The hum of the laboratory filled the air—steady, rhythmic, familiar. Rows of blue-lit monitors cast sharp reflections on glass panels and steel tables.
"Evan, the readings are spiking again!" someone shouted over the hum.
"I know, I know—just stabilize the magnetic flow!" Evan's gloved fingers danced over the console, curls of hair falling over his eyes. "We're three data points from success. Don't jinx it now!"
His colleague laughed nervously. "You said that last time before we fried the generator."
"Hey, progress requires sacrifices!" Evan grinned, half joking, half manic.
A warning siren blared. The lights flickered. A sharp smell of ozone filled the room.
"Wait—why's it drawing that much energy—?"
Before anyone could answer, the main screen went white.
The sound vanished—then came back all at once in a single explosion of light and noise. Evan's body was weightless for a second, then painfully heavy, as if every cell was being pulled apart.
He screamed, though he couldn't hear himself over the deafening crackle.
It hurts—it hurts—
Then, silence.
A droplet of water slid down his cheek. Something chirped nearby.
Evan opened his eyes slowly.
Above him was not the fluorescent ceiling of the lab, but a canopy of emerald-green leaves swaying in the sunlight. Shafts of gold pierced through them, dust motes glittering like drifting stars.
His throat felt dry. His clothes—his lab coat, his ID badge—were intact.But the surrounding was unknown.
"What… the hell…" he murmured. "Where is this ? Did I—did I get teleport? Or am I hallucinating?"
He pressed his palm to his forehead. His skin felt… smoother. His limbs lighter, more flexible. Even his breathing felt different, easier.
A small, absurd thought flashed through his mind: Maybe I'm dead.I am in heaven.Oh god.....
Then he heard it—a low growl.
Evan froze.
The forest had gone eerily quiet, except for the faint sound of something heavy moving through the underbrush.
He turned slowly.
A pair of golden eyes gleamed from the shadows.
"Oh no…" he whispered. "No, no, no—don't be—"
The creature stepped forward—muscular, wolf-like, its teeth bared and dripping with saliva.
Evan's instincts screamed run while his legs barely obeyed.
"How can I be so unlike.....shit..."
He stumbled backward, heart hammering so hard it hurt.
"Good dog—nice, fluffy… thing. Stay! I'm not food! I'm not tasty."
The creature snarled, muscles bunching.
Evan bolted. Branches whipped his face. Roots snagged his feet. He barely made it ten steps before crashing down, the beast lunging right after him.
He rolled aside just in time. Claws raked the earth where his chest had been.
"Somebody—anybody—HELP!.Oh god...angle...devil....somebody save me " he screamed, voice cracking.
He grabbed a rock and threw it. It bounced harmlessly off the beast's shoulder.
I'm going to die. In a forest. Eaten by a mutant dog.
Then—
A hiss. Low, cold, dangerous.
The air changed.
A massive shadow blurred past him. Scales flashed in the sunlight.
Evan barely registered what happened before the beast yelped, thrown back violently into a tree.
A giant snake like beast stepped between him and the creature.
"First that mutant dog now this.I am doomed "
Suddenly the snake like beast said
"Stay behind me."
The voice was deep and calm, but it carried a quiet power that made Evan obey without question. "But how can a beast talk ?....oh "
The beast—or whatever it was—moved like a predator. His lower body shimmered, shifting into something that wasn't entirely human: the long, silver-white coils of a serpent tail gliding over the ground.
The beast lunged again.
The serpent man caught it mid-air. The crack of impact echoed. One motion—swift, decisive—and the forest fell silent again.
Evan couldn't breathe.
His mind stuttered. The beastman turned toward him and transformed.
Eyes like molten emerald locked on his.
The stranger's face was sharp, carved by shadow and sunlight. His skin was pale with a faint, iridescent sheen. Long silver hair brushed against his bare shoulders.
Evan's mouth opened. No sound came out.
"What are you?" he blurted finally, voice trembling.
The serpent man blinked, studying him like an odd specimen. "I should ask you the same."
He took a step closer. Evan instinctively stepped back.
"Y-you're—half snake!"
A faint smile flickered on the man's lips. "And you are loud."
The serpent's pupils narrowed as he tilted his head. "You're not from any tribe I know. Your scent—unfamiliar."
Evan stared, completely lost. "Tribe? What tribe? Where the hell am I?"
The man frowned, clearly confused by his words. "You speak strangely. But you're not an orc. Not quite female either."
He circled Evan once, close enough that the cool brush of scales grazed against his ankle.
Evan flinched. "H-hey! Personal space!"
The serpent ignored him, sniffing lightly near his shoulder, brow furrowing. "Strange… You carry a female's scent, yet not exactly. No wonder the forest beasts went mad."
Evan's brain short-circuited. "Excuse me?!"
The serpent straightened. "It's not safe here. Come with me if you want to survive."
Evan shook his head violently. "No way! I don't even know who you are!"
A shadow crossed the man's face—not anger, but faint impatience. "You can stay and die then."
He turned to leave.
Evan's heart jumped. The thought of being alone here—of facing that thing again—made his knees weak.
"Wait! Just—wait a second!"
The man looked back, expression unreadable.
Evan opened his mouth, then wavered. "I… don't trust you."
"That's wise," the man said, oddly approving. "But unnecessary. I have no interest in harming you."
"Then why do you keep sniffing me?"
"…Habit."
Evan blinked. "Habit?"
The serpent man sighed softly. "You're a strange one."
He stepped closer. "Fine. You can walk behind me. Stay quiet. The forest doesn't forgive noise."
Evan hesitated, then nodded shakily. "O-okay."
He took a step—and immediately stumbled.
The world spun. His vision blurred. The adrenaline rush faded, leaving nothing but exhaustion.
"Damn it…" he mumbled, knees giving out.
Before he hit the ground, strong arms caught him.
---
The serpent man looked down at the unconscious female in his arms. His expression softened, just a fraction.
"So fragile…" he muttered. "And yet you survived the forest this long."
He brushed a strand of hair from Evan's forehead, his thumb pausing briefly.
"Your scent…" His voice dropped to a whisper. "Different from any female—or male—I've ever known."
He sighed, curling his long tail beneath them and lifting off the ground, gliding silently through the undergrowth.
The forest's shadows closed around them.
As Evan drifted between waking and sleep, faint voices reached him—low, distant, protective.
"From now on," the man's deep tone rumbled, "you will be my mate as I found you."
The last thing Evan saw before darkness claimed him was the glimmer of silver scales, shining softly under the moonlight.
---