MAGE CHRONICLES: The Beginning.

My brain finally catches up and I turn hurtling between the trees, my silk sleep shorts and shirt tangling in the hanging and fallen branches.

A howl fills the air, followed by two more.

Shit! Was the hot forest man slash psycho really letting his overgrown dogs hunt me? Like for sport? Cause I’d bet the stupid beasts weren’t really hungry.

A slap from a low-hanging branch makes me lose track of the thought and I turn my sole focus on making my barely there legs work on getting me the fuck out of this bizarre world.

Could you run out of a dream?

I was still pretty sure I was dreaming, because one, this place was too bizarre to exist, even with there being supernatural folks and stuff and the second was that the man was too beautiful to exist, dangerous yes, but my eyes still worked fine.

I burst out of the dense forest and onto a field scattered with rocks and weird-looking grass, and I curse my broken sense of direction. It would be so easy to catch me here, I turn back heading to a tree I had seen in my periphery; it had stumps along its stem that would be easy to climb.

And that’s what my stupid ass does: climb a fucking tree, like that is the best option when being chased by some excited hellhounds.

I clamber up as fast as I can with legs that were feeling like jelly till I get to the topmost branch, that could hold my exceptional weight that is, I wasn’t that stupid.

Forcing myself to stop panting I peer through the leaves to see the hounds screech to halt where the tree line ends or begins, swinging their heads around like they could sense something.

Damn, could they smell me up here?

I sniff myself and end up almost lightheaded enough to fall off the tree. Running really wasn’t my forte, the sweating after was especially dissuading.

“Yes…”

“Mother… shit!”

As I tumble from the tree, the last thing I see is the beautiful bastard grinning as he watches me fall, before I clench my eyes shut, bracing for impact.

Damn, how far up was this tree? I slowly peel my eyes open to find myself floating about three feet from the ground.

“What is… Oomph!”

The impact forces air from my lungs and I stare unseeingly. A growl has me refocused in an instant, flying to my feet already headed in the opposite direction of the sound.

Running might be awful, especially in unfamiliar terrain, but I’m pretty sure getting eaten was worse.

A dry chuckle sounds from behind me and I run harder, ignoring the blades of grass scratching and cutting at my legs.

I’m running blindly at this point, tears or maybe sweat dripping down my face. The snapping, excited yips and barks from behind me were the only reason I kept going, getting lost the least of my worries.

“Getting a little slow mortal, are you going to give up?”

How the hell was he speaking in my head? I turn to find the man, which in hindsight was a stupid decision as I run right into a branch that wasn’t there before.

It flips me choking me in the process and I clutch my throat heaving from my position on the ground.

I was getting really tired of being on my ass all the damn time.

“Careful,” he drawls out loud, “There was a branch there.”

“No, I’m pretty sure there wasn’t,” I rasp.

“Well, now there is.”

“Bastard.”

“Be nice, they still want to eat you, fates know why, you stink like dragon shit; food poisoning and indigestion are real.”

Well, kick me when I’m down dude, cause why not? Was I supposed to smell like a bunch of daisies after running so hard for that long?

“I’m not kicking you, and we didn’t really get far, you have surprisingly short legs,” he says pointing behind him, which I assume was the starting point of this murder marathon.

Mindreading dipshit!

Tired of looking up at him, I struggle to sit up only for a freaking paw to land on my chest, pushing me back down, followed by another pair on my shoulders.

I look up at the beautiful face trying to plead and also ignoring the slobbering faces close to mine. I really didn’t want to get eaten, but the man just smiles staring at his huge ass pets adoringly.

“I have it on good authority that I don’t taste good,” I whisper on a whimper as a wet snout nuzzles my neck.

“Really? Have you been tasted before little human?”

Tell me why that causes warmth to spread throughout my entire body, which he senses if the widening smile on his face is anything to go by.

“Maybe I will have you to myself, they can hunt something else,” he whispers moving closer until he’s straddling my outstretched legs.

I was trying so hard to ignore him not having a stitch of clothing on and his warmth seeping into my legs when he goes inhumanly still tilting his head to the side almost like he was listening to someone.

“What do you mean she’s not human?”

“She…” he leans close nuzzling my neck as he takes a sniff.

“You stink like…”

“Dragon shit, we got over that dog man. Get off me!” I snarl shoving him off, there’s only so many insults a girl could take.

I’m slammed back to the ground hands on my throat as his eyes turn a terrifying golden glow, the previous all-black eyes were already disturbing but this was a whole new level of freaky. The snarl pulling on his face revealing really pointed teeth wasn’t helping either.

“I told you that if we ever met again, I will tear you apart with my fingers and feed you piece by piece to my dogs as you watch, trying to regrow your torn-out organs. I thought I was going to have to look for you, but you landed in my laps. I am going to enjoy this,” he finishes with a growl.

I swear I almost shit my pants. Who wouldn’t?

“I don’t know what you…”

I freeze as one hand moves from my neck and I almost breathe a sigh of relief until he raises it flashing some fierce-looking four-inch claws; I open my mouth ready to let out a scream when a blow lands on my face hard enough to make my ears ring, and the scream dies in my throat.

“Wake up!”

I blink my eyes open almost crying in relief as I find the weird forest and its murderous occupants gone.

Ok, I was back in Bright, but why the hell was I tied up… on the floor of what I was realizing was some sort of cell?

“Finally, the demon is up.”