He stepped through the small opening in the cliff face and looked around him. What was previously a thick tropical jungle surrounding him now looked like a pine forest with large trees reaching thirty meters into the air, with bases so thick they looked as if you could fit a small house in their trunks. Taking a deep breath in the air tasted clean and fresh. The previous sweltering temperature was mild in comparison.

  Well, it still looks like his old world, he thought. First step is to get his bearings with him stepping out into a whole new world, he didn’t know if he was anywhere close to civilisation or any form of life. He also didn’t know what lurked within the forest, so he took out his knife, hoping his only meagre form of protection would be enough against whatever he encountered. That or he would just run as his life depended on it, which it probably would.

  “What do you think Ki is starting to recognise anything yet?”

  “Human, you have taken two steps out of that tunnel. Your patience is truly world-shattering.”

  “Fuck me, you shadow, you're not the one who just woke up in a completely different world, have a little respect”, Grey chuckled.

  He ventured forward at an even pace, constantly scanning his surroundings for any source of life or gradual uptake in terrain which would allow him to gain a vantage point so he could figure out his bearings. He also listened out for the sound of flowing water as the only water he had was the canister on his belt, which he had brought with him on his hike.

  As he moved forward, he came across an animal trail which he decided to follow on the slim chance it was created by domesticated animals. The only sounds he heard as he moved over the crunchy pine needles and dusty trail was the humming of the small insects in the forest and the chirping of distant birds. Following along the animal trail, he noticed it starting to go up an incline of what seemed like a small mountain. Knowing this was the perfect place to get his bearing he trudged along the trail for what must have been another hour without anything seemingly being out of place, all the while asking Ki constant questions about being the Umbra, which he always seemed to find a way to dodge.

  When he eventually broke through the top of the tree line, he climbed onto a large boulder overlooking the sea of trees and gazed into the distance. The forest seemed like it went on forever in every direction, a sea of emerald, which offered no immediate security for him. With a frustrated groan, he was about to climb off the boulder when he noticed smoke in the distance. Seems like it’s about seven kilometres away, he thought. He looked up at the sky the sun was directly above him. Not knowing how time moved on in this world, he figured this should be enough time to reach the distant smoke before it got dark. That is, if nothing went wrong and he didn’t lose his direction in the thick forest.

  Remembering his now enhanced body, he jumped off the boulder, landing lightly on his feet with a laugh. This new body made him feel like he was a superhero from those movies in his old world. He took off at a jog down the small mountain in the direction of the smoke, hoping his memory would serve him correctly and he would run into whatever the smoke was coming from.

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  He started slowly, but when he realised he wasn’t tiring at all, he began to increase his pace until he was running at a pace which would have been considered sprinting for him before, but now felt like an easy jog. He was soon running so quickly the trees were blurring past his face, and he nearly screamed with exhilaration. In what felt like mere moments, he knew he had crossed the distance towards where he saw the smoke and slowed his pace so he could come in quietly in case it was the local population who started a fire, as he had no idea how the people of this world would interact with him upon first coming across them.

  Slowly moving forward, he began to smell the distinct smell of smoke on the low breeze moving through the wooded area. Heading in the direction he began to hear voices in the near vicinity. It sounded like two people talking in gruff voices, which were distinctly low. Men, he thought. Two at least. He got onto his belly and snaked his way as he inched closer. Through the surrounding shrubbery and trees, he finally came to the edge of a clearing where he saw what seemed like a small camp.

  He saw two tents that seemed to be made from some sort of leather. A small fire in the centre and two large, burly-looking men sitting around it. They had their backs to him, but he noticed they were wearing some sort of armour and had large swords by their sides.

  “Ki, what the fuck, have I been transported to some sort of medieval world? Why do they have swords?”

  “I have noticed as well, it would seem this world might not be as technologically advanced as your previous one, but looks can be deceiving.”

  He kept gazing at the small camp, trying to confirm if these two men were the only ones within the camp. That is when he noticed a cage in the back of the camp. It would seem the men were guarding something. He couldn’t quite make out what was in the cage from this distance, but at least he knew they had some sort of motive for being out here.

  “Careful, human, two men alone in the woods can be a dangerous thing. They could be hunters out for their catch, or they could just as easily be bandits preying on the weak,” Ki said with a dangerous tone.

  Doing a quick check of what he had on him and what position he was in. He quickly realised he didn’t have much of a choice except to approach these men regardless of who they were. He had little to no food and a nearly empty canteen, and he had no idea where he was. His only choice would be to carefully approach these men. Slipping his knife out of his sheath, which he had placed back during his run, he tucked it into his belt by his back in case these men were as bad as Ki feared.

  Taking a deep breath, he reassured himself that he could handle whatever came next and stood up. Slowly moving forward, he called out to the men. They instantly jumped up, reaching for their swords, and twisted their bodies to face him.

  They shouted back to him in a language he couldn’t understand, which made me begin to groan with the realisation that, of course, there would be a completely foreign language that he didn’t understand in a world he was completely lost in. He stopped walking and raised his hands in a gesture of surrender while trying to convey a message of peace. One of the men who looked to be a full head taller than the already tall Grey kept shouting at him with frantic gestures, while the other, shorter man seemed to be intensely scanning the surroundings. After a short moment of this and some softly spoken words by the shorter man, the tall giant stopped shouting and started grinning at Grey.

  Instantly, his sense of danger, which seemed more pronounced than ever before, raised the hair on his arms.

  “Oh, fuck you aren’t good guys, are you?” Grey said