I could feel the fear inside me rise the further forward the Shock Lizard moved its head. It was to the point where I could see my own face in the lizard's eye. The terrified expression on my face and the fear ever present in my hazel green eyes. Even my white hair with black patches littered without, like paint flicked randomly across a canvas. Yet, while I could see myself in its eyes, I could also see the crackling red blood dripping down the side of its neck.
At the top of the wound was a stone knife stuck halfway into the lizard's neck, the clear culprit of what caused the wound. Maybe it was this wound that's kept me alive, despite the Shock Lizard being close enough to eat me with one bite. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves in preparation for my next move. Slowly, as slow as I could move, I reached for my bag, rummaging around for anything that could aid my situation.
With the hairs on the back of my hand, I could feel the rough, grainy texture of the leather sheath of my knife rubbing against my hand. And against the ridges of my fingers pressed the sandpaper-like texture of paper, of which contained the jerky meant to last me two or three days. It was a gamble, the knife in my bag and the one dug into the lizard's flesh would aid me in killing it, or the potential ally I could gain by helping it. The latter was riskier, since I didn't know how intelligent these Shock Lizards are, but maybe helping it would be better than killing it.
As soon as my hand exited my bag, the Shock Lizard tilted its head down, clearly having smelt the jerky leaving my bag. Yet unlike common house pets, it didn't snap at my hand to steal the jerky for itself, the lizard began to lower its body, to the point where its head was resting on my lap in a matter of seconds. It did hurt for a moment, as its heavy head caused the prickly green scales to dig into my thighs every time I tried to move, almost as if the Shock Lizard was saying, "You can't leave until you help me."
I gently placed my hand just above the lizard's front horn, petting it gently as I moved the strip of jerky towards its mouth. Had it not reigned in the electricity emitting from its horn, I would have been zapped already, I probably wouldn't be dead, but I'd wish I'd be. The Shock Lizard bit down on the jerky I had placed mere centimeters in front of its mouth, and as it chewed through the dry and rough jerky I directed my attention back to the lizard's wound.
The lizard was clearly in pain, that was obvious just from inspecting the wound. And while I'm not a doctor, I do know how to patch a wound. From my bag I pulled out the lengthy cloth, folding it a couple times so it matched the width of the lizard's wound. Yet as I gently grabbed the stone knife, I felt the lizard's growl reverberate through my legs, I could almost tell what the Shock Lizard was thinking based on its reactions; this time it was saying, "stop that, you're making it hurt worse." Or something along those lines.
I laid the lengthy cloth over my shoulder and grabbed another strip of jerky from my bag, hopefully this would distract the lizard long enough to let me take the knife out of its neck. I took my hand off the knife as the lizard chewed through the second piece of jerky, using it to pet the lizard's scaly head for another few minutes. It was weird, this Shock Lizard was different from how the book described them, first in size and then with its behavior, whoever researched the Shock Lizards must not have spent a lot of time with them.
After several minutes, I could feel the weight of the Shock Lizard pressing down on me increase, as it seemingly fell asleep in my lap. Despite the pain it seemed to be in, it was sleeping so peacefully, so much so that I didn't want to wake it by moving. But that stone knife was a danger to its life, if it dug into its flesh any further it could be paralyzed for life, so it had to be removed.
As gently as I could, I wrapped my fingers around the stone knife's handle, the shoddy twine grip wrapped around the handle felt like grabbing bundles of unprocessed wheat. With my spare hand I grabbed the lengthy cloth on my shoulder and took a deep breath, and another just for good luck's sake. With this I was ready, I'd have a few seconds at most to tie a knot in this cloth around the lizard's neck once the knife was removed. Surely the lizard would resist, so this very well could be my end.
With as much speed and strength I could muster, I yanked free the stone knife, the second the knife came free the Shock Lizard's eyes shot open with fury and agony clear inside its snake-like eyes. Yet, its head didn't move from my lap, it only watched as I tied the cloth around its neck to cover the wound, not tight enough to strangle the lizard, but just enough to seal up the wound. After I tossed aside the stone knife, the Shock Lizard seemed relieved, as if saying, "thank you for saving my life." It slowly closed its eyes once more, letting itself go limp as it fell asleep in my lap.
