Alek couldn't think clearly. His mind was a whirlwind as he tried to process everything he had seen in the almost four hours since he arrived in this world. According to his internal clock, barely any time had passed, but to him, each second seemed to stretch indefinitely. This place was so similar to his own world, yet at the same time, so radically different. As he wandered through the city, on his way to what was supposed to be his home, he had discovered several fascinating and unsettling things.
The creatures flying through the air barely caught his attention, as they remained high above or headed toward the enormous floating islands that dominated the sky. On the ground, the creatures he had spotted seemed like a mix of the familiar and the impossible, as if nature had regressed thousands of years and evolved in a different direction. Motorbike-sized felines prowled with lethal agility, while gargantuan cows, as large as cargo trucks, grazed peacefully. Other creatures were too perplexing for Alek to fully process.
However, what truly chilled his blood was witnessing a confrontation between two beasts: a colossal buffalo and a spiny lizard that seemed straight out of a nightmare. At first, Alek thought the lizard would have the advantage, but everything changed when the buffalo took a deep breath and exhaled a torrent of rock fragments at devastating speed. The stones flew like projectiles, smashing everything in their path. But the lizard didn't fall behind; in a brilliant flash, its body became a bundle of sparkling lightning, dodging the impacts with graceful precision.
Behind them, a truck that had been parked nearby was almost completely disintegrated, corroded and reduced to an unrecognizable heap of scrap. Alek swallowed hard as he took in the scene. It was a spectacle of pure destruction, and a chilling thought crossed his mind: if any of those attacks had hit him, the only thing left of him would be a puddle of blood.
Maybe they were fighting for territory. Alek remembered seeing documentaries that explained these kinds of confrontations in his world. According to experts, there were two main reasons for such fierce disputes: an animal might be looking for better areas, either due to resource scarcity in its current home or a change in conditions. The other reason, just as common, was that its herd had grown beyond the capacity that its original territory could support.
As he watched the battle between the buffalo and the lizard, he couldn't help but wonder which of those motivations had led them to fight. Was one of them desperate to find a new place to survive? Or perhaps they were defending the last remnants of a home they both claimed as their own? Whatever the answer, the result was equally terrifying. These titans knew no truce.
Alek decided that the best course of action was to get away from the area before drawing the attention of any of these creatures. He knew that staying invisible was his best bet for survival. As soon as he turned around, something caught his eye: perched on a high branch of a nearby tree, a gigantic orangutan, at least four meters tall, was watching the confrontation between the buffalo and the lizard. It seemed completely relaxed as it ate a strange fruit, unknown to Alek.
"A third?" he murmured to himself, a chill running down his spine. He shook his head. "Well, it's not my problem. The sooner I leave, the longer I'll live... and the more chances I'll have to find a way out of here."
Alek continued moving forward, away from the echoes of the battle that were slowly fading behind him. As he walked through the streets, he recognized with some relief that he was only a few blocks away from his goal: the apartment complex where he lived. However, he couldn't help but curse under his breath.
"Damn, I didn't remember the walk being this long. I usually get from the campus to my house in 20 minutes using the sonic metro."
Reality hit him once again: he had no idea how to get back to his world. Worse yet, he didn't even know if this was another world, an alternate dimension, or perhaps a dystopian future where something terrible had happened. A troubling thought crossed his mind as he walked. What if this was the result of the Federation's war?
That war had been a historical rebellion almost 30 years ago, though mysterious, involving the border city of Caldara joining the eastern countries of Velcoria to rise up against the Confederation of Halveth, to which the city of Velmont, where he lived, belonged. The rebellion had left Halveth weakened and vulnerable, especially to external invasions. But the war had never fully materialized, as a coup within the city of Caldara halted the alliance and it rejoined the Halveth Confederation. The mere possibility that this place could be a version of that future made him shiver. Could this be the fate his own world had avoided... or still faced?
Alek sighed, trying to calm his mind. "I think I'm overthinking things," he murmured to himself. There's no way the city of Caldara or the eastern countries of Velcoria have the technology to destroy the atmosphere or transform animals into those creatures... The things I've seen so far, from the giant felines to the electric storms, can't be explained by simple war or any known conflict.
Genetic modification is already being implemented, yes, but it's still far from reaching that level of complexity. In my world, genetic engineering is advancing, but more in terms of improving crops or livestock, not completely altering species or creating superhuman monsters flying through the sky. None of what I saw can be justified by what I know about human science, he thought.
Just one block away from the apartment complex, Alek heard a deep, guttural roar echo through the air from somewhere nearby. Instinctively, his body reacted, and without even thinking, he ran toward the nearby supermarket where he usually bought his food, seeking refuge. I don't know what that roar was, he thought with his heart racing, but I know it wasn't to welcome me.
Quickly, he hid behind the supermarket door, crouching to avoid being seen. From his hiding spot, he looked up at the window in the door, and what he saw made fear freeze in his veins. Three creatures that initially looked like horses were slowly approaching, but they were no ordinary horses. Their manes were strange, one made of frost, another of fire, and the last of vines that curled like living snakes. These beings dragged what appeared to be a three-meter-tall tree, but with a terrifying peculiarity: the tree was dead. There was no movement in its branches or its petrified trunk, and its eyes were empty and dim.
The horses, gigantic, twice the size of any Earth horse, kept the Treant subdued with chains formed from the three elements: ice, fire, and roots that emerged from their own bodies, as if they were part of that elemental force. They dragged the Treant mercilessly, like a macabre procession, with not a hint of remorse for the life the wooden being once had.
What the hell are those things? Alek thought, his stomach churning. The scene before his eyes left him completely frozen, speechless, as his mind struggled to process what he was seeing.