Prabh collapsed beside the mutilated body of the dog, his hands slick with blood. The woods were silent except for the sound of flowing water and the occasional chirping of birds. He stared at the crimson stains on his claws and feathers, a mix of triumph and horror coursing through him. He had killed a creature, albeit a monstrous one, and the reality of it made his stomach churn.
He sat there for what felt like hours, unable to move. His mind kept replaying the fight—the feel of the dog's flesh giving way under his claws, the blood spraying across his face. He couldn't shake the image, no matter how hard he tried.
Eventually, he felt a tug, and everything went black. When he woke again, he was back in his room. The familiar surroundings were both a comfort and a jarring contrast to the world he had just left. He tried to sit up, but his legs were screaming with cramps, a painful reminder of last night's trek.
"Great, just what I needed," he muttered, wincing as he stretched his legs out, trying to work out the knots. He sat there for a while, massaging his calves and trying to gather his thoughts. He checked his phone—no messages. It was almost 2 o'clock in the morning, more than twelve hours had passed since he went to sleep.
After a while, he forced himself to get up, but his mind kept drifting back to the fight, the blood, and the dog. Shaking his head, he got up and walked out of his room. The apartment was dead silent. He headed to the kitchen and checked the fridge; nothing had magically appeared, unsurprisingly. He rummaged through the pantry but found that he was out of almost all of the ingredients. He was starving.
"No choice then, I have to go buy groceries," he mumbled to himself. Walmart would be open. He picked up his bag and left as quietly as he could. Outside the building, the streets were completely empty. No cars, no people, nothing.
Walmart was a twenty-minute walk from his apartment, so he started walking, a bit slowly because of the cramps. At least his apartment had an elevator; he couldn't imagine climbing seven stories every day.
As Prabh walked, his mind started to calm down, finally letting go of those gory details. He liked walking at night when nobody was around. It might be dangerous, but what were they going to do, kill him? It wasn't like he minded; he would be grateful if someone did.
After some painful walking, he reached Walmart, where he bought some chicken, tomatoes, pasta, and noodles, then quickly left. The meat section resurfaced memories of the fight. The scene of the dog's broken body haunted him. He felt the phantom sensation of its blood on his hands, its flesh beneath his claws. He shook his head, trying to dislodge the images.
'Forget about it, Prabh,' he told himself. 'Focus on finding the Binders. That's what's important now.'
But how was he supposed to find them? The only clue he had was that they lived at the center of civilizations. It was so vague, almost useless. He lived in one of the country's biggest cities, but how should he look for them? They were freaking magicians, hardly discoverable by a random guy. Hell, they might not even be in Canada; there were only eight of them after all. His thoughts spiraled in circles, always coming back to the same frustrating dead end.
When he got back home, he put away the groceries and cooked some chicken and rice. There was no way to stay quiet now, otherwise, the kitchen would fill up with smoke. Hopefully, Jaggi's sleep was deep enough. The food was good. He wasn't much of a chef, but it was much better than frozen food.
After eating, he sat down at his desk to work on his assignment. It was a struggle to focus, but he kept pushing through. He had to create a DHCP server in Packet Tracer. As he worked, he suddenly wondered why he was doing it. If he failed, he was screwed anyway. On the other hand, if he became a magician and defeated Onwenhka, a degree wouldn't matter. He would be a freaking wizard; wizards hardly needed to worry about money, I guess.
Feeling optimistic for once, he closed Packet Tracer. 'Fuck college and the job!'
Now having nothing to do, he decided to check about the Binders online. Nothing—only web series or novels, useless. Later, he checked for information on a dog with a hand tail, and he finally got some results.
'It is called Ahuizotl, and it is from Aztec mythology.'
He read more about it, most of which he had witnessed firsthand. Feeling that he was gaining nothing, he closed the laptop. Feeling mentally drained, he decided to go to bed early. He needed to be rested for whatever awaited him in the other world. He was determined not to face it tired and unprepared.
As he lay down, he couldn't help but feel a pang of anxiety. What would he face tonight? Would it be another battle? Was there sentient life there? Were there towns, cities? He didn't know, but he had to be ready.
When he drifted off to sleep, he found himself back in the forest. His body was still that of a crow-man, but he felt more in control now. The forest was as foreboding as ever, but he wasn't afraid. He had a purpose here. He needed to get stronger, to learn to control his new body and abilities.
He spent the night practicing flying, trying to get the hang of his wings. It was awkward at first, but he gradually improved. He learned to bank and turn, to hover and dive. The muscle memory began to form, and he felt a growing sense of confidence.
Over the next few nights, he followed the same pattern. He would go to bed early, determined to arrive in the other world well-rested. Each night, he practiced flying while exploring the forest cautiously, always on the lookout for danger.
He only returned to the real world to eat and take care of other bodily functions. He quit his job and college. He had enough money to survive for a few months; after that, he would manage somehow.
He also figured out a few things. First, he returned to the place he left, in the same position too. He theorized that he left behind his body, his soul switching between two bodies. Second, He can only sleep after coming to this world, Htrae as Eamon had called this world. So, he made a makeshift nest on a tall tree, away from all the monsters. Sleeping was hard in itself, he cannot sleep on his back because of wings and on his stomach because of beak, not to mention hard wood and wind etc.
Another thing he noticed is that night and day are inverted between the two worlds; he would sleep during the night in the real world and wake up to daylight in this one.
Thirdly, he didn't need to eat or breathe—Eamon had also said that, but it was quite fascinating to experience, sitting at the bottom of a river without suffocating. Fourth, there were a lot of monsters that he saw from above but no flying ones so far, thank God. He saw monstrous bears with black and white stripes, elephant-like creatures that could roll into balls and flatten trees, a huge portion of trees covered in webs, and many others.
After four days of nothing, he decided to fly south, in hopes of finding someone or something worthwhile. He continued doing so for the next two days, without any accident, only stooping to sleep. As he was flying on the third day, something hit him from above, sending him spinning.