be coming from a fire. Fire.  Fire meant people. People meant help. He tried to lift himself, but noticed that his hands had been bound. "Splendid." He whispered to himself.Bringing himself to his knees, he lifted his head and he could see them, two of them. Or was he still woozy? No, he was certain. The creature from before now had a companion, and they both sat close to the fire. He was as good as dead with only one of these things around and now there were two of them. What more could possibly go wrong? They had probably forgotten that he was even there. He slowly pulled himself to his feet, making sure not to draw the attention of the beasts, and carefully crept away into the darkness. He was sure he had almost slipped away into the dark and out of sight, well, until he heard something snap, and immediately he felt himself being swept off his feet. Soon, he was hanging upside down from heavens knew where. It was a trap. The beast from before grunted, angrily reaching for a large axe lying beside the fire.  “Patience, Azorash.” The other one grunted. Or so he thought he heard. It spoke! And he was amazed yet terrified by what he had just heard. “Did you just talk?”  Silence. Now, this was a marvel. He had gone from seeing these things as mere raving beasts to actually speaking to them. It was either he was losing his mind or losing his mind. “And your name? Do you have a name?” he asked. Surely, something that spoke should have one. “Ragnok. Son of Ragnar.” “Okay Rag-nok.” He stuttered. “My name is Eh-rik. I am a hue-man,” he said slowly, hoping that this creature understood what he was saying. “I am not from here, and I have no idea how I ended up here. I really need to get back home now, so can you help me?”  “Krazgag,” Ragnok said. “What?” he frowned, not quite able to make out what this creature said. “This place. Krazgag.” “Kraz-gag.” Erik slowly whispered to himself. “And where exactly is Kraz-gag?” Silence. Perhaps Ragnok hadn’t been able to comprehend that one. “Okay then, can you please let me down?” Silence. He could see that the other one was still glaring furiously at him, and then he heard a rustling sound behind him. There was something moving in the bushes, and for a minute it seemed like everything out here wanted him dead. He could feel his body tense as the sound grew louder.  “Uh, there’s something out there” he announced. Now he was shaking. “Hey, you have to let me go, there’s something out there!” he said, louder now, as he tried to wriggle out of the vines that suspended him. Silence.  The one called Azorash picked up his axe, and Ragnok pulled out what looked like a large hammer as they both peered into the night. The rustling sound grew louder and louder, and he could hear what seemed to be footsteps. Only heaven knew what monster would emerge next, but he hoped that whatever it was, it was friendlier than Ragnok and company. He was almost free when he began to hear voices, and something emerged from the dark. Little men. Seven of them. Grumpy looking and heavily bearded.  Dwarves. They were dwarves! And there was a woman with them. Finally, an actual person, he thought to himself. But he couldn’t quite see her face as the darkness, along with the dark red hood she had over her head, hid it from view. Hopefully she had answers that could be of help. After an awkward silence accompanied with wary looks from both sides, one of the dwarves stepped forward. From the looks of him, he had probably had a bit too much to drink. “Greetings, fellow travelers,” he said loudly with a silly grin. “I am Djoni Blackbeard.” He placed one hand to his chest. “And these are my brothers Ermrig, Onin, Rorin, Vindalf, Graldor, and Fynn.” “And, of course, the lady Catlyn.” He hurriedly added, and stepped back with a smile. The beasts had now lowered their weapons. “Now,” he continued. “Seeing as—” “Oh, shut up, Djoni.” One of the other dwarves angrily interrupted. “We would like to share your fire.” “So you guys are like what? Little red riding hood and the seven dwarves?” Erik asked jokingly with a grimace on his face, and the woman stepped into the light, revealing long auburn hair and emerald eyes that were a contrast to his raven-black tousle and deep brown eyes. She looked…fierce. Beautiful, but fierce.  “What did you say?” Catlyn asked. Her voice was just as fierce as her looks. “Little Red Riding hood and the seven dwarves!” He scoffed, still dangling upside down. Who in the world didn’t know them? “I mean, it’s actually Snow White and the seven dwarves, Little Red—” “You’re from earth.” Her tone was one of surprise as she eyed him carefully. All he had on was a pair of black jeans, a grey bomber jacket bomber and a pair of black sneakers. “How did you get here?”  “Please, just get me down and I’ll tell you everything.” His face was starting to go crimson. She immediately pulled out a dagger, and with one swing of the blade, he fell to the ground with a loud thud. “Speak.” She looked down at him with cynicism and he simply stared at her blankly before answering. “I don’t know,” he blurted honestly. “Do you have a death wish or are you just a fool?” Her tone was much more intimidating this time as she stretched out the dagger, keeping it only a few inches from his throat. Was this person really going to kill him? And all for what?  “I’m telling you I-I have no idea” he stuttered, trembling at the danger that this woman spelt. “I swear, I swear. The last thing I remember is I read this-this book, then I passed out, a-and then I woke up here, I—” “What book?”