Blood gushed from his mouth. A hole sat comfortably on his right lung, leaking blood as his attention made its way to his lower torso.
Bullet wounds.
The other one rested on his lower right side. A trail of blood led to the broken-down stone door, keeping the flying sand away from the cold bodies that lay inside.
The sandstorm covered the entire village he was in. Zenyph heard a rattle.
The door was being kicked down.
A man entered, his face covered with a keffiyeh, his hand held a Bowie knife, and his eyes focused on Zenyph as he placed one foot in front of the other.
He spoke.
A foreign language. On the other hand, his tone was a common language. Gratitude. Zenyph could only think of one situation that deserved gratitude.
Zenyph had spared him before. A weak smile began to grow on his face.
"H.. Help me," he muttered.
The man brought the knife to Zenyph's heart, it rested against his chest, and the cold touch made it clear. A sour taste filled his mouth.
The man's hand trembled as he pierced the first layer of his skin. He stopped.
"No, not today."
The man left. A bleeding body stayed behind, its eyes openly staring at the empty door.
Coldness washed over Zenyph. His vision blurred as he recalled a famous phrase: No good deed goes unpunished.
He wondered where everything went wrong. It was supposed to be an easy mission, his first mission, he thought. Dying at 21 years old wasn't in his plans.
But as he lay there, thinking of the past, he realized that the universe had a strange sense of humor. An orphan being left alone to die after sparing someone. It was funny, in a depressing sort of way.
His last thought was about the strange voice he heard.
His soul left his cold body, it traveled through space and dimensions, eventually reaching a giant habitable planet. His consciousness returned, it was surrounded by complete darkness, he sat there for an indefinite amount of time.
A light broke through. It illuminated his entire ethereal body for a moment before his consciousness faded again.
----
Numbness washed over Zenyph. His eyelids were heavy, fighting his desire to wake up. A voice kept calling out to him, begging him to open his eyes. The voice sounded strange. He understood the meaning, yet it puzzled him. It was a language he didn't learn.
"Your Highness!" she said, "Your Highness wake up!"
He got a sight of the speaker, her outfit reminded him of maids, her hair was as dark as the abyss, her red eyes stared back at his, and her uneven fangs made his heart race as he finally got up.
"Why are you showing me your scales?" she asked.
"What scales?" he asked confused.
The maid frowned as she narrowed her eyes.
"Those scales?" she pointed towards his arms.
Greenish-blue scale covered his forearms, leading up towards his biceps before stopping below his neck. The scales reflected the king-sized bed he was in, the golden chandelier, and the beautiful maid that was standing by his bedside.
He blinked rapidly. His body heat started to rise as he tried to process what he saw. There's no way I have scales, he thought. The scales reminded him of reptilian ones. His mind races for an answer. However, the maid interrupted his thoughts.
"Your Highness, I don't understand why you suddenly want to mate with me but as your maid, I will do my best to fulfill your request." she said with a flat tone.
Zenyph rubbed his eyelids, unable to process the woman's words.
"What? I wasn't asking that!" he said.
The maid's ears turned a tinge of red, she took a step back before she cleared her throat.
"Oh, my apologies your Highness. Then may I ask why did you reveal your scales to me?"
Zenyph took a deep breath in as he started to think of excuses. He couldn't focus. The scales weirded him out and it took all he had not to claw at it. He remembered being shot, dying, and the abyss. How am I alive, last time I checked bullets killed people, he thought. He decided to just ignore her questions.
"What are you doing here?" he asked as he tried to mimic an authoritative tone.
The maid tilted her head to the side before answering, "Are you sick your highness, did you drink too much booze?" she asked, "Do you need me to fetch a healer?"
"No... no I'm fine." he said, "I just want to know what happened last night."
The maid started to fidget as a blush crept on her face.
"Um, your Highness drank too much wine during dinner." she said as her voice trailed off, "I was tasked to fetch you some... uh-um, lovely courtesans."
Zenyph scratched his chin. She didn't seem like she was lying yet it still didn't make sense. He died but he's still alive. Where is he? Who is he? He desperately needed answers.
"Did I do anything else?" he asked, "How long did I sleep?"
The maid glanced around before she settled her gaze back on him.
"No, your Highness? The usual."
He didn't know how to get useful information out of her. His academy was only focused on military training. Torturing the maid was out of the question, he thought. Telling the truth wasn't favorable either. But he could use the alcohol as an excuse to forgetting the maid's name, he thought. It was risky yet he wasn't in a state of mind to judge his actions.
"Okay. I'm still hungover so what's your name again?"
"Lynette?" she questioned.
"Great thanks, Lynette. You can leave now."
"Uh-um, yes your Highness." the maid replied with a dazed look before exiting the room.
As soon as she closed the door, Zenyph got up and started to examine his body. He checked for a tail, wings, or horns. They weren't present. An image of lizard men popped into his mind. He shook his head immediately.
"No thank you." he muttered, "At least let me be a dragon."
The thought of being a dragon excited him. But the memories of his vicious death took over. Magic would be a hell of a lot more dangerous than bullets, he thought as his heart started to race again. Burning, freezing, shocked, crushed, squished, and electrocuted to death scared him. Not to mention all the other kinds of magic that could exist.
A mirror broke him out of his spiral. He approached the glass that hid in the silver frame. His body was muscular if you ignored the scales, it reminded him of his own physique, he was handsome, his silver hair matched the mirror, and his sapphire eyes were stunning. The scales however had to go, he thought.
He focused his concentration on hiding the scales, slowly the scales faded into his skin, causing him to feel nauseous.
"Guess I'll check out what's behind this door." he muttered to himself.