The pillar of light’s effect was immediate, but it also caused more oddities to appear aside from the mutated creatures. One, in particular, was someone who never thought his life would forever be changed the moment he regained consciousness.

He did not remember the chain of events that led them there. With a severely addled brain, he woke up in the green clearing, delirious and confused. He looked around the unfamiliar scenery, trying to make sense on what happened to him. He saw a pillar of light disappearing right in front of him, though he did not understand the significance of it.

Then he looked down, and his mind quickly snapped awake by surprise when he saw a pair of sharp claws bared right in front of his face. He thought he was going to be pounced by a wild beast, just as he held his hands up and saw the same claws again. Surprised, he finally let out a short yelp. As he calmed down, he looked at the claws and moved his hands.

They responded as he intended. They were his hands. He never thought his hands that much before they transformed into a pair of scale-covered clawed hands, with golden fur covering his wrists. They looked almost like fur bracelets, though they were clearly not bracelets.

Then as his mind slowly cleared, he saw what looked like the tip of a nose in his field of vision. He touched it, being careful not to accidentally poke his eyes out with his sharp-looking claws. It felt sensitive. So sensitive, in fact, he reeled it when his palm touched it. However, for some very odd reason, rubbing his snout felt good. Really good. He proceeded to rub his snout and his canine-like nose a couple of times before he stopped and sneezed. It all cleared his mind enough to realize that he was no longer in a familiar place.

Still, the first thing that came to his mind was, “Did I…did I got hit by a truck?”

For him, the most reasonable reason to the scenery and his weird body was the common trope that was the fad of his time regarding fantasy plots: that he died in an auto accident and got resurrected in a fantasy world. He was familiar with the word for it, too: isekai, or ‘another world’.

“Okay, calm down, Rich,” he said to himself. “Isekai is just fiction, okay? You’re simply getting too absorbed with one of those stories.”

He took a deep breath, then exhaled sharply. He did not realize how his hair slightly glowed when he did so.

“Okay. Now. I should be waking up at any moment—”

Before he finished that sentence, he heard a growl behind him. He tensed, knowing that it did not sound like a dog. He wanted to turn around, but if he did, he would not be able to run from the beast that would surely pounce him.

Yet, against his better judgement, he turned around. He wished he didn’t.

The beast did not resemble any beast at all. It looked almost like the monster from ‘The Thing’: Grotesque, mutated, and still had a resemblance to its host, for its head was that of a human’s. He was struck with terror, knowing that the monster was so real and so horrific that it quickly became clear that the whole thing was not just a dream.

He was living in it, and oh god, was it horrifying.

The monster lunged at him and he tried to run and scream, but he stumbled and fall to the ground, unable to even properly get up. Somehow, his balance was still very off. Realizing that this was the end, he could only scream in terror as the Thing monster lunged at him, with him shielding his eyes.

Then, he was surprised by what happened next. He could hear the noise electricity made as it made an arc, like the one a Tesla coil made. Then, the next thing he heard was a roar of pain, then silence. He slowly and carefully unshielded his eyes.

The Thing monster was dead, burned as if electrocuted by an exposed wiring. He then looked to his clawed hands again, and saw that they were the cause: electrical discharge akin to that of lightning formed around his hands as if he was controlling them, before they were gone. He wasn’t sure if he willed them or not, but he knew he wasn’t entirely defenseless.

“Okay, guess isekai can happen to anyone,” he said with a sigh. “Hope this isn’t a Carpenter horror or I’m fucked.”

He, of course, knew John Carpenter never made movies set in big, expansive countryside like the one he ended on, unless it was a movie he never heard of. Maybe it was the sequel for The Thing where the Thing monster was the survivor and was terrorizing a rural countryside.

“Nah, that can’t be. You’re just a little addicted to movies, Rich,” he said to himself. “I’ll just accept that I’m in another world and now I need to find something to eat.”

Then he looked at his body and realized that the clothes he was in was tattered and ripped, essentially making him naked and exposing his new, reptilian body. Even he was amused.

“And now I’m a draconian. Ain’t that quaint,” he said with a sigh.

***

The stranger from another world walked to where he saw a village from his vantage point and walked to it. The village was near a river and had medieval stone walls all around it, with a gate that was propped open for visitors to come. He had a bad feeling that the village already fell victim to the Thing monster, considering that it had a human appearance and the village was apparently the only closest human settlement there.

Resigned to the implication that he was still alone, he sighed and slowly walked to the village.

He also found that the reason he had trouble standing and walking was the different structure of his legs, which was now digitigrades like a dragon’s. He really wanted to look at his draconian body in a mirror, feeling slightly excited to actually be transformed into one, despite of knowing that it might be considered foreign by everyone. He didn’t care. He was a draconian with lightning magic. He already felt less vulnerable already.

As he suspected, the village was abandoned. With the gate thrown open and one of the doors hanging at its hinges, it would be suicide if the villagers stayed. Even if they stayed, the stranger doubted that they could do anything to the village, especially with the state it was in.

