I saw ahead of me a wholly alien landscape. Black rock covered the ground, folded and twisted like solid tar. Beyond that, the surface changed to barren stone, then a rocky scree sloping upward to a defined top edge.
A rumbling boom sounded behind me, shaking the ground, and was followed by an odd splashing sound. Chunks of something solid rained down, several small weights bouncing off my head. The liquid I was in picked up momentum a moment later and I almost lost my grip on the edge. Somehow, I was able dig my fingers into the rock and I held on.
In a panic, I managed to free my other hand and grab on, pulling myself forward. With the top of my body freed, I needed to move my arms forward, but I didn't dare let go. My legs couldn't find purchase in the mire and I hesitated.
A louder boom sounded out from behind me and the whole area shook again, violently. This time, I moved without thinking. Another pair of arms grabbed the rock by my waist and heaved while I continued to drag myself out with the upper pair. I barely even registered having more arms than I thought I ought to. Once I pulled my legs free, I stood up into a half crouch and made it several steps on the uneven, twisted ground before tripping.
I fell ungracefully in a heap and rolled off the edge of the black rock and into a small divot at the base of the scree. Behind me another boom sounded. A glance behind me revealed a sight that I had never imagined I would see: I was in a large, rocky crater. A plume of molten rock shot several meters into the air, feeding the river of lava I'd just crawled out of. Said river was rapidly overflowing its banks and spilling over toward me.
I scrambled up the scree on unfamiliar limbs, flecks of drying stone crumbling off my body. A weight behind me swung side to side and nearly toppled me until I seemed to find a rhythm. In a matter of seconds, I heaved myself up to the rim of the crater. I couldn't help but gasp at the sight before me.
The ocean. As a child, I'd always wanted to go, but Edath is far from the sea. Abby and I had always talked about going someday, even though both of us didn't think it would actually happen. And now, under a clear starry sky, the ocean lay spread out below me like a deep blue tapestry. Down and ahead, the rocky mountainside gave way to a strip of jungle sloping down to a coastline that curved away to either side behind me.
Uncaring of the eruption and of my alien physique, I gazed out over the view and wept. I wept for the lives Abby and I had lost, for our families, and for my community. Clearly, I wasn't human anymore, but at the moment I didn't want to face that fact. I had to go on. I told Abby as much and if she were still around, she'd give me hell if I just gave up. After I composed myself, I stood up. Still not daring to look at what I'd become, I at least let myself look at the view in front of me.
My eyes seemed better able to pick up detail than ever before. Even by the pale light of the moon, I had no difficulty seeing leaves on trees a hundred meters out, although beyond that the detail grew indistinct. The air was warm, perhaps unseasonably depending on how long it had been since I… died. That was something I didn't know and couldn't find out until I met someone who could tell me. For now, I filed that as a problem for future Zarenna to deal with.
A warm climate meant I had to be somewhere far to the north of Linthel. The Empire of Ordia was massive, but I didn't think any of it looked like this. I'd heard of volcanoes, but the only ones I knew of were in the wildlands south of Edath.
Another boom came from behind, weaker this time as the eruption seemed to be winding down. At least I hoped. I needed to know if I was on an island like the coastline suggested, and walking the crater would potentially be an easy way to find out. Or an easy way to get caught up in an eruption if the mountain blew its top.
Somehow, I wasn't burned by the heat, but I was quite certain I needed to breathe and I could easily end up entombed. I also doubted I could survive a blast or a big rock crushing me. Carefully, I made my way around the rim of the crater. Still trying not to think about what my body currently looked like, I could nevertheless feel two pairs of arms at my sides and a big tail swinging behind me.
When I drew closer to the side of the crater where the lava flowed out, I could see a familiar orange glow from the jungle below. The river of lava spread out across the landscape, torching and burying the jungle in equal measure. However, the fire seemed unable to spread much beyond the heat of the molten rock. Unfortunately, I could make out the faintly glittering ocean through the smoke, and it confirmed something that made my heart sink.
Ocean surrounded me. I was on an island.
To one direction, the narrow arm of a peninsula jutted out, encircling a bay. A large rock stood at the end of the spit with several seamounts beyond it arcing out into the abyss; perhaps the remains of another island. The flat land on the peninsula and the bay surrounding it would be where I found people, if anyone lived here at all. Thankfully, the eruption flowed down the other side of the mountain.
I walked back to the side of the crater facing away from the lava flow and began my descent, the last bits of cooled rock crumbling away from my skin and hair. I reached a relatively flat and sturdy spot at the edge of where plant life dared to grow and finally worked up the courage to inspect myself.
Obviously, I was naked. I could already feel as much, plus I came out of a volcano, so no surprises there. Looking down, however, was a surprise: breasts. My own. I didn't have any way to gauge size, but they seemed just about right for what I'd dreamed of; more than noticeable, but hopefully not going to get in the way too much. Despite a situation otherwise out of a nightmare, my traitorous heart did a little flip at the sight. That same feeling meant that the next thing I did was check my crotch with a hand. Nothing dangled; my hand brushed feminine parts, and I felt I smooth skin. No hair either. In fact, looking at my arms and legs, I didn't have hair anywhere outside my head.
Above my breasts on my sternum was what seemed to be a tattoo. It nearly matched the necklace: a six-pointed starburst with a swirling vortex at the center. The marking was jet black with sharply defined edges. Placing a hand on the symbol, I felt at ease.
At this point, while looking at my hand and trying to figure out what was off, I registered that my skin was crimson. Sharp black nails tipped each finger. My arms themselves were toned with moderately visible muscle. All four of them. I took a moment and moved them about: my hands and arms were nearly identical, with one pair situated under the shoulders of the other. I tried holding all my arms to my sides, and even with the narrower shoulders of the lower pair, I had to roll one set of shoulders a bit forward and the other back so the pairs could lie one in front of the other along my sides. It felt oddly natural to do.
Bending forward and peeking between my breasts and their black nipples, I saw my toned midsection and the slight flare of my hips. My legs looked and felt strong, ending thankfully in normal feet, albeit with sharp claw-like nails similar to my hands. Turning around, I could see a large muscular tail swaying behind me. It had to be nearly as thick as my thigh at the base and tapered to a spaded tip. It was probably nearly as long as I was tall. Speaking of height, I didn't feel any shorter, perhaps even a little taller, but it would be difficult to tell unless I found something to measure against.