…

I woke up…

Or at least…I think I did?

After what seems to be an indeterminate amount of time, I can finally consciously feel around me. Not just the empty, floaty, and cold feeling I had earlier.

I looked in front of me and I could still only see darkness, but the difference I felt was that I could feel myself enclosed by a wall. It was strangely comfortable, but at the same time constricting. I felt the need to break out for some reason.

I gently pushed out with my hands at first but I could feel that it was tougher than I expected, so I built up more power in my arms and pushed harder. The tips of my fingers dug into it and with the momentum I broke the wall open at once.

It felt hard and brittle, but as I was lost in the sensation, I ended putting in too much force and rolled out….face first.

“Gya…”

…!?

I was shocked awake by the sound that came out of my mouth. Was that just me? It sounded really familiar…was it a raptor from that dinosaur movie?

I touched my face and found I had a snout. My eyes widened in surprise.

No way!? Am I a freaking dinosaur!?...wait a minute…I remember something now…

To my surprise, I calmed down quickly and remembered the old voice and his last words to me.

“I’m glad you accepted the offer Child. If you didn’t then I would have really been at a loss as to what to do…Ha ha. Now, as I begin, there are things I need to explain to you first so that you wouldn’t be surprised as you wake up.

Firstly, as you might have already guessed, I am not a human soul. As I bind my soul to yours, we will become one. This act will shape the body that we will come to possess.

Second, you will be on your own, so you will need to become aware of yourself and the possible dangers that may surround you. Although this is normally a given, seeing as how you jump at every small thing, I can't help but voice this fact since I see that you’re indeed as skittish as you have so claimed.”

Ugh…he just had to say that…I couldn’t help but grow an itch at the back of my head as he said this.

“And finally, as we become one in body and soul…your personality might be affected in the change. I can promise that you won’t lose who you are, but I cannot guarantee that you’d be the same person.

I was once an extremely proud creature that had dominion over all creation. All above, within, and under heaven was once under my command.

As your soul will become one of mine, you will come to possess the aura of one who has ruled, so it cannot be helped that it will affect you and you’ll become somewhat domineering.

In other words, it’ll become part of your nature to rule. Do you understand that this means that there may be times you’ll be reckless and may try to tackle that which is beyond your power?”

As he said this I couldn’t help but shudder in wonder…Who the hell are you?...And how the hell did you forget your own name!?

…Although I’m guilty of that as well, I couldn’t help but feel that my case is different. I mean, I’m just an ordinary soul of a man, so it’s not weird for me to be affected somewhat after I died, right? What’s really weird is why I can still remember everything else I did while I was still alive.

“Well…not does it matter anymore. You will soon come to understand all this, as soon as you are born. Now come! Accept all of me within you as you and bask in the glory of what was once me!”

…I swear…if it weren’t for the fact that I need his help to live again…I would’ve said that that was so wrong and creepy, and I would’ve avoided him like the plague….

Fast forward to the present, and now here I am. I decided to turn around to see what I came out of. To no surprise, I see that it was an egg. Also, for some reason, when I saw the remains of the egg, I grew hungry and suddenly had the desire to eat the remaining shell.

I was hesitant at first, but hunger took me and I decided to take a bite….not bad.

It actually tasted somewhat like potato chips. Blowing away all my doubts, I decided to munch all of it.

Burp…

Phew. Now that I’m full and satisfied, I decided to take a look around. Can’t have chips without something to wash it down.

After looking around, I noticed that I was in a big cave. As in, a really big cave!...or at least that’s how it felt to me since from my point of view the ceiling was like at least 10 stories high and the distance from my position to the wall was seemingly at least 2 city blocks far.

I also noticed that despite there being almost no light source, I can see very well in this dim light. It seems I have night vision.

I looked down at my hands and surprisingly, I had five fingers, but at the same time I saw that I had claws and the ends of my fingers.

I see…so this was what helped me dig out of the egg.

Hmm…I’ve decided. Let’s go see what I am. What’s that you say? I need to find water first? Of course that goes hand in hand silly. I’ll only be able to see my reflection in the water.

Turns out I miss the old voice more than I thought. All this being alone has made me start making mental conversations with myself.

I took a sniff in the air in an instinctual way, and somehow I could smell water in a certain direction. I followed the scent with my strong legs; all so I could get a drink and a good look at my new self.

…

…

…

In the far reaches of this dark cavern, a creature stirred.

It’s been so long since it sensed life in this dark cavern that even the smallest changes can cause it to become overly sensitive to life.

It awoke, sensing new prey. At last, it would have a new meal after its long slumber.