"This feels nice." I said aloud, I knew nobody was here to respond, but talking to myself sometimes feels good.
I placed my hand on top of the sleeping lizard's head and looked up into the branch filled sky, the mix of sunlight and shade that encompassed the sky was as beautiful as any sunset I had ever seen. But despite the beauty of the forest that could bring peace to my mind, I couldn't help but wonder about my actions. Why did I go through the trouble of saving this Shock Lizard? Could I have killed this lizard from the start? Do I even have the guts to take a life, even if it isn't a human one? The questions ran through my mind like a fish swimming downstream, all left unanswered, digging into my head like a nail through wood.
If there was one thing I was sure of right now, it was that helping this Shock Lizard was the right choice. This encounter alone proved why The Forest had been unclaimed by humans for centuries, even a monster that was common in this area was powerful enough to kill a trained human if it wanted to. Maybe Mom and Dad knew this would happen... Would they let me dream on while knowing I'd end up experiencing something that would change my mind?
Well, there's no point in wondering about such useless things, it's not like I could ask them. I haven't been able to for a few months now anyways. With that bit of self reflecting out of the way, I tilted my head back down, to the sleeping Shock Lizard crushing my legs with its heavy head. Despite how close I was to dying at the jaws of this lizard, I couldn't help but be curious as to the distinct differences between it and what the Forest Encyclopedia described.
For starters, its size. The book said Shock Lizards would only be 1-1.5 meters long, yet this one was closer to two meters in length. Secondly, despite being alone as far as I could tell, it acted with such confidence rather than the timid nature the Forest Encyclopedia suggested. Could it have been the author's fault for these misinterpretations? Maybe the strength he wielded was enough to felt even by these monsters? Making them feel timid unless they had enough backup nearby?
With my spare hand, I grabbed the Forest Encyclopedia from the grass, had it not been for the lizard's jump-scare, I wouldn't have dropped it in the first place. A few shakes of my hand cleared off the dirt that had gotten onto the cover, followed by the flipping of pages one by one until I reached the Shock Lizard page. I started reading from where I left off, glossing over details like their lifestyle, favorite foods, predators and prey. It was only after these detailed sections did I find a paragraph that caught my eye.
Shock Lizards have an extreme sense of community, so much so that it rivals that of Humankind's need for companionship. And while they don't often take kindly to other beings, on occasion you can find other monsters within their tribes and vice versa. If a human were to save a Shock Lizard that has no tribe to turn to, the Shock Lizard has been observed to treat that human as its new tribe.
With that, I had an answer to one of my questions. Or at least I think I do. This Shock Lizard was an outcast of some kind, one without a tribe to turn to. It wasn't interested in a quick meal that could fill its belly for one day, it wanted to find a new family so it wouldn't be lonely, or so it wouldn't become the meal of whatever was hunting it. Had I not started this journey today, it might've died at the hands of some other monster; dying entirely alone in a forest that's hungry and unfamiliar. Speaking of other monsters, I turned my attention to the shoddy stone knife laying in the grass beside me. Something about its design alarmed me, maybe it was the serrated edge still covered in Shock Lizard blood. Or maybe it was the eerie resemblance it had to a knife I had seen years ago. Regardless, if it was in this forest, it was most likely in the Forest Encyclopedia.
Yet despite flipping through page after page, only skimming through for any sketches that matched that of the knife, nothing matched. Could it be that this knife doesn't originate from The Forest? If so, why was it here now? Who brought it here and why was it dug into the neck of a Shock Lizard? I was back to square one, with too many questions and not enough answers, but that wasn't exactly a bad thing. I've barely explored this ever mysterious forest, probably less than 1% of it so far. Even if I have questions now, I'm bound to find something that will give me what I'm looking for.
As I closed the Forest Encyclopedia, a beam of light broke through the skyline of leaves and branches, shining brightly upon the forest floor. With its gentle heat resting on my shoulders like a guiding hand through a difficult task, a smile spread across my face as I embraced the peaceful scenery once more.