Giggles sounded off as her youthful feminine figure peered over Dante.

“Lucky thou art, for I have chosen thee,” her fair hand glazed over his tanned skin and light brown hair. The coarseness of his shaved face contrasted with her smooth fingers. “Thou will be my tool of retribution against those two hags,” a giggle once again slipped out, “so I’ll be leaving thou with this special gift.” She leaned over his motionless body and with glowing lips planted a light kiss upon his forehead. An ethereal light traveled throughout, from his head to neck, his fingers and beyond. “Now that thou art prepared, thou better not disappoint me. For even a considerate and cute goddess like me,” her cheeky expression suddenly hardened as she peered down at him, “can be quite cruel.” Almost as if he was still conscious, Dante’s body tensed up after her words and a cold sweat overtook him.

A noise entered his mind, but Dante couldn’t quite make it out. However, it’s volume slowly grew. It seemed familiar but he still couldn’t place it, its intensity continued to grow until it felt like he was enclosed by a wall of sound.

Then finally among the noise, a quick whisper penetrated his hearing with a single phrase. “Get up!”

His eyelids finally shot open revealing his golden-brown eyes once more, and that familiar sound rang out even in his awakened state, but now it was obvious what it was. His head slowly rose up and with it came the ending of the loud horn, his hand reached up and rubbed his drowsy face.

“What… happened?” he questioned himself as he tried to collect his thoughts. “Am I, alive?” he felt up his body as he slowly remembered what happened. “Right the camping trip! Arthur!” he immediately looked for his phone, which he found on the floor of the car. In great haste, he picked it up and went through it. Only to be puzzled by what the screen displayed before him. “10:00 pm?! Impossible. It wasn’t too long after eight in the morning last I checked.” as he said that he stared out of his jeeps window and looked up at the clear day sky, but as he looked, he finally noticed something strange. His jeep got hit with a trunk last he remembered while being carried off by a tornado, but there wasn’t even a scratch or dent in it.

What in the world… That was just the beginning, he soon realized it wasn’t the road he was on. In fact, as he searched around in every which direction the only thing on the other side of the windows was trees. Dante quickly came out of the jeep and sure enough, he was deep in the woods, with not a single sign of any structures. This realization took him back to his phone. Hopefully, he could contact his friends and get some help. Such a thought however, was quickly put out as there was not even a single signal bar on his screen.

How did things end up like this? He posed the question within his mind. Now with no phone, no idea where he was, and no idea if help was on the way. In these sorts of times panicking is pretty much a go too. Dante however has seen hell and worse, a little lost in a forest is far from a worst-case scenario for him.

“Now let’s get some bearings.” as he gazed up, it’s quite fortunate it’s a clear sky and the rising sun is more than visible, so much so that his hand has to shield off its rays from his eyes. “So, this is east…” he trailed off as he looked behind him, “West,” then he turned left and said “North, which makes this south.” after getting his cardinal points in the order he turned back to his jeep only to notice something new.

A large circular distortion on the ground. There was no grass and the soil seemed like it was slightly excavated in a way. The circle was bigger than his jeep, so no way it could’ve caused it. In that case, what had caused it then, he wondered. This bizarre circular pattern had the jeep perfectly in the center as well, there’s no way it could be natural he thought. Dante’s hand reached to touch it and a sudden heat radiated into his hand. His brows frowned as he gripped his hand. His eyes also looked around and soon caught onto something else.

“How in the ass did I even get here,” it was quite the mystery, with forest as far as the eye could see and the last memory Dante had was on the road. How did he end up here? With that question in mind, he continued to observe these unusual surroundings. Soon enough, more questions than answers entered his thoughts. No paths, no other unnatural distortions in the plant life, nothing’s adding up, it’s like I was just warped here or something. A heavy sigh left his mouth as he resigned himself to the situation. “For now, let’s just check my supplies, I’ll try figuring it all out later,” with that said he returned inside his jeep.

“Guess it’s a good thing I’m such a supplies hoarder,” Dante chuckled to himself as he finished going through his camping items. “Food and water, shouldn’t be an issue, and neither is shelter too.” as he looks at his sleeping bag and tent set, which he decided to put away for now, “It might be better to sleep in the jeep, at least for now.”

Now it’s back to the original question for Dante. Where exactly was he? Even if he couldn’t see anything on the ground, a change in perspective might give him a better answer. The sun was still up, so it would be best to do it now than later.

“So… where to start,” Dante’s vision scanned the area, “Ah!” the sound left his mouth as his eyes trailed up to a tree which towered over the others. “No better view than one from up high,” with that said it was time to get climbing. The trees here were so tall already, but the one Dante chose could easily compete with a downtown building. Luckily for Dante, the branches were firm and tough as well as plentiful. While he wasn’t fat, the last thing he wanted was for his physically fit body to hinder his ascent.

“Fuh! I haven’t done this… since I was a kid,” even though this certainly wasn’t the time, a very nostalgic fun overcame Dante’s thoughts. However, a sudden rustle of leaves and an animalistic cry, almost like a monkey’s, caught his attention. Dante stopped his climbing as he cautiously waited to see what was within the leaves adjacent to him. A bird? Better move before it decides to attack me for getting close to its nest. He thought as he saw a pair of brown wings sticking out of the leaves, though he swore it sounded like a monkey. Dante continued up and as he took a quick gaze out from his new vantage point, the view before him was more than he could ever anticipate.

While the forest was very much what he was expecting, the sea of endless trees was the least of his surprises. Distant screeches could be heard and the owners of said screeches…

“No way… are those flying monkeys?!” winged monkey-like creatures flocked in the distance, “No, this can’t be real, that has to be something else or …” Dante said as his eyes glued to the surreal sight before him, not even blinking. However, a familiar cry sounded out near him and as he turned to a nearby branch, sure enough there was a winged monkey right before his very eyes.

So glued to what’s in front of him, the other creature that lurked behind him easily took advantage of that.

“Huh!” after he’d seen a faint movement, Dante shifted his gaze only for it to be obstructed suddenly. “Ah!” he cried out as it latched onto his face. Four wide mandibles grabbed hold as its long emerald scaled body constricted around his neck.

In both surprise and shock, he lost his balance and soon the howls of wind and the snapping of branches were all he could hear. His hands flailed about until they finally felt a smooth and scaly surface. His hands clasped the creature with all his might. An annoying squeal escaped from it as a warm liquid entered his face and with a loud crash he finally collided with a strong surface as the wind and snapping noise suddenly stopped. As he laid there his own exasperated breaths sounded out as he removed the thing from his face.

“What… the hell,” the alien serpent laid motionless in his hands, coated in a foul-smelling yellow liquid. Dante’s breaths slowly lessened as he realized his view had changed. Once more he was on the forest floor, below him a dent in the earth and various branches littered the scene around him. Did the branches… break my fall? He thought as he tried making sense of all that had just happened.

A smirk parted her lips as she looked upon the confused Dante. “This is only the beginning of thy first trial.” her smirk grew wider as she spoke, ” Man of earth, I will shape you into a being that neither the world of Edythe nor my sisters will ever forget.”