The village was medieval, but in a bad way. It had not had a reconstruction project, leaving many of the straw-roofed buildings crumbling and decaying. The stranger wasn’t sure if the village was only recently abandoned, considering that nature had already taken over many of the stone houses. Of course, when it said ‘nature’, the stranger did not feel right looking at the trees. The trees were overgrown and unnaturally large, while also giving out a rather creepy aura that seemed to be more sinister than serene. Tall grass covered many of the front lawn, including one that looked like a pasture. Animal pens were left open, with the animals, nor their remains, were in sight.

The stranger wondered what happened to the village. Something went horribly wrong there. The whole place did not even feel abandoned despite of its decaying state. He did not even want to stay in that village long.

He should just grab a mirror, some clothes, and supplies, then get away while he should.

Thus, he made haste. He got into one of the houses, which looked like it was abandoned, then tried to find a mirror, which he did. A big wall mirror reflected his whole body, including its features. The stranger was surprised but did not become horrified. Rather, he seemed to admire what he became in that world.

There was nothing in his new body to indicate that he was once a human named Richie Gin Long except the fact that that he took the form of an eastern dragon to represent his Chinese heritage and also because he was a draconian instead of a full feral dragon. His body was slim, with a long, thick tail that seemed to represent the dragon type’s serpentine form. Parts of his body were covered with fur, including a prominent gold-colored hair that ran from his head to the tip of his tail. His scales were mostly red, but his underbelly, parts of his head, his hair, his reptilian eyes, and his whiskers, were gold or yellow.

Like a proper Chinese dragon, he had many mammalian features, with the most prominent being the ears, the dog-like snout, and the antler-like horns, which were black. His body proportion was humanoid, which was the reason why Richie was so easy to adapt despite of the initial troubles caused by his now-digitigrade legs. Like an eastern dragon, he lacked any wings, but Richie’s understanding of eastern mythology knew that he could fly regardless, especially now that he knew he commanded the element of thunder.

However, despite of knowing everything he knew about dragons and even who he was, he did not remember what happened to him moments before he was transported to that world. Did he really die and reincarnated there? His last memory was the night where he went to sleep, which was the reason why he assumed this was a very lucid dream experience. Or maybe it still was.

But before he could start pondering about it in peace, he heard the same unnatural growl he heard before. This time, it came from within the house, and this time, he was prepared. The horrific Thing monster came out from inside the house and Richie readied himself. However, all that preparedness was quickly thrown out of the window when he saw the horror that was the monster.

No. It was better described as an amalgamated horror, and quickly answered the question of the fate of the house’s occupant.

It was a family of three, with their bodies heavily mutated and melted into one creature, with all three heads popping out from the mass of flesh. Their heads were also heavily mangled, and their eyes were blank. They were already dead. The monster mutating them, however, were not, and it took the father’s head and split it open to show the rows of teeth and its tongues.

Richie was horrified and stunned to the point he was unable to move. The Thing monster was too much for him. It was as if he was reliving The Thing, only it wasn’t in the south pole and the monster had no restrictions on who or what to make a host in. For him, this felt almost like a scrapped idea that did not past the movie censors.

But he wasn’t going to be killed by the amalgamation. He must get away! Thus, mustering all his strength, Richie dashed out of the house and into the open street, all while readying his lightning magic to strike the monster where it least expected it.

Before he could do so, however, he saw a group of people examining what looked like a lion man. He was fatally injured, with his entrails being held in by his own arms. Clearly, he was attacked by one of the creatures. Richie, however, also knew that the lion man could easily be a Thing monster, too.

And his fear was justified. The lion coughed loudly then vomited something black. The others, especially the wolf man, was appalled by what it was, as did Richie. It was his own blackened heart, still beating for a while before it slowly stopped.

Then the lion man’s body convulsed and split from his open entrails, with it forming into a mouth for the monster that had made the lion man its host. Fortunately, its opponents were agile enough to dodge its attacks and even counter attacked. The red-furred werewolf pulled out her sword and stabbed it into the monster’s head, causing it to shriek in pain.

Richie ran towards the monster to finish it off, all while trying to ignore the amalgamation horror behind him. With lightning magic powered up, he grabbed the monster and electrocuted it, causing it to shriek even louder before it blew up, spraying black entrails everywhere.

The group saw what happened and was stunned, especially when they saw Richie. Richie quickly turned around and faced the amalgamation, with it letting out a deep roar and lunged at Richie. Richie, now understanding how his magic worked, quickly grabbed the horror and started electrocuting it. Like the two monsters he slain, it quickly died after being burned to crisp.

Richie stopped and turned around after he slain the monster.

“Why didn’t you kill it?! That lion’s clearly afflicted!” he said.

“How the hell should we bloody know?!” said the black-furred werewolf. Richie did not expect him to have a British accent. “He looks like he’s in pain!”

“Didn’t you see his intestines spilling out of his body?! That lion man’s clearly dead!”

“Not if he keeps it in! And besides, we don’t even know if you’re one of those monsters, too!”

“Do I look like I’m dead? Look, man, we can’t stay here! Just get away before more of those things attack us. This village is done for.”

“There may be—”

“That horror I just electrocuted took a whole fucking family with it and turned them into a nightmarish horror, so either we get out or we’ll all end up a big mass of cancerous shit eating people alive! That good enough reason for you?”

The others did not seem to agree, but they quickly decided it was best to leave the village and stay away. They seemed to know more of the situation than Richie was.

They all ran with Richie through the gate, with the others following them behind as they held back the hordes of monsters that had just caught their scents. Just like the monsters Richie faced, they were as grotesque and as twisted. However, he wasn’t alone in being able to handle them. Richie could see a blue dragon standing near the gate. The dragon unleashed a powerful ice wave from her claws, effectively freezing most if not all of the Thing monsters before she joined the others. He was as fascinated by this, but he was even more fascinated that the group that he stumbled upon was something he never thought possible.

It may as well be the first time he ever met a party of beast people. For Richie, he knew this would only be possible in a furry community (or maybe even scalie, considering how there were reptilian people, too), but to see a group consisting of semi-realistic depictions of what the creatures would look like fascinated him.

Maybe there was an isekai fiction with that kind of setting, but this was the first time he experienced one.

Yet, again, he had no rest. The monsters that were once villagers were the victims. After the dragon froze them all, one that was less grotesque and more animalistic, but still had several features not common for its cat-like form such as tentacles, jumped out from one of the houses and pounced at the dragon. This creature was much bigger than the Thing monsters and was more complete anatomically. It was more solid and had weight to it, with the blue dragon also realizing that this creature was not to be trifled with.

Richie was the first to notice the tentacles latching themselves onto the dragon. The dragon’s pained roar indicated that they penetrated her hard scales, along with blood trickling out of where they latched onto. The dragon wrestled with the creatures for a moment, but then she started to be overwhelmed. Her strength was failing her.

“Azureath, what’s wrong?!” asked the black werewolf.

“This fiend…my energy…,” said the dragon weakly. “Can’t…muster…”

Richie realized those tentacles were sapping her energy, and the others, especially the stout reptilian, also found this out. The black werewolf drew his sword and tried cutting the tentacles, but they were too rubbery and elastic to the point the black werewolf was thrown away when the tentacles snapped back. Kicking them, as the goat woman did, managed to damage them, but it regenerated as quickly as it was injured, clearly using the energy from the dragon.

Thus, the eastern draconian must act quickly. He had always liked a cool use of magic, and his innate understanding of his own lightning magic helped him turn it into a reality. It was as if he was always that proficient with lightning magic when he conjured out a lightning-based sword out of his hand, then rushed towards the creature. He swiftly cut the tentacles and, due to it being pure mana-based energy sword, it cut right through. Without delay, he twisted around, discovering his uncommon agility, then cut the creature’s head with an upward, two-handed slash. The creature’s head split open, and the energy sapping abruptly ended. The tentacles withered like the creature and Azureath, the dragon, weakly fell to her side.

“You alright, dragon?” asked Richie. Up close, Azureath looked so beautiful, with his blue scales reflecting the sunlight, glimmering under it. He also noticed that she had scars shaped like runes he never saw before, despite of the prevalence of Nordic runes in movies he watched. The were wrapped around her, as if sealing her abilities, which was not the case considering how she single-handedly stopped the monsters.

“I will…in a while,” she said, weakly. She then looked at the human-turned-draconian, and her eyes went wide in surprise. “You…but it can’t be…”

“Huh?” said Richie, confused.

“I am not one to believe in myths, but your presence is a contradiction by itself. Do you know who you are?”

“A draconian?”

“A dragonborn. A dragon born in a human body who has exceptional knowledge in magic. That feat you did…that wasn’t something even a human mage can accomplish without considerable strain.”

“It’s something I made out of the fly. It does kinda look like an expert spell. Still, I guess dragonborn is a better name than ‘draconian’, and made sense, too.”

As the others approached the two, the stout reptilian also realized what Richie was. With a gasp of fascination and reptilian eyes full of awe, he said, “A dragonborn. A real, breathing dragonborn. Oh, by the dragon gods, I can’t believe my eyes.”

“Uh…is he some kind of a deity?” asked the goat woman. “He doesn’t look as tough as dragons.”

“And he doesn’t even look like a proper dragon, either” said the red-furred werewolf. “His face is closer to a dog’s, and those deer antlers, and that hair….”

“Yes, it is still contrary to the dragonborn I know,” said the reptilian. “But it could be if he came from the East. He is an Eastern dragonborn, which doesn’t sound right, considering that myth’s more Western in origin.”

“It doesn’t matter where he comes from, Ritik,” said Azureath. “The fact remained that a dragonborn exists and walks among us. He is not the product of an illusory magic, for that sword he conjured would dispel the illusion.”

“All that matters is that he can defend himself,” said the other, taller reptilian who looked like a dinosaur. “Won’t do the myth justice if all he has is his looks, right?”

Good thing Richie had both good looks (for a dragonborn/draconian) and the combat skills for survival in the fantasy world. Body horror monsters aside, maybe living in that world wasn’t that bad.

If only he knew what happened to him before he ended up there. Maybe he could appreciate it a bit more. For now, he thought, he should focus on trying to find a way to remember, and possibly understand, the circumstances.

Wouldn’t want it to end up being a twist now, would